Traveller-digest     Saturday, October 9 1999     Volume 1999 : Number 1177



(R)1996. Traveller is a registered trademark of FarFuture Enterprises.
All rights reserved.

The following topics are covered in this digest:

Re: Now *This* Is Wild
Re: Battledress/Battlesuit Protection (GT)
21st century spaceports
Re: Annic Nova
Re: Firing two guns at once
Re: Starship disposal strategies (was: Annic Nova (longish))
Re: Firing two guns at once
Re: Battledress/Battlesuit Protection
Re: Traveller Versions
Re: Battledress/Battlesuit Protection (GT)
RE: Annic Nova
Jump Technology (was Re: Annic Nova)
Re: Jump Technology (was Re: Annic Nova)
OI: email failure (was:Starports Vehicles)
RE: Traveller Versions
Re: Firing two guns at once
Re: Meeting Fellow Travellers
Breaking Canon (Was: Annic Nova)
Re: Annic Nova
Jump Drive Question

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

Date: Fri, 8 Oct 1999 19:13:54 PST
From: shadow@krypton.rain.com (Leonard Erickson)
Subject: Re: Now *This* Is Wild

In mail, traveller@lists.imagiconline.com writes:

> A Cat's Eye Marvel
> by Leander Kahney 
>
> 3:00 a.m.  7.Oct.99.PDT
> In a dramatic demonstration of mind
> reading, neuroscientists have created
> videos of what a cat sees by using
> electrodes implanted in the animal's brain.
>
> Garrett Stanley of Harvard, and Fei Li and
> Yang Dan of the University of California,
> Berkeley, were able to reconstruct in
> startling detail scenes flashed before a
> cat's eyes...
>
> Having recorded patterns of firing as
> various scenes were flashed before the
> cat's eyes, the team was able to
> reconstruct very closely what the animal
> saw, which varied from people's faces to
> scenes of a dark forest...
>
> --- end quote ---

It's gonna be a while before they can reverse the process. But in the
meantime, here's a lovely thought.

do this to a human volunteer and rig it to a microchip recording unit
inside him. Add the ability to trigger recording at will. You now have
a spy with a built-in camera. 

Or a different sort of "Perfect Witness". 

Add an encrypted broadcast link and you have a new sort of reporter. Or
the possibility of trusted agents who really *are* "the Eyes of the
Emperor". 

- -- 
Leonard Erickson (aka Shadow)
 shadow@krypton.rain.com        <--preferred
leonard@qiclab.scn.rain.com     <--last resort

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

Date: Fri, 8 Oct 1999 19:48:27 PST
From: shadow@krypton.rain.com (Leonard Erickson)
Subject: Re: Battledress/Battlesuit Protection (GT)

In mail you write:

> At 12:26 PM 10/8/1999 PST, you wrote:
>
>>Silly question. What will a LAW or higher TL equivalent do to BD?
>
> A M72A2 LAW does 6dx4(10), an average of 84 points of damage.  TL 11
> BattleDress has a DR of 240 (24 against this attack.)
>
> Ouch.

I sort of figured it'd be like that. After all, if it can punch through
a tank, then even if it *doesn't* penetrate, it's gonna leave *such* a
bruise. :-)

In reality, it'd be "shock" damage as the side of the armor that was
struck hits you *hard* and then you hit the opposite side of the armor
equally hard...

Picture the poor soul who gets to test the new, experimental BD that's
designed to withstand a point blank round from an anti-tank gun. Now
picture them *pouring* him out iof the suit after the test... oops.
Back to the drawing board.

<evil thought>

Leave the suit "improperly" guarded in hopes anybody that sneaks into
the secret research lab will steal *it* instead of something workable.
You can leave the nuclear hand grenades next to it. :-)

If *that* doesn't cure a munchkin, nothing will!

- -- 
Leonard Erickson (aka Shadow)
 shadow@krypton.rain.com        <--preferred
leonard@qiclab.scn.rain.com     <--last resort

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

Date: Fri, 8 Oct 1999 19:37:58 PST
From: shadow@krypton.rain.com (Leonard Erickson)
Subject: 21st century spaceports

As some of you may recall, a couple of months back we were talking
about where the big spaceports might be in the 21st century on Earth.
I was pointing out that New Guinea had been proposed at one time. 

