			    TRAVELLER Digest 414

Topics covered in this issue include:

  1) Re: Some FFS Help Please
	by Shalom Zaidfeld <cs911408@red.ariel.cs.yorku.ca>
  2) Re: Virus Protection Methods
	by merrick@Rt66.com (Merrick Burkhardt)
  3) Re: TRAVELLER digest 411
	by Joseph Heck <ccjoe@mail.missouri.edu>
  4) RICE Paper - Ruby
	by Michael Bailey <pd82495@wapol.gov.au>
  5) Re: Collapse. 
	by toad@ugcs.caltech.edu (Benjamin Lane)
  6) Missiles & Sensors
	by John Muir Macpherson <muirmac@uclink.berkeley.edu>
  7) population
	by John Muir Macpherson <muirmac@uclink.berkeley.edu>
  8) Email
	by cshort@cix.compulink.co.uk (Christopher Short)
  9) Fusion Power
	by Glenn Myers <gem188@fea1.ansys.com>
 10) Re: Some FFS Help Please
	by aswfh@acad2.alaska.edu (William F. Hostman)
 11) Virus attacks Earth! Film at 11!
	by CyHiggin@aol.com
 12) Re: Collapse.
	by aswfh@acad2.alaska.edu (William F. Hostman)
 13) Re: Fusion Power
	by aswfh@acad2.alaska.edu (William F. Hostman)

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

Date: Wed, 13 Sep 1995 09:13:22 -0400 (EDT)
From: Shalom Zaidfeld <cs911408@red.ariel.cs.yorku.ca>
To: TNE Mailing List <traveller@MPGN.COM>
Subject: Re: Some FFS Help Please
Message-ID: <Pine.SOL.3.91.950913090500.16066A-100000@red>

On Wed, 13 Sep 1995, That Computer Guy wrote:

> Here's what I've come up with.  2.5kl for the cramped seat (for the
> driver), and another 1.5kl for the restricted seat (for the passenger),
> then 2.5kl for the cramped crewstation.  That's already 6.5kl out of
> 7kl.  Take the .7kl that you're suppossed to add for this being a
> moderately sloped grav vehicle, and you've surpassed your limit!

You are not missing anything, but your design concept is wrong.  
Motorcycles (gravbikes too.) do not need seats (as found in FF&S) because 
the driver/passanger are riding ON the hull that makes the bike.  So for 
all purposes, we can assume that the hull itself already contains the 
limitied seats for the driver/passanger. (They do not need a chair and 
leg space etc that the 2.5kl seats provide.)

As for the crewstation, look at the back of RCEG for the add-on rules 
regarding grav-belts.  These should help you save space and will 
(hopefully) result in a valid design.

> As always, thanks in advance...

No problems, hope I helped a bit.

        -Shalom Zaidfeld
 
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
 Email: cs911408@ariel.cs.yorku.ca                            Toronto, CANADA
 [GEEK CODE v3.1]
 GU>GSS d- S+:- a-- C++ US E---- W++ N++ w++ O- M+ V- PS++ Y+ PGP- t+ 5+ X+
 R+++ tv@ b++ D++ G e>e++ h! r++ y+



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

Date: Wed, 13 Sep 1995 07:59:16 -0600 (MDT)
From: merrick@Rt66.com (Merrick Burkhardt)
To: traveller@MPGN.COM
Subject: Re: Virus Protection Methods
Message-ID: <9509131359.AA06168@Rt66.com>

> One last question; take HEPlaR drive, calculate what the exhaust velocity
> has to be based on thrust/fuel consumption rates. You get (after solving
> the relativistic equation) something around 0.99 c. Ok, so the exhaust
> is going pretty fast... Now they claim that 1MW is all you need to heat
> and accelerate this fuel, without fusing it. I don't think so. And 
> cheers,
> -ben


Hmm.  I played with HEPlaR awile ago, and if I recall I got an exhaust
velocity on the order of 40,000km/s .  This was based on conservation of
momentum.  Then I did the KE of that exhaust, and compared it to the
energy put into the drive by the PP and found it lacking.  There would
be a small gamma correction to the exhaust since it's @ 13% of c, but I
ignored it in that calculation.

-Merrick

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

Date: Wed, 13 Sep 1995 11:37:54 -0500 (CDT)
From: Joseph Heck <ccjoe@mail.missouri.edu>
To: aboulton@cix.compulink.co.uk (Andrew Boulton)
Cc: traveller@MPGN.COM (TML Submissions)
Subject: Re: TRAVELLER digest 411
Message-ID: <199509131637.LAA26150@mail.missouri.edu>

>> As far as I know anything now published by Challenge (and those
>> published in the Chronicle) remain the property of the writer/artist.

