			    TRAVELLER Digest 226

Topics covered in this issue include:

  1) Trans - what ?	by Hugh Foster <100326.446@compuserve.com>
  2) Request for ships	by Rob_Prior@nynet.nybe.north-york.on.ca (Rob Prior)
  3) Re: TRAVELLER Digest 224	by "Harold D. Hale" <hdhale@smtpwpo.dayt.tasc.com>
  4) 	by gdw.support@genie.geis.com
  5) Re:  TRAVELLER Digest 225	by "Harold D. Hale" <hdhale@smtpwpo.dayt.tasc.com>

----------------------------------------------------------------------

Date: 17 Mar 95 09:23:07 EST
From: Hugh Foster <100326.446@compuserve.com>
To: <traveller@MPGN.COM>
Subject: Trans - what ?
Message-ID: <950317142306_100326.446_BHG42-1@CompuServe.COM>

>>  Personally, there are many things about the Deyos and 
the Virus that strain  my suspension of disbelief to the 
breaking point.  This is one of them.  Unless you're wedded 
to the T:TNE canon, these items are 'retcons' added for  
the New Era, and don't belong (and don't exist) in Classic 
or MegaTraveller. <<

Ay-men! We never moved up from CT, really, except with some 
of the rule fixes; no starship in either Ace's or The Dog's 
campaigns has a transponder. 

-----------------------------------------------------------------
| Hugh Foster [100326,446]                                      |
|                                                               |
| An honest politician: One who stays bought.                   |
-----------------------------------------------------------------



------------------------------

Date: 17 Mar 1995 10:30:03 GMT
From: Rob_Prior@nynet.nybe.north-york.on.ca (Rob Prior)
To: traveller@MPGN.COM
Subject: Request for ships
Message-ID: <321843166.35584495@nynet.nybe.north-york.on.ca>

I'm looking for two TNE ship designs and, unfortunately, I can't access the
ftp sites (I'm limited to _small_ email messages).  The ships are:

Azhanti High Lightning

TL-12 Scout/Courier

 Could some kind soul please email these to me?

------------------------------

Date: Fri, 17 Mar 1995 18:33:19 -0500
From: "Harold D. Hale" <hdhale@smtpwpo.dayt.tasc.com>
To: traveller@MPGN.COM
Subject: Re: TRAVELLER Digest 224
Message-ID: <sf69d5a8.058@smtpwpo.dayt.tasc.com>

Lahtinen Antti Jussi writes about mass driver guns:

>	Mass Driver Designs
>
>	I do not think that there is anything wrong with the mass driver
>	projectile weight formula, if you consider the material the round
>	is made of.

   My primary objection at this point isn#t the mass of a mass
driver round, it#s what that mass does to the rest of calculations,
which is to make mass drivers energy hogs.

>	If the MD projectile has the same shape as Gauss projectile
>	(l/w ratio 5), the weigth formula [Mp = (pi * r^3)/10] shows
>	that the projectile is made of density 10 material. According
>	to this, the projectile is a finned dart made of Crystal Iron
>	or Iron jacketed Superdense, and will treated as APFSDSxx
>	ammunition. (penetration multiplier 4.5 or higher)

   I don#t think that this is what they had in mind. My understanding
from the people in Bloomington, Illinois is that the difference in
calculating mass is due to the fact that mass driver rounds are
longer (thus have a different aspect ratio) than a gauss round.  It
has nothing to do with what they are made of.

>	(Actually, the first MD guns in TL-8 would use DU penetrators
>	with ferromagnetic jackets or sabots. However, the maximum
>	muzzle velocity is 3000 m/s at TL-8, and conventional CRP guns
>	can usually outperform any MD guns at this Tech Level.)

   Interesting theory, except see above.

>TL-14 2cm Mass Driver Auto Cannon (Vehicle Mounted)
>
>Required Power:	45.126 MW to fire 5-round bursts (25 rounds/5
>seconds)

   You don#t find 45.126 Mw to be way too much power?!!!  Compare that
performance with a CPR gun of the same tech level and penetration.  
Be sure you include the weight of the larger power plant you#re going 
to have to carry because of the mass driver#s energy requirements.