I just saw a program on TLC that makes me think this is a lot more
likely than we thought. It was about a couple of mines in Irin
Jaya(sp), that's the Indonesian half of the Island.

The mines are at around 12-14 *thousand* feet in the mountains. One is
played out. The other won't play out for some time, but they are
hunting for more deposits. 

Anyway, this means they've *already* got a road capable of handling
heavy equipment run in from the coast and up to the mines. Well, the
played out one (Ertsberg) has an aerial tramway for the last bit, but
it should still be workable.

They also have these monster pipelines they used to convey ore slurry
to the coast.

Since the mines are open pit, you could get one *hell* of a flat area
simply by blasting down some of the sides to fill in the middle.

Being that high up, and only 5 degrees from the equator would make them
one *hell* of a launch site if anyone ever feels like doing it.

- -- 
Leonard Erickson (aka Shadow)
 shadow@krypton.rain.com        <--preferred
leonard@qiclab.scn.rain.com     <--last resort

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

Date: Fri, 8 Oct 1999 16:52:39 PST
From: shadow@krypton.rain.com (Leonard Erickson)
Subject: Re: Annic Nova

In mail you write:

> I just had the thought that an Annic Nova style jump drive system would be
> great as a backup in case of a misjump into a hex with no refueling
> possibilities.  Just simply deploy some collapsible solar collectors and
> wait.  As long as you have the life support available, or cryo bays and
> could program the computer to jump and recharge if necessary to get you
> somewhere.
>
> Of course if you where in a hex without a star, the charging time would
> likely be very long.

If it takes a week at 1 AU, then by the inverse square law, at 1 parsec
it'll take (parsec/au)^2 weeks. Since a parsec is 206,265 AU, that
means it'd take roughly 815 million years to recharge. Oops.

It's *damn* dark between the stars. 

It'd likely be quicker to use one of the pinnaces to boost the ship
towards the nearest star. If it can push at .1g for a week, you'll get
up to a bit over 600 km/sec. Which will get you across a parsec in
about 1600 years. 

- -- 
Leonard Erickson (aka Shadow)
 shadow@krypton.rain.com        <--preferred
leonard@qiclab.scn.rain.com     <--last resort

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

Date: Fri, 8 Oct 1999 23:54:50 -0400
From: "Terry Carlino" <carlino@home.com>
Subject: Re: Firing two guns at once

>Interestingly enough, I did see mention of some possibly valid reasons
>for holding the pistol sidearmed amongst the mass of posts.
>
>The one that got me thinking was the comment about dominate eye and
>hand.  See, I'm very righthanded, but left eye dominate. I've *never*
>been able to sight a rifle properly without closing, or covering, my
>left eye and with a pistol I tend to sight along the side of the
>barrel rather than with the sight, ie, I am a *poor* shot. However,
>when someone mentioned turning the pistol over, I tried it...guess
>what...the sight lines up with my left eye! That lead me to consider
>that as a kid when we were playing cowboys I always favored the cross
>draw holster and was snap firing sidearmed...sighting with the left
>eye.  It's still not the best way to fire a pistol, of course, but I
>can see it for cross dominate eye folks, and maybe for the firing two
>guns bit...one up and one over.  (Not that *my* wrists could take it.
;)

When I originally qualified with a .45 the instructor insisted that I shoot
right handed, since that is my dominant hand. After I failed to qualify he
allowed me to use a left handed stance, where upon I promptly made my
qualifying score, since I'm left eye dominant.  I eventually got passable
with my right hand, but never actually carried my weapon on that side in the
field.

Terry C

All that is Gold does not glitter
Not all who travel are lost

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

Date: Fri, 08 Oct 1999 21:07:21 -0700
From: "Benyamene' ZeAbe' Akella" <xrp@sierratel.com>
Subject: Re: Starship disposal strategies (was: Annic Nova (longish))

> Sudden fun thought...I think we're finally getting around to designing
> Disaster Area's "Sundiver" ship. :)

Hotblack Diastio! My hero!