>Why the change at Challenge?

They could tell you best, but I think it's because Challene wasn't making
them any money and they had to reduce costs. If you don't buy the work,
you don't have to pay the authors/artists.

-- 
 joe                          (314) 882-5000
 ccjoe@showme.missouri.edu    University of Missouri - Columbia  
 "with a little practice, writing can be an intimidating and
 impenetrable fog!" -- Calvin
 <A HREF="http://www.missouri.edu/~ccjoe">ccjoe</A>

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

Date: Thu, 14 Sep 1995 02:25:42 -1600
From: Michael Bailey <pd82495@wapol.gov.au>
To: traveller@MPGN.COM
Subject: RICE Paper - Ruby
Message-ID: <9509131824.AA24193@phq1002.wapol.gov.au>

Note that this is a first draft only, and any corrections/comments/gripes
will be appreciated.  Second in the Jewell Subsector series.

RICE Paper #SM-1005 Ruby/Jewell

Ruby (Jewell:  Spinward Marches/1005)
B400445-B S Ni Va    201 RE M1 V M3 D
G = 0.76, Day = 47d 12:27:17.50, Year = 47d 12:27:17.50
Atmo = 0.00, No weather control
Temp = +7.8 (dayside 7/lat +0 to +26.4 nightside 56/lat -0 to -224.8)(no
seasonal var.)
Daily temp range 0.0
Ores, Radioactives, Metals
Progressive, Advancing, Passive/Peaceable, Discordant/Friendly
Legal: 5-35625  Tech: BB-BA9BC-A6BB-B9-D

Ruby is part of the Jewell Cluster, a group of three worlds at the spinward
edge of the Regency.  Dominated by, and reliant on heavily populated Jewell
one parsec away, the citizens of Ruby have managed to preserve independence.
Like Jewell, Ruby's location so near to the Zhodani border makes it a
frequent stop for Regency military forces.  However, where centuries of
exposure to the Frontier Wars has given Jewellers an ingrained distrust of
the Zhodani and Vargr, the people of Ruby have an unprejudiced attitude to
all races.

Ruby was first settled in 339, primarily to obtain ores for the inhabitants
of Jewell and Emerald.  Never of great importance, the colony was abandoned
in 362, after large quantities of high-grade lanthanum ores were discovered
on Jewell.  The system remained essentially uninhabited until 634, although
small Zhodani contingents occupied Ruby from 592-603, and in 617.  Both of
these forces withdrew from the system as the balance of the First and Second
Frontier Wars tipped back towards the Imperium.

In 631, Papaieie Sawaiu led a group of leftist libertarians to petition the
Jewell government for permission and aid to settle Ruby.  Jewell's
government (which was still legally the owner of the system) granted the
petitions requests (probably more to be rid of a troublesome minority than
anything else), and set aside MCr4.0 to reopen the abandoned colony.  In
634, six hundred Sawaiuites settled a site about 80km southwest of the old
lanthanum mines.  The group began shipping small quantities of platinum to
Emerald in 640, and surprisingly, managed to pay it's way.  Sharp falls
precious metal prices in the region in the late 690's put an end to the
colony's modest prosperity, and Jewell was once again forced to subsidise
it's neighbour.

The subsidy was withdrawn in 711, and preparations were made to repatriate
the colonists to Jewell.  The colony, now numbering several thousand, was
saved by the Imperial Government's decision to establish scout facilities in
the system.  Tensions between the Imperium and the Zhodani had been
increasing since the end of the Second Frontier War, and the IISS had
decided to upgrade it's presence in the subsector as part of a overhaul of
intelligence operations against the Zhodani.  The base and accompanying
starport facilities were completed in 720, many of the existing colonists
were contracted to provide support services for IISS personnel in this
lonely frontier outpost.

The Scout base was hastily abandoned at the outbreak of the Third Frontier
War, it's personnel and ships pulled back help defend Jewell from major
Zhodani attacks.  Once again, Zhodani ground troops occupied the world,
taking over the scout base for use in supplying the forces beseiging Jewell.
They pulled out of the system at the end of the war, having largely ignored
the civilian population during their seven year occupation. At the outbreak
of the Fourth Frontier War, Zhodani forces ran into substantial Imperial
naval assets deployed from Jewell.  Their attack was beaten off, and the
Zhodani chose to bypass and isolate the world.  The pattern was repeated in
the Fifth War, with Zhodani forces attacking Jewell from Esalin.