John Muir Macpherson writes:

>Aren't there rules for armoring individual components?

   I recall rules in FF&S for cockpit armor.

>On this subject, does anyone know what the game  differences are
>btwn homing and target memory Tac missiles?

   Homing missiles home in on a radiating source, whether its an IR
signiture or a radar or radio transmission.  Target memory missiles home
in on a target designated by the firer.  The target doesn#t need to be
radiating anything, and once the missile#s seeker has acquired the target,
you can #fire it and forget it#.

>Maybe the problem here is not that the MD design is wrong but that  the
>contra-grav and HePLAR powering your hypersonic grav tank  are
>totally  fantastic technologies.  Making MD guns just as fantastic is not a
>solution, IMHO.

   I#m not saying make them fantasic, just make them so that they can be
justified.  MD guns are suppose to be the interim step between CPR guns
and energy weapons (prior to the introduction of fusion weapons, they
are superior to plasma weapons in certain applications).  At least that
has been the traditional niche they filled.  As it is they make excellent
anti-personnel weapons (when designed as gauss weapons), but poor
big guns because they consume so much energy.

>I think you're missing the point, bore size is irrelevant to the
penetration
>of the weapon.  _Energy_ is all that counts.  If you make the  round less
>massive it will have less energy at a given velocity and will  thus do
>less damage.  If you want to make MD guns more energy efficient  then
>change the required input energy formula.

   Energy is important to penetration, but it is not the only factor.  The
energy input requirement formula is identical for mass drivers and gauss
weapons.  Thus to throw a 2cm mass driver round requires much more
energy than a 1.9999 cm gauss gun round, though the rounds for these
two weapons have virtually identical diameters.  Mass driver rounds are
supposed to be longer (thus more mass), but they are so much longer it
takes too much energy for them to be practical.

>In my designs I also use EPGs and have been very satisfied with  the
>results.  My 3cm TL 12 6000 m/s mass driver has a muzzle energy of 
>19Mj and a required energy of 38 Mj....

<snip>

   I would like Loren at some point to let us know if using EPGs with mass
drivers is a valid design (according to FF&S).  If the formula for mass
driver can#t be changed, this may be an alternative.


Andrew Boulton writes about Terra and the Solomani:

>Even if the Solomani Govt themselves weren't supplying them arms,
>there were plenty of extremist organisations who would be more than
>happy to do it.

   More than enough, I#d say....

>I thought the Phoenix Caches were only on Terra?

   Oops! You are correct sir.  Looking back in my old MegaTraveller
books, everything else I said was correct, including the part about some
of the caches never being found.


Dan Post writes:

>"Harold D. Hale" <hdhale@smtpwpo.dayt.tasc.com> writes about
Striker 2 ammo usage:

   Wasn#t me Dan, but thanks for the info.


MDURRAN@aol.com writes with regard to radio frequencies:

>Would you care to explain how that is kept a secret?  Any good
>scanner can find your nieghbors cordless telephone, or the cell phone
>in a car 3 blocks away.  If it's broadcasting it's not a secret to anybody
>with a scanner (anything more than a few seconds will give away your
>postion)!  That's why there is a thing call Radio listening silence.

   There is a big difference between the two.  First, the frequencies that
cell phones, etc. operate on are public knowledge--you can to down to
the local library and find the information.  Not so of aircraft transponders,
or we#d have more incidents of people faking out commerical airports and
generally screwing around with the air transportation system.  Could you
find the frequency anyway?  Why of course.  But that#s also why you
use codes along with them.

>ANNEX G (COMMUNICATION) TO 1-4 CAV TACSOP

   Thanks for the info--it will be very helpful for others and it was a nice
brush up for me.  It#s been way too long since my last Army Reserve
training.

>BTW challenge and password can confirm idenity.  Example Arrival
>Vengeance pg 24 Argon Blue Codes-a one use ID code system.

   True.  But like I said, keeping the frequencies secret as long as
possible is a good thing, because as soon as they know where to look
for you, you can at the very least expect some nasty jamming, and in the
worse case, an anti-radiation missile coming down on your head.


