Prelude Approach

[blane]

Hi there,

I'm in the process of landing a DGIV at a Prelude II base on Phobos. Now, I notice that these bases don't have IDS/ILS neither a VOR. The only thing it has is an XPDR which only provides CVEL and Altitude infromation on DockMFD but no directions whatsoever.

I'm using the map tool now and fly by VFR ... which seems to be a bit weird. Are there better IFR procedures than just using MapMFD to fly into the correct directions?


-----Posted Added-----


okay, i should search outside orbiter forum before asking here. It seems what I need is this:

http://orbiter.dansteph.com/index.php?disp=dgIVMore&DId=37


-----Posted Added-----


Hmm. I landed... or not. Looks like Phobos mass is not large enough, I keep bouncing off. So basically it is impossible to keep the DGIV fixed to the PreludeII base on Phobos?

 

[XonE32]

Hey Snw,

I had a similar situation. I have a PreludeII on Phobos, but I haven't been there yet. But I do have another on Amalthea (tiny rock half way between Jupiter and Io's orbit) so they have similar mass issues (i.e. difficult landings). I found that you have to land exactly in the center of the pad. My last landing on Amalthea was a bouncy one and then on one of the bounces the ship "stuck" which led me to the conclusion above.

In addition, I think the pad on the PreludeII constitutes a 'real' landing pad (i.e. it shows up in the scenario editor). So if you can set your ship to landing pad 1 on yer PreludeII in the scenario editor you should be able to land there yerself manually. It's just a little tougher do to due to the low mass of Phobos.

 

[Bj]

Hmm. I landed... or not. Looks like Phobos mass is not large enough, I keep bouncing off. So basically it is impossible to keep the DGIV fixed to the PreludeII base on Phobos?

Phobos mass is large enough to land on. It just takes a very light touch to land. Remember it has to be a vertical landing.

Tip; If your impatient like me you could orbit Phobos, then retrofire to reduce ground speed to 0. Then tilt you nose to aim at the base and fire for a brief 3-8 seconds or so. Just remember you have to cancel out that gained speed or you will lose your landing gear. :lol:

 

[blane]

I was very patient, hovering about 5 meters above the pad. with no relative speed, using minimal linear thrusters for the slowesr possible touchdown. It still bounced me up again, even if I adjusted my decent to 0.1m/s

But it might be I was not exactly centered .. I was very close though, hard to tell from external view if I was off.

As for scenario editor: That works, you cant select the pad directly but you can set the Base as offset for a new vessel. Then simply adjust the position a few meters so its centered on the pad.

However, that's not what I want to do

 

[unussapiens]

Try using your RCS to give a bit of downwards force AFTER you have touched down, that will hopefully eliminate any bounce.

 

[blane]

Hah! Thanks unussapiens, that was it!

I would have never thought that I actually descended to *slow* to make it work. Indeed: Just push the ship down with RCS burst when you are at 3 m above the pad -- worked perfectly. Finally I'm fixed to the ground.

But I am warned, I better watch my step now, when walking around in in an ummu. If I stumble I'm probably a mars moon by myself :lol:

 

[Bj]

Just don't jump

 

[Hielor]

What's wrong with VFR to a base on Phobos? I mean, your basic average general aviation spacecraft might not have a full instrument suite...

 

[blane]

It's very dark there

But Grrrr... now i run into a CTD, when I want to enter the base with an ummu.

Finished setting up render state
>>> ERROR: Missing texture: U_mmu.dds
>>>        [C:\Source\Orbiter\Texture.cpp / 781]
>>> ERROR: Missing texture: U_mmu2.dds
>>>        [C:\Source\Orbiter\Texture.cpp / 781]

Uhhhm, shouldn't they be in the ummu add-on? What else could be missing? Orbiter Diagnostics doesn't show anything wrong :/

 

[Bj]

It's very dark there

But Grrrr... now i run into a CTD, when I want to enter the base with an ummu.

Finished setting up render state
>>> ERROR: Missing texture: U_mmu.dds
>>>        [C:SourceOrbiterTexture.cpp / 781]
>>> ERROR: Missing texture: U_mmu2.dds
>>>        [C:SourceOrbiterTexture.cpp / 781]

Uhhhm, shouldn't they be in the ummu add-on? What else could be missing? Orbiter Diagnostics doesn't show anything wrong :/

The textures are under

\orbiter060929_base\Textures2\UMmu

check to see if the textures are there.

 

[blane]

Hmm.

U_mmu.dds is there,
U_mmu2.dds is not.

I must admit I have no clue how to fix this.

 

[Bj]

Somehow they must have gotten deleted. I attached U_mmu.dds but I am not sure where U_mmu2.dds is. You could just try a fresh install of DGIV.

 

[blane]

Uhm, as I said, the "U_mmu.dds" file *does* exist in the Textures2 folder... and it's the same size. So the file is not missing ... but for some reason orbiter seems to think it is.

I only discovered this when I enter a base with an ummu. This happens with a transfer from a landed DGIV as well as if I create an ummu outside of the base and try to enter...

 

[Bj]

Uhm, as I said, the "U_mmu.dds" file *does* exist in the Textures2 folder... and it's the same size. So the file is not missing ... but for some reason orbiter seems to think it is.

I only discovered this when I enter a base with an ummu. This happens with a transfer from a landed DGIV as well as if I create an ummu outside of the base and try to enter...

opps sorry I mis-read.

I haven't been able to recreate this.

You could try reinstalling, that might help.

 

[blane]

I found the cause, it's mentioned in Dan's FAQ to the Deltaglider:

[Q]: I get CTD (Crash to Desktop) during EVA ingress or DGIV destruction

If you experience Crash to Desktop during EVA ingress or DeltaGliderIV destruction, it is 99.99% probable that you have another addon MFD or module that has kept a handle on DGIV or Ummu after is deletion.

With all Modules unloaded, the CTD does not occur... Now I will find out which one it is...


-----Posted Added-----


Okay, isolated the reason. Just for the record (or anyone finds this by doing a search on prelude EVA CTDs), it was SuborbMFD.

[ame="http://www.orbithangar.com/searchid.php?ID=1367"]SuborbMFD v2.1[/ame]

Removing this got rid of the CTD.

 

[mattr76]

I also thought that some MFD (docking / VTOL) guidance would have been helpful. I basically got the DG kinda sorta over the pad but had to use an external view to line it up before dropping it on. That kills the realism for me.

 

[blane]

With this addon:

http://orbiter.dansteph.com/index.ph...gIVMore&DId=37

The Prelude II Bases have a real IDS frequency (they are printed on top of the base skin). A plain instrument approach is possible.