BoxSat Antenna Discussion

[orcmaul]

Hello, daspenguin and I released BoxSat today and so far we've heard several times that people would like see some antennas. We already have some antennas planned but we'd also like to know what sort of antennas people are looking for. Omni? Directional? What sort of performance? Are you looking to build a communications network around Kerbin or connect the whole Kerbol system? Post pictures if you have them.

[Mecripp]

Be nice if BoxSat could use this mod's http://forum.kerbalspaceprogram.com/threads/88116-Modular-Computer-Package cards also or you guys team up and for the antennas Omni or Directional dishes think both.

EDIT- And Great Job this mods make KSP Better.

EDIT- And Aies and RT2 have Dishes that fit very nice on this mod.

Edited August 24, 2014 by Mecripp2

[rottielover]

I like the "tape measure" omin's those a nice, and the dish you have is really nice as well.

I personally would like to see a bigger dish or two. I would also love to see a box made of other boxes to form a "rack". Eventually I could envision replaceable parts for signal processors (maybe as you go farther in the tech tree this gives you a reason to service your com sat's, get longer range by upgrading internals).

Just all around love this mod, it goes together with RT2 like applebutter and pork chops!

[rottielover]

Another idea, and please say if you think this is cheaty or not...

What about a part or parts that could be used to turn a sat into a control station for RT2? (I think normally you need a large stock probe core + 5 or 6 kerbals, so you would have to come up with something equiv)

[Pondafarr]

RT2 would have to be reconfigured to change the base station status, as it was intended to prevent you from simply dropping a probe wherever you wanted a base station. OR, put a 6 kerbal command pod on your BoxSat, which kinda defeats the purpose...

[orcmaul]

Sorry it took me a while to get around to answering this. I had to confirm RT2 still works the way it did when I used it seriously in 23.5. I also typically use the AIES antennas with RT2 and then further hand edit everything so that the antenna selection is diverse and useful. Needless to say I had to remind myself how stock RT2 works.

I personally would like to see a bigger dish or two.

Bigger dish, huh? Our existing dish is 0.625m in diameter and is the biggest size we feel comfortable fitting on our 0.625m frame. That dish will comfortably range out to Duna in all conditions. It's slightly less powerful than the KR-14 (2.5m diameter) provided with RemoteTech. For BoxSat this will probably be our largest antenna. I am planning on increasing the performance of the tape antennas to be more useful.

That said I do want to better understand what gaps people are trying to fill in their antenna line-up so that I can plan ahead for future projects. RemoteTech includes 1.25m, 2.5m and ~3m fixed dish antennas. The stock Communotron 88-88 provides a folding 2.5m dish. So here are my antenna questions:

1. What size antenna are you looking for? (give rough dimensions)
   
2. What kind of performance do you want? (What planet will it reach?)
   
3. Directional or Omni?
   
4. Fixed, Hinged, or Folding? (Hinged just moves, Folding unpacks)
   
5. What kind of vehicle does it mount on?
   

I would also love to see a box made of other boxes to form a "rack".

Unfortunately, nesting KAS objects is really touchy. Pull the wrong bit out and everything may detach. Instant Kessler cloud. I'm trying to find a way to neatly incorporate our existing BoxSat modules into a 1.25m frame in order to support large satellites. Keeping the mass reasonably balanced with multiple module bays is difficult. So right now it's one of those "If we have time" things.

Eventually I could envision replaceable parts for signal processors (maybe as you go farther in the tech tree this gives you a reason to service your com sat's, get longer range by upgrading internals).

This works right now. The basic probe core gets an upgrade in RT2 when you unlock Unmanned Tech. It adds a 3km omni-directional antenna to the probe core. You can fly up a new probe core to swap out on your existing satellites.

Just all around love this mod, it goes together with RT2 like applebutter and pork chops!

Thank you for all of the great feedback!

Another idea, and please say if you think this is cheaty or not...

What about a part or parts that could be used to turn a sat into a control station for RT2? (I think normally you need a large stock probe core + 5 or 6 kerbals, so you would have to come up with something equiv)

As far as I can tell the settings for crew requirement for the command station are not exposed. Yup, there it is in the ModuleSPU code. Six is the hardcoded requirement. Now, if it were changeable, I still probably wouldn't change it. Six Kerbals in a station is not difficult even with a life support mod. I suppose putting that station in orbit around another planet with a life support mod would be a bit harder but still very doable. However, the difficulty is the point of this game mechanic.

You did cause me to think of a radially mounted command station part which I've noted down should we ever make some station parts. I think it'd kind of look like the part of KSP Interstellar Science Lab with all of the antennas that unfold and such. If anyone else wants to try something like this please do.