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

Date: Sat, 9 Oct 1999 00:18:04 -0400
From: "Jory Earl" <j-man@iname.com>
Subject: Re: Firing two guns at once

>(from rock' n roll auto or even using 3- or 5-shot fire select modes) you
can
>use up a lot of ammo very fast. The training and discipline of the SMG
shooter
>would be critical here. If I were out in the open a SMG would be my weapon
of
>choice since I could lay down suppression fire and hope to get to cover
fast. If
>already behind cover I would most likely prefer an auto-loading high
capacity
>9mm, 40 S&W or .45 Cal weapon with plenty of magazines loaded with
Hydra-shok
>JHPs.

Yes, but how much of your shots would actually be effective hits?
(effective in this case meaning man down and out of action/unable to be a
threat)

Versus a man carefully aiming and squeezing off rounds quickly?


___________________________________________________________
 J-Man
 ICQ# 2843475
 New Hampshire - U.S.A.
 Email : j-man@iname.com
 Home Page : http://www.geocities.com/~jman037/
___________________________________________________________

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

Date: Sat, 9 Oct 1999 00:12:10 -0400
From: "Terry Carlino" <carlino@home.com>
Subject: Re: Battledress/Battlesuit Protection

>Black ICE writes:
>
>> And exactly what effect does the suit running at 70 mph have on the
>>legs
>> of the wearer?

>I'm not _defending_ the BD.  Just commenting.

I'm not defending the BD either, but it's obvious to me that the suit must
have been designed using Mecha rules--which means the suit running at 70 mph
should have no effect on the legs of the wearer, since the legs of the
wearer aren't in the legs of the mecha.

Alternatively if I wanted to design a suit to move along the ground at 70
mph on road I'd lock the legs into position somehow and use retractable
powered skates. Gyrostablized the thing so it wouldn't fall over and you're
all set.

Would I call it Traveller BD? Not OTU. In IMTU? Possibly

Terry C

All that is Gold does not glitter
Not all who travel are lost

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

Date: Fri, 08 Oct 1999 22:12:10 -0700
From: "Benyamene' ZeAbe' Akella" <xrp@sierratel.com>
Subject: Re: Traveller Versions

> ----- Original Message -----
> From: David P. Summers <summers@alum.mit.edu>
>> I really wonder if there isn't a faction out there that thinks
>> they need to try and do their best to weaken/kill GT to "make
>> space" for some other version of Traveller.  Ironically, if GT
>> dies, I think publishers are going to be very leary of touching
>> Traveller after two failures in a row.

Well, regardless of my opinion of the GURPs ruleset, I can't see that
happening. SJGs IAFAIK a juggernaut, and has to wide a base to not be able
to support a healthy GT audience. And some of it (GT:BTC and other meliex
specific books excluded) will be snapped up for other games.
>
> For all of my "Crusty" comments about various non-CT versions, I am actually
> very happy to see so much material available and such a diverse following.

Amen.

> The fact that I have so far failed to catch on with the GURPS mechanics is
> nobody's fault but my own.  The quality of the material is at least as good
> as any other version and there seems to be a balance between editorial
> prudence and perfectionism, which allows product to be published at a fair
> rate.

First In and Far Trader are the sharpest Traveller, GURPs, or any other
Sci-Fi  gaming products I have seen, and I don't like the system.
>
> There are two ironies in my own situation, first that, no matter what the
> rules set, I don't play.  Probably contributes to my nostalgia for the CT
> rules.  The second is that, when I did play, I disliked the "canonical"
> background (preferring a more Asimov/Piper "post-collapse" galaxy) *and* I
> made a mish-mash out of the rules.  So, no matter what the version, I'm
> happy to see Traveller material being published because I enjoy acquiring it
> and talking about it and dreaming that someday I'll game again.  All
> Traveller material is good, for the edifying of the body of gamers.
>
Again, Amen! Now if we can get them to put Jesse's art in color it will be
Heaven on Earth. At least a few color plates.

