Petty little questions, always prevelant

[Kaito]

Okay, i've been accumulating a couple of small questions (because if i posted a topic for every single one...the moderators would get so mad they'd ban me):

-Is there a way I can find the location of a certain base on the Earth, WITHOUT guess and check? (like, is there a picture or something telling me where every base is? Some kind of visual reference?)
-How do I "use" the AeroBrakeMFD? Like, can someone describe to me how i would use it to AeroBrake, or see if i'm lined up right for re-entry?
-How do I use the BaseSyncMFD? I'm assuming that it has a very specific task: telling me when to do my De-orbit burn for a base. Can someone direct me on how to go about doing this?
-Is there a way I can actually get from the Moon back to Earth, WITHOUT winging it? I've heard that you can do it with IMFD...but I dont know IMFD at all.
-My "external" sound isn't working. Like, i'm not hearing the "Air on G String". On OrbiterSound, i have "Allow the Silence of space", "Play Radio sound and attitude mode change also in external view", and "Play GPWS sound also in external view" all checked (tho i have no idea what GPWS is...", and for the dropdown list, i have "Play mp3 only in space in external view (default recommended)" Checked. Any idea what is wrong??
-I just recently turned on ATC sounds. What does ATC mean, and at what times do they play?
-Is there an easy way to launch from ISS directly to the moon? I tried it with the DGIV...my main fuel was at 3% by the time i entered Lunar Orbit. Would I just need to have a ship already in plane with the moon, undock from ISS, dock with refueling ship, then launch to the moon?
-What exactly does the FuelMFD do? I was reading just random posts, and I heard that when you transfer fuel from ship to ship, and you are using FuelMFD, it actually drains fuel. Is that what this is used for?
-I'm missing msvcp70.dll for the BurnTimeMFD. I tried installing it...and BurnTimeMFD still wont work. Is it just a problem with the MFD?

I know, LOTS of questions. If any of these could be answered, it would be greatly appreciated.

~Kaito

---EDIT---

Thought of another one:
When I'm syncing for ISS, I know i hit mode, and select either my ApA or PeA, based on what side I matched my altitude on. Then, from there, i'm supposed to either Burn Prograde or Retrograde to lower DTmin to 0. I watched Tex's video, and it seems to always be opposite (prograde to catch ISS, Retrograde to have ISS catch you). Can someone explain to me...
-What is going on with that (or am i just stupid)
-What is DTmin/what does it have to do with docking?

---EDIT (again)---
Whenever I use the Turbopack for the UMMU, I get sound, but I dont get any partical thrust (if i'm in external view, i dont see anything, but i'm moving). Any explanation?

 

[Goth]

I think you need to read some Tutorials.

 

[caningo]

Mini Tutorial

Alright I’m going to try and answer as many of these as possible. I like you have had a lot of doubts and questions along the way and have always appreciated when someone takes the time to answer them. I know that getting around in Orbiter isn’t very easy at first. Anyways here we go:

Is there a way I can find the location of a certain base on the Earth, WITHOUT guess and check? (like, is there a picture or something telling me where every base is? Some kind of visual reference?)

Have you tried using Map MFD? All bases are shown here as red squares. If you want to know the specific location in latitude and longitude, you can input the base you want with TGT and Map MFD will tell you along with your distance from the base and the heading you should have in order to go towards it.

You can also use F9 (check Surface Bases) which will put a marker on top of any given base if your close enough to see it.

How do I use the BaseSyncMFD? I'm assuming that it has a very specific task: telling me when to do my De-orbit burn for a base. Can someone direct me on how to go about doing this?

How do I "use" the AeroBrakeMFD? Like, can someone describe to me how i would use it to AeroBrake, or see if i'm lined up right for re-entry?

Try this tutorial out: http://orbithangar.com/searchid.php?ID=3428. It’s how I learnt how to do accurate reentries with basesync and aerobrakemfd.

Is there a way I can actually get from the Moon back to Earth, WITHOUT winging it? I've heard that you can do it with IMFD...but I dont know IMFD at all.

I remember my first trip to the moon was done with Transfer MFD but after that I couldn’t get back to earth using it!! After a while, I heard all these great things about IMFD and started playing around with it. I also did some rather outdated tutorials until I started getting the swing of it. Anything I didn’t understand I would go on to the forum and ask or look for previous posts related to IMFD.

