Electronics techs in the honor verse.

Weird Harold wrote:How much training does it take to find the spot marked "Push To Test" and read the fault code?

You only need to divulge the secret that there are wires connecting components to a select few "troubleshooters" who get called in when the fault code keeps telling you to change the same box over and over.

[/sarcasm]

Since the Electric Lawn Darts are still flying twenty-five years after I retired, I assume the US Air Force has taught a higher standard of troubleshooting than when they were first introduced. When first introduced F16 Electronics technicians were taught to rely on the self-test functions for troubleshooting and wiring diagrams were scarce to non-existent at the field repair level. I spent an inordinate amount of time teaching A-shop and B-shop technicians what to do when the Self-Test functions lied to them.

On the subject of another USAF General Dynamics aircraft, I was both an in-shop and flightline weapons troop for F-111D's (F-111F's at RAF Lakenheath). When I was at Cannon AFB, we had one aircraft that kept frying RPUs (Release Program Units), which were fairly essential to proper weapons release function(s). We shot wires and replaced units until we determined that the fault lay with the C-shoppers equipment, which they promptly denied. So, swap out another unit, run our checks, worked fine. C-shop came out and started their checks, and our unit would promptly fry.

After about $1.5m in fried units, we finally convinced the squadron commander to force C-shop to start shooting their wiring where it tied into the weapons systems. Turns out one of their units was pushing out 24vdc to the RPU where only 5vdc was specified.

MaxxQ wrote:After about $1.5m in fried units, we finally convinced the squadron commander to force C-shop to start shooting their wiring where it tied into the weapons systems. Turns out one of their units was pushing out 24vdc to the RPU where only 5vdc was specified.

F-4 WCS had a lot of problems with inputs from other systems, too. If it involved wiring, we'd just fix it rather than go through the hassle of convincing someone else they had a problem -- which not infrequently also fixed a chronic problem they hadn't been able to solve. All of which resulted in me being sent TDY to Ingolstadt, GE to fix an INS wiring problem so the MBB Depot would release the plane before a long holiday break.

[quote="smitpa"]How can one justify the need for electronics techs in the honor verse. I can see electricians or equivalent but not electronics techs. How in the world would one repair molecular circuitry?

While on Hades (EOH), Harkness identifies the failed IFF module in the x-State Sec shuttle as "a solid block of moly-circs" followed by "I don't see a moly-circ repair shop around here". That implies that just as we in the here and now can re-program EEPROMs, molecular circuits can be re-programed if the right facilities are available -- obviously an I-level or Depot level issue rather than O-level. (Navy AIMD terms)

-- Retired Blackshoe

stewart wrote:While on Hades (EOH), Harkness identifies the failed IFF module in the x-State Sec shuttle as "a solid block of moly-circs" followed by "I don't see a moly-circ repair shop around here". That implies that just as we in the here and now can re-program EEPROMs, molecular circuits can be re-programed if the right facilities are available -- obviously an I-level or Depot level issue rather than O-level. (Navy AIMD terms)

-- Retired Blackshoe

I wasn't previously familar with the Navy AIMD terms, but if I'm parsing it right I think based on other comments within the Honorverse that pretty much any Manticoran warship would have the ability to rebuild moly-circ blocks.

See "Spanner" Smith's musing related to computers and automation in EoH.

Echoes of Honor: Ch 18 wrote:And there were any number of things people couldn't do without computers. Like navigate a starship. Or run a fusion plant. Or any one of a zillion other absolutely essential, extremely complex, time-critical jobs that always needed doing aboard a warship. It probably made sense to minimize total dependency on the computers and AI loops as much as possible, but it simply couldn't be entirely eliminated. And as long as he had an intact electronics shop, with one machine shop to support it, and power, and life support, Scooter Smith could damned well build any replacement computer his ship might need.