> Besides, I'm still fuming over the beating we took in the FFW.  Until the
> Border Worlds are liberated I'm just gonna be a grumpy and impossible to
> please Sword-Worlder :-p
>
> Crusty

Buck up, Crusty, there are other eigenstates in which the results are
different.
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
We, as a species, exist in a world in which exist a myriad of data points.
Upon these matrices of points we superimpose a structure and the world makes
sense to us. The pattern of the structure originates within our biological
and sociological properties.
- -------Persinger & Lafreniere,
- ---Space-Time Transients and Unusual Events

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

Date: Fri, 08 Oct 1999 23:12:53 -0700
From: shudson@lightspeed.bc.ca (Steven Hudson)
Subject: Re: Battledress/Battlesuit Protection (GT)

>"How effective is a panzerfaust against a troll, Heinz?"

  8d10?  But is it fire damage...

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

Date: Sat, 9 Oct 1999 14:37:27 -0700
From: "Antony Farrell" <Skaran@bigpond.com>
Subject: RE: Annic Nova

> -----Original Message-----
> From: owner-traveller@lists.imagiconline.com
> [mailto:owner-traveller@lists.imagiconline.com]On Behalf Of Christopher
> Thrash
> Sent: Friday, 8 October 1999 7:14 AM
> To: traveller@lists.imagiconline.com
> Subject: Re: Annic Nova
>
>
I think that in the Starship Operators Manual it stated that most of the
fuel used by the jump drive fast burn reactor was actually used for cooling,
though I don't think it stated what proportion was used for the jump itself.
In FFS1 in the black globe section it stated that 35% of the jump drive was
a capacitor/HPG system with an energy capacity based on the TL of the
capacitor.
As far as breaking batteries, non-nuclear, and some nuclear (especially ex
soviet) type submarines get power from batteries while submerged. These have
built in redundancy, ie lots of smaller batteries connected together. Which
can have various sections switched out if damaged. Total power available
would drop of course, but any damage sufficient to destroy the bulk of the
battery system has likely destroyed the vessel or damaged it severely enough
to make abandon ship a good idea.
I have done a TNE version of my interpretation of the Annic Nova and if
anyone is interested I will post it.
Antony Farrell

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

Date: Sat, 09 Oct 1999 07:34:02 -0400
From: Christopher Thrash <thrash@io.com>
Subject: Jump Technology (was Re: Annic Nova)

>Date: Fri, 8 Oct 1999 17:03:47 PST
>From: shadow@krypton.rain.com (Leonard Erickson)
>Subject: Re: Annic Nova
>
>And I'll also state that just because something cranks out *huge*
>amounts of power doesn't mean you can easily convert that power to some
>other use. As an example a big rocket engine generates more power than
>most power generating plants. But converting to to anything other than
>thrust is a *royal* pain. So why can't the part of the jump system that
>converts LH2 to huge amounts of power for the jump drive be converting
>it to something that the jump drive can use, but is really difficult
>to convert to power usable for things like weapons.

Because the /Annic Nova/ uses electricity from sunlight to serve the same
function, whatever it is, and Marc Miller's article agrees that "large
amounts of power" provided from "[c]apacitors or large fast-discharge
batteries" is all that is required. 

Moreover, according to HG2 "energy that contacts the black globe is
diverted to capacitors ... contained in the ship's jump drive" and
"[s]tored energy may be removed from the capacitors by using it to power
the ship." As Thom Jones-Low pointed out, "If a ship absorbs enough energy
to make a jump, and is supplied with sufficient fuel, it may jump at the
end of the turn." /Annic Nova/ dispenses with the fuel requirement. 

Nothing I've been able to find in CT so far explains why jump fuel is
required or what it is used for: hence my dilemma.

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

Date: Sat, 9 Oct 1999 07:59:16 -0400
From: "Jory Earl" <j-man@iname.com>
Subject: Re: Jump Technology (was Re: Annic Nova)

>Moreover, according to HG2 "energy that contacts the black globe is
>diverted to capacitors ... contained in the ship's jump drive" and
>"[s]tored energy may be removed from the capacitors by using it to power
>.the ship." As Thom Jones-Low pointed out, "If a ship absorbs enough energy
>to make a jump, and is supplied with sufficient fuel, it may jump at the
>end of the turn." /Annic Nova/ dispenses with the fuel requirement.
>
>Nothing I've been able to find in CT so far explains why jump fuel is
>required or what it is used for: hence my dilemma.

