Sniper Scopes

Wondering about the introduction of steel cable suspension bridges. If steam locomotives come into play, a line can be run from north section of Margaret's land across the Throat (narrow point) connecting to the main section. Not having access to the ICN charts, I don't know if it is feasable to mount a project to connect Silverlode to Old Charis or from the northern peninsula of Silverlode to Emerald. Perhaps a railbarge type of ferry will be initiated first? Also with the introduction of gas lamps, will lighthouses come into play in 10 or 20 years?

TN4994 wrote:Wondering about the introduction of steel cable suspension bridges. If steam locomotives come into play, a line can be run from north section of Margaret's land across the Throat (narrow point) connecting to the main section. Not having access to the ICN charts, I don't know if it is feasable to mount a project to connect Silverlode to Old Charis or from the northern peninsula of Silverlode to Emerald. Perhaps a railbarge type of ferry will be initiated first? Also with the introduction of gas lamps, will lighthouses come into play in 10 or 20 years?

You don't need gas lights for lighthouses. The Lighthouse at Alexandria was built sometime before 250BC and did NOT use gas lights.

fallsfromtrees wrote:

TN4994 wrote:Wondering about the introduction of steel cable suspension bridges. If steam locomotives come into play, a line can be run from north section of Margaret's land across the Throat (narrow point) connecting to the main section. Not having access to the ICN charts, I don't know if it is feasable to mount a project to connect Silverlode to Old Charis or from the northern peninsula of Silverlode to Emerald. Perhaps a railbarge type of ferry will be initiated first? Also with the introduction of gas lamps, will lighthouses come into play in 10 or 20 years?

You don't need gas lights for lighthouses. The Lighthouse at Alexandria was built sometime before 250BC and did NOT use gas lights.

I knew that, as with the Collosus of Rhodes. But technology on Safehold doesn't have to follow that of earth. Look at their production of the (Franklin) wood stove.
On Earth even. In my community it wasn't practical to run lines for Cable TV. We had one repeater for the American CBS network. Then Satellite TV was available. In effect we bypassed the invention of Cable TV. And all those communities that went to cell phones without first going through the land-line hookups?
And if we hadn't gone to petroleum based engines, would we be driving the latest Stanley Steamer?

Hildum wrote:

ksandgren wrote:I believe our newcomer is referring to vacuum tubes as pneumatic message transport that was common between different floors in old skyscrapers - not to vacuum filled electronics of the early radio or tv.

Actually, the systems are still in common use and you can buy new installations today. There are a couple of vendors.

12 years ago they were still used on USN Carriers.
We called it the bunny tube and the transport cylinder was the "bunny".

=2014/11/14=

I worked in London England for two years from 1959 - - -

The firm that employed me designed and built telephone equipment.

One of the things that impressed me at the time was the high accuracy the staff could attain by using an analogue calculator like a slide rule.

The hand-held slide-rule scale was wrapped around a cylinder which, if stretched out flat, would have been measured in FEET.

They were used, in some cases, to calculate the design of band-pass filters.

These calculations involved determining the small differences of two large numbers (resulting in a huge loss of accuracy).

Quite remarkable instruments, in my opinion !

R
.

kbus888 wrote:=2014/11/14=

I worked in London England for two years from 1959 - - -

The firm that employed me designed and built telephone equipment.

One of the things that impressed me at the time was the high accuracy the staff could attain by using an analogue calculator like a slide rule.

The hand-held slide-rule scale was wrapped around a cylinder which, if stretched out flat, would have been measured in FEET.

They were used, in some cases, to calculate the design of band-pass filters.

These calculations involved determining the small differences of two large numbers (resulting in a huge loss of accuracy).

Quite remarkable instruments, in my opinion !

R
.

"Popularly" referred to in the Engineering Design Offices and Technical Colleges as the "Guessing Stick".

=2014/11/15=

Thanks, I didn't know that !!!

R
.

chrisd wrote:

kbus888 wrote:=2014/11/14=

I worked in London England for two years from 1959 - - -

The firm that employed me designed and built telephone equipment.

One of the things that impressed me at the time was the high accuracy the staff could attain by using an analogue calculator like a slide rule.

The hand-held slide-rule scale was wrapped around a cylinder which, if stretched out flat, would have been measured in FEET.

They were used, in some cases, to calculate the design of band-pass filters.

