SpaceCAD Frequently Asked Questions
A lot of questions are recurring, so we decided to
put the answers online. If you have a question regarding SpaceCAD
that is not listed here, please send me an email.
| Most
of these questions are already answered in the SpaceCAD
Manual or the README.TXT document that comes with
every SpaceCAD installation.
» You can find the SpacCAD manual in the SpaceCAD
start menu.
|
| If you have questions regarding
the TARC edition of SpacCAD, please visit tarc.spacecad.com |
Questions:
How do I get started
with SpaceCAD?
First of all, read the SpaceCAD manual. It gives
you an excellent overview about SpaceCAD, and helps you with your
first steps.
Another way to get aquainted with SpaceCAD is to
launch it and open the provided example rocket (example.roc, comes
with every installation). Play around with the design to find
out how SpaceCAD works, how to enter data etc. Then you can start
your own design.
Help! I get a runtime exception when
I start SpaceCAD!
This runtime exception can have a lot of reasons.
We have prepared a couple of easy steps that you can follow to
ensure a properly running SpaceCAD:
Download latest release
Install the latest SpaceCAD release from the download
page.
Update your drivers!
Sometimes an old printer or graphics driver intereferes with SpaceCAD™
on Microsoft® Windows® 98 systems. We also suggest to
download
and install the latest version of Microsoft® DirectX®
on your PC.
Open GL issue:
There seem to be issues with some versions of Windows and the
Open GL graphics driver. Microsoft has confirmed the bug. If you
experience an error upon startup of SpaceCAD, please
- Check your settings: For example, if you have
an SiS 530 display adapter, go to the advanced settings for
the display. The graphics hardware accelleration needs to be
set 1 step above none for the program to work.
- Check if you have the latest version of your
graphics driver installed.
- Run GLDiag.exe
and send me the results
- Go to the Microsoft
Windows 98 Update website and download all the latest updates
- If you have Microsoft Windows 95 without OpenGL,
you can download it from here: Download
Open GL from Microsoft
Install Microsoft patch:
This problem occurs typically when you have Windows 98 installed
and a newer release of Internet Explorer. Try installing this
Microsoft patch to get SpaceCAD running: Link
to Microsoft Website.
If everything doesn't work, please send me an email.
I was wondering how to get motor updates?
Simply go to www.thrustcurve.org
- they have the latest motor updates (or, you can search the Internet
for .eng files). You can easily import them with the SpaceCAD
engine editor (start SpaceCAD, click on Options -> launch engine
editor). If you click on Import you can specify a .eng file that
will be added to the SpaceCAD engine database).
How do change metric / U.S. output?
SpaceCAD uses the Windows settings to determine
whether it should use metric or U.S. units.
You can change SpaceCAD's
default settings in the SpaceCAD options dialog (Menu bar: Options -> Settings)
How do I enter licensing information?
It is important that you enter both your name and
your registration key to activate SpaceCAD. The best way to do
this is to copy-paste the information from your registration email:
Here's how to enter your licensing information:
Start SpaceCAD - and the Reminder window appears.
1. Click on "Enter Key"
2. Enter your name exactly as it appears in the registration e-mail
3. Copy/Paste the key from your registration e-mail
4. Then click on "OK"
It is very important that the key is exactly the same as in the
registratin e-mail. If you get an error message like "Invalid
key", please try again.
If you have a version 3.0 key (which is shorter and entered directly
in the SpaceCAD application) and want to run SpaceCAD 3.1, you
can request a new key from us through the feedback
form - please include your old key so we can verify it.
I build my own rocket motors
and I was wondering if I could use the information from these engines
in SpaceCAD to see how my rocket would do
You can use SpaceCAD's engine editor to add new
engines (see above, I was wondering how to get motor updates?).
You can start the engine editor through SpaceCAD's Start Menu
or, in SpaceCAD, by clicking on Options -> Launch Engine Editor.
How can I run SpaceCAD without
giving the user admin rights?
You need admin rights to install SpaceCAD, but you
can give users with limited rights (i.e. no admins) the ability
to run SpaceCAD - you just have to give them
read access to the registry for the
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\spacecad.com
branch and
read/write access for the
HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\spacecad.com
branch.
How can I import third party
database files?
You can find many sources for database files on
the internet (typically named "RockSim Parts Files"
- for example at EMRR,
or vendor's web sites). You can import these with the SpaceCAD
import utility, that has been upgraded in version 4.
Info: A minor glitch has been found in the import application
that you can solve by downloading the new import.exe
and replacing the old one, or download the latest SpaceCAD installer.
Here's how to proceed:
1. Copy the files in your SpaceCAD's newdb directory, typically
C:\Program Files\SpaceCAD 4\newdb
2. Run the SpaceCAD import application, typically from
C:\Program Files\SpaceCAD 4\tools\import.exe
The import application then reads the database files and adds
them to the SpaceCAD library. Please delete the data files afterwards,
because there's no duplicate checking available - so if you run
the import utility twice, you'll have duplicate parts in your
database.
Is there anyway to compute drag using SpaceCAD
or do we have to enter it after computing it ourselves?
The default cd value in SpaceCAD is 0.75, which is a good rule of thumb.
SpaceCAD does not compute the coefficient of drag of your model rocket, because
the available simulation mathematics are not very reliable (at least those that could be used
in SpaceCAD).
But you can use SpaceCAD's cd derivation tool to find the exact cd value of an existing rocket:
Here's how to proceed:
1. Load your rocket design in SpaceCAD
2. Click on "Calculations" -> "Derive CD"
3. Enter the measured altitude of your rocket
SpaceCAD then derives the actual cd value of your rocket.
Suddenly, SpaceCAD says that may rocket is unstable - why is that so?
This is porbably caused because you overrode the CG/CG values. Here's a short movie that shows how to change that back again:
http://www.spacecad.com/movies/SpaceCAD4_Override.html
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