Hans Rancke writes:

>Well, I've dug out my copy of "Survival Margin" and had a look at the
>official description of the Deyo transponder chips.

   That#s a very dangerous thing to do.  :)

Re: Transponders

>And how do they do that? You can't keep something as detectable as a
>radio  signal secret for the luffa Mike! Anyway, the issue is moot
>because Deyo  chips communicate between each other on any empty
>channel they can find  (They are really going to be busy in systems
>with a few thousand ships  in-system at the same time ;-).

   You are correct, which is why you also code everything. From my
experience in Army this is the way it worked: everyone in the platoon
knew the platoon frequency, how to contact higher headquarters, the
#freq# of the Medvac guys, and the lieutenant carried around a book of
frequencies and codes (which was about 5 by 7 by 1 inches as I recall)
for the next several layers of command plus other units within the
company. If he went down, the platoon sargeant was in charge of
the book.  If you were a platoon leader and you lost one of the books,
your military career was pretty much toast, unless there were some
pretty significant extenuating circumstances.  The frequencies at which
the IFF (the interogator you used on an AA weapon to tell if someone
was a good guy) operated were known to no one, not even the
lieutenant.

   With the Deyo chips using any open frequency at random, it would
make it much more difficult to pick up their transmissions, but not
impossible, granted.

>No you don't, because you don't control the frequencies the chips use.
>What you do is ask your chip what the other chip says, and whether
>your chip believes the other chip is untampered with.

   I had forgotten about this aspect of the Deyo chip.  My comment would
apply if the frequencies were fixed.

>Incidentally, GDW did a good job with the Deyo chips in the technical
>sense. As they are described they do seem impossible to tamper with.

   A complement to GDW on their chips?! <gasp>

>Where I believe they fall down is to imagine that the chips would not
>eventually be faked. You'd need some breeder chips and some trainer
>chips.  Both of these MUST be present at every starport that install new
>transponders, ie all systems with Class A and B starports. That's
>several  thousand in the Imperium. What do you think the chances are
>that over a  period of 30 years at least one corruptable individual would
>have access  to these chips?

   As I indicated, if foreign governments thought the chips were so good
(and apparently they did) then they would have started their own captive
breeding programs.  The Deyo chips would be able to tell their foreign
cousins from their own breed, but that wouldn#t stop the Aslan Hierate
from using them for the same purposes that the Imperium was.   

>No, they would only know what the Imperium _claimed_ was inside
>them. That's the point I've tried to make. The official story is based on
>the premise that the neighbours would actually believe them. I can't
>believe they would.

   The only way I#d buy off on using the Imperium#s black boxes if I were
a foreign government is if I had the option to randomly dissect them.
Otherwise, they would act as a deterent to interstellar trade with
governments outside the Imperium, not a simply regulatory device.
Merchants are merchants, however, and if there was a buck to be made
carrying around a mysterious black box they would do it--of course the
ships that did would be dedicated strictly to the interface trade business,
and foreign governments would likely severely restrict their movement.

>>No one said that just because they incorporate revolutionary new
>>technology would mean that no one would be allowed to look inside.  
>
>No one except GDW.

   Even they are allowed to be wrong from time to time. =:O  Besides,
what#s the Imperium going to do, force every government to account for
the whereabouts of every black box given to them?  It would just be too
simple to say, #oh, we#re sorry, the free trader Zoink blew up a week
ago when its power plant overloaded--I#m afraid we couldn#t recover the
box.#  Meanwhile they#re ripping the box apart in a lab somewhere and
figuring out how to duplicate the Deyo chip.  Of course the Deyo chip
would register has having been tampered with, but who cares? It#s not
like you#re going to put it back in a ship anyway.