I don't know if that still counts as O-level or no though. I suspect that LACs do not have that capability onboard, that would be provided by their CLAC tender. Same for small craft, provided by their base or ship. So Harkness was saying that the stolen Peep assault shuttles didn't have a moly-circ repair shop; so he couldn't fix it using just them. But Tepes or the StateSec base might have had one, and their Manticoran equivalents certainly seem like they would have.

I wasn't previously familar with the Navy AIMD terms, but if I'm parsing it right I think based on other comments within the Honorverse that pretty much any Manticoran warship would have the ability to rebuild moly-circ blocks.

For info --

O-Level -- Organizational Level -- usually flight line techs -- main concern is insuring the aircraft can launch and do the mission; if a component downchecks on pre-flight, replace it so the plane can launch.

I-Level -- Intermediate Level -- shipboard repair, alignment and calibration. they have time to assess, diagnose and repair downed equipment.

D-Level -- Depot Level -- shore-based with more resources for repair (and access to manufacturer's resources).

The shuttles and LAC's that Scooter Smith maintained would have had access to an AIMD / I-Level resources on his Assault Ship or the CLAC; A repair ship, repair depot or one of the space stations would be the equivalent of Depot Level.

-- Stewart

stewart wrote:I wasn't previously familar with the Navy AIMD terms, but if I'm parsing it right I think based on other comments within the Honorverse that pretty much any Manticoran warship would have the ability to rebuild moly-circ blocks.

For info --

O-Level -- Organizational Level -- usually flight line techs -- main concern is insuring the aircraft can launch and do the mission; if a component downchecks on pre-flight, replace it so the plane can launch.

I-Level -- Intermediate Level -- shipboard repair, alignment and calibration. they have time to assess, diagnose and repair downed equipment.

D-Level -- Depot Level -- shore-based with more resources for repair (and access to manufacturer's resources).

The shuttles and LAC's that Scooter Smith maintained would have had access to an AIMD / I-Level resources on his Assault Ship or the CLAC; A repair ship, repair depot or one of the space stations would be the equivalent of Depot Level.

-- Stewart

Ok thanks.
So (just to restate what I think I understood) a CLAC or a warship would provide both O-Level and I-Level support. The O-Level would be basically what the techs could do in the LAC hanger/docking bay itself - diagnose, pull, or replace failing components.

Then taking a component off to an onboard electronics shop would be I-Level support (even if the work happened to be done by the same personnel).

And finally couldn't get repaired onboard and had to wait until you got back to a repair station/yard would get D-Level maintenance then. (For example Nike's cracked fusion reactor)

stewart wrote:I wasn't previously familar with the Navy AIMD terms, but if I'm parsing it right I think based on other comments within the Honorverse that pretty much any Manticoran warship would have the ability to rebuild moly-circ blocks.

For info --

O-Level -- Organizational Level -- usually flight line techs -- main concern is insuring the aircraft can launch and do the mission; if a component downchecks on pre-flight, replace it so the plane can launch.

I-Level -- Intermediate Level -- shipboard repair, alignment and calibration. they have time to assess, diagnose and repair downed equipment.

D-Level -- Depot Level -- shore-based with more resources for repair (and access to manufacturer's resources).

The shuttles and LAC's that Scooter Smith maintained would have had access to an AIMD / I-Level resources on his Assault Ship or the CLAC; A repair ship, repair depot or one of the space stations would be the equivalent of Depot Level.

-- Stewart

For the real world, where would ships such as the US Navy submarine tenders be, I-level, D-level or something else? I would expect that they would be roughly the equivalent of the Honorverse's repair ships in repair capabilities, although not all of a submarine tender's usable volume is devoted to repair shops.

For the real world, where would ships such as the US Navy submarine tenders be, I-level, D-level or something else? I would expect that they would be roughly the equivalent of the Honorverse's repair ships in repair capabilities, although not all of a submarine tender's usable volume is devoted to repair shops.[/quote]


In today's wet navy, AS / AD / AR's are generally depot level. All Tenders are effectively floating repair yards; everything but the dry dock.

-- Stewart