[1.10.1] SCANsat [v20.4] -- Real Scanning, Real Science, at Warp Speed! [September 9, 2020]

[GalaxiesFinestToday]

You've got a scanning part active on your vessel, right? Either a high-res, low-res or biome scanner? And you're at the right altitude? The scanning window is open?

Yeah, got full electricity and the map does not show up. I put it in a geocentric orbit, scanners up just no map showing.

[DMagic]

Yeah, got full electricity and the map does not show up. I put it in a geocentric orbit, scanners up just no map showing.

What is a geocentric orbit, aren't all Kerbin orbits geocentric? Geo-synchronous, or geo-stationary (which would be the world's worst mapping satellite)? The scanners have maximum altitudes, you can check them in the info tab for each part in the VAB.

[technogeeky]

Yeah, got full electricity and the map does not show up. I put it in a geocentric orbit, scanners up just no map showing.

Please post a screenshot with the Small Map open.

If the scanner indicators are solid orange, it means that your altitude is too high -- and this would explain why your scanner is not recording anything.

[GalaxiesFinestToday]

Please post a screenshot with the Small Map open.

If the scanner indicators are solid orange, it means that your altitude is too high -- and this would explain why your scanner is not recording anything.

http://i.imgur.com/79jnfIX.png"]

[ExplorerKlatt]

Your scanner is too high. Which scanner are you using? Low-res and multispectral should be around 85000m and high-res should be around 250km.

[technogeeky]

http://i.imgur.com/79jnfIX.png

As the scanner says in the VAB, the RADAR scanner will only work between 5 km and 500 km. Your altitude of 2,200 km is too high for it to work.

In addition, you probably do not want to launch your scanner into an equatorial orbit (ie, inclination near 0 degrees). This will result in you only being able to scan near the equator, which will not yield much of the map.

Try launching yourself into an inclination in the 75 to 90 degree range, and getting the scanner in workable altitude.

Your scanner is too high. Which scanner are you using? Low-res and multispectral should be around 85000m and high-res should be around 250km.

The answer is in the picture (LO). Thanks for telling him, though.

Also, the high-res (SAR) scanner will have a maximum field of view when above 750 km (which is perilously close to its maximum of 800 km).

[ExplorerKlatt]

Duh. Missed that since I'm using my phone atm. All I could make out was the alt. on the orbit track. Was working off of memory for the SAR scanner (obviously way off).

[GalaxiesFinestToday]

As the scanner says in the VAB, the RADAR scanner will only work between 5 km and 500 km. Your altitude of 2,200 km is too high for it to work.

http://i.imgur.com/PrRIcYv.png

In addition, you probably do not want to launch your scanner into an equatorial orbit (ie, inclination near 0 degrees). This will result in you only being able to scan near the equator, which will not yield much of the map.

Try launching yourself into an inclination in the 75 to 90 degree range, and getting the scanner in workable altitude.

The answer is in the picture (LO). Thanks for telling him, though.

Also, the high-res (SAR) scanner will have a maximum field of view when above 750 km (which is perilously close to its maximum of 800 km).

Ok. Thank you

[Stelith61]

I'm trying to figure out how to get this put into capsules; I found a config someone made, but where do I put it? I have modulemanager.

EDIT: Don't worry, figured it out. I was assuming it meant I didn't need a scanner to make the map initially. I do.

Edited May 24, 2014 by Stelith61

[luckyhendrix]

Hi guys , this mod is really great !

But I have one thing that bothers me , when you have a scanning device on board , you'll see a blue and orange track of your current and newt orbit on the ground on the big map , but when you have only a maptraq part , you can only see the map with no indication of your position! Is it possible to have the orbit ground tracks with the maptraq part ? it would be very useful for planing landing sites !

[technogeeky]

Hi guys , this mod is really great !

But I have one thing that bothers me , when you have a scanning device on board , you'll see a blue and orange track of your current and newt orbit on the ground on the big map , but when you have only a maptraq part , you can only see the map with no indication of your position! Is it possible to have the orbit ground tracks with the maptraq part ? it would be very useful for planing landing sites !

Unless there is a bug I'm not aware of, then you need to right click the MapTraq part and 'enable' it (by clicking Open Map). This is actually confusing now that I think about it.

The orbit display checks to see if you are 'scanning today' (if any instrument is active). This is something I will probably remove in the future.

[luckyhendrix]

thx, I did not notice this open map button

[Victus]

Crashes upon start up

[Dire_Squid]

I uploaded this mod and, apart from making new strategies to make more efficient satellites (even making orbits that run pole to pole and run laterally across each world, getting energy 100% with solar gain), the science I get from this mod is AWESOME!

This is so helping me progress in career mode (since making a rocket that can make it to the Mun AND return seemed almost impossible until I got Heavier Rockets), as well as figure out the biomes of the Mun, as well as other worlds.

[phoenix_ca]

Crashes upon start up

No one can help you without details and logs.

