[WIP] Cacteye Telescope v0.1 (2/1/14) - Modular, EVA-serviceable orbital telescope

[johnwayne1930]

I maybe complaing but i wonder if the dev is able to resize the telescope so that it fits in the new KSO EWBCL Shuttle.

That would be nice.

[jamqdlaty]

Can you confirm you also have HullCam installed and working?

No, because I'm a moron.

Thanks...

[diomedea]

No, because I'm a moron.

Thanks...

Not a moron at all. Such things happen (more so if you don't have as much time as me to spend playing KSP), and I'm happy to have been of help .

Let us all know when you have your own CactEye telescope in orbit and working.

[Qreczek]

okay thanks it works now.

[Mounti]

That would be nice.

I would also appreciate that.

[Rubber Ducky]

Heyo everybody, just a quick status update. Very little has changed - I've been on a lovely extensive vacation and just got home. I've still got about a month left to work on it before I begin other pursuits, so hopefully I can plow through some of these awful bugs I've been running into. And apologies that the current version is so broken - the new update is essentially rewritten from the ground up and should have no hard dependencies.

[diomedea]

Hey, welcome back home (this thread). Lovely you're enjoying your vacation .

Actually, the current version does not seem to me so broken. Just that it is hard-dependent on other plugins.

[MK3424]

Heyo everybody, just a quick status update. Very little has changed - I've been on a lovely extensive vacation and just got home. I've still got about a month left to work on it before I begin other pursuits, so hopefully I can plow through some of these awful bugs I've been running into. And apologies that the current version is so broken - the new update is essentially rewritten from the ground up and should have no hard dependencies.

Hey Rubber Ducky!, i wonder if there's a chance you can resize the telescope so that it fits the new KSO EWBCL's 2.5m cargo bay?

[Umlüx]

you can do it yourself too. i rescaled it for the smaller KSO.

add rescaleFactor=0.65 in every part .cfg and change the opticsDistance to 2.21 in the processor .cfg

if this is too small, you could try and use a bigger rescale factor. there is a formula for the opticsDistance somewhere in this thread.

[Rubber Ducky]

Hey Rubber Ducky!, i wonder if there's a chance you can resize the telescope so that it fits the new KSO EWBCL's 2.5m cargo bay?

A limited 1.25m optics system that is specifically modeled to fit in a cargo bay is tentatively planned. Its science return will be pretty pitiful, and its mostly useful for raising the discovery rate of asteroids. The main problem is that I have to actually model a couple of new parts, which is pretty time consuming, so hopefully I'll get around to it.

---

EDIT:

Also, does any programming gurus round here know how to fix this? I'm really quite stuck here.

My code pretty closely matches other similar mods with GUI cameras, but some atmospheric effect (?) is drawing on top of the planet:

Only happens while looking at nearby planets with atmospheres (for Kerbin, within 2500km).

The planet also draws behind other, more distant objects. The Mun should obviously be behind Kerbin in this picture:

Any ideas on what's happening? It feels like I've tried absolutely everything.

Edited June 28, 2014 by Rubber Ducky

[TicTacToe!]

Hey Rubber Ducky, good to have you back!

Now that you've returned, I do have a small enquiry I've wanted to ask: is there a way to modify the height at which the telescope functions? I know that at the moment it requires a high orbit, but is there a way for me to modify it so I can essentially make a ground based observatory? Is there any way to currently modify the mod to do this?

[Rubber Ducky]

Hey Rubber Ducky, good to have you back!

Now that you've returned, I do have a small enquiry I've wanted to ask: is there a way to modify the height at which the telescope functions? I know that at the moment it requires a high orbit, but is there a way for me to modify it so I can essentially make a ground based observatory? Is there any way to currently modify the mod to do this?

Not really, not without modifying the code and recompiling the plugin DLL. You could modify the optics part cfg to add a basic Hullcamera module, bypassing all the CactEye code entirely, but you couldn't get much if any science out of it, and you might as well use the telescopes Hullcam comes with at that point.

The high orbit requirement should be removed in the next version, however.

[Umlüx]

i just finished my first career with the telescope. SO MUCH SCIENCE!!

this mod is completely broken! and by broken i mean AWESOME!

[Djolox]

I need help every time i install Cacteye, all parts disappear (potatoroids too) and only some kind of cacteye processors are still there.

I installed i hope normally. i threw

there all needed stuff and had module manager for the problem with KAS. Any ideas?

[Rubber Ducky]

I need help every time i install Cacteye, all parts disappear (potatoroids too) and only some kind of cacteye processors are still there.

I installed i hope normally. i threw

there all needed stuff and had module manager for the problem with KAS. Any ideas?

Make sure you grab the two fixes for HullCam and KAS - I've put links to both in the OP now.

---

Also, update on new version. I completely rewrote the optics system from scratch to try and figure out what the problem is, and now I've got it working perfectly! On the off-chance that someone runs into this same problem, it turns out that I was creating the render texture with a wrong depth value.