Since then, Ruby has remained on the 'front lines'.  Imperial, and later
Regency fleets regularly deployed to the system for exercises.  The thaw in
Regency-Zhodani relations from 1117 onwards saw the scout presence scaled
back, and the scout base was transferred to the Regency Quarantine Service
in 1146.  The RQS operates a Customes Station on Ruby, primarily to inspect
the small number of Jump-1 ships travelling along the Jewell-Cipango Main
from the Consulate.  Naval units also routinely deploy here from Jewell and
Mongo for joint exercises with RQS and RSS units.

Regular RQS customs procedures are in effect on Ruby.  Incoming starships
will be escorted to the RQS station on Eloise Tay, the small outermost moon
of Boyden, the system's only gas giant.  The permanent presence of the RQS
'Carlton', a 4000 ton Quarantine Service Carrier, provides the muscle to
back up RQS directives.  Extensive examinations of the starship and it's
crew will take 1-3 days (for starships under 1000 tons).  During this time,
crews and passengers are 'invited' to stay at the 'Eloise Hilton' (the
somewhat spartan guest accomadations on the station).

Following inspection, the ship is free to move on to Ruby, or to refuel at
Boyden and jump outsystem.  Ruby itself has only one starport, the Class B
RQS facility on the world's surface.  This starport is open to civillian
traffic, although berthing fees are considerably higher than for comparable
private facilities.  The base's repair and maintenance facilities are not
available to civillians excepts in emergencies (although detatched duty
Scouts and RQS officials are welcome).

New visitors will be steered towards 'Ruby's Startown Bar', on the edge of
the starport complex.  'Ruby's' is famous throughout the region for it's
cheap booze (and other, less common stimulants), and for it's bouncers.
Unruly patrons are given a brief lecture on the anit-social aspects of their
violent behaviour by the doormen (a lecture given with absolute sincerity ).
Continued troublemaking will normally result in extremely violent ejection
and arrest.  All staff at 'Ruby's' are members of the Stivlprerqaf family,
descendents of a Zhodani prole who fled across the border in 992.  The
current manager is Jdishehtaev Stivlprerqaf (Jdishehtaev is probably better
known in the Regency as 'Jades Stive', acclaimed romance novelist).  

Sawaiu Town, the only substantial settlement of Ruby, adjoins the RQS base.
Almost all of Ruby's 19,900 permanent inhabitants live here.  The town
itself consists of four pressure domes atop an underground tunnel complex.
The domes are given over largely to parkland - each dome has a different
environment and 'theme'.  In order of size, these are:  Sawaiu Dome (Terran
/ Tropical Maritime), Isgiidu (Vilani / Highland), Summondamus (Terran /
Desert) and Taenu Diran (Sylean / Savannah).  Residential, commercial and
support areas are all underground.  Local although the world is small, local
gravity is a reasonable 0.78g, due to the planet's higher than normal
density.  Atmospheric pressure is maintained at 0.8 standard atmospheres,
making the environment tolerable for most visitors.

Visitors will find the locals friendly and agreeable, if somewhat strange.
Non-violence is an important part of the Rubyan lifestyle, although
potential criminals are warned that Ruby's law enforcement officials are
generally hired from offworld, and do not have the same passive ethic.
Offenders face deportation and confiscation of their assets if caught -
within a short time, they will find themselves on Jewell with little more
than the clothes on their back.  Given the world's reliance on offworld
powers for it's continued existence, foreigners are treated with respect.
Merchants on Ruby will buy and sell for fair prices - at any rate, they are
trading for the good of the colony more than their own gain.  A disgruntled
customer won't come back, a potential loss for the world.

Ruby's inhabitants are fiercely egalitarian - the concept of 'privelige' is
repellant to them.  Without exception, all citizens are allocated the same
communal floorspace in Sawaiu Town's residential areas.  this concept of
'equality of opportunity' is one of the basic tenets of Ruby's society - the
lasting legacy of the settlement's commune origins.  The settlement's ruler,
the 'Premier', is directly elected by all permanent residents for a two year
term.  Traditionally, the office is one of the lowest paying jobs on the
planet.  Although the Premier is responsible for all aspects of
administration, much of the more judicial and administrative work is handled
by a council of elders.  Membership in the council is voluntary and unpaid,
but anyone over the age of 40 can join.