>How right you are. Yet "Survival Margin" claims that the Imperium
>exported a lot of these circuits, neatly sealed in their tamperproof
>casings, to many "Aslan, Vargr, Zhodani, Darrian, Sword World, and
>Solomani" governments. Now, I'll conceed that the Darrians, Sword
>Worlds and those Aslan and Vargr states close to the Imperium
>propably was too weak to defend against the Imperial requirenments by
>imposing trade restrictions. The same does not apply to the Zhodani or
>the Solomani. Nor the K'Kree or the Hivers who are also claimed to have
>adopted the system.

   The Zhodani would be a perfect example of someone who would get
hold of a few of the Deyo chips and copy them.  Ditto the K#Kree.  The
Hivers being TL 16 in electronics (which is why they#re still around as an
interstellar power) may have had ways to analyze the box without the
chip inside knowing what was going on.

>> No one said that other governments would not be allowed to make
their own--
>
>Yes, GDW did.

   Like I said above.  I try to stick to the #orthodox# version of things
whenever possible. When the orthodox version is contradictory or flies
in the face of logic (like #M# type white dwarfs in close orbit of young
stars) I sit down and figure out what makes the most sense and fits with
the story line.  Loren is the company man around here, not me after all. 
;)

>>Again, it would be unreasonable for the Imperium to hand out such
>>devices and expect no one to pry them open.  
>
>But that's just what the Imperium is supposed to have done. The whole
>point in encasing the chips in a tamperproof casing is to prevent
>anyone from prying them open.

   Nothing is tamperproof with a little dynamite....  :)

>But the Deyo chips are not a transponder standard.

   Then why hand them out?  How do you explain to the ambassador
from Gram why he should mount it in his ship instead of what he is using
now?  They would have had to demonstrate some advantage in using
them, and the best way would be to show how they were constructed.

He also says about Terra and the Solomani:

>The whole reason for the survival of the Jews as a seperate identity up
>through the Middle Ages was that they were not allowed by their
>oh-so-christian neighbours to integrate. As a counterexample I can cite
>scores of tribes who were forcibly expelled from their ancestral lands,
>moved somewhere else, settled down, and became Somewherelsians.
>You don't find many Englishmen swearing one day to return to their
>ancestral Russian steppes, do you?

   Their lack of integration was due to more than prejudice.  In areas
where they were allowed to settle and become part of the community,
they still maintained a degree of seperateness.  Many Jewish
communities went so far as to forbid their children to marry outside their
faith.  Jews did evolve over the time of their exile and even developed
new hybrid cultures (this is where we get Yiddish from), but always
there were those who kept alive the hope that one day they would
return to the Holyland and rebuild the Temple.

   As for the Russian steppes, I really have no desire to go back there,
though I have looked longingly at pictures of East Africa for some
unexplained reason.  :)

>The people of Home have their own T-prime planet to live on. Why the
>hell should they be interested in going back to Terra. Especially the
>leaders, who have access to the best the rich, unspoiled Home can
>provide.

   Because Home is not home, Terra is.

>>>It hasn't been long enough for a Taiwan-born generation to assume
>>>control of Taiwan. When that happens they may well drop their claim.
>>  >   Someone better tell the ruling party of Taiwan that--while native
>>peoples on Taiwan and some ethnic Chinese have come to believe
>>that the island should declare its independence, these people are in
>>the minority and are in no danger of coming to power anytime soon.
>
>No, I would imagine that it will take about another generation.

   Probably much longer than that, unless political developments warrant
it.  If, for example, China continues down the road of reform and
democratization, Taiwan will have little incentive to ever declare
independence.  On the other hand if China evolves toward an even
more oppressive regime, the majority on Taiwan may eventually give up
on returning #home# and seek a separate path.  It has already been
almost 50 years since the Nationalists lost the Chinese civil war--I have
every confidence that they will continue to hang on to the hope of
retaking China for another 50.


Harold


------------------------------

Date: Sat, 18 Mar 95 01:04:00 UTC
From: gdw.support@genie.geis.com
To: traveller@MPGN.COM
Message-ID: <199503180116.AA151379406@relay1.geis.com>

 traveller@mpgn.com
 
 From TRAVELLER Digest 210
 
 Pete Burke
 
 > I have some questions about TNE:
 
 > 1) ...Is there a central repository of errata sheets
 > for TNE products?
 There's a file folder in Dave's office, if that counts.
 > 2) I know this has probably been asked before but
 > what is the correct calculation for figuring out
 > the size of a satellite of a planet?
 
