Communotron 16 vs. Relay Satellite?

[RoadHazard]

I've got an old satellite floating around with a low-end Communotron 16 antenna connected to a HECS probe core. It's currently in solar orbit near Eve, so it's far out of range of Kerbin and therefore almost uncontrollable. That okay, BUT...

There's also a big, new relay satellite nearby in orbit around Eve. I assumed (hoped) that the relay satellite would make the old satellite reachable again, but it's not. What's wrong with this setup? Is the Communotron 16s not able to talk to relay sats? Is the relay sat not doing its job? Is the range still too great?

[Quizzical]

Whether two antennas can connect is determined by the geometric mean of their distance ratings. Assuming that you've got CommNet at the default strength, the Communotron-16 is only rated at 500 km. Even if you're trying to connect to an RA-100 rated at 100 Gm, it can only connect from up to about 224 Mm away. For comparison, that's a little more than the diameter of Eve's sphere of influence, or 2% of of Eve's distance from the Sun. It's likely that merely being kind of close to Eve isn't close enough.

The real point of the Communotron 16 and 16-S is to allow a lander or rover to connect to a relay in orbit about the same planet, or a moon of the same planet. It's really not useful for interplanetary distances.

[RoadHazard]

Originally posted by Quizzical:

It's really not useful for interplanetary distances.

Boy, that's for sure.

I was hoping to revitalize a bunch of old satellites and probes from the early part of the game, but it looks like that's not gonna happen.

[RoadHazard]

Update: Miraculously, my out-of-control satellite drifted close enough to a relay satellite parked near Eve that it started communicating with it again. The relay must have been on the near side of its orbit. Once the two were in contact, I could control the satellite, make maneuver nodes, execute burns, and generally complete the mission. Hooray!

The only downside is that I'd already built and launched its replacement. Anybody need a spare Eve probe? ;-)

[MP]

What do you mean, a spare Eve probe? Clearly you've got a Gilly probe there!