Problem Autodock in DGIV?

[mohammednasim]

Say, how do I autodock with the ISS on a DGIV? I've tried keying in a dock frequency for NAV1, but "No signal found on NAV1." I've even tried deploying the external antenna and locking into the ISS, but zilch. Help?

 

[garyw]

You need to be within range of the ISS. This means that you have to do all of the orbit plane adjust and synchronisation work yourself.

Ideally, you want to be at station-keeping about 2-5km from the station before engaging the autodock system.

 

[Genesis27]

Even if you are within about 100km of the ISS, and you have the port frequency in Nav1, once you execute PRO300SPEC0, it should begin to auto dock...but it's always fun to try it manually.....if you don't succeed, you always have Autodock as a backup....good luck

 

[Ghostrider]

In my experience, it's good practice to center the velocity vector of the target on the HUD before engaging the autodock pilot, it tends to overcompensate a lot initially. I also use the stationkeeping program beforehand to null out the velocity differences.

 

[cinder1992]

[snip]I also use the stationkeeping program beforehand to null out the velocity differences.

WHAT station keeping program????

 

[Izack]

WHAT station keeping program????

PRO500SPEC0, I think.

 

[garyw]

Or just use Attitude MFD. I like that addon as it works with everything out there.

 

[N_Molson]

I never use the docking autopilot, because it relies on the retro thruster, that I don't use at all (in the "realistic" settings, they are more powerful than the main thrusters !).

But I tried it once because I was curious, and it worked perfectly ! That's a nice piece of code :thumbup:

 

[Izack]

Or just use Attitude MFD. I like that addon as it works with everything out there.

Good point. AttitudeMFD is even better than the station-keeping autopilot because the user can choose to null velocity along certain axes, even using hover thrusters.
Even for docking it can be better, as it can hold a certain orientation and center the velocity vector straight ahead.

 

[mohammednasim]

Waow! I'm thinking about the Attitude MFD. Well, actually, I was looking for something fully automated. I can align orbital planes, but waiting for the rendezvous is excruciating.
P.S. The idea was to dock a DGIV to an Arrow and depart for Europa.
Thanks for all the help, guys!

 

[Submariner]

Waow! I'm thinking about the Attitude MFD. Well, actually, I was looking for something fully automated. I can align orbital planes, but waiting for the rendezvous is excruciating.
P.S. The idea was to dock a DGIV to an Arrow and depart for Europa.
Thanks for all the help, guys!

Rendezvous maneuvers can take forever, but hey, that's what time acceleration is for!
If you are launching from an airless world, LOLAMFD had a fully automatic rendezvous program that worked great. You just had to perform the final docking. Unfortunately, Lola doesn't work with Orbiter 2010, but maybe someone's working on it.

 

[Izack]

You won't like the results of the DG-IV's autodock if you try it on the Arrow. The hangar bay isn't long enough for a normal docking procedure, so the autopilot will fly you right into the gravity wheel, and then slowly fly through the Arrow's mesh until coming out of the wall of the docking bay and docking.