Antennas

[seaces]

I am just wondering about the antennas for transmission. So it seems that we have 3 types? each with greater upload speed and higher energy consumption. Now except the speed of transfer is there any good reason why I should put huge dish antenna that drinks energy like there is unlimited amount of it??? Maybe with small antenna transferring something from very distant planet is very hard or nearly impossible or something like that?

[Anquietas314]

The transfer speeds listed in-game are actually wrong. the larger transmitters do transmit faster. It's a bug that's been in the game for quite a while (since antennae became useful I believe).

The actual values are listed here:

http://wiki.kerbalspaceprogram.com/wiki/Antenna

[Ruedii]

Nope no reason whatsoever. However, some of the later advanced science parts can get pretty big uploads. An atmospheric analysis can take several minutes to upload.

I agree that antennas need to be balanced differently. However, I think engines need balancing far more. (Especially jet engines.)

[Anquietas314]

Nope no reason whatsoever. However, some of the later advanced science parts can get pretty big uploads. An atmospheric analysis can take several minutes to upload.

I agree that antennas need to be balanced differently. However, I think engines need balancing far more. (Especially jet engines.)

See above post.

[tsotha]

The bigger antennas do transmit data faster, but in KSP time scales it doesn't really matter, and the Communotron 16 is the most efficient power-wise. At this point unless you've installed RemoteTech it's pretty much a question of aesthetics.

[Anquietas314]

The bigger antennas do transmit data faster, but in KSP time scales it doesn't really matter, and the Communotron 16 is the most efficient power-wise. At this point unless you've installed RemoteTech it's pretty much a question of aesthetics.

I guess you've never tried to transmit 50 experiments at a time before?

[Mister Kerman]

Style of course, is the most important aspect of designing a craft.

[tsotha]

I guess you've never tried to transmit 50 experiments at a time before?

Can't imagine why you'd need to do that, especially considering the amount of power you'd have to design in to make it work.

[Anquietas314]

Can't imagine why you'd need to do that, especially considering the amount of power you'd have to design in to make it work.

A couple gigantors cover that. Example usage: collecting a whole bunch of crew reports and EVA reports out at the Jool system, holding onto them so you can keep track (without using notepad/similar) of where you've been already, and then transmitting them when you're done for the immediate science gain (because damn does it take a long time to get home from Jool).

[seaces]

So there is not much big difference between the antennas except their speed. I was thinking that for example there is some limitation of transmit from very far away planets but it seems there is no such thing. It would be interesting that they make like some limitations. For example add some interferences and other limitations in transfers so when you are maybe sending some probe far away and plan to transmit science you might be forced to use bigger antennas that are for that kind of job instead the small ones that could be weak and could hinder your transmitted data so for example you get a message from KSP that data got corrupted and lose some science points since you did that with some low tier antenna. What you guys think about this? I think it would be great and add also another level in design phase and mission conduct.

[Anquietas314]

seaces: The main thing that stops antennae working over extreme distances isn't interference - it's that the signal disperses so much that it's indistinguishable from background noise (stars and so on also give off low levels of radio waves). I do however think a distance-based limitation would be good for stock. RemoteTech basically provides this (if you disable the signal delay) although this is probably a little too complex for stock, seeing as you basically need to launch a satellite network before you can really use probes for anything (they lose control if they don't have a signal connection to KSC). You can of course do this using the direct line-of-sight to KSC for the first couple satellites, but that requires a very inefficient flight path or a ridiculously high TWR to get apoapsis high enough before you lose connection from orbiting beyond the horizon.

[cantab]

In the stock game all antennae have unlimited range. So it only matters which you choose in the rare cases where you're time-limited. The game will queue up transmissions, so even if you have only a short window to run your experiments such as for a flyby or a descent for landing you can just set them all to transmit and let the data be sent out at your leisure.

So really it just leaves impactors, in particular Jool probes and sundivers, that need to get their data sent off before they're destroyed.

One oddity to note is that the whip and the high-gain dish are both physicless. The mid-gain dish isn't though, so it will reduce delta-V and unbalance the ship. No real issue for anything manned but it can seriously mess up a small probe.

As far as mods go, AntennaRange limits the antenna ranges and has basic relaying ability, without the complexity of remote tech.

[tsotha]

A couple gigantors cover that. Example usage: collecting a whole bunch of crew reports and EVA reports out at the Jool system, holding onto them so you can keep track (without using notepad/similar) of where you've been already, and then transmitting them when you're done for the immediate science gain (because damn does it take a long time to get home from Jool).

This makes no sense to me. All that information is in the tab labeled "Research Archives" at R&D, and it's in a much, much easier format to peruse than using the review button.

[seaces]

I hope that they will do some changes regarding transmission simulation It would add more fun to it and challenge

[Sirrobert]

This makes no sense to me. All that information is in the tab labeled "Research Archives" at R&D, and it's in a much, much easier format to peruse than using the review button.

Yea but than you'd have to go through 2 loading screens every time you want to check where you're done.

As for the OP: If you want a simple mod that gives the different antennas a use, I recomend Antenna Range mod Nice and simple

[bandi94]

I am just wondering about the antennas for transmission. So it seems that we have 3 types? each with greater upload speed and higher energy consumption. Now except the speed of transfer is there any good reason why I should put huge dish antenna that drinks energy like there is unlimited amount of it??? Maybe with small antenna transferring something from very distant planet is very hard or nearly impossible or something like that?

Well in the stock game only upload speed differs, a dish antenna is better when you do science on a planet like Duna ( you process science in a science lab and send multiple data (10-20) )

If you want a more realistic antenna usage i recommend : "RemoteTech" mod. Then you will need to build satellites ( planets / moons will block the signal so you will need to cover planets with satellites and "bounce" the signal around the planet/moon , etc ... )