 Question forwarded to D. Nilsen
 
 > 3) Has Aslan society collapsed as well as the Imperium?
 
 Yep...pretty much. More news in upcoming products.
 
 > What about the K'kree? Have the K'kree disappeared from the
 > official universe?
 Nope (more to come on this story).
 
 Mark Hughes
 
 > K'Kree seem to have been all but phased out of TNE.
 > I'm not terribly pleased by this; I like the K'Kree
 > (as a referee, anyway).
 
 The K'kree have not been dealt with in TNE products
 because there are none remiaining in the Reformation
 Coalition sector. They will show up, however, never
 fear (in fact, K'kree already _have_ made
 appearances in three TNE products: The first one is
 the TNE rulebook itself, page 265, where they are
 given a movement rate.
 
 I'll leave the other two products a mystery for the moment.
 
 From TRAVELLER Digest 211
 
 Lauri M Byckling
 
 > In the ACR design example in FF&S (January 1994 Edition,
 > p.154) there are a few things I don't understand:
 
 You need to send for the FFS Errata
 
 > Furthermore, I have been trying to reverse engineer
 > some of the weapons in Reformation Coalition Equipment
 > Guide, with poor results. Most of them seem to be
 > heavier and more expensive than necessary.
 
 What weapons specifically are you having problems with?
 
 > Am I misinterpreting the FF&S rules
 
 Not necessarily
 
 > or is there something wrong with the designs ?
 
 Not necessarily
 
 From TRAVELLER Digest 212
 
 Pete Burke
 
 > Does GDW plan on developing the worlds in the RC?
 > I think I have most of the current books out, and I don't
 > remember seeing any world maps of any of the member
 > worlds of the RC. I'd really like to create some adventures
 > within the RC and submit them to Challenge. I don't
 > want to waste my time if GDW is planning on fleshing
 > out the worlds any more than they already have.
 I cannot give you an ironclad guarantee that we will never,
 ever, _ever_ do a world map for any of the planets of the RC, but
 I doubt very much we will in the next couple of years.
 
 Hugh Foster
 
 > Er, what ? A courageous Hiver ? As far as I remember,
 > there ain't no such beastie...
 
 Courageous is as courageous does
 
 Michael Bailey
 
 > I wonder if the Confederation ould have ever found
 > it's 'Bismark'?
 
 Why would the Confederation be looking for a pastry?
 
 Bismar_c_k is the Iron Chancellor and the WWII naval vessel
 ...a Bismark (no 'c') is a jelly doughnut. Come to think
 of it, didn't President John Kennedy once announce that he
 was a jelly doughnut? ("Ich bin ein Berliner"). I had to
 explain the difference to our proofreaders after a rather
 embarrassing incident in one of the 2300 AD books.
 
 < A sidebar, totally out of the blue -- Has anyone here ever
 seen Lewis Carrol's unpublished sequel to _Alice Through the
 Looking Glass_, titled _Alice in Ordnung_? >
 
 From TRAVELLER Digest 213
 
 Hans Rancke
 
 > Idea for GDW: Loren, can you imagine the fun the RC
 > would have with a pocket empire centered around Terra
 > that considered itself the legitimate successor of the
 > Third Imperium? Wouldn't that be deliciously ironic?
 
 I'll pass the suggestion along.
 
 From TRAVELLER Digest 214
 
 David A. Nelson
 
 > Perhaps Loren or some others could answer this for me:
 > 1.) What is the rank structure used by RCES personell?
 
 Check Path of Tears, as was mentioned earlier.
 
 From TRAVELLER Digest 216
 
 > I'm painting a set of RC Marines and I can't find any
 > references to what the rank insignia look like.
 
 We haven't worked this out yet.
 
