Time between Jumps

[dalthor]

I've been thinking about hop and jump drives, with regard to in-system hops. I figure that with accurate systems observation, you could theoretically use the hop drive for in-system travel by intersecting the orbit of a sufficiently large body - an effect known as blockage.

IMTU I require at least 60 minutes of observation to be able to accurately assess local (system) orbits, and calculate an in-system jump. I am trying to decide if I want to allow creative use of the hop drive. It would remove the need for a hop drive and a jump drive in the same hull.

I see this as feasible.

First, the baseline I am using for my assessment:

A ship (hop-1) with sufficient tankage for multiple hops
A tech level 16 computer with Astrogation software
A competent Astrogator as backup
A good sensor suite and operator

The ship makes a hop to a destination hex; it makes astronomical observations, and decides to make a 2nd hop in the same system, intending to "hit" the 100D limit of the target planet/asteroid/gas giant, causing the ship to exit hop space.

Pg 371 says to MANUALLY confirm calculations takes 24 hours. What about complete automated calculations based on observed data?

Ignore any "well, take X hours to verify the engine is operable, and another Y hours to fix..." blah blah blah discussion - I'll use my own tweaks for that.

How long does it take from the end of the 1st jump to the initiation of the 2nd jump, assuming the drive is functional and safety is not a factor?

And if safety is a factor?

'd like to think that somebody out there has considered this, so I'm looking for thoughts on this...ymmv.

Thanks!

Dalthor

 

[HG_B]

IMTU I require at least 60 minutes of observation to be able to accurately assess local (system) orbits, and calculate an in-system jump.

What if you are in a fully charted system? No need to assess local orbits.

 

[Reban]

What if you are in a fully charted system? No need to assess local orbits.

There is still a slight chance of something such as a rock or spacecraft intersecting your jumpline so spending a little time observing along your jumpline and around it is a sensible safety precaution. "Look before you leap" err hop.:rofl:

Of course light speed lag means any observations you make of the target will be in the past. T5 places the edge of the system at 83 light minutes out.

 

[Lycanorukke]

The SOM had times required for the computer to crunch the numbers, spin up the drives, etc, with times doubled if you were being careful. It took 6-36 minutes to charge up the jump capacitors (2 * 3d6 minutes), and less than a minute to calculate a vector with a T16 computer (4 *3d6 seconds). A T12 computer by comparison took an average of half an hour.

Or of course you could have a jump (hop) tape, throw it in the Nav computer and press 'Start'.

One thing I am curious about though is can a computer do the manual calculations?
Have three Nav computers crunch the numbers and if they all agree on a jump vector, then consider that vector good.
If one (or two) of them gives a different answer, get the vector recomputed. Much faster that sitting around for 24 hours with a pencil while the passangers are getting cranky.

 

[Reban]

One thing I am curious about though is can a computer do the manual calculations?
Have three Nav computers crunch the numbers and if they all agree on a jump vector, then consider that vector good.
If one (or two) of them gives a different answer, get the vector recomputed. Much faster that sitting around for 24 hours with a pencil while the passangers are getting cranky.

T5 doesn't have dedicated Nav Computers per se, but you could probably dedicate a console as a workstation to astrogation. Such a workstation would augment the Astrogator's C+S+K on the astrogation task.

The problem with your Nav computer idea is that in T5 the astrogation task has a 1D Uncertain roll by the referee. So its possible that your Nav computer and back-ups all agree, but none of them have output an accurate jump solution.

You have to judge if, based on what you rolled, the task has succeeded or not. If you have a doubt that you actually suceeded in the task, and got the correct jump solution, then you manually confirm it.

Interestingly the Astrogation Task doesn't require the use of a computer, but manually confirming a jump calculation will definitely benefit from using a ship's computer or console to augment your C+S+K.

As any Skill can be a Program you can hand the Astrogation and Confirmation tasks over to a computer, but there will still be uncertainty and confirmation will still take about 24 hours (its not Absolute so you can make it Hasty or Extra Hasty and reduce the time needed by making it harder).

Finally you can add a Brain to a console, so in theory you could construct a brain with the "Math" talent and several ranks in the Astrogation Skill to make a super astrogation computer.

 

[esampson]

. . .One thing I am curious about though is can a computer do the manual calculations?

It turns out yes, it can. It basically uses its TL as C+S+L.

Have three Nav computers crunch the numbers and if they all agree on a jump vector, then consider that vector good.
If one (or two) of them gives a different answer, get the vector recomputed.

That would probably be stickier. I would personally assume that with 3 computers the likelihood of them making the same mistake would be increased. The purpose behind the manual calculation is to take advantage of a humans inherent abilities to creatively extrapolate to look for things that a computer might have missed.

I'm not saying that they would automatically all get the same result but it would seem to me that the three systems should be more like a bonus modifier to the base roll than 3 independent rolls.

Much faster that sitting around for 24 hours with a pencil while the passangers are getting cranky.

I've always assumed that the astrogator does his calculations days in advance in situations like that. That gives him time to manually confirm his calculations if he's uncertain without impacting departure.

Just prior to leaving he might do one last quick check in case new data has arrived (either through downloaded data or observations) but 99.9% of the time any new data that arrives within those few days wouldn't be relevant to the plotted jumpline.