General Question MFD advice & help for beginners

[asta la vista]

Hi Everyone
I am new to this forum and to orbiter 2010, so if I may I would like to ask a few question: I see that there are many different mfd's Trans x, imfd, etc etc so do I need to have all these or can I use just one, the reason I ask is because im finding it difficult to understand how these mfd work, I see some mfd come with addons for orbiter, so do I have to use that with the mod or can I just learn one & stick with that.

When selecting an mfd in the module list do i just have one mfd selected or can you have others selected aswell?.

Could someone please recommend were I could find a book or a site on how to learn the mfd or anything that would help me in getting started with orbiter 2010.

Being a beginner what addons or anything that would help me in this steep learning curve could you please recommend, thank you & please excuse my ignorance im really lost.

Ps what a great site im reading through the forum getting all the help I can.

Thank you in Advance........:facepalm:

 

[Goth]

Hi there, welcome to this wonderful world.
-you should start with the basic MFDs, the default ones which come with Orbiter;
-yes, you can select multiple MFDs on the module list;
-to start with Orbiter, well, there is the manual; look in the Doc folder;
-for the recommended addons, you should look here: http://www.orbiter-forum.com/addons.php?v=2010

EDIT:
Ah, a nice book to start with is this: http://www.amcsorley.dsl.pipex.com/play_in_space.htm
Have fun! :thumbup:

 

[jambooger]

Oh my,,,,, well first Welcome to the forum

Now the basics. You have alot of reading to do. I do mean alot. Before worrying about addons you must first learn many basics about Orbiter and space flight. I assume you have downloaded 2010 P1? If so ck out the Orbiter manual in the Doc folder, Then "Go Play in Space" is a must read.

As for MFD's yes you can activate as many as you would like in the modules tab. IMFD is considerably easier to learn than Trans X, but that all will come later. If you decide on IMFD you will need to read IMFD Full Manual.

Most links to these manuals and tutorials are here http://orbiter-forum.com/tutorials.php

Add ons that have been verified working in 2010 p1 can be found here http://www.orbiter-forum.com/showthread.php?t=16177


Be advised people on this forum will give you a wealth of information and help but some are not very tolerent if you havent first done all your homework BEFORE asking. Believe me I found out the hard way :lol: They are a great bunch though.

Good Luck!

oops, Goth beat me to some of the info.

 

[Tex]

1. Welcome!
2. Read the manual as others have pointed out. If you are still coming to grasp with orbital mechanics and how it all works, then you should start with 'Go Play in Space', a popular easy to read tutorial which was made for ORBITER 2006, however it works just as well with ORBITER 2010.
3. Don't worry about addons right now. Focus on learning why things work instead of how to do it. Once you have a better understanding of that it will make learning the MFD's and such easier.
4. Be patient, it takes some time to grasp it all, especially if you don't already have an understanding of orbital mechanics.

 

[IgnoreThisBarrel]

Welcome to the forum! I'm an immigrant from Celestia (although I do still visit my home country/program). When I first started using Orbiter for real (I had used it a couple months and a year before but gave up) I had no knowledge of what to do.

First, I highly recommend you learn to do everything with the basic MFD's. Right now, you should just try to get into orbit with various ships. Then you should try lunar transfers (TransX), rendezvousing with a station (Sync Orbit MFD) and Docking (Docking MFD's HUD is extremely useful, Tex has an excellent tutorial on rendezvousing and docking).

Before you do all these, I must stress the importance of knowing orbital mechanics, e.g. raising and lowering your orbit, plane changes, etc.

The you should download IMFD and watch the tutorial on getting from Europa to Callisto (it's somewhere on the internet) until you can remember all the steps clearly.

And of course BaseSync MFD is really useful if you want to land at bases.

Good luck and remember, video tutorials are your friend!

