ThingMaker: Longbow I

**robject** · #1 August 27th, 2015, 06:02 PM

Longbow Mark I EMS Installation. TL14*, Size 7, 4600 tons, MCr 483.

A space-deployed TL14 EM antenna installation for scanning interstellar space. Capable of scanning space 8 sectors distant (S=29).

* NOTE: being built in the 800s, it really can't be beyond TL 13. I'll have to re-do this writeup.

Process

ThingMaker augments existing equipment; therefore it is safer to first build out a valid device where possible before resorting to ThingMaker. Since this is a large version of a sensor, we start with a starship's EMS sensor, designed using ACS. From there we modify it into a quite long ranged device.

ACS Sensors (page 341). The best ACS EMS sensor emplacement is a Deep Space Main EMS emplacement. It is built by applying modifiers, one by one, starting with the type of sensor itself, then specifying a 'Main' sensor mount (to fulfill the volume requirements for ThingMaker), and extending its range.

Table A. Our sensor type is EMS, which requires at least TL12 (so that's what I'll make it).

Code:

EMS-12 S=7 MCr 1

Table B. I don't want to apply stage effects - I want something standard. So I'll pass on this table.

Table C. I want this installed in the biggest mount possible, for the biggest task bonus. That would be a 'main' mount.

Code:

Main EMS-12 S=7 MCr 21 200 tons

Table D. I could extend its range at this point, but the formula in ThingMaker is more useful to how I want to adjust the array. So I pass on this table, as well.

Now we turn to ThingMaker: in particular, to the "Installed Range Effects" table at the bottom of page 605. Note that the sensors' range has already surpassed that referenced by this table. I am forced
to do a little extrapolation. In particular, it looks like each increase in range has a predictable price and volume multiplier. So the chart can be extended, using the ranges on page 43, as follows:

Code:

S=8 2.5 mkm x2
S=9 5 mkm x3
S=10 50 mkm x4
S=11 1 AU x5
S=12 2.8 AU x6
S=13 10 AU x7
S=14 40 AU x8
S=15 77 AU x9
S=16 308 AU x10
S=17 1230 AU x11
S=18 4900 AU x12
S=19 0.5 light-year x13
S=20 One light-year x14
S=21 One parsec x15
S=22 Two parsecs x16
S=23 Four parsecs x17
S=24 One subsector x18
S=25 Two subsectors x19
S=26 One sector x20
S=27 Two sectors x21
S=28 Four sectors x22
S=29 Eight sectors x23

I want to go from S=7 to S=29; to do that, I multiply the volume and cost by 23. Result:

Code:

S29 Main EMS-14 S=29 MCr 483 4600 ton