One interesting custom practised by the Rubyan is 'fostering'.  Ruby lacks
all but the most elementary educational facilities, children are instead
sent to Jewell to complete their education.  A child will spend from three
to twelve years on Jewell as a 'fosterling', before returning to Ruby as an
adult citizen.  

Most of Ruby's residents are employed either directly or indirectly by the
RQS, although some mining still takes place.  Mineral ores are shipped
mainly to the agricultural worlds of Emerald and Esalin in exchange for
food.  A small nunmber of independant miners eke out a precarious existence
from gold and platinum deposits.  All large scale mining is conducted by
RubyCorp, a statutory authority run by the government.  Miners typically
spend six weeks at a time in the camps, followed by six weeks layover in
Sawaiu Town.  Independent miners number less than two hundred, and typically
live permanently at their workings, coming to town only to sell their ores
and resupply.

Ruby maintains a small fleet of four Type R Subsidised Merchants, used to
service the mineral trade with Emerald and Esalin.  The 'Papaieie', 'Rhys',
'Topaz' and 'Guiding Hand' are all subsidised by the Ruby and Regency
governments.

System Information

Orbit           Name            UPP             Remarks

Primary         Talau           M1 V            Far Companion
0               Ruby            B400445-B       Ni Va Qb
        4       Lahr            YS00000-0
1               Boyden          Small GG
        7       Athelbard       YS10000-0
       35       Eloise Tay      H100166-B       Qb

Secondary       Papaiete        M7 D            

(Qb - Quarantine Base)
Michael Bailey (pd82495@wapol.gov.au)

"...the scum also rises..."
                          Hunter S. Thompson



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

Date: Wed, 13 Sep 1995 12:25:28 -0700 (PDT)
From: toad@ugcs.caltech.edu (Benjamin Lane)
To: traveller@MPGN.COM
Subject: Re: Collapse. 
Message-ID: <199509131925.MAA06076@dice.ugcs.caltech.edu>

> 
> You're forgetting a few things:
> 
> - 747s dropping out of the sky onto cities

Not likely. They still carry pilots, and the computers aren't that much in control.
Also, How would a Virus infect the mostly hard-wired nav system of a 747,?
Airbus, maybe. 

> 
> - ships hitting rocks, or crashing into harbours

Again, I don't think so. Most ships aren't that automated. 
> 
> - a meltdown at practically every reactor

Have you ever seen the control systems of a common Civilian plant?
lots of machanical switches and dials, and several back-ups. Again.
how would it infect? Most plants I know of aren't hooked up to
the internet. u
> 
> - almost *no* communication (no phones, TV, radio)
> 
I'll grant you that. But then again, it wouldn't put us in the Stone Age.
 
> - the collapse of every major bank
> 
Yes, I don't deny the economic problems it would entail.

> - all power stations shutting down or blowing up

Not blowing up - shutting down until manual links could be set up.> 
> - train crashes

>  Possibly. 

> - all factories shut down (no power or workers dead, panicking, or unable
> to get there)

Temporary. Most factories are NOT that automated.
> 
>   > In summary, Virus woudl cause another great depression, perhaps even
>   > a limited nuclear exchange ( NOT total MAD). But we would not plunge
> 
> NORAD's sensors are telling them they're under attack, ditto the men in
> the silos, and all the phones are dead...*someone's* gonna press the
> button. Alternatively, it may be assumed to be an attack by another country
> and retaliate.

True, but remeber, most TL8 worlds would not be in a hair trigger state
due to a Cold War - and in 1995 Terra isn't either. Again, much like
the movie 'Wargames' once the computer said impact, and the private on the other end of the (1950's technology) secure phone line said 'No explosion here,
sir', things would get calmer...
 
> 
> According to a recent Time article, the US (in particular) is extremely
> worried about 'cyberwar'.

For the economic impact, not total destruction. Everything else is hype.
> 
>   > us into a new Dark Age. Why would we then expect this to be any
>   > different with other TL-8 worlds ? 
> 
> Not every TL 8 world is self-sufficient and has a type 6 atmosphere...
> 
Yup, but those that are still inhabited by 1201 do.

>   > No, what could and would damage Terra would be a nuclear attack from
>   > space on all the major industrial centres and space ports and the
>   > like. Something that was quite common in the 1120s... The consquences
> 
> *Was* it common? You want the people alive and the planets habbitable, if
> possible. A barren, irradiated lump of rock is no use to anyone. I expect
> there will have been *some* nuking (or mesoning), but most planets would
> surrender after the first shot.