[eLDude]

hey, great mod

but i've noticed a little bug. everytime i start a vessel with scansat equipped, mission controller extended windowcontent loses format and MCEwindow gets a scrollbar!

it's no disastrous thing, but it's annoying. maybe some of you can help out

[Hunne]

There have been no changes to the actual scanning mechanics (except for the bug fix where the scanner mixed up the south and north poles).

Small changes in orbit can significantly alter the effectiveness of scanning. Make sure the equatorial markers shown on the 'orbit' overlay don't cluster together into a few groups. A very small burn is usually enough to break up these groups and improved the effectiveness of your orbit.

And if you're altering your inclination every orbit you're doing something wrong. Many dozens of orbits are required to get a complete map. Find an orbit with a good spread of equatorial crossings and wait.

tried that, orbited, e.g. at 45° inclination and waited like a week...no change in the amount of scanned terrain, it always scanned the same path all over again which should not be...very strange

[Drew Kerman]

hey, great mod

but i've noticed a little bug. everytime i start a vessel with scansat equipped, mission controller extended windowcontent loses format and MCEwindow gets a scrollbar!

it's no disastrous thing, but it's annoying. maybe some of you can help out

I think I've seen something like that before with other mods. It was a skinning issue the authors had to sort out

[DMagic]

tried that, orbited, e.g. at 45° inclination and waited like a week...no change in the amount of scanned terrain, it always scanned the same path all over again which should not be...very strange

Tried the second paragraph, or the third?

Take a picture of the big map with the vessel in question active, the scanner on, and the 'orbit' overlay on and post that.

If your equatorial crossings overlap or are tightly clustered then you will only scan the same strip of terrain over and over again. It's very easy, and very normal, to get into an orbit with this kind of resonance, that's why the equatorial crossing markers are there. Very little is generally required to change your orbit sufficiently to prevent this.

[LameLefty]

tried that, orbited, e.g. at 45° inclination and waited like a week...no change in the amount of scanned terrain, it always scanned the same path all over again which should not be...very strange

Change your orbital period - raise your altitude to increase your period, lower it to decrease. As it is, you're orbiting with a period that is too close to a stable resonance with the day-length of the parent body.

[technogeeky]

tried that, orbited, e.g. at 45° inclination and waited like a week...no change in the amount of scanned terrain, it always scanned the same path all over again which should not be...very strange

I have updated the Ideal Altitude Calculator to exactly match the altitude-dependent field of view mechanics of SCANsat. See the link in my signature. If you tell me what planet and scanner you are using, I will post a table of ideal altitudes for that combination and you can see examples of ideal (or nearly ideal) orbits.

[loserwill]

Thanks so much all who kept this mod going, it truly adds a wonderful dimension to the game. I have a question/suggestion: the antenna parts are comically oversized. Are there any plans to reduce them to a more realistic scale? Also, is there already a solution out there? I notice Scansat for All! was on the Spaceport that seems to just add uplink to all capsules without the need of the MapTraq, which seems ideal. However, that particular plugin lacks documentation on how to install so I have not tried it. Thank you in advance!

[BudgetHedgehog]

I notice Scansat for All! was on the Spaceport that seems to just add uplink to all capsules without the need of the MapTraq, which seems ideal. However, that particular plugin lacks documentation on how to install so I have not tried it. Thank you in advance!

That appears to be just a MM config to add the SCANsat module to all capsules. I use something similar in adding the BTDT Scanner to all command pods (including probe cores):

@PART[*]:HAS[@MODULE[ModuleCommand]]:Final
{
	MODULE
	{
		name = SCANsat
		sensorType = 32
		fov = 1
		min_alt = 0
		max_alt = 2000
		best_alt = 0
		power = 0.05
		scanName = BTDT scan
	}
}

Thanks to GavinZac for this.

As for installation instructions, just save it as a cfg file anywhere in your Gamedata folder. I originally wanted just the MapTraq part, but the BTDT is more useful (and with Near Future reactors, electricity isn't an issue).

EDIT, yeah, it's just a MM config:

@PART[*]:HAS[@MODULE[ModuleCommand]]
{
MODULE
{
	name = SCANsat
	sensorType = 0
	fov = 0
	min_alt = 0
	max_alt = 0
	best_alt = 0
	power = 0.05
}
}

Which, to be honest, isn't the best one I've seen. Looks to be made for an older version of MM though, but yeah, all it does is, instead of right clicking the clunky MapTraq scanner to open the map, you right click the command pod/probe.

EDITE THY SECONDE: From memory, there's plans to make the MapTraq part a lot smaller and more GPS looking but as for the other, I don't know. Not sure what you mean by comically oversized though, most of them seem to a reasonable size for what they do.

Edited May 31, 2014 by ObsessedWithKSP

[Hunne]

this issue only is related to kerbin, I did orbit the mun in polar orbit - took me like 15-20 revelations to fully scan it...maybe something just went wrong...will try again and then make some screenshots

[Claw]

Oh, this is brilliant!

This was one of the very few mods I had installed (i.e. #2), but quite frankly grew tired of it crashing so I dropped it several months ago.

I look forward to downloading and giving the new version a try. I do wish the game data could be stored out of the save files (to maintain stock compatibility), but I get why it's easier.

None the less, thanks for taking the time to update this!