Clamp-O Tron Not Clamping

[EeeLee]

I apologize in advance for asking a question that has been answered in a thousand threads and tutorials. In theory I know what to do, but still cant get it to work.

I've got a tiny station in Kerbin orbit, and a spacecraft that I'm trying to dock with it. Both have clamp-o tron ports, one of them shielded.

The actual rendevouz is not the problem. I have both craft aligned, but when I bring the docking ports close together, or even have one inside the other, the two will at some point just bounce off. From the KSP wiki I learned that they are supposed to magnetically clamp but that doesnt happen.

One thing I noticed is that when I set the approaching ships docking port to "control from here", nothing really changes. I'm not sure whats supposed to happen, but apparently its important.

Hope some kind Kerbal can point out my mistake(s). Thanks.

Edited June 30, 2014 by EeeLee
solved

[Oafman]

Your docking port is the wrong way around. You're trying to dock to the back of a port

[Saftsackpenner]

Hi,

your Docking Port on the right side points in the false direction, look here: http://s7.directupload.net/images/140630/v7asovl8.jpg

[Red Iron Crown]

Flip the port around in the VAB or SPH by pressing W, S, A or D twice before placing it.

[Oafman]

I'm struggling to think of any fix you could do without relaunching your station. I guess a claw could grab onto that reversed port, assuming you have unlocked it on the tech tree

[Red Iron Crown]

I'm struggling to think of any fix you could do without relaunching your station. I guess a claw could grab onto that reversed port, assuming you have unlocked it on the tech tree

I think you can reverse the part by editing the save file, but I've never done that so can't offer advice on how to do it.

[EeeLee]

Doh! My kerbal engineers must have been drunk. I guess I'd rather not mess with the save file but just launch another station. This one is too small anyway.

Thanks a lot everyone, also for taking the time to make that image.

[BudgetHedgehog]

Your main question has been answered, but 'Control From Here' orientates your navball to be correct with reference to the part you're controlling from. Makes no difference if the port is the same direction as your pod, but if it's on top (like in an inline docking port in a spaceplane) or some other direction, you control from the port and all movements are done relative to looking out the port, not the pod.

[EeeLee]

Makes no difference if the port is the same direction as your pod, but if it's on top (like in an inline docking port in a spaceplane) or some other direction, you control from the port and all movements are done relative to looking out the port, not the pod.

That explains it perfectly, thank you. Got a new station up already, docking port is working fine now.

From reading the wiki I got the impression that controlling from port was necessary for the ports to "clamp", but that doesnt seem to be the case.

[Mr Shifty]

That explains it perfectly, thank you. Got a new station up already, docking port is working fine now.

From reading the wiki I got the impression that controlling from port was necessary for the ports to "clamp", but that doesnt seem to be the case.

"Control From Here" only controls the direction of 'up' on your NavBall and the relative orientation of your navigation controls. The many Space Shuttle mods are a good example. They typically have a docking port inside the cargo bay, pointing directly out of the bay. (It's the circular thing at the bottom of the image below.)

Normally, when you control the space shuttles, the rotation and translation controls work as shown below, with the vessel oriented relative to its nose.

But, when you are trying to dock, you want those axes to be relative to the direction of the docking port, so you select "Control From Here" on the port. When you do this, roll and yaw controls switch places. (Pitch stays the same.) Likewise, up/down and forward/back translation switch places. And the NavBall now shows all blue when the docking port is pointed away from the planet, rather than when the nose of the vessel is pointed away.

Edited June 30, 2014 by Mr Shifty