I've been working on the GUI for a couple of days, I'm quite happy with it for the moment:

WIP, of course. Main GUI is on the left, with a realtime low resolution, grayscale preview. When you make an observation with a Wide Field Camera processor, it'll take a full size screenshot and save it in Screenshots/CactEye. I've managed to get it to display in the experiment results dialog as well! Again, not final, subject to change, etc.

Obviously there's loads more work to be done, but I'm definitely getting somewhere for once. Right now I'm thinking that I'll take a break from coding and work on the much-requested 1.25m scope.

[Djolox]

Make sure you grab the two fixes for HullCam and KAS

How to apply them?

[helldiver]

That would be nice.

I would also appreciate that.

I maybe complaing but i wonder if the dev is able to resize the telescope so that it fits in the new KSO EWBCL Shuttle.

I've been asked a few times for this (like at least 20...)

What part needs to be made? Just the cylinder?

If that's it and Naz can easily integrate their modules, I may be able to snap together a telescope hull as an alternate download (you'd still need everything in this mod). Would be kind of like the KSO MechJeb part.

Would have to be after Phase IV however.

Alternatively, the mod dev can download the KSOS compatibility kit for modders: http://www./download/7qgybqqqnr97646/KSOS_Mod_Kit.zip

-Helldiver

Edited July 5, 2014 by helldiver

[Rubber Ducky]

I've been asked a few times for this (like at least 20...)

What part needs to be made? Just the cylinder?

If that's it and Naz can easily integrate their modules, I may be able to snap together a telescope hull as an alternate download (you'd still need everything in this mod). Would be kind of like the KSO MechJeb part.

Would have to be after Phase IV however.

Alternatively, the mod dev can download the KSOS compatibility kit for modders: http://www./download/7qgybqqqnr97646/KSOS_Mod_Kit.zip

-Helldiver

Heyo helldiver!

This is as good time as any to show off the new ~1.5m scope:

I'm calling it FungEye at the moment. As you can see, it fits nicely in the standard shuttle's bay. It also contains its own processor mount! I've left plenty of room for fuel systems, robotic arms, or whatever else you want.

I've also discovered that since the cargo bay is no longer required, and the processor mount is now surface attachable, you can actually already fit a full sized scope in the EWBCL shuttle:

It's not the prettiest option, but it works. You could even add a docking node underneath the scope and fly the cargo bay up later in a servicing mission.

EDIT: But if you want to make a telescope hull more in-line with KSO's art style, that is 100% fine with me. I plan on switching to a very open license given that I will be leaving at the end of the month.

Edited July 5, 2014 by Rubber Ducky

[Mecripp]

@Rubber Ducky back in the old ScanSat thread some 1 made this model as do what ever with would make a scope model https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/72893034/scansat125.zip

[4nxs]

That new model looks a bit like the Kepler telescope. I like it!

[Javster]

Something strange happened when I installed this mod:

http://imgur.com/a/zp36c

My mods:

6s Service Tubes

Action Group Manager

Active Texture Management

Cacteye Telescope (duh)

Chatterer

Distant Object Enhancement

Firespitter (plugin only)

HullcameraVDS

Kerbal Alarm Clock

Kerbal Attatchment System

Kerbal Joint Reinforcement

Kerbin Shuttle Orbiter and the following came with it:

- Rasterprop Monitor

- Smoke Screen

Launch Countdown

MechJeb 2

Toolbar Plugin

(I'm on linux)

That's the issue I had... Annoyed to see it still hasn't been fixed, after much blame-shifting onto my installing, then onto my mods, and following that a refusal to attempt to deal with the issue...

And the "freezing on the processors" issue is still there and has been experienced by others.

Such a shame, this mod would be so nice if it worked for everyone...

Edited July 6, 2014 by Javster

[magnemoe]

Very nice mod and excellent done, one fun easter egg if you take the telescope to Mun, Minmus or other places, yes it makes up for not being able to replace the core.

Send to Minmus, look at all the planets, do a course correction to get an Mun intercept who also slingshot you out of kerbin SOI.

yes i call it an easter egg as you can fill out all science easy enough anyway.

[helldiver]

Heyo helldiver!

This is as good time as any to show off the new ~1.5m scope:

http://i.imgur.com/QRnsMHY.png?1 http://i.imgur.com/z6cxqp1.png?1

I'm calling it FungEye at the moment. As you can see, it fits nicely in the standard shuttle's bay. It also contains its own processor mount! I've left plenty of room for fuel systems, robotic arms, or whatever else you want.

I've also discovered that since the cargo bay is no longer required, and the processor mount is now surface attachable, you can actually already fit a full sized scope in the EWBCL shuttle:

http://i.imgur.com/Wpn3VUg.png?1

It's not the prettiest option, but it works. You could even add a docking node underneath the scope and fly the cargo bay up later in a servicing mission.

EDIT: But if you want to make a telescope hull more in-line with KSO's art style, that is 100% fine with me. I plan on switching to a very open license given that I will be leaving at the end of the month.

That looks gorgeous!

[DuoDex]

Does anyone know if this is all compatible with 0.24.0 yet?

[4nxs]

Does anyone know if this is all compatible with 0.24.0 yet?

Have not had the time to test it yet. You could try it out or check the hullcam VDS and KAS for any 0.24 incompatibilities as this mod uses both.