Tell that to the commanders of Lucan's forces in the 1120's. 

Snip, snip.
Thanks for checking the rules of the collapse on Terra. I don't have them,
at least not with me... 
The point remains; those worlds that survived were not the ones hardest
hit by Virus. This should be remembered when considering their eventual
Virophobia.
> 
> 	As an aside, regarding the Phalanx analogy, someone posted that 
> it has to stop Mach 1-3 missiles.  Virtually all current-generation ASMs 
> are subsonic cruise missiles like Harpoon or Exocet.  As Phalanx can 
> engage starting at about 0.8 nm (c. 1400 m), it has about 5 s to engage a 
> 1000 km/hr target.  Just food for thought.
> 
> 				Thanasis Kinias
> 				Student of Quantitative History
> 				  and Info. Tech. Computing Asst. Trainee
> 				Arizona State University

You're forgetting several Soviet designs that were designed for a 
high-speed (mach 2) dive from high altitude. But yes, phalanx has 
some time. Just like a TL-14 point defence system has.

And now, back to Virii;

THe GDW canon about using non-connected coputers and code-phrases for
Virus protection is not very convincing. 
a) it's slow and prone to human error.
b) when you're transmitting information, you can't win. EG, if the
jump drive needs to know the insertion angle is 9.456782343641 deg,
you can't just type in Alpha Green Five. at least not if the next 
jump is with an angle of 9.456772343641... 
Why not just type in the right number to begin with. And if you're 
typing in a number that can't be a control code (say, to load a 
certain file and execute it) why not just devise a simple one-way serial
connection? 
also, if most of your systems are hard-wired, Virus is screwed. You can't
reprogram a non-programmable calculator, at least not without changing 
it's circuit wiring. And since that shouldn't be too hard to prevent,
your virus can't do much.  
The idea everything would be a kind of PLA (i.e. you can reprogram the actual
circuitry) is nottobvious .

So by hard-wiring  many things you lose flexibility - you don't go back 
to a chain of people shouting numbers at each other. 
-ben

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

Date: Wed, 13 Sep 1995 12:38:21 -0700 (PDT)
From: John Muir Macpherson <muirmac@uclink.berkeley.edu>
To: Traveller Mailing List <traveller@MPGN.COM>
Subject: Missiles & Sensors
Message-ID: <Pine.3.89.9509131101.A12420-0100000@uclink.berkeley.edu>

toad@ugcs.caltech.edu (Benjamin Lane) said:
>Re: the missles presented in the last issue - they're pretty neat. It seems
>they, along with the missle presented by Muir, are becoming a highly
>dangerous threat to all  non-missle designs.  So, it's time for some
>countermeasures.  first, a small self-defence laser;

	The hardest part about defending against missiles is getting
target locks in the first place.  You can use the range-halving system
proposed by Merrick and myself, additionally, just put lots of redundant
sensors on you ships.  Say your cruiser has 10 sets of SR3 PEMS.  When the
missiles come within PB the task to lock them is Easy -1, +2 for size, +1
for EMM, +1 for evasion, and +1 for decoys (not-quite worst case) which
yields Impossible.  In most cases this is a 5% chance of locking.  Not
very good.  But the chance of _all 10_ of your SR3 PEMSs failing to lock
is only 60% (40% chance to lock).  If these sensors are AEMS instead, and
you are tracking SIM/FIM missiles with their sensors deployed, you get a
-1 DM to lock, giving a net task of Formidable and a 98.2% chance of
locking (assuming Line crews).  Big ships should have lots of sensors
anyway in case of battle damage. If you use the range-halving system, 
longer range systems will have better base task difficulties at 0 hex 
range (your best chance to lock and hit attcking missiles.)
	Once you've locked it, all you have to do is hit it.  If your 
point defense lasers have MFDs this shouldn't be much of a problem and as 
long as you have more lasers than he has missiles.

toad@ugcs.caltech.edu (Benjamin Lane)
>Now, a while back someone argued that you have to vaporize a KKM to make it
>harmless - NOT SO. If you knock out it's guidance system or maneuver system
>(that large, sensitive PEMS seeker head has _got_ to be sensitive) it won't
>hit.
	Very true.  The same goes for Det-lasers.  Conventional missiles are 
vulnerable to anything with good penetration characteristics over .3g at 
their max clsing velocity.  Maybe all you need to defeat KKMs are some 
big flechette projectors on your ship.  you could also use anti-missile 
missiles loading with ball-bearings or some such to hit det-lasers within 
the 0 hex, but before they detonate.  These could be real cheap and could 
intercept missiles from as far out as their max range (12 hexes for 
Eaplac, 100+for Heplar), thus providing another layer of defense.

