Newcomer / Intro Station Alignment

[hawknerd]

I thought I would share my experiences today regarding station alignment:

I consider corrrect station alignment to be a badge of honour within ED. I have wanted to be able to do it for over a year but stuck with SCA and DC to get into stations. Last night I went between two systems 30 times in the pursuit of station alignment - as soon as I dropped out of SC I targeted the other system and so could practice alignment quite quickly.

Having gone to bed delighted that I can now get the slot facing the right way (if not perfectly central yet) thanks to Para and others and some old videos I fell into a deep sleep. I awoke at 0530 excited at the prospect of getting it right today especially with regard to perfect circular orbit lines around the planet and station which make station alignment easier. I decided it was a bit too early to get up so I went back to sleep even though I was keen to get started. I awoke an hour later with the same thoughts and managed to go back to sleep. At 0730 I awoke and knew I wasnt going to get back to sleep because I just wanted to test my perfect circular orbit lines strategy so I got up earlier than normal (0830 usually) and fed my cats and did a 1 hour brisk walk which I do every day all the time feeling the excitement of working out the perfect circles and station alignment generally.

I got back made coffee and studied my notes and watched the videos again.

Then I launched ED and ..............................servers offline!!! I had forgotten about this temporarily and so no station alignment practice for me today!

 

[WreckRoot]

I thought I would share my experiences today regarding station alignment:

I consider corrrect station alignment to be a badge of honour within ED. I have wanted to be able to do it for over a year but stuck with SCA and DC to get into stations. Last night I went between two systems 30 times in the pursuit of station alignment - as soon as I dropped out of SC I targeted the other system and so could practice alignment quite quickly.

Having gone to bed delighted that I can now get the slot facing the right way (if not perfectly central yet) thanks to Para and others and some old videos I fell into a deep sleep. I awoke at 0530 excited at the prospect of getting it right today especially with regard to perfect circular orbit lines around the planet and station which make station alignment easier. I decided it was a bit too early to get up so I went back to sleep even though I was keen to get started. I awoke an hour later with the same thoughts and managed to go back to sleep. At 0730 I awoke and knew I wasnt going to get back to sleep because I just wanted to test my perfect circular orbit lines strategy so I got up earlier than normal (0830 usually) and fed my cats and did a 1 hour brisk walk which I do every day all the time feeling the excitement of working out the perfect circles and station alignment generally.

I got back made coffee and studied my notes and watched the videos again.

Then I launched ED and ..............................servers offline!!! I had forgotten about this temporarily and so no station alignment practice for me today!

I wish I had so few things on my mind to even have the capacity to get so excited about station alignment lol

 

[d8veh]

I'm surprised that you guys don't line up exactly with the slot so that you can get in a lot quicker and more efficiently. All you have to do is make the final approach with the planet on the right and the station's orbit line vertical where it intersects the station. With the mouse widget on the station, the entance needs to point about 15 deg down and 15 to the left. Adjust your course so that it ends up in that position at the point of drop-out, then you'll be directly in front of the station, from where you can boost straight in. When you get to the slot, wipe your nose on the lower edge to slow the ship down ready for landing. That's easy when you're going straight down the axis line, but pretty tricky if you're coming in from any angle or turning at the last moment.

The advantage of this method is that you won't be bothered by NPCs because they haven't had enough time to get anywhere near the slot, which means that you can go as fast as you like without the risk of bashing into them. I often overtake the police, who are travelling towards the station from their spawn point. They go to the edge of the front face, then start circulating.

It's not essential to line up exactly, but it makes it a lot easier. It's especially good for smuggling or getting into the station when you have a bounty on you because you won't get scanned.

 

[hawknerd]

Question for Para: what is the significance of aligning the station slot at the bottom of the hologram before starting and what happens if the slot is at the back and cant be seen?

 

[WreckRoot]

I'm surprised that you guys don't line up exactly with the slot so that you can get in a lot quicker and more efficiently.

If I'm travelling in a T9 then yeah I would do that. On a more maneuverable ship... I dunno, I find it actually more fun to drift-race around the station I guess
In addition, I'm not exactly sure just how much time I would win with that approach, I have a feeling that the time I'd waste by circling around the station in supercruise is about the same as the time I'd waste by doing that in normal space.
I guess I will grab a stopwatch when I return to the bubble and check for myself.

The advantage of this method is that you won't be bothered by NPCs because they haven't had enough time to get anywhere near the slot, which means that you can go as fast as you like without the risk of bashing into them.

Never had an issue with that, but then again - I fly fast medium ships mostly. I see how that could be a bother for a t9.

It's especially good for smuggling or getting into the station when you have a bounty on you because you won't get scanned.

Absolutely correct - for smuggling, aligning with the mail slot is pretty much essential, cause every second spent aligning with the mail slot in supercruise is safe, while every second doing that in normal space runs the risk of getting blown up.

 

[GJ51]

LOL - I'd make a video, but I don't do that...

Approach in SC with destination station to your left

Align heading to the tail of the reticle - turn on the mouse widget and put the widget to the right of the tail

As you approach keep the widget outside of the blue navigation lines and yaw left until the station aligns properly. As each blue line disappears, yaw to the next one but keep the widget to the right of the blue line until it fades away. Once the entrance appears on the panel during approach time the final yaw to align properly.

