OHM IMFD Full Manual/Playbacks

[OrbitHangar]

IMFD Full Manual is here. This is a 105 page manual of IMFD, describing everything about it. Included are descriptions of all programs, helpful IMFD hints to make your life easier, major do's and dont's of IMFD, and much, much more. Also included are 7 playbacks with in-flight notes that show you how to accomplish almost any navigation feat using IMFD. Use of the techniques used in the playbacks can be applied to almost any navigation situation. The playbacks are: Direct Ascent from Earth to Moon Mars to Phobos Europa to Callisto Moon to Earth with a direct reentry and landing at KSC Earth to Mars Moon to Mars Earh to Saturn with a slingshot around Jupiter If you have been having trouble using IMFD, if you are on the verge of giving up using it because it just won't work, or if you have always wanted to use it but were too scared because it is so complicated, then this is the manual for you. Required addons are: IMFD v5.3 IMFD v4.2.1 The Deltaglider IV The XR2 Ravenstar. My PreludeII Base Pack: http://orbithangar.com/searchid.php?ID=4134 Enjoy!!!!!!

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[Kaito]

Thank you!
I'll be sure to read it FULLY

 

[OrbitHangar]

Legacy Reviews

Legacy Add-on Reviews from Orbit Hangar Mods


Review by mattchis
Pros: Thorough, well organized, perfect
Cons: Didn't come out soon enough to save me pain
Review:
Very well done documentation of IMFD. Explains every screen and every item of data, including when that information is useful and why. The playbacks are supported by transcripts of the instructions, and every application has a section, a scenario, and even a quick-reference card to prompt your memory. Bravo! Printer is chunking away right now for a full-sized three-ring bound copy.

 

[Tomato3017]

I logged in just to tell you how well done this manual is. Superb Quality! A++ will buy again. :lol:

 

[kevinvr]

Thanks,
That looks like a great idea. I will read it over the weekend.

 

[Archabacteria]

I have an issue with this one.

The first playback, around the time you told me to input the target as 'brighton beach' (I did, but for some reason it didn't change), everything involving IMFD itself starting going wrong. When you said that DV had reduced to zero, I looked at it and it hadn't. One time it had even increased to 163. And then trying to get the course menu to actually let me go back and set it as an orbit approach was a nightmare. It kept asking me to put in a target even though the menu from which you select which program to use doesn't normally ask for a target.

Why does every program I touch screw up horribly?

EDIT: On the Earth to Mars one I kept saying to myself 'go back go back go back' because your notes went too fast. Is there a way to adjust the timing of your notes to be later in the scenario so that I can actually get things done without being told to do something else while already doing something? Also, how many times am I supposed to hit [ADJ]? You never finished that sentence. It just says 'hit [adj] to' and then cuts off. And then you say to adjust the date. You say to press it until it reads a minimum, and then go off about DV without telling me how many times to press + to get to what you're saying. And then while I'm still trying to figure out what the hell you're on about, you give me more crap to do. This isn't a tutorial, this is rocket science. Though I suppose you expected me to do the earlier ones first- what if I want to fly to mars NOW? I guess you didn't consider that.

 

[Tommy]

First, as we point out, there will often be difference between what IMFD shows us while we are recording, and what it shows you during the replay - but the differences are usually very small. If it's more than a percent or 2 you may have set something wrong.

The first playback, around the time you told me to input the target as 'brighton beach' (I did, but for some reason it didn't change), everything involving IMFD itself starting going wrong.

I'm not at home, so I'm relying on memory as to what exactly the tutorial said - but I'm pretty sure you were instructed to set the LANDING target as "brighton beach" (without the quote marks) on the IMFD Mani Config page, not in Target Intercept or Map. You should have highlighted the "Landing Target" line (using <UP> and <DN>, then pressed <SET>, then the base name (not case sensitive). If this was done correctly the bases name will be displayed there on the config page, and some additional info is available from Map.

Or were you talking about Base Approach? Remember that base names must be spelled correctly, the exact same as the base name shown in Orbiter's Object Info page.

Other than that, I need more details about what specifically is going on to find the problems, it's usually best to start a thread in the "Tutorials and Challenges" subforum. Make sure to use the <IMFD> and <PROBLEM> tags when you create the thread, and pick a descriptive title so more people will try to help. I read every thread with <IMFD> as a tag, but often only get online once a week or so.

As for the speed of the notes, there are two ways to help with this. First, bring up the recorder dialog and uncheck (Play at recorded speed), then se your time accell to 0.1x, the notes will stay on screen ten times longer. Be warned, IMFD will respond slower at 0.1x time accell.

The other solution is to print the annotation. Inside the Orbiter/Flights folder will be a folder with the same name as the scenario name of the tutorial. Inside will be files for each of the vessels. Find the .atc file for the vessel you start in (ie, GL-01.atc) and open it in a text editor such as notepad. Buried in amongst the ENG data you will see lines with a NOTE tag, and all the text that is displayed on the screen.

BTW, The updated version of this manual (some error corrections and expanded coverage of Offsetting, Delta-V, and other advanced concepts) should be out in a couple weeks.

 

[theshhh]

hmm, while trying the scn earth to mars, when it time warps to x100000 (for waiting for the launch window) it skips ahead to the plane change manouver????
help!

 

[Tommy]

I have found that on some computers it really helps to edit the playback scenario file and remove all the other ships leaving just the one used in the recording (GL-01?).

That's something we meant to fix in Version 2 - if we can ever find the time to finish it.

Also, you can edit the .atc files and reduce the timeaccel used by the recording, but this is a bit less convenient.

