CommNet range extension

[Kerbas-ad-astra]

Obviously the actual configurations will wait until KSP 1.2 is fully released and Custom Barn Kit is updated, but there's no time like the present to talk balance.

As I see it, there are basically two approaches: we leave the antennas alone and tinker with the DSN ranges only, or we scale up DSN and antennas.

Option 1: leave antennas alone. Pros: fewer things patched. Part names stay valid. :smile: Cons: planets and orbits are larger, so relay setups that players are accustomed may not work if they're simply scaled up 10x for RSS. Goals: DSN1 x 5M to the Moon: 100G (100G x 5M = 707M, Moon is ~400M max) DSN2 x 15G to Mars: 10T (10T x 15G = 387G = 2.58 AU, full-time coverage at Mars and part of the asteroid belt). DNS3 x 100G to Pluto: 1000T (1000T x 100G = 10T = 67 AU, plenty for Pluto and the Kuiper Belt)

Option 2: Scale up antennas as well as the DSN. Goals: A "100G" relay and a "500k" antenna should be able to talk to each other from a planet to a moon -- 100G x 500k = 224M, which is just over the max distance from Jool to Pol. The max planet-moon distance in RSS is 3.88G (Saturn-Iapetus), so a factor of 20x to all antenna ranges will do the trick. DSN1 x 100M (old 5M) to the Moon: 5G DSN2 x 60G (old 15G) to Mars: 500G DSN3 x 2T (old 100G) to Pluto: 50T

[Kerbas-ad-astra]

I've made a PR to update CBK with DSN functionality, and I'm leaning towards option 2 to reduce user confusion. The patches involved would be:

@PART[*]:HAS[@MODULE[ModuleDataTransmitter]]
{
    @MODULE[ModuleDataTransmitter]
    {
        @antennaPower *= 20
    }
}

@CUSTOMBARNKIT
{   
    @TRACKING
    {
        @DSNRange = 5000000000, 500000000000, 50000000000000
    }
}