I recommend you start here: http://orbithangar.com/searchid.php?ID=3403. This a great tutorial made by one of the members here in the forum, ar81. He made it with simplicity in mind. This should really help you to get the basics of IMFD. Once you do that then you can go do some of the other tutorials on Jarmonik’s (IMFD creator) site: http://koti.mbnet.fi/jarmonik/Orbiter.html. There should be a tutorial that gets you from the Moon to the Earth.

If you still have any questions related to IMFD let me know as I believe I am fairly proficient at it. I will soon be writing some tutorials so be on the lookout for those.

My "external" sound isn't working. Like, i'm not hearing the "Air on G String". On OrbiterSound, i have "Allow the Silence of space", "Play Radio sound and attitude mode change also in external view", and "Play GPWS sound also in external view" all checked (tho i have no idea what GPWS is...", and for the dropdown list, i have "Play mp3 only in space in external view (default recommended)" Checked. Any idea what is wrong??

GPWS = Ground Proximity Warning System. In Orbiter you’ll hear this in the cockpit when you hear the guy saying 50, 40, etc… Have you checked that the Air on G String is in your MP3 folder? Go to SoundConfig and check where it says Open Mp3 directory. If its there then go ahead and resave your settings and try again. If it doesn’t work I really don’t know what it could be. You might have to install Orbiter Sound again on a clean installation of Orbiter.

I just recently turned on ATC sounds. What does ATC mean, and at what times do they play?

ATC = Air Traffic Control. I personally don’t use these because they play at random times during flight and I find that rather annoying. The ATC sounds included are audio clips from the Apollo 11 mission. It’s up to you if you want to hear that in the middle of a flight to mars for example! It’s personal preference.

Is there an easy way to launch from ISS directly to the moon? I tried it with the DGIV...my main fuel was at 3% by the time i entered Lunar Orbit. Would I just need to have a ship already in plane with the moon, undock from ISS, dock with refueling ship, then launch to the moon?

Well there are several ways to go about this one in my opinion. You can refuel your DGIV at the ISS and the leave for the moon or you can change the settings on the DGIV so it has a huge amount of fuel and then you don’t have to worry about arriving there short of fuel.

Another way is extending your flight time, that way you don’t have to spend so much fuel on the burn. This can be adjusted using IMFD or TransX for example.

What exactly does the FuelMFD do? I was reading just random posts, and I heard that when you transfer fuel from ship to ship, and you are using FuelMFD, it actually drains fuel. Is that what this is used for?

I just started using this one recently. But from what I see you can do several things: crossfeed, dump and transfer. It’s mainly used for transferring fuel from one ship (usually a tanker or space station) to a docked vessel (a DGIV for example). It’s more realistic in the fact that you don’t magically make fuel like the DGIV does when it refuels.

When I'm syncing for ISS, I know i hit mode, and select either my ApA or PeA, based on what side I matched my altitude on. Then, from there, i'm supposed to either Burn Prograde or Retrograde to lower DTmin to 0. I watched Tex's video, and it seems to always be opposite (prograde to catch ISS, Retrograde to have ISS catch you). Can someone explain to me...
-What is going on with that (or am i just stupid)
-What is DTmin/what does it have to do with docking

I could spend days trying to explain this to you as it can be a little hard to grasp at first. I’ll try to make it as simple as possible. When you match your apoapsis or periapsis to the ISS altitude you are doing so to set a meeting point with it in the future. The tricky part is getting the two vessels to meet at that point at the same time.

That is where you adjust your orbit, more specifically your orbital period. If you’re ahead of the ISS for example, you have to let it catch up to you. To do this you have to make your orbital period bigger, which means increasing the size of your orbit. The opposite applies for when you are behind of the ISS: make your orbital period smaller to catch up. To increase or decrease size of your orbit you burn at the intersection point. If you are behind of the ISS you burn retrograde, if you are ahead you burn prograde.

DTMin tells you how much you have to burn. You always want to aim for DTmin=0. DTmin is the difference between the arrival times of the two vessels. Remember, ISS isn’t going to wait for you… it is always on the go! So be sure to be there on time.

Whenever I use the Turbopack for the UMMU, I get sound, but I dont get any partical thrust (if i'm in external view, i dont see anything, but i'm moving). Any explanation?

As far as I’m concerned there is no particle thrust for the turbopacks. I’m guessing that’s the way they were designed.

I hope this helps you out.

Cheers,
Caningo

 

[Kaito]

Awesome, thanks dude!
I'll try some of that stuff when I get home from school

 

[Zatnikitelman]

For the Orbiter Sound, you said you have "Allow the silence of space" checked. That means whenever you're in external view, you'll get the realistic silence of space. If you want to hear the sounds, uncheck it.
Cheers!