toad@ugcs.caltech.edu (Benjamin Lane) Another question; has anyone
>considered (i.e. made and tested rules for) bistatic active sensors (i.e.
>the emitter in one place, the dtector somewheer else) Just the thing to
>combine the advantages of active EMS with hiding. /ben
	You can do something kinda similar by using sensor drones with the
PEMS antennae but putting the processor on the mother ship.  This lets you
use your drones more aggressively since they are cheaper.  It also gives
them higher Gs since they are lighter.  I haven't figured out how to do
this with AEMS because: "Antennae volume, mass, and price are subsumed in
the total sensor package above." (FF&S pg. 51)

	The use of drones also suggests a defense againse missiles.  By 
having a perimeter of sensor drones, any attacking ship must either risk 
detection and counter fire, or launch from farther away, giving the 
defender another turn to shoot down or otherwise defeat the missiles.  
This could lead to a whole spiral of measure counter-measure with armed 
drones attacked sensor drones, interceptor drones attacking the armed 
drones, fighters attacking interceptor drones, ad infinitum.  Each ship 
could look like its own little carrier task force.

	--Muir

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

Date: Wed, 13 Sep 1995 12:46:39 -0700 (PDT)
From: John Muir Macpherson <muirmac@uclink.berkeley.edu>
To: Traveller Mailing List <traveller@MPGN.COM>
Subject: population
Message-ID: <Pine.3.89.9509131224.B12420-0100000@uclink.berkeley.edu>

Hi all--
	Several industrialized nations are experiencing negative 
population growth as their women choose to have fewer children or no 
children.  In industrialized nations (read: high TLs) women have 
lots of other options aside from being mothers.  In Germany and Japan, 
they are implementing them in such large numbers that the gov't is 
offering them bribes to have children.
	Perhaps the real problem in the Trav universe is why the high TL 
worlds don't need to _import_ population.:-)

	--Muir

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

Date: Wed, 13 Sep 95 20:47 BST-1
From: cshort@cix.compulink.co.uk (Christopher Short)
To: traveller@MPGN.COM
Subject: Email
Message-ID: <memo.891286@cix.compulink.co.uk>

Have you sent me one -

chris@zace.compulink.co.uk

does it matter what the first name is before the @ ?





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

Date: Wed, 13 Sep 1995 16:04:54 -0400 (EDT)
From: Glenn Myers <gem188@fea1.ansys.com>
To: traveller@MPGN.COM
Cc: xboat@MPGN.COM
Subject: Fusion Power
Message-ID: <Pine.3.89.9509131542.A21932-0100000@qa730.ansys.com>


Hi All,

I have been searching through my gaming materials looking for an 
explanation of how fusion power is implemented in Traveller. It has been 
bothering me that Traveller seems to treat PP as black boxes which 
convert Hydrogen to power and thrust. I have found very few details in TNE 
and MT supplements that I own. Can anyone refer me to a good source of info?

Basically, I'm assuming that a fusion PP is a magnetic bottle containing 
the reaction. Apparently, some of the pressure is used in HEPLAR for 
thrust. I am interested in how usable power can be obtained from this 
fusion blast. There have been past comments on the list that the 
efficiencies for fusion are way too low. How are efficiencies for 
something like this estimated. Has anything else been surmised based on 
current experiments (ie startup procedure, configuration)?

Also, how would the recombustion for fusion thrust be accomplished. 
I can only guess that excess pressure beyond that required to sustain the 
reaction is bled off into the recombustion chamber.

Any ideas/theories are welcome. I plan to incorporate this into 
my house rules. Feel free to email me direct if you do not want to post to 
the list.  

Thanks,

Glenn

(Having recently completed testing on latest software project, and is 
stirring out of lurker mode.)

------------------------------------
| Glenn E. Myers  gmyers@ansys.com |
| User Interface and Graphics Team |
| ANSYS, Inc.  (412) 873-2913      | 
------------------------------------



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

Date: Wed, 13 Sep 1995 13:17:53 -0800
From: aswfh@acad2.alaska.edu (William F. Hostman)
To: traveller@MPGN.COM
Subject: Re: Some FFS Help Please
Message-ID: <v01530500ac7c30a66170@[137.229.100.53]>

darkstar@UDEL.EDU did scribe:
>to create my own little 7kl grav bike.