If you practice the method a few times on Orbis style stations it should help in aligning Coriolis stations.

Look at the left station circle on the dashboard. The bottom of the second ring has a break. Align the station opening to point at the left side of the break where the ring starts upward. To get the right picture in your head just park at any station at 7.5 km out facing the opening dead center before you dock.

Once you gain proficiency, you exit SC in front of the dock opening 100% of the time.

The basic concept is that as you approach you will be yawing right to left across the planet to come out between the planet and the station inside the station orbit ring.

HTH

100% foolproof - occasionally stations in a tight orbit may be difficult to get exactly head on, but you'll still come out with the dock in view.

 

[Codger]

I treat this as a little mini-game myself, trying to drop out as close to perfectly aligned in front of the slot as possible. Every now and then I hit it just right. But, usually I'm off by a bit. Still, it's fun to try and I'm always in front of the station, never behind where I'd have to fly all the way around.

In the Alpha the hologram wasn't aligned correctly, and it drove me crazy. I hope it's back to normal in Odyssey today.

 

[WreckRoot]

I treat this as a little mini-game myself, trying to drop out as close to perfectly aligned in front of the slot as possible.

Interesting point of view, I never thought of it that way. For me, actually flying around the station is more fun .
Skimming the very edge of it, managing throttle to nail the turn as tight as possible, cool stuff.

To each their own I guess.

 

[GJ51]

When you have illegal cargo it's really helpful to come out of SC facing the dock and just cruise in at 200m/s to avoid the scan.

 

[Dean Demon]

This is simply one of the easiest things to do in ED today, originally the holgram for the station didn't have any alignment at all so it was pot luck where the slot was when exiting supercruise, if you went back to the original release in 2014 you would know what i mean.

 

[Krieger]

Interesting point of view, I never thought of it that way. For me, actually flying around the station is more fun .
Skimming the very edge of it, managing throttle to nail the turn as tight as possible, cool stuff.

To each their own I guess.

Exactly. It's even more fun with an Orbis station. I like dropping more or less behind it so I can boost to the front dodging the solar panels and cargo pods and then starting the turn for the mailslot when passing inside the habitation ring.

Edit: Still more fun when flying a Cutter.

 

[Codger]

Interesting point of view, I never thought of it that way. For me, actually flying around the station is more fun .
Skimming the very edge of it, managing throttle to nail the turn as tight as possible, cool stuff.

To each their own I guess.

Exactly. It's even more fun with an Orbis station. I like dropping more or less behind it so I can boost to the front dodging the solar panels and cargo pods and then starting the turn for the mailslot when passing inside the habitation ring.

You guys are probably not flying T10s, Cutters or Corvettes like I usually am

My T-10 boosts to maybe 215. Going around the station is far too tedious

 

[Krieger]

You guys are probably not flying T10s, Cutters or Corvettes like I usually am

My T-10 boosts to maybe 215. Going around the station is far too tedious

I just edited my post: I do do it in a Cutter. It's the most fun in a Cutter since it has the stopping distance of an oil tanker so needs good timing.

 

[WreckRoot]

You guys are probably not flying T10s, Cutters or Corvettes like I usually am

My T-10 boosts to maybe 215. Going around the station is far too tedious

Yeah and I did mention in my previous post several times that I fly moderately fast ships so I don't care much, but I understand why you'd want to do this in spacewhales.

 

[Cmdr Nemo]

I am surprised that there is so little information on station alignment. Alignment meaning lining up with the slot when exiting supercruise so you fly straight in. I understand it better than ever but still cant get it right. Does anyone have useful tips or links that can help me master this?

Advanced Auto Docking Module

 

[Para Handy]

Question for Para: what is the significance of aligning the station slot at the bottom of the hologram before starting and what happens if the slot is at the back and cant be seen?

Oh gosh for some reason I can't start up the game and make a video to illustrate - calamity! (Saves you from my accent again.)

Well first off, as I said you can approach from above rather than from below the orbit as I do. In which case you want the slot to be facing upwards. You just basically want the slot to be facing whichever way you like to approach the orbit - remember the slot always faces a point below the south pole of the body it is orbiting.

If you cannot see the slot on the hologram then you just temporally head up or down to bring the slot into view (the hologram represents the stations orientation to your direction of travel) - then make your choice of approach when you have worked out where the slot is actually facing. (Often it faces away from you so you don't see the slot unless you change direction to bring it into view.)

With Ocellus and Orbis stations, this manoeuvring is easier to visualise and practice - then it is a case of getting the hang of how to change course (temporally) in order to bring the slot-face of Coriolis stations into view so that you can work out its orientation in orbit.

In the worst (most awkward) case - where the station is close to your arrival point, you have not got the travel time to change your direction to alter the hologram to bring the slot into view - you just pick a direction and hope you got the right approach. You have a 50% chance of being right, after all that is what we had to do before the supercruise hologram becam as useful as it is now.

 

[Chris Simon]

Oh gosh for some reason I can't start up the game and make a video to illustrate

Damn. I thought I was the only one. I guess it's on their side then.

 

[hawknerd]

 

[hawknerd]

The image above shows how I can now align directly in front of the station pretty much every time. Thanks for all the help. I am absolutely delighted!

 

[GJ51]

That's it - the axis of the station from center of docking port points to the left side of the break in the outer ring of the display.