Satellite Design Theory

[Liam's Ghost]

In the Handbook the K-2 and up are listed specifically as having hardware encryption. That was done in response to finding out the Combine had their own models and were breaking the poorly done hand encryption. I think you might be mistaken on the directional part. The only description I'm seeing of how it broadcasts says "radiate out from the device in a spherical pattern", and I'm not finding anything different that says it has directional capabilities.

The mention of the Combine having "Directional" faxes comes from the Blood of Kerensky trilogy in a conversation between Omi Kurita and Shin Yodama. 

[Cryhavok101]

If creating a deep periphery or even further cluster of systems it becomes a question of when it was set up .HPG tech did not come into existence until the Star League at the tail end of the Reunification War. So HPG tech may not even be an option for this nation .

This seems to assume that only the star league could have ever possibly developed it on their own, and a place that escaped the ravages of the succession wars entirely couldn't have developed it themselves in the intervening centuries. Even if that were the case, since it is a place I am making up myself, it wouldn't be too hard to have it coming from the right time period.

[Col Toda]

Parallel development would require an impetus . The Star League was so vast and had such a large talent pool that it made sense for them to push the envelope  in FTL communications .  A cluster of systems that was determined to stay apart from the rest of Inner Sphere would not have that reason as a better FTL communication set up may very well rat out there existence to the very people they fled .  They may have a bigger reason to stifle and stop the development of such technology as it would ultimately threaten the people in power in that system . The Clans who developed in isolation have processes and hardware idiosyncrasies that it too 45 years of constant contact to develop proven ways to eliminate the Compatibility problems .  Depending on how much longer this group was separated the technical base they use outside of Aerospace jump ships may very well be radically different . Do they have Battle Mechs at All ? Did they just improve combat vehicles ? Did they invest in Battle Armor or Conventional Infantry beyond Inner Sphere standard . 

[Cryhavok101]

Depending on how much longer this group was separated the technical base they use outside of Aerospace jump ships may very well be radically different . Do they have Battle Mechs at All ? Did they just improve combat vehicles ? Did they invest in Battle Armor or Conventional Infantry beyond Inner Sphere standard .

When I eventually open the thread to discuss them, I will answer all of those questions, for now though, I'd prefer to keep this thread about satellites. As far as the black boxes go, I am planning on going with the story that HPG tech was developed because of blackbox tech. It was the next technological step, discovered by anyone trying to figure out how to get the black boxes to be something akin to tight beam transmissions. Though I am interested if anything in the books that contradicts that explicitly or by inference.

[Col Toda]

HPG tech was not an extension of the Black Box tech , which was developed first because it was technically easier . The HPG was developed because the Inner Sphere and Periphery was so vast that a faster and better one was perceived to be needed . It was not even developed until the Reunification war when the Inner Sphere was trying to bring all the Periphery Nation's to heel and they Needed the technology to govern better . The resources to use and maintain a black box network would be a fraction of maintaining HPG tech and unless they started to have major problems governing themselves due to time lag the driving force to do so just would not be there . Most of the Battletech universe has Nobles to take local control in a pinch as even HPG tech does not lend itself to micromanagement level of control the we see on our planet today . Before any FTL communication devices things were just cached and relayed as Jump Ships moved from any governmental center and moved out toward the rest of the Nation and back . You can keep good control at least 3 Jumps in all directions . With Noble local control representing the interests of the national government control could be extended over Vast areas .

[Giovanni Blasini]

One thing that confuses me on black boxes: sure, they say how big a message can be, how fast the message travels, and its range. Have they ever said how many messages can be transmitted per hour?

[serack]

handbook house davion , pg 181
Model  Propagation Speed  Range Extra-Long  Message Maximum Hardware     Decryption     Year in
                                                     Range     Capacity  Channels Encryption?       TN             Service
                                                 Incremental

K-0     10 LY/day              100 LY   1 LY           2 pages     1           No                    —             2580
K-1     25 LY/day              200 LY   2 LY           2 pages     1           No                    —             3027
K-1A   25 LY/day              450 LY   2 LY           2 pages     1           No                    —             3035
K-1B   25 LY/day              250 LY   2 LY           2 pages     1           No                    —             3041
K-2     50 LY/day              450 LY   5 LY           6 pages     1          Yes                   21             3042
K-3     50 LY/day              500 LY   5 LY           6 pages     2          Yes                   23             3044
K-3A   50 LY/day              500 LY   5 LY           6 pages     2          Yes                   23             3052
K-4    100 LY/day             600 LY   8 LY         20 pages     2          Yes                   26             3048
K-5    150 LY/day             800 LY   8 LY         35 pages     4          Yes                   30             3054
K-6    180 LY/day          1,200 LY  10 LY         50 pages    9          Yes                   34             3061