The manual also claims you need the older version (4.2.2) if you want to use Orbit Insert, but that is no longer true. The bug in the 5.x versions has been fixed for a long time now - so it works just fine.

 

[zenitmann]

Imfd is easier for me than trans x but I want to learn both of them. Is it necessary to learn both of them. And if on mfd is enough which one should I choose.?

 

[Cizurator]

Those playback tutorials are worthless. They're just too fast. When i figure out one step, the instructions are two steps ahead. And.. why should i learn to fly XR-2 when i want to learn to use IMFD? Shouldn't it use only basics, when it's a tutorial?

 

[Cras]

Ok then...don't use them.

I on the other hand think the manual and the playbacks are a fantastic resource, and I enjoyed learning IMFD from them. And I still use the manual quite often.

And learn to fly the XR-2? Does one really learn how to fly the XR-2? Its not like we are talking about the Space Shuttle here, the Ravenstar is probably the easiest ship to fly in Orbiter.

 

[dgatsoulis]

Those playback tutorials are worthless.

Mark and Tommy, did a very good job with this manual and playbacks, which I imagine took many many hours to put together.
Sure, with hindsight some things could be better, but to date, this download is the best guide there is for IMFD.

Calling someone else's hard work "worthless" simply because you don't know how to watch a playback in Orbiter, isn't cool.

They're just too fast. When i figure out one step, the instructions are two steps ahead.

Why don't you watch them with "Play at recording speed" unchecked?
Surely, that would solve your speed problems. When the on screen note pops up, hit the 'r' button to go to x0.1 time-warp and you'll have plenty of time to read the text.
Even if you didn't know that, what is stopping you from hitting the pause button, if you don't have time to read the text? :shrug:

Also, the IMFD manual that comes with this download actually has all the in flight notes, written as printable text. All you have to do is open (or print) pages 91-105.
The numbers on the left are the time-stamp (simtime) for when each note pops up in the playback flight.

And.. why should i learn to fly XR-2 when i want to learn to use IMFD? Shouldn't it use only basics, when it's a tutorial?

Since it's a playback, where the spacecraft is flown for you, you don't "have" to learn anything that's unrelated to IMFD.
IIRC the only thing that you may have to do that's XR2 related is to raise the gear or something like that.
The IMFD part of the flight applies to all spacecrafts, not just the XR2.

 

[MeeexC]

Now i also have to add something.

This stuff is really awesome! :thumbup:

Yeah sometimes it's fast, but there is a pause key as mentioned before.

The only problem i had, was that the gravity assist (Number 6?) has a bug or so, because the XR-2 is configured wrong in the scn file. Time warping to the launch time kills alway the crew. So i had to fix this in scn file and change the XR-2 configuration. But i don't know if this is only a problem on my system. :tiphat:

 

[Tommy]

AFAIK this problem is universal. I suspect Mark forgot to turn on "External Cooling" (which also enables external O2) until after he started the recording. At that time, the XR-2 didn't record that animation state change. If you dould post the alteration you made to the .scn I'm sure others would find it useful.

I've had some problems with a couple of the other playbacks, but found that removing all non-essential vessels from the .scn file solves the problem.

Also, there is an error in the gravity assist tutorial resulting from a mis-communication between Mark and myself. In the tutorial, the method used to set up the second leg (Jupiter - Saturn) is incorrect - this is why Mark makes the major course change after leaving Jupiter's SOI. He set up the second leg (in Target Intercept) the same way as you do for a normal transfer, which is incorrect. Here's the correct method:

1. Just before entering Jupiter's SOI, open IMFD's Map on the right, Tgt "p-jupiter". Open Target Intercept in the right (if you have followed the tutorial, the MFD's will be linked correctly).

2. In Target Intercept, set Src to Jupiter, Tgt to Saturn, Ref to Sun. Use the Jupiter PeT shown by IMFD Map as the TEj in Target Intercept.

3. Change the right MFD to Slingshot.

4. Adjust the TIn in Target Intercept while watching the dV shown in Slingshot.

5. Adjust the TIn in Target Intercept to minimize the dV shown in Slingshot - this should be much sooner that what IMFD originally predicted.

6 Once you have entered Jupiter's SOI, watch the dV shown in Slingshot. If it is increasing, engage Slingshot's AB immediately. If it is decreasing, wait until it bottoms out and begins increasing before engaging AutoBurn.

That's from memory (not at home) but I'm pretty sure I didn't forget anything to important!

 

[Cizurator]

Well, i admit i should have used other words. My apologies. I shouldn't let emotions penetrate into my early evaluations.

 

[dgatsoulis]

No worries mate. We've all had some frustration when following a tutorial every now and then, it's no biggie.
If I may shamelessly plug in here a video series blixel made with me as copilot explaining some aspects of IMFD.

So far we have covered Earth→Moon, Moon→Earth and Earth→Mars, using both the "normal" Course programs and the more advanced Delta-Velocity and Map programs.

We have plans on extending the series, but during this month I've had some RL issues. Hopefully they'll get sorted by next week, so I'll be back to my usual Orbiter attendance.

If you want to see something else or have a particular question you want answered, make a thread and please post a specific scenario.

 

[Cizurator]

Some say, that IMFD is more user-friendly, but it seems, like i found my way to TransX much easier. First thing I tried was a video tutorial "Learn with me" by David Courtney. The result of my first try was a perfect trajectory to Jupiter. Objective accomplished

 

[Ceman]

sorry if its a newbie question. just started w/ orbiter a couple weeks ago and LOVING IT SOOOOOO MUCH i don't actually do anything else for fun anymore except read and play orbiter while i listen to wicked documentaries
BUT i was wondering as to the prereqs if i had Prelude III base but NOT prelude II would it still be okay to run ?