TransX TransX For Dummies

[OldnSlow]

Hi guys, I am looking for a really basic tutorial for using TransX. I have gone through lots of simpler tutorials already and can do all the basic stuff but interplanetary travel seems to be beyond me. I have read the manual, tried to go through TransX tutorials and even watched some TransX videos but nothing seems to stick. I really am getting disheartened by my inability to learn to use this MFD. Can anyone please help!!!!!! :shrug:

 

[flytandem]

There are many things that TransX can do and maybe you are trying to do too many too quickly.

I recommend you first get really good at setting up a maneuver and burning it. Mostly use prograde and outward at first in the maneuvers. Then find situations where plane change in the maneuver is useful. For example you could use scenario editor to place a couple of ships in orbit around the moon (things happen slower there) and use one ship to rendezvous with the other.

Then you can try interplanetary if you like but this happens really slowly. Place a ship in orbit around the sun and in a place where you can use TransX maneuver to do a burn to arrive at a planet (any of of the inner planets since the outers take hours sometimes)

Capt Crybaby has a simple method (uses more fuel but it simplifies TransX use) for strting from the ground up to go interplanetary. Do this next.

Then finally if you are good at the above you can try the more precise methods of ground starting like what's shown in the moon to earth video. Or the Earth to Mars video.

rob

 

[statickid]

if you have know all the basics i can't think of anything else there is to know. but if i can offer some advice-

try flying between moons around jupiter, it's like a mini solar system

be sure to understand the basic ideas behind interplanetary flight, For ME there were two basic reasons that transX didn't make sense to me when I first started using it.

1. the interface seems confusing and non-intuitive. you say you know the basics so no problem here yeah?

2. A firm grasp of cause-effect understanding of what orbital maneuvers are meant to accomplish and why is needed. TransX is for planning flights, and thus you need to know how to plan flights or it won't be of any use.

 

[OldnSlow]

Thanks chaps, maybe I am trying to go too fast as I picked up the basics of orbital maneuvers quite quickly. I will persevere! :thumbup:

 

[Tex]

Start with the Earth to Moon then Earth to Mars videos here:

http://www.flytandem.com/orbiter/tutorials/video/index.htm

 

[OldnSlow]

Yep, still trying but not really sure what all the colours and lines on the MFD signify just yet. Will watch some more videos and hope it all sinks in.

Have tried the Flytandem 'Lunar Return' scenario a few times but I'm just pushing buttons without understanding what is happening.

May have to concede defeat on this one.

 

[flytandem]

The videos are arranged and designed with more info as to the "why" things are done in early videos. Later videos assume a basic knowledge of why, and how, and progress more quickly. To see later videos without watching practicing and getting good at the basics first would be like trying to do creative writing before learning the alphabet.

I recommend you do just maneuvers to change orbits and create intercepts of vessels or moons until you can do them in your sleep before adding things like planetary ejects from ground start or sling planning.

 

[NukeET]

@OldnSlow: Have you tried IMFD?

http://koti.mbnet.fi/jarmonik/Orbiter.html

 

[statickid]

i also think familiarizing with the transfer mfd is a good first step. I did all sorts of stuff with just transfer mfd for many years. It seemed good enough so i never bothered with transX. Then i got tired of looking at it and decided one day to figure it out. So once i figured out the interface i was thinking "aha, cool" so it did a bunch of stuff i "wished" transfer would do. all in all if you're using ships like the dg or dgiv and have tons of fuel then i think transfer is more than adequate for most jobs. Seems like transX is better when you start getting ultra technical or doing sensitive missions with limited fuel and stuff and junk

 

[OldnSlow]

I looked at IMFD and it seemed just as difficult to learn as TransX but probably worth a second look.

I had a light bulb moment yesterday when I followed along with the ISS intercept video and completed the prograde transfer by myself and even managed to dock!

Will check out Transfer MFD too. AT the moment I am using the DGIV and the new Arrow freighter so fuel isn't a problem.

Thanks guys for all your help.

 

[johan]

Yep, still trying but not really sure what all the colours and lines on the MFD signify just yet.

Isn't this in the TransX manual? I'm sure I saw it there, just the other day.

Basically, solid lines are for orbits, dashed lines are for hypothetical stuff.

Green is for your ship, grey is for the plane in which your orbit intersects your target's orbit, and also for the surface of planets.

Dashed yellow lines are for where you and your target is predicted to be at the time when you intersect your target's orbit.

 

[Tommy]

You may find this tutorial helpful:

[ame="http://www.orbithangar.com/searchid.php?ID=3403"]Tutorial: Concepts for Interplanetary MFD 4.2.1[/ame]

It's for an older version of IMFD, but it explains the actual mechanics of a transfer very well. It's really not very specific to IMFD, and details the different types of transfers (target plane, source plane, off plane, etc). It will help you understand what you need to do to get somewhere, but it will be up to you to figure out how to get TransX to make those manouvers. In short, this tutorial is very good at explaining the theory of interplanetary transfers - and those theories are the same no matter what nav tool you are using.

 

[Cpt CryBaby]

Hello OldNSlow,

Here's a link to my Earth to Mars tutorial using TransX.

http://www.stillmixtup.com/E2M.html

Heavy on the how. Not so good on the why. Should get you moving in the right direction anyway.

 

[N_Molson]

Actually, it took me several years to understand TransX on different versions :lol: But it's a very powerful tool, no doubt about that.

The one i liked the most was IMFD v 2.3. It was very intuitive.

I remember a Neptune-moon - Jupiter slingshot - Earth 7 years-long travel I managed to plan with it.

Nowadays I rarely venture away from LEO