Disabling transmission of physical data

[Decent Weasel]

Several times (always with Ike, for some reason) I've sent back crew and EVA reports, only to find (when I'm falling toward Kerbin or Eve or somewhere) that I've messed up and sent a surface sample over the radio.

Of course, EVA and Crew reports retain all of their scientific value when pushed through an antenna, but a surface sample has to be physically carried home for maximum scientific value, so an accidental transmission of a surface sample in a long stream of EVA reports will have a pretty harsh impact on a mission's results.

This kinda gets on my nerves, that it's so easy to mess this up, but I think a fix for it would have a positive impact on science gathering in general. These include:

-a checkbox option for physical data, such as a goo container or surface sample, that when enabled causes an attempt to transmit it over the radio pop up a warning,

or

-the option to stack crew reports on top of each other, as is possible with EVA reports. A crew capsule can hold an unlimited number of EVA reports at once, provided each is from a different biome, but it can only hold one crew report, period. Given crew reports are apparently just a file folder, like EVAs, it seems like they ought to function the same, and should be possible to store limitlessly as long as you only get one per biome.

Just my two cents. Maybe the rest of you aren't as inept as me

Edited August 4, 2014 by Decent Weasel
reworded for clarity

[r4pt0r]

I still feel that things like temperature should bee 100% transmit. when a kerbal removes data from a thermometer, what is he grabbing? same for pressure and stuff. numbers can be sent.

[undercoveryankee]

-the option to stack crew reports on top of each other, as is possible with EVA reports. A crew capsule can hold an unlimited number of EVA reports at once, provided each is from a different biome, but it can only hold one crew report, period. Given crew reports are apparently just a file folder, like EVAs, it seems like they ought to function the same, and should be possible to store limitlessly as long as you only get one per biome.

It's possible to get crew reports from multiple biomes into a command pod, but there's a trick to it. Freshly generated reports don't stack, because the code that handles running experiments assumes that the part that you use to run the experiment won't also have storage. But reports that are moved to the capsule by a kerbal do allow you to store one per biome, just like moving any other experiment to the capsule. If you EVA, take the data from the command pod, and then store all of the data back in the same pod, that will be enough to move the crew report to the part of the capsule that can hold one per biome and allow you to take another.

[EdFred]

It's possible to get crew reports from multiple biomes into a command pod, but there's a trick to it. Freshly generated reports don't stack, because the code that handles running experiments assumes that the part that you use to run the experiment won't also have storage. But reports that are moved to the capsule by a kerbal do allow you to store one per biome, just like moving any other experiment to the capsule. If you EVA, take the data from the command pod, and then store all of the data back in the same pod, that will be enough to move the crew report to the part of the capsule that can hold one per biome and allow you to take another.

I discovered this by accident a couple weeks ago, and now I no longer put any antenna on my spacecraft. Saves on weight.

[UberFuber]

I still feel that things like temperature should bee 100% transmit. when a kerbal removes data from a thermometer, what is he grabbing? same for pressure and stuff. numbers can be sent.

Could be the issue of digitization.

The thermometer may have a physical drum that records more precise temperature reading (and pressure readings).

Kerbal's Analog-to-Digital conversion electronics may have fairly low precision (can only distinguish between 10 degree C difference, while the drum reading can achieve 1 degree C difference).

[Joonatan1998]

I discovered this by accident a couple weeks ago, and now I no longer put any antenna on my spacecraft. Saves on weight.

The wiki says that the smallest antenna is massless. Not using an antenna only saves money and part count.

[makinyashikino]

I still feel that things like temperature should bee 100% transmit. when a kerbal removes data from a thermometer, what is he grabbing? same for pressure and stuff. numbers can be sent.

Agree 100%

[Ruedii]

The other thought is that if there is a precision issue, you should get 100% when the data is processed in the mobile science lab.

In fact, changing the amount of improvement for science lab processing to be different based on the type of item, would be a very nice additional feature.

Also, it would be nice if the science lab could produce "Preliminary data" without destroying a sample, hence allowing you to send the sample back to Kerbin for the rest of the science points.

Furthermore, it would be really great if the science lab could allow "packaging" of samples and data so more can be shipped in a single capsule.

[r4pt0r]

"Preliminary data"

Interesting idea

[Ruedii]

I was just thinking about this more, and it would be cool if the "transmit" option on any antenna brought up a "Transmit" menu where you could select each piece of data, or data that can be immediately gathered (e.g. crew report or temperature scan.)

If you have a processing lab on your ship, it should have a box to process the data first. (Otherwise it should be greyed out.)

Additionally, it should have a slider for "packet burst size" that is limited by the total electrical capacity of your ship. This would prevent you from losing science points to rounding errors when transmitted in single packet bursts due to low battery. This slider should also be accessible from the right click menu as well.