As I understand it, you need deuterium-rich hydrogen in order to create the
energy to store in the capacitors for a jump.  Absorbing energy seems to be
just another way to get it, albeit a much much slower way.  Skimming a gas
giant I would think would take a fraction of the time sitting there waiting
for the sunlight to charge your capacitors, thus making it a highly
impractical method.

___________________________________________________________
 J-Man
 ICQ# 2843475
 New Hampshire - U.S.A.
 Email : j-man@iname.com
 Home Page : http://www.geocities.com/~jman037/
___________________________________________________________

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

Date: Sat, 09 Oct 1999 06:16:00 -0600
From: Erwin Fritz <efritz@GLJA.com>
Subject: OI: email failure (was:Starports Vehicles)

John Buston wrote:
> 
> I tried to contact you directly but my messages just bounce, as follows.
> 
> A message that you sent could not be delivered to all of its recipients. The
> following address(es) failed:
> 
>   LKW@IO.COM:
>     SMTP error from remote mailer after MAIL FROM:
>     <John.Buston@tesco.net>:
>     host mx.io.com [199.170.88.17]:
>     550 REJECT

This indicates that the destination host is deliberately rejecting the
sending domain or sending machine, usually because the email
administrator of the destination has decided not to receive mail from
the sending machine.

This is not a personal thing against you; it applies to all mail coming
from either your host or your domain.

As an email admin myself, I reject mail from sites only when the
following conditions have been met:

1. Our shop has been spammed several times by the site.
2. Inquires to the postmaster at that site go unanswered or the
postmaster isn't cooperative in eliminating the source of the spam.
- -- 
Erwin Fritz
Gilbert Laustsen Jung Associates Ltd.
http://www.glja.com

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

Date: Sat, 9 Oct 1999 13:08:45 +0100
From: SD Mooney <dom@cybergoths.u-net.com>
Subject: RE: Traveller Versions

"David P. Summers" <summers@alum.mit.edu> writes:

>Well, what has been anoying me is the round of snipping at GURPS
>by all those for whom it is some sort of heresy.  I wouldn't have any
>problem with posts saying they liked the rating of task difficulty
>in MT and stuff.  But instead we get this junk about GURPS "lacking"
>a "task system" and other junk trying to imply it has some sort of
>inadequate game mechanic.

GURPS Basic doesn't have a task system in the same way that most ex-TNE, MT
and T4 users would understand. It *does* have the success roll for
resolving task issues, but this has nothing to equate to the shifting
difficulty levels that Traveller editions have.

In all Traveller versions bar CT the prefered method of changing task
difficulty was achived through shifting the task's *difficulty level*
rather than the adding and subtracting of DMs to a dice roll or target
number. The philosophy behind this was gone into depth by Joe Fugate at one
point in either the MTJ or the Traveller Digest.

The result on this collection of (often differing) DMs for success rolls is
that most people new to GURPS from one of the task system based Traveller
editions perceive GURPS as having no task system.

Fundamentally, GURPS is more akin to CT in its style. In the later BITS
products we are putting a table in which equates the difficult levels of
the tasks to standard DMs for GT and CT. The system zeros at the difficult
level and has +/- 2 increments for CT (TN 8+) and +/-3 for GT (TN as usual).

>I really wonder if there isn't a faction out there that thinks
>they need to try and do their best to weaken/kill GT to "make
>space" for some other version of Traveller.  Ironically, if GT
>dies, I think publishers are going to be very leary of touching
>Traveller after two failures in a row.

Firstly, unless MWM pulls the license I don't think that GT will die easily
(12k+ rule books in first run, more in second run) if it maintains the
present level of product quality. The level of discussion on GURPS
mechanics and the level of criticism is nowhere near the level that T4
endured.

The real areas of concern for GT are those where the impacts of using GURPS
Vehicles without modification for Traveller has lead to items like
uber-battledress. To steal a phrase from TNE, the 'Technology Architecture'
for the Traveller universe using GURPS Vehicles needs improved definition
to match 'canon'. Some subdivision of the GURPS TLs would help this, and
this is something that G:V2 has the possibilty to help with...