 >> So starting at TL 5, you have a chance. With the Space:1889
 >> add on rules to FF&S (hmm..perhaps I should CC
 >> Loren on this :->), you should be able to
 >> build etherflyers at TL 3.
 >
 > Space: 1889 add-on rules? If you've done these,
 > could you email me a copy?
 I am afraid these are still on the "to be done" list
 Jamison J. Long
 
 > I've a question, when the RCES equipment guide was
 > origionally advertised in the backs of the other source
 > books, it showed an interesting Heavy POWER armour
 > derivative. What became of that armour design, and
 > Is it still possible to get a copy of the stats for it. It
 > seemed to me that a lot of the preliminary work
 > had been completed however that aromour was
 > not to be seen in the guide, why not??
 
 I presume you mean the "Prince Caspian Heavy Battle Dress"? It
 was an artist's creation for the purposes of the ad...no stats
 were ever created for it. 'Fraid you'll have to be satisfied with
 the TL-12 heavy stuff for the moment.
 
 From TRAVELLER Digest 217
 
 Dan Post:
 
 > In the Megatraveller days Fusion and plasma guns
 > were good penetration short range weapons for space
 > craft. Any ideas on why they changed this in TNE?.
 > Any estimates on what the space modifier would be
 > on Fusion guns in FF& S for range? I believe
 > Megatraveller was *1000 in Kilometers.
 Django Deals with this in #218. BTW, Dan, your Email has been
 getting to me, but I don't seem to be able to get a response
 through to you.
 Joni Virolainen
 
 I have been having the same problem with you. Challenge overseas
 subscriptions are US $30.00 for a year. #76 is the current issue
 (with #77 due out soon).
 
 From TRAVELLER Digest 220
 
 Harold:
 
 Re: FF&S/MDs
 > here#s what#s wrong (Loren, please send this information
 along to Dave and Frank):
 Already done. Having a problem with your apostrophe's?
 Eric Smith
 > Has anyone else worked on the Darrians since 1120? I'd like
 > some input.
 
 This is one of the bazillions of things we haven't had time to
 give any thought at all...
 
 From TRAVELLER Digest 221
 
 Hugh Foster
 
 > "Barbarism is the natural state of mankind ...
 > Civilization is unnatural. It is a whim of circumstance.
 > And barbarism must always ultimately triumph."
 > (R.E. Howard 1906-1936)
 
 That's a cheery thought. I like Howard's creations, but
 certain of his views of life leave me cold (then again,
 I never much cared for notion of increasing entropy either
 --- Actually, there are three real piss-rippers in life:
  1. The second law of thermodynamics
  2. Alternatives exclude
  3. Just because you like them don't necessarily mean they like you).
 Nick Law
 
 > Having bought a copy of Battle Rider at the weekend, I
 > wondered whether anyone has come across any official
 > errata for the game, as mine seems to be a first printing?
 
 Glad you like it. We are still assembling an errata sheet.
 Those of you who have had problems or questions, feel free to
 Email GDW.SUPPORT@GENIE.GEIS.COM
 
 Loren K. Wiseman
         GDW,Inc.
 
 

------------------------------

Date: Fri, 17 Mar 1995 20:53:56 -0500
From: "Harold D. Hale" <hdhale@smtpwpo.dayt.tasc.com>
To: traveller@MPGN.COM
Subject: Re:  TRAVELLER Digest 225
Message-ID: <sf69f6ad.059@smtpwpo.dayt.tasc.com>

Date: Thu, 16 Mar 1995 08:28:01 -0500
Cynthia from her death bed writes:

>Hahaha! <snorkle! guffaw> He he he! <insane tittering...>
>ROFLAO!  Secret frequencies... what a concept! Hehehehe!
><Pick self up off of floor.>  

   When you're through, please call your local Air Force base and
ask them if they'll give you the frequencies their IFF interogators
operate on.  When they tell you hell no (and ask for your name) ask them
why they won't tell you.  I bet they say such information is classified.

>Now, encrypting a signal so that unauthorized listeners can't figure it
>out, that's another story.  

   As has been pointed out, you would do both spread-spectrum and
encryption.

>I concede that there are a lot of places and times where the local
>"authorities" aren't taking security seriously because (a) nothing ever
>happens around here, and (b) we're not doing anything important
>anyway.

