MAS FASA Retro Seat 2 - MOARdV/MOARdVPlus GitHub Wiki

IVA description for the Retro Apollo Command Pod.

Seat 2 is focused on interacting with MechJeb, the MAS Vessel Autopilot, and alarms.

MAS FASA Retro Seat 1 and MAS FASA Retro Seat 3 have separate pages.

This guide will start on the left side of the workstation and proceed to the right side, going from top to bottom on each column.

Seat 2

(or see here)

Left Column

ABLATOR and POWER Gauge, and CHARGE RATE Dial

Partially visible in the above image, the Ablator gauge and Power gauge track the amount of ablator and power available, respectively, as a percentage of maximum capacity. The Charge Rate dial reports how quickly the on-board batteries are charging or discharging in EC per second.

FUEL CELL Panel

The Fuel Cell panel includes the fuel cell enable switch (FUEL CELL), a dial gauge to track how much output the fuel cell is generating (OUTPUT), and a scale switch (ELEC SCALE). The scale switch can be used to switch between normal precision (x 1) and high precision (x 0.1) for use when power draw is minimal.

TIMER Display

The Timer display shows the time remaining on the countdown timer, or the current count down start time, depending on the position of the MODE switch on the second Timer Configuration panel (see below). The timer flag indicator (TIMER) shows green when a timer is active. The signal lamp illuminates green when there is less than one minute remaining before the timer expires. It will begin flashing when 15 seconds remain.

COMPUTER Display

The Computer Display module has a power switch, allowing it to be disabled when not in use. It consists of five buttons:

  • MODE: Selects between the computer menu and external TV camera(s).
  • PREV / NEXT: When the computer is in MENU mode, these buttons are used to move the cursor up and down the menu selections. In TV mode, these buttons are used to select which camera is displayed.
  • ENTER: In MENU mode, this button is used to select an option. The button is inactive in TV mode.
  • BACK: In MENU mode, this button is used to navigate to back out of a submenu. This button is inactive in TV mode.

The MENU provides several options:

  • SELECT TARGET VESSEL: Used to select a vessel for rendezvous.
  • SELECT TARGET DOCK: Used to select a specific dock on a target when the target is within 200 meters.
  • SELECT TARGET MOON: Used to target a moon orbiting the current body.

HIGH-GAIN ANTENNA Panel

The HGA panel is used to deploy or retract the high-gain antenna installed on the back of the service module by using the ANTENNA switch. When the Chatterer mod is installed and the PTT button is illuminated, pression the button will start a Chatterer voice exchange with Mission Control. The RECV and XMIT tableaux illuminate when a message from Mission Control is received (RECV) or when the Apollo crew are speaking to mission control (XMIT).

COMMNET SIGNAL Dial

The CommNet Signal dial shows the current signal strength of the connection with Mission Control.

Main Column

FUEL PRESSURE and QUANTITY Gauges

The top of the main column for instrumentation panels for this seat includes pressure and quantity gauges for the three categories of propellants carried on the Kane/Sarnus launch stack. Liquid Hydgrogen (LH2), Oxidizer (OXIDIZER), and Liquid Fuel (FUEL) are separately tracked.

ALARM CONFIGURATION Panel

The MAS FASA Classic Apollo supports two different manual alarm types: a MAS alarm, which simply counts down to zero and activates reminder lamps, and a Kerbal Alarm Clock manual alarm, which is registered with the KAC mod. Manual alarms are configured by switching the MODE switch to SET, and then using the HOURS, MINUTES, and SECONDS switches to configure the alarm time. When the MODE switch is SET, the current alarm time displays on the TIMER display.

The Alarm Configuration panel is used to set or clear alarms, as described below:

  • RESET ALARM: Clears the manual alarm setting to zero.
  • MANUAL ALARM: Start a MAS alarm counting down until the manual time has expired.
  • NEXT AP: Start a countdown timer until the next apoapsis.
  • NEXT PE: Start a countdown timer until the next periapsis.
  • NEXT MNVR: Start a countdown timer until the next maneuver node.
  • CLOSEST APPR: Start a countdown timer until the next closest approach to the current target.
  • KAC ALARM: Start a KAC manual alarm to count down until the manual time expires.

TIMER CONFIGURATION Panel

The Timer Configuration panel is used to select the countdown time for manual alarms. The MODE switch is used to switch the TIMER display between the current time remaining (TIMER) or the last programmed manual alarm time (SET). The HOURS, MINUTES, and SECONDS switches can be used to increase the scheduled time by either 1 unit at a time (UNITS) or 10 units at a time (TENS). Use the RESET ALARM button to clear these values.

ALTITUDE and INCLINATION Panels

When MechJeb is installed, the MechJeb Ascent Autopilot can be configured using the ALT knob to set apoapsis and the INC knob to set inclination.

Whether or not MechJeb is installed, the ALT knob can be used to configure the altitude for plotting a Change Apoapsis Program or a Change Periapsis Program.

To use these knobs, press the mouse button just above or just below the knob, and drag left/right or up/down. Dragging vertically will change the amount quickly.

AUTOPILOT PROGRAM Panel

The last interactive panel in this column is the Autopilot Program panel. This panel is used to select which autopilot is used to plan or execute a maneuver (COMPUTER SELECT switch). The ASCENT SEQ and MNVR SEQ buttons are used to activate the Ascent Sequence Program (Ascent Autopilot) or Maneuver Sequence Program (execute a maneuver node). The CHANGE AP, CHANGE PE, PLOT XFER, and MATCH VEL buttons plan a maneuver. CHANGE AP and CHANGE PE are used to change the apoapsis and periapsis of the current orbit to the altitude on the ALTITUDE, KM display. PLOT XFER will schedule a Hohmann transfer orbit to intercept the current target. MATCH VEL will match orbital vectors with the current target at closest approach.

The green indicator lamps above each button illuminate when that program is valid (for instance, MAS does not support the Ascent Sequence program at present, so the ASCENT SEQ indicator will not light up).

MAS JSI PROCESSOR

This is a decorative element, although some display information changes depending on whether MechJeb is installed or the mode of the vessel autopilot controls.