Range of FTL communication

Hi

Does anyone know the effektive range of the Manties FTL communication platforms and their duration regarding station keeping?

Well, we know from HotQ that the original FTL comms were up to 4 light hours. But those were pretty crude affairs with low bandwidth. Similarly, we know that shipboard launched Apollo has a range between 75 and 150 million kilometers, based on the Battle of Manticore. So it'd be not unreasonable to guesstimate a RD or Hermes buoy having a range of < 10 light minutes.

As for endurance, we know from SoS that the Ghost Rider recon drone could do 3 days of continuous operation, albeit at a really low acceleration. And SftS tells us that RDs can be put into a sleep mode which would extend their time on station practically indefinitely.

Thanks

Duckk wrote:So it'd be not unreasonable to guesstimate a RD or Hermes buoy having a range of < 10 light minutes.

I'd expect a Hermes Buoy or other communications relay, like those between the WHJ and Manticore, to be more robust and have a longer range and endurance than an RD.

Is there any textev on how many FTL relays are required between the WHJ and Manticore or between Manticore and Sphinx or Gryphon?

Weird Harold wrote:

Duckk wrote:So it'd be not unreasonable to guesstimate a RD or Hermes buoy having a range of < 10 light minutes.

I'd expect a Hermes Buoy or other communications relay, like those between the WHJ and Manticore, to be more robust and have a longer range and endurance than an RD.

Is there any textev on how many FTL relays are required between the WHJ and Manticore or between Manticore and Sphinx or Gryphon?

I suspect that the number required is far, far lower than the number actually deployed. IIRC, in ART Filaretta's fleet was close enough to a Hermes buoy to make the com lag almost imperceptible. That could be chance, or it could be that his predicted path was well-seeded with Hermes buoys before his arrival, but I think it's more likely that Manticore has built massive redundancy into the system.

Dafmeister wrote:I suspect that the number required is far, far lower than the number actually deployed. IIRC, in ART Filaretta's fleet was close enough to a Hermes buoy to make the com lag almost imperceptible. That could be chance, or it could be that his predicted path was well-seeded with Hermes buoys before his arrival, but I think it's more likely that Manticore has built massive redundancy into the system.

I don't know of any textev, but I suspect that there are multiple types of "Hermes Buoy" in service. The tpe we've seen in use by the RMN are essentially RD Drones with similar stealth characteristics and range. The Communications chain around Manticore A from the WHJ to Manticore is probably larger and more powerful to cover more channels over longer distances than the "Communications Drone" used by RMN warships.

Weird Harold wrote:I don't know of any textev, but I suspect that there are multiple types of "Hermes Buoy" in service. The tpe we've seen in use by the RMN are essentially RD Drones with similar stealth characteristics and range. The Communications chain around Manticore A from the WHJ to Manticore is probably larger and more powerful to cover more channels over longer distances than the "Communications Drone" used by RMN warships.

Very likely. In fact, now that I think about it, I wouldn't be at all surprised if there were two completely independent Hermes networks in the Manticore system. A civilian network, where the relays are completely unstealthed and probably broadcast a beacon signal so that half-blind merchant ships can find them, and a military network where the buoys are stealthed to the eyeballs.

Dafmeister wrote:

Weird Harold wrote:I don't know of any textev, but I suspect that there are multiple types of "Hermes Buoy" in service. The tpe we've seen in use by the RMN are essentially RD Drones with similar stealth characteristics and range. The Communications chain around Manticore A from the WHJ to Manticore is probably larger and more powerful to cover more channels over longer distances than the "Communications Drone" used by RMN warships.

Very likely. In fact, now that I think about it, I wouldn't be at all surprised if there were two completely independent Hermes networks in the Manticore system. A civilian network, where the relays are completely unstealthed and probably broadcast a beacon signal so that half-blind merchant ships can find them, and a military network where the buoys are stealthed to the eyeballs.

I rather doubt there's a broadcasting Hermes buoy, that's for just any ship in system to take use of. We have no evidence civilian ships have pulse-transmitters of old, even the ones from HotQ days. The grav-pulse concept is an military advantage that the RMN (and RHN, IAN) would be guarding jealously.

Civilians on the Manticore system planets probably don't even have to decide on using FTL comms or not, it's just automatically routed through the network. Any incoming ships that are not naval ships associated with the Grand Alliance, would simply continue sending their standard comms messages, exactly as they have for centuries.


The Manticore system, and possibly Grayson, Haven, New Potsdam, and other major systems like San Martin, probably have Hermes Buoys that are closer in concept to the system defense missile pods or a fortress than an RD. Heavily stealthed, extremely limited movement capability, and extremely long endurance. Thickly seeded, so you can bounce the signal off hundreds of them, to deny any hostile signal hacking to try and find locations.

And GA ships pack an RD variant, which is highly mobile and based off the Ghost Rider drones sans sensors to provide the room for the higher PRF and bandwidth they'd need for real-time communications across most distances they'd need it.

Somtaaw wrote:I rather doubt there's a broadcasting Hermes buoy, that's for just any ship in system to take use of. We have no evidence civilian ships have pulse-transmitters of old, even the ones from HotQ days. The grav-pulse concept is an military advantage that the RMN (and RHN, IAN) would be guarding jealously.

It doesn't require FTL comm to use a Hermes Buoy -- that's the whole point. With Hermes, you transmit a normal laser-comm or radio-frequency comm at the Buoy and it relays it with FTL comm to another Hermes. The second Hermes either re-transmits in the original mode or relays to another Hermes with FTL comm. Neither sender nor receiver need FTL capability.

Weird Harold wrote:
It doesn't require FTL comm to use a Hermes Buoy -- that's the whole point. With Hermes, you transmit a normal laser-comm or radio-frequency comm at the Buoy and it relays it with FTL comm to another Hermes. The second Hermes either re-transmits in the original mode or relays to another Hermes with FTL comm. Neither sender nor receiver need FTL capability.

As demonstrated when Honor spoke to Filaretta (or Mike Henke to Crandall) - the SLN ships certainly didn't have grav-pulse communications!