   The Army introduced code books at the platoon level after their
experiences in Vietnam.  There you had NVA and VietCong types who
could not only talk with a perfect accent (take your pick, Australian,
Alabama, Ohio, etc.), but would assume the role of "Birddog One" or
whatever call sign someone might have been using for the past month.
I've heard tapes of some of the conversations these people had over
the air with American and Allied troops.  Pretty scary.

>I hate to do this to you (no I don't, I love it! :-), 

   Just remember what comes around, goes around....

>but it is very well known what is in those "black boxes".  They're
>referred to as "black boxes"  because they are *sealed*, and the airliner
>is not allowed to open them up and play with them, but that they
>contain a flight recorder on a continuous loop (an hour or two) is very,
>very well known.

   I pointed out (and others) that everyone would want to know what
was in the little black boxes that were being hooked up to all their
important systems, and that only people who had something significant
to gain by using them would if they weren't told.  At any rate, the
Imperial press would have been very interested in a story about
mysterious transponders, and sent some intrepid reporter to investigate.
No doubt a basic description of them (including the Deyo chip) would
have appear in the 57th century equivalent of Aviation Week and Space
Technology soon after.


Andy Lilly writes regarding Transponders, etc.:

>There's been a lot of discussion about transponders, etc.

   Thank you for your post on the subject.  It is a beacon of light in
what is rapidly becoming a very murky thread.


Derek Wildstar writes concerning  Transponders:

>From this, we can conclude that military vessels have some way of
>making telling the transponder "Shut up and stay shut up 'till I tell you
>otherwise".  Its absolutely vital to be able to maintain radio silence, no
>matter how much the "Deyo" wants to talk to its buddies.

   Very true.

>Note: If you think this sounds a little far-fetched, that someone might sell
>such military technology, think again.  

   With Russian mafia types trying to sell enough weapons grade
plutonium to make a bomb  to the highest bidder, I don't think anything is
too far fetched black market weapons-wise.

>I think we can conclusively state that "breeder" and "trainer" systems
>MUST be available on the black market, and are (probably) also
>standard equipment on all Imperial Navy capitol ships.

   Agreed.  Maybe not on all capital ships, but perhaps at squadron
level.


Cynthia (still on her death bed) writes:

>As the owner of a Ford Explorer who drives up to the local shotgun
>range to get in some skeet shooting every other week,
>"I resemble that remark..."  :-)  And I *do* live in the South...
>YEEE-HAAA!!!

   Speaking as the grandson of Kentucky coal miners and the proud
owner of a Stephens Model 311 (made before serial numbers) double
barrel shotgun, and a member of the Greene County Fish & Game Club,
I can tell you the difference between plain good old country folk and
brainless red necks.  Red necks shoot at people because it's fun to
watch'em run--country folks shoot because you gave 'em no alternative.
Red necks waste ammo shooting into the air, and kill deer from their
cars on the side of the road and drive off--country folks generally hit
what they are aiming at and kill a deer so that they can bring it home
to be prepared for their families.  Red necks have a Confederate flag
window sticker in their truck 'cause it pisses off black people--country
folk have a Confederate flag window sticker in their truck because it
represents to them a link with a time when people had honor and stood
up for what they believe in.

   In the 57th century, red necks would be out hunting down aliens
just to watch them squirm--country folks if they had an opinion in
support of the Solomani, would organize a militia and fight the Imperial
occupiers with everything they had, all the while treating their enemy
respect.

   I take it Cynthia you are one of the country folks, and not a red neck....

Regarding transponders again...

>And the Bad Guys change theirs to match... civilian merchant traffic
>isn't known for high security... Any general "Notice to  Spacemen" is
>going to be in the Bad Guys' Intelligence Agents hands in moments.

   In wartime merchants work under a different set of rules.  Generally
they travel in convoys (safety in numbers after all).  Loose lipped
crews would find themselves and a lot of their fellow merchants floating
home--and don't think that point wouldn't be driven home to every
crewperson, by the way.


Harold


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End of TRAVELLER Digest 226
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