Trouble with Transfers

[Geo793]

I've always had a hard time with planetary transfers, I can never seem to get them except on some rare chances. Can I get some tips on how to do them?

[WanderingKid]

If you're basically vanilla, like me, you need to know how to eyeball the angle for the Hohmann Transfer.

This site helps me a lot for knowing when/how to burn for them: http://ksp.olex.biz/

[Taki117]

You can also take a look at This (Mmmm...Porkchops) to tell you exactly how much dV you need, and when to do your transfer. It's best to wait until the optimum time to do your transfer instead of getting into solar orbit first (Oberth and all that)

[Geo793]

Thanks, this is helping a lot!

[technion]

You can also take a look at This (Mmmm...Porkchops) to tell you exactly how much dV you need, and when to do your transfer. It's best to wait until the optimum time to do your transfer instead of getting into solar orbit first (Oberth and all that)

Thing is, "optimum" may equate to "most fuel efficient", but if you're having issues with transfers, "best" may well be to simply just escape SOI, then find a manoeuvre that gives an intercept.

[sjwt]

Also if your having trouble getting a stable intercept with numbers that keep jumping and missing, you can try burning on the Normal and Radial to zone in on the target, sometimes pro and retrograde burning just won't cut it.

[Kasuha]

Thing is, "optimum" may equate to "most fuel efficient", but if you're having issues with transfers, "best" may well be to simply just escape SOI, then find a manoeuvre that gives an intercept.

I wouldn't call it "best" in any reasonable sense but it sure is the simplest way. I was doing transfers this way in my early missions shortly after I bought KSP and they worked fine for me.

[technicalfool]

Myself, I never tend to bother with a direct transfer unless I know the precise angle for the planet I'm heading to. I'll just escape either slightly outward or slightly inward depending on where I'm going, and then twiddle with manoeuvre nodes, taking my sweet time about it until I get a transfer that I like. It's not as efficient as a straight burn from SoI to SoI, but it's a heck of a lot easier.

Note that escaping slightly outward means you may re-encounter Kerbin a few times before you properly escape from the system.

[technion]

I wouldn't call it "best" in any reasonable sense but it sure is the simplest way. I was doing transfers this way in my early missions shortly after I bought KSP and they worked fine for me.

I guess that's what I mean. For a person struggling, simplest = best.

[StrandedonEarth]

Kerbal Alarm Clock will tell you when transfer windows open, so you can start fiddling with maneuver nodes then (the main reason I first got KAC, but very useful for other reasons). Some planets are in different inclinations so you may need to make an adjustment at the ascending or descending nodes, generally after your initial ejection burn. But I agree that the simplest way is to escape Kerbin's SOI first, then you have a whole solar orbit to play with the maneuver nodes, if you have the fuel to spare.

[asb3pe]

I know I must sound like a broken record, but Scott Manley's youtube series "Tutorial For Beginners" which was posted in Jan. '14 covers this subject. I'm a new player with no clue what I was doing and within a day of watching his videos I've already gone to Mun and Minimus (with some problems and errors, but that's what it's all about). I really suggest watching episodes 6 and 7 which is where he goes to Minimus.

My problem lies with the Orbital Map screen. It's difficult to get the whole thing into one view so I can see if I'm close to an encounter with a planet or not. Right now I'm not good with changing views and focuses and whatever else I should be doing. I'm in orbit around Kerbal and trying to set a course to Minimus, and the periapsis marker out there is so small it's nearly impossible to read and click on to keep it readable while I adjust. Editing orbits has, at times, been very tedious and annoying since its too easy to pick the wrong adjustment slider, etc.

Edited June 7, 2014 by asb3pe

[Kasuha]

My problem lies with the Orbital Map screen. It's difficult to get the whole thing into one view so I can see if I'm close to an encounter with a planet or not. Right now I'm not good with changing views and focuses and whatever else I should be doing. I'm in orbit around Kerbal and trying to set a course to Minimus, and the periapsis marker out there is so small it's nearly impossible to read and click on to keep it readable while I adjust. Editing orbits has, at times, been very tedious and annoying since its too easy to pick the wrong adjustment slider, etc.

Maybe you're playing in too high resolution? Size of any markers does not depend on its distance, they're icons and their size is set in pixels.

You may also become familiar with a few keys useful in map view:

Tab - changes focus to the next object

Shift+Tab - changes focus to the previous object

Backspace - changes focus to your ship

"objects" are your ship, all your maneuvers, and all bodies in the system starting with Sun and ending with Eeloo.

Be cautious when using Shift+Tab as Shift also works as throttle up. Either make sure the navball is hidden in map view, or switch to at least x5 time warp before you use that key.

[asb3pe]

Thanks for the advice Kashua. I think shifting focus is going to be what I need, I didn't know the keyboard shortcuts. My focus is on my ship, always, and I'm trying to chart an orbit out to Minimus and I tend to angle my view so I can see my ship and Minimus at the same time. Does that make sense? So Minimus is just a little tiny few pixels out there, and I can't distinguish the peri marker from the apo marker, that sorta thing. By being able to easily change focus between ship and Minimus, that should resolve this issue for me (I hope!). But then the adjustment marker icons will be way back at the other end of the focus near my ship, so... let me try it out and see.

Edited June 7, 2014 by asb3pe