Dom

- ----------Dom Mooney---dom@cybergoths.u-net.com------------
                       MiB - Marines in Battledress
   "Protecting the Imperium from the Scum of the Galaxy"
Rob Prior's Mac software @ http://www.bits.org.uk/ 

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

Date: Sat, 9 Oct 1999 01:19:21 PST
From: shadow@krypton.rain.com (Leonard Erickson)
Subject: Re: Firing two guns at once

In mail you write:

> It makes more sense to buy a high quality carry weapon and load up with
> additional magazines for the same amount of weight. If you want volume get a
> submachine gun like an MP5K.
>
> Alex Ingram
       ^^^^^^

I find it amusing that you are advocating a submachinegun, given your
name. Even more so *which* one you are recommending. :-)

- -- 
Leonard Erickson (aka Shadow)
 shadow@krypton.rain.com        <--preferred
leonard@qiclab.scn.rain.com     <--last resort

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

Date: Sat, 9 Oct 1999 08:50:02 EDT
From: JLAROSEE@aol.com
Subject: Re: Meeting Fellow Travellers

Gosh- I'm blushing. Thanks Gary for the kind words- Kim and you are nice 
people and I'm glad you enjoyed Medieval Starship. 
Jay

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

Date: Sat, 9 Oct 1999 16:14:20 +0200 (METDST)
From: Hans Rancke-Madsen <rancke@diku.dk>
Subject: Breaking Canon (Was: Annic Nova)

"Sword Worlder" <swordworlder@clinic.net> writes:

>From: Christopher Thrash <thrash@io.com>
>>as long as the worst canon-breaking bits (no LH2 requirement, primarily)
>>are either fixed or firmly pidgeon-holed as curiousities, not practical or
>>useful for the Imperium in general.
> 
>Canon-breaking?  This is the earliest canon, from the first instance of a
>canonical storyline book, JTAS No.1, Loren's baby.  So now, twenty years
>later, we need to "fix" it?  <sigh>

Well, if on the one hand you have a game universe that has been built up
over 20 years with the assumption that one particular crucial detail is
absolutely necessary, and on the other hand you have one single instance
that shows that the detail is NOT, in fact, absolutely necessary, then one
of the two has to be 'fixed'. I know which part I'd select.

Alternatively one could just ignore the discrepancy. Unfortunately for me
I find ignoring such things about as easy as ignoring gravel in my cereal.



      Hans Rancke
University of Copenhagen
     rancke@diku.dk
- ------------
        "A  subsector  official  pompously states that the
        subsector  armed  forces  have  four Kinunir class
        ships in service,  each with enough troop strength
        to put down any military operations that threathen
        the peace of the Imperium."

                        ---Adventure 1, The Kinunir

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

Date: Sat, 9 Oct 1999 17:01:50 +0200 (METDST)
From: Hans Rancke-Madsen <rancke@diku.dk>
Subject: Re: Annic Nova

Keven R. Pittsinger writes:

>CT rules *do* say that to jump, you need jump drives installed, otherwise 
>it's a nonstarship.  Which, to me at least, means you *don't* get to leave 
>them behind.  <grin>  HG continues in this vein.  It's when some of the DGP 
>'chrome' shows up in MT that 'leaving your drives behind' starts being 
>'within the rules', so to speak.

OK, I have no problem with that. The real money-maker is in the jump fuel
tankage anyway.

>>Indeed. And the power plant is far more efficient than the jump drive when
>>it comes to getting energy from fuel (IF, that is, the jump drive actually
>>use all the jump fuel for energy). So if you can charge the jump capacitors
>>slowly enough to let the power plant do it instead of having to have the
>>jump drive do it, you can jump with far less fuel. 
> 
>The 'power plant' I *think* you're refering to is the accumulator alongside
>Area 33 in the plans (Pg 8 in the supplement, btw...).  