[Giovanni Blasini]

handbook house davion , pg 181
Model  Propagation Speed  Range Extra-Long  Message Maximum Hardware     Decryption     Year in
                                                     Range     Capacity  Channels Encryption?       TN             Service
                                                 Incremental

K-0     10 LY/day              100 LY   1 LY           2 pages     1           No                    —             2580
K-1     25 LY/day              200 LY   2 LY           2 pages     1           No                    —             3027
K-1A   25 LY/day              450 LY   2 LY           2 pages     1           No                    —             3035
K-1B   25 LY/day              250 LY   2 LY           2 pages     1           No                    —             3041
K-2     50 LY/day              450 LY   5 LY           6 pages     1          Yes                   21             3042
K-3     50 LY/day              500 LY   5 LY           6 pages     2          Yes                   23             3044
K-3A   50 LY/day              500 LY   5 LY           6 pages     2          Yes                   23             3052
K-4    100 LY/day             600 LY   8 LY         20 pages     2          Yes                   26             3048
K-5    150 LY/day             800 LY   8 LY         35 pages     4          Yes                   30             3054
K-6    180 LY/day          1,200 LY  10 LY         50 pages    9          Yes                   34             3061

Crap, not so much then, in terms of messages per hour.

[Cryhavok101]

Crap, not so much then, in terms of messages per hour.

Data and Usage Rates may apply. Do you still wish to send this message?

[idea weenie]

handbook house davion , pg 181
Model  Propagation Speed  Range Extra-Long  Message Maximum Hardware     Decryption     Year in
                                                     Range     Capacity  Channels Encryption?       TN             Service
                                                 Incremental

K-0     10 LY/day              100 LY   1 LY           2 pages     1           No                    —             2580
K-1     25 LY/day              200 LY   2 LY           2 pages     1           No                    —             3027
K-1A   25 LY/day              450 LY   2 LY           2 pages     1           No                    —             3035
K-1B   25 LY/day              250 LY   2 LY           2 pages     1           No                    —             3041
K-2     50 LY/day              450 LY   5 LY           6 pages     1          Yes                   21             3042
K-3     50 LY/day              500 LY   5 LY           6 pages     2          Yes                   23             3044
K-3A   50 LY/day              500 LY   5 LY           6 pages     2          Yes                   23             3052
K-4    100 LY/day             600 LY   8 LY         20 pages     2          Yes                   26             3048
K-5    150 LY/day             800 LY   8 LY         35 pages     4          Yes                   30             3054
K-6    180 LY/day          1,200 LY  10 LY         50 pages    9          Yes                   34             3061

Any idea of characters per page?  Or can I cheat and send font size 1 characters with near zero margin on a page of posterboard?

The other option would be the various shortcuts used in ELF signaling, primarily dealing with compact messages sent to submarines.  ELF can only do a few characters per minute, so assuming that means 10 that means 600 characters per hour.  A 'page' of text assuming 8.5x11 (standard US paper) with 1 inch margins, using courier new font at size 12, single-spaced can have about 3000 characters, or almost 1 character per second.

[Liam's Ghost]

Crap, not so much then, in terms of messages per hour.

Ten to twenty five messages per hour depending on model, at a rate of forty seconds and a terrifying amount of power per page.

[Cryhavok101]

I thought the rates listed were per day?

[Liam's Ghost]

I thought the rates listed were per day?

Well as an example from the second table, which appears just below the one posted by Serack in the same book, the K0 says this: Pwr Use: 60/page; 25/hr. I take this as meaning you could send 25 messages per hour, each up to the maximum message capacity listed in the previous table.

[Maingunnery]

Any idea of characters per page?  Or can I cheat and send font size 1 characters with near zero margin on a page of posterboard?

well its seems that it define a page as about 100 kilobytes max.

[Giovanni Blasini]

Ok, that gives me a ballpark data transmission rate of roughly between 1200 bps to 33.6 kbps, depending on the black box version. So, literally fax machine transmission rates.