>Here's what I've come up with.  2.5kl for the cramped seat (for the
>driver), and another 1.5kl for the restricted seat (for the passenger),
>then 2.5kl for the cramped crewstation.  That's already 6.5kl out of
>7kl.  Take the .7kl that you're suppossed to add for this being a
>moderately sloped grav vehicle, and you've surpassed your limit!

the listing for Seats in FF&S is for passengers; crew require [only] a
crewstation. (FF&S, p25, p65)

Take a TL 13 design example:
                        Vol     Mass      MW            Cost
Hull rate 0.5 (mv 0.5?) [7]
fast subsonic chassis   0.35       -       -               -
0.15 cm SD hull shell   0.075     1.125    -            1071
Front Slope             0.7        -       -               -
HiEff Contra Grav       0.15      0.1     0.1          15000
Holodynamic Ctrls       0.007     0.007   0.0005        1000
TL 10+ Flt Avionics     0.001     0.001   0.1         250000
TF Avncs (NOE170)       0.1       0.02    0.02         15000
TL13 Flt Computer       0.9       0.18    0.045         4000
Cramped Workstation     2.5       0.2     -             2000
HBT 1.5TT .05kl/hr      0.5       0.5    [0.03]        31250
Fuel Cell tl12 .1kl/hr  0.4       0.4    [0.3]          8000
HG HCD Fuel             0.8       0.8      -             800
HCD Fuel (Turbofan)     0.4       0.4      -             200
Cargo                   0.117     0.06     -               -
1 human                 -         0.1      -               -
                       ======================================
Total                   7         3.893  [0.0645]     328321

Duration 8 hours on 1000cr of fuel ( 800 l HG, 400 l std Hydrocarbons)

Speed (from book instructions) 0.3G, 945 kph [figures based upon actual
loaded mass, not this one.]
Speed (Actual Mass Based) 0.385G, 1212 kph Max, 909kph cruise
Safe NOE Speed: 170 kph
Combat move (NOE/Alt): 23.6/168 10m squares
Travel Move (NOE/Alt): 1020/3636 km

Note that range is limited identically by both the PP and the thruster.

At TL 14, install a fusion plant, ducted fan, and change the fuels, and you
can actually get a restricted seat for a passenger.

-Wil

William F. Hostman

EMail:          ASWFH@Orion.Alaska.EDU
HomePage:       HTTP://orion.alaska.edu/~aswfh/home.html

"History is the story of the life of societies; geography is the study of
what they evolved in."



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

Date: Wed, 13 Sep 1995 17:47:15 -0400
From: CyHiggin@aol.com
To: traveller@MPGN.COM
Subject: Virus attacks Earth! Film at 11!
Message-ID: <950913174715_18446749@mail04.mail.aol.com>

From: aboulton@cix.compulink.co.uk (Andrew Boulton)

<<
  > From: toad@ugcs.caltech.edu (Benjamin Lane) 
  > Subject: Virus deaths 
  >  
  > Also, as a reality check - what would Virus do if unleashed on 1995
  > Terra? Well, I can imagine the following; trash the Internet, trash
  > the phone system, and severly damage the power grid. GPS wouldn't
  > work, and this might affect some airliners for a time. THese effects
  > would NOT be enough to plunge Terra into the Stone age. If the Virus
>>
>You're forgetting a few things:

>- 747s dropping out of the sky onto cities
 How? Airplane electronics aren't hooked to the Internet.  How do they get
infected?

>- ships hitting rocks, or crashing into harbours
  ditto.

>- a meltdown at practically every reactor
  Not hardly!  Ever heard of FAIL-SAFE?  Reactors are designed to fail-safe, 
as are most potentially dangerous mechanical systems.  And it's damn hard
to meltdown a commercial reactor beyond fusing the fuel rods into
uselessness.
No real effects on the outside world except loss of power production.  And
how did the reactor controls get infected in the first place?  Especially
when
you consider that most reactors (in the U.S., at least) were built far enough
back that their control technology is too primitive for Virus to infect...

>- almost *no* communication (no phones, TV, radio)
Phones, TV, stuff bounced off sats, yes, not most radio.  

>- the collapse of every major bank
Oh yeah.  A given.  

>- all power stations shutting down or blowing up
A, maybe, B, no.  See notes above about Fail-Safe design.