 

[Grover]

i see you've already been welcomed!

i managed to learn pretty quickly by starting with the DGIV, watch its autopilot for ascent so you can redo it yourself later. its also a very forgiving ship, with a wide error margin.

onto MFDs though, you can get by using orbiter with just the stock MFDs, mainly learn the orbit MFD, map MFD, align plane MFD, sync and transfer MFD and docking MFD, then start learning the others as and when you need them.

watching the tutorials like "DG to the moon" will teach you how to use the essential ones, so you will be able to do a trip to a space station and possibly a trip to the moon (although going to the moon is easier with other MFDs if you know how to use them)

if you plan to do re-entries, two MUST HAVES are the BaseSync MFD and the Aerobrake MFD, which help to align your orbit with a target base, do an accurate de-orbit burn, and re-enter without going off track, if you use it properly you will never miss a runway again.

as for interplanetary flight, you will only need IMFD OR transx, as they both do more or less the same thing, but sometimes IMFD can be easier to use (like during two plane target interceptions). i personally havent got the hang of IMFD, but i can use transx to go to the moon and back with ease. theres already a few tutorials out there for transx, you just need to look.

if all goes well, try using the atlantis to go to the ISS, its FAR harder than using a DG, even with the launch autopilot

welcome to the world of orbiter! have a good one!

 

[Tommy]

Most MFD's are only useful for certain operations. SurfaceMFD is only useful during ascents, re-entries, or suborbital flights. It tells you the essential information for performing those tasks, like altitude, Vertical Speed, etc.

OrbitMFD is used for many orbital operations, and displays all the information you need - actually more information than you will need most of the time. You will rarely need to know your SMA, for instance, until you are VERY advanced. It's like the math "story problems" in school - they often contain "extra" information that isn't really relevant to the problem, and is only there to confuse you.

Align PlanesMFD and SyncMFD are very specialized, and only useful for certain ops. AlignPlanes is only useful for aligning your orbital plane with a target objects orbital plane, and can help with launch timing. SyncMFD is only useful when you want to rendezvous with an object orbiting the same body as you are.

As others have pointed out, learning the basics of orbital mechanics is essential, and "Go Play In Space" is an excellent place to start. It will help you understand the basics of orbital mechanics, show you which MFD to use for a particular purpose, and tell you what information displayed by the MFD is important. The Orbiter Manual in your Oriter/Docs folder is an extremely useful reference for the stock MFDs, but doesn't always explain them in a way that makes sense until you know a bit about the actual physics and terminology used. Knowing that "PeA" (displayed in OrbitMFD) means Periapsis Altitude isn't that helpful until you know that a Periapsis is the lowest point of an orbit.

As for add-on MFDs, they also are typically designed for one particular purpose. Some come with good docs, many don't. Use the search function here at the forum to find helpful tips and "mini-tutorials" for these, and if all else fails, ask. As long as it appears you have tried to find out for yourself first (ie, read the docs, searched the forum, etc) many of us will be glad to help. We all needed, and received, a lot of help ourselves and are glad to return the favor forward. We do get a little irritated if people ask questions that were already asked, or are answered in the docs, though, so please do a bit of "homework" first. If you just can't find the answer, or need more explanation of something in particular, don't be afraid to ask. It's not like we'll show up on your doorstep with blunt objects or anything!

For most things, there isn't really a choice of what MFD to use - only one will be available for that particular purpose. For Interplanetary or lunar trips there are some choices - which you use is largely a matter of preference. LTMFD is very good for moon trips, but useless for interplanetary. IMFD is a good all-around navigation tool, and can be fairly simple to use - but can also be used for more advanced tasks as your experience grows. TransX is quite difficult until you have a good grasp of orbital mechanics and the methods used to get from one place to another - but can perform very complex missions like multiple fly-by's (like the Cassini mission) and has some capabilities that IMFD doesn't.

As others have said, Orbiter does require a fair bit of knowledge - and the more you want to do the more you'll need to know first.

 

[statickid]

If you learned any MFD first, my personal recommendation would be the Orbit MFD because to me it is the "most basic and essential." It seems to me that if you can't read the Orbit MFD then no one will be able to help you because to use it, as Tommy is pointing out, you will need to have to know a vocabulary and acronym set to get started. Good luck!

 

[asta la vista]

Hi Everyone

Thank you for a very warm welcome, and thank you for the great advice & tips.
So now I have got the book play in space & im looking at the rest of the very helpful infomation in the tutorial's section, Looks like I have some serious homework to do then..:tiphat: Thanks again......:thumbup:

 

[jambooger]

Hi Everyone

Thank you for a very warm welcome, and thank you for the great advice & tips.
So now I have got the book play in space & im looking at the rest of the very helpful infomation in the tutorial's section, Looks like I have some serious homework to do then..:tiphat: Thanks again......:thumbup:

Sounds like your off to a great start. Have a blast!

and remember Hail Probe.