These calculations involved determining the small differences of two large numbers (resulting in a huge loss of accuracy).

Quite remarkable instruments, in my opinion !

R
.

"Popularly" referred to in the Engineering Design Offices " as the "Guessing Stick".

Hello, also a new person to post.

I also have a few thoughts about technology currently in use on Safehold.

1) We tend to think of what's available based on our own development. What about technology branches that we decided not to pursue? The steam powered car is mentioned in one of the books as a possibility, and they have been built (Jay Leno's Garage has one). But it was not pursued because of the internal combustion engine. Given that electricity is being avoided for the moment, might they choose a different path of technological development? Things we know are possible, but have developed other methods because of one reason or another?

2) I tend to agree that some weapons in Charis may not be developed right away. The church may do things differently though. Consider the first hand crank Gatlin gun. For Charis, it does not make much sense as they are largely a mobile assault force. At some point, though, the church (or at least Go4) have to start thinking of building defensive points that are more hardened. A hand crank Gatling gun in a pillbox would be difficult point over run. The same goes for shotguns. Yes, Charis may not need them because they are attacking. As a defensive weapon in the trenches, it would have a lot more appeal. I also remember mines being brought up. I agree, again, that it is unlikely that Charis would use such a weapon. Clyntahn would not care about civilian casualties, and would probably love the idea as a way to bleed off the invading enemy without using any troops he may consider "unreliable".

3) Final thought: Clyntahn already has examples of tech that Charis uses. Sometimes he has them long before admitting to it. Might he start creating to levels of armies? Let the allied kingdoms have one level of tech, allowed by the church. Then create a second group of the church forces that is allowed to use tech similar to Charis, because they are "God's Champions" and Clyntahn is more likely to trust them. Plus it gives him a nice club for any of his "allies".

Hi, welcome to the forum! Not to be a killjoy but most of your suggestions have been discussed ad infinitum. Check out the search feature but be prepared to be impressed by the results, both in quantity and quality.
Your suggestion about two different levels of armies is interesting. Of course you're making a big assumption that Clyntahn will be around much longer,

I really like your name!

ETathome wrote:Hello, also a new person to post.

I also have a few thoughts about technology currently in use on Safehold.

1) We tend to think of what's available based on our own development. What about technology branches that we decided not to pursue? The steam powered car is mentioned in one of the books as a possibility, and they have been built (Jay Leno's Garage has one). But it was not pursued because of the internal combustion engine. Given that electricity is being avoided for the moment, might they choose a different path of technological development? Things we know are possible, but have developed other methods because of one reason or another?

2) I tend to agree that some weapons in Charis may not be developed right away. The church may do things differently though. Consider the first hand crank Gatlin gun. For Charis, it does not make much sense as they are largely a mobile assault force. At some point, though, the church (or at least Go4) have to start thinking of building defensive points that are more hardened. A hand crank Gatling gun in a pillbox would be difficult point over run. The same goes for shotguns. Yes, Charis may not need them because they are attacking. As a defensive weapon in the trenches, it would have a lot more appeal. I also remember mines being brought up. I agree, again, that it is unlikely that Charis would use such a weapon. Clyntahn would not care about civilian casualties, and would probably love the idea as a way to bleed off the invading enemy without using any troops he may consider "unreliable".

3) Final thought: Clyntahn already has examples of tech that Charis uses. Sometimes he has them long before admitting to it. Might he start creating to levels of armies? Let the allied kingdoms have one level of tech, allowed by the church. Then create a second group of the church forces that is allowed to use tech similar to Charis, because they are "God's Champions" and Clyntahn is more likely to trust them. Plus it gives him a nice club for any of his "allies".

ETathome wrote:snip

3) Final thought: Clyntahn already has examples of tech that Charis uses. Sometimes he has them long before admitting to it. Might he start creating to levels of armies? Let the allied kingdoms have one level of tech, allowed by the church. Then create a second group of the church forces that is allowed to use tech similar to Charis, because they are "God's Champions" and Clyntahn is more likely to trust them. Plus it gives him a nice club for any of his "allies".

If he does create two levels of armies, it will not be the regular military forces of the church that will get the higher level of tech, but rather a special force of inquisitors that he especially trusts. Remember that he is suspicious of Maigwair, and would hesitate to give him control of weapons superior to those that his own people have.