>- train crashes
Could well be.

>- all factories shut down (no power or workers dead, panicking, or unable
>to get there)

Temporary.  Too much of this would be temporary-- I mean, figure out what is
going
on, reboot the computers with clean backups, pull the Pentium chips ;-) , and
go on 
your merry way.

                                                            -- Cynthia
                                                           

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

Date: Wed, 13 Sep 1995 14:41:09 -0800
From: aswfh@acad2.alaska.edu (William F. Hostman)
To: traveller@MPGN.COM
Subject: Re: Collapse.
Message-ID: <v01530501ac7cfef10ea1@[137.229.100.53]>

>THe GDW canon about using non-connected coputers and code-phrases for
>Virus protection is not very convincing.
>a) it's slow and prone to human error.
>b) when you're transmitting information, you can't win. EG, if the
>jump drive needs to know the insertion angle is 9.456782343641 deg,
>you can't just type in Alpha Green Five. at least not if the next
>jump is with an angle of 9.456772343641...
>Why not just type in the right number to begin with. And if you're
>typing in a number that can't be a control code (say, to load a
>certain file and execute it) why not just devise a simple one-way serial
>connection?

I agree whole heartely here. I have met only 1 person in Anchorage who will
even tolerate the idea of "disconnected distributed computational
networking" al=E1 TNE.

>also, if most of your systems are hard-wired, Virus is screwed. You can't
>reprogram a non-programmable calculator, at least not without changing
>it's circuit wiring. And since that shouldn't be too hard to prevent,
>your virus can't do much.

Remember, the transponders use "'lobotomized' cymbaline chips" (Survival
margin, p75), which are a life form. (See also Signal GK) They are capable
of reprograming them selves, and they are derived from a wild life form
which is self mobile, and reproduces by directly imprinting it's code upon
suitable material. Supposedly, this included the TL13-15 semi-synaptic
computers.

>The idea everything would be a kind of PLA (i.e. you can reprogram the actu=
al
>circuitry) is nottobvious .

Anything big enough and powerfull enough to handle the kind of data flow
needed will normally need some ram. IF the SDG Txpdr gets infected, it has
several means at it's disposal to infect the ram, then JSR to ram.

>So by hard-wiring  many things you lose flexibility - you don't go back
>to a chain of people shouting numbers at each other.
>-ben

Agreed. But you still have a *SLIM* chance of infection.

-Wil

William F. Hostman

EMail:          ASWFH@Orion.Alaska.EDU
HomePage:       HTTP://orion.alaska.edu/~aswfh/home.html

"History is the story of the life of societies; geography is the study of
what they evolved in."



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

Date: Wed, 13 Sep 1995 14:41:21 -0800
From: aswfh@acad2.alaska.edu (William F. Hostman)
To: traveller@MPGN.COM
Subject: Re: Fusion Power
Message-ID: <v01530503ac7d030a051c@[137.229.100.53]>

====================    Gravitics
+-------------------
|                       <- H2 in
|        ----------+
|                  |
|               |  |
|   Fuzion Zone |  |    <-He out
|               |  |
+---------------+  |
=================       gravitics

In my campaigns, I use gravitic driven fusion cells. (I assume that AG
requires two plates, but that is immaterial for the way it fuses) The walls
are liquid cooled turbine drivers, coupled with some EMRad converters and
the magnetic bottles to keep it from melting down. Hold the cell in a 20-30
G downward field, add a litle heat, and pressurized inflow with restricted
outflow, and you have a workable fusion plant.

Also, I assume that a long running power plant that is not venting properly
may develop other elements than helium, including Li and Carbon. This can
lead to unusual (and catastrophic) failures. So also can dropping unrefined
fuel (methane, amonia, etc) into a working plant. Yeah, enough
pressure/heat/density will allow them to dissassociate and fuse, but I have
no idea how much that would be.

Since (from what I have read) the fuusion problems ammount to 2 flaws at
current tech, this system seems to make sense to my gamers. those problems
are
1) maintaining sufficient pressure within the torrid
2) utilizing the energy produced (converting it to some useable type)

Also note that this design has no moving parts inside the cell, and only a
HP Steam turbine to go wrong mechanically.

-Wil

William F. Hostman

EMail:          ASWFH@Orion.Alaska.EDU
HomePage:       HTTP://orion.alaska.edu/~aswfh/home.html

"History is the story of the life of societies; geography is the study of
what they evolved in."



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

End of TRAVELLER Digest 414
***************************