No, I expressed myself badly. I meant that any power plant is more efficient
than a jump drive:

a) A 100 T ship needs 1 T of TL 15 power plant to have a PP number of 1.
   Such a power plant produces 1 EP per combat turn.

b) One combat turn is 20 minutes. 1 T of power plant thus produces 72 EP per
   day or 2160 EP in 30 days.

c) A 100 T ship with a Factor 1 power plant requires 1 T of fuel to run the
   plant for 30 days.

1  T of power plant thus produces 2160 EP from 1 T of fuel.

d) A 100 T ship requires 7 T of jump drive to achieve jump 6.

e) Half of a jump drive's tonnage is capacitors (_High Guard_ 2nd Ed, p. 42)

f) Each T of capacitors can store 36 EP. (Same page) The 3.5 T of capacitors
   are thus capable of storing 126 EP. 

g) A jump-6 requires 60 T of fuel. If all the fuel is used for energy, the
   3.5 T of drive that isn't capacitors turns those 60 T into 126 EP. Each
   ton of fuel is thus turned into 2.01 EP.

>The accumulator looks to be about 10 squares long & 1 square wide, which 
>means on the order of 5 dtons *if* it is only 1 deck high.  I suspect it's 
>probably *2* decks high, but I haven't read Mrc's mind lately.

Yes, you were right and I was wrong. There is a special accumulator in lieu
of fuel tanks.
 
>The accumulator is charged up by a solar panel grid *1 km* in diameter in 1 
>to 6 weeks.  It stores enough energy to power a J2 *and* a J3 *AND* provide 
>internal power & life support for 60 days.

Right, but why use solar power at all? There's nothing magical about the
electricity you get from solar panels. Why not just install a normal
power plant and let it fill the accumulators? By _High Guard_ a 600 T ship
only needs a 24 T jump drive to achieve jump-3; although the Annic Nova
does have a 50 T drive to provide the same (being designed before HG was
published), those 30 T are also legal; there's nothing to prevent the
owners to rip out the old jump drive and put in a more efficient one. So
the jump only requires energy enough to fill 15 T of capacitors, or 540 EP.
A factor 1 power plant (6 T) can provide that in 90 combat turns or 30 hours.

>>So what? It's an energy storage device. You can charge it slowly. Once it
>>is full, you can jump. What difference does it make if you have to route
>>the energy through a "real" capacitor or not?
> 
>No, you're not getting it.  Marc specified that the drives in question are a 
>LBB2 'F' jump drive and an LBB2 'J' jump drive.  Assume they take up the 
>standard required cubic per LBB2 rules; the deckplan works out about right.  
>And the accumulator is *specifically* stated to feed power *to* the jump 
>drives, while implying it's not part *OF* the jump drives.

I got all that. What I don't get is what difference it makes (Well, about 5dT,
I suppose).
  
>>>It was further explained that *part* of the drive was a fast-burning 
>>>high energy fusion reactor that needed constant attention during the burn.  
>> 
>> No, I think that was in MT, not CT. Can you give any CT references?
> 
>You might be right on that one.  I'll have to dig for an answer there.

No, I was wrong. I'd forgotten Marc Miller's article in JTAS#24.

>>You use it until the battery breaks, then you sell it to the Jumpspace
>>Institute of Regina for enough cash to buy a Far Trader...or maybe
>>even a Subsidized Liner. ;-)
> 
>The supplement says it's worth quite a bit.  Just took a look at the xerox 
>about 2 minutes ago, AAMOF, and it said it's worth roughly 200MCr.  <grin>

The entire ship is worth that much. The hull, the two drives, and the two
pinnaces alone would run to MCr214 from new...


      Hans Rancke
University of Copenhagen
     rancke@diku.dk
- ------------
        "The referee should determine the nature of subsequent
         events based on the individual situation."
                                _76 Patrons_, p. 8

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

Date: Sat, 9 Oct 1999 11:03:23 -0500 (CDT)
From: Nathan Yourchuck <yore@visi.com>
Subject: Jump Drive Question

I am new to Traveller so please excuse this silly question.

In Mileu 0 they talk about jump-drives limiting range, but I don't
understand that. Can't cargo ships carry enough fuel to initiate
plenty of extra jumps without needing to refuel at gas giants and stuff?

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

End of Traveller-digest V1999 #1177
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