One note about the radiators being turned on/off/away, is that you would need the light-speed information from the opposite craft to arrive before you would know which way to turn your radiators. So smaller sensors near the spy craft would use lasercomms to help track ships that get near (and obviously not communicating if something got between the sensor and the mothership).
Your best bet is to just have the non-cleared cargo vessels deliver the supplies (food/fuel/life support) to a military base (ground or orbital), then have a military craft jump to previously set coordinates to drop off the supplies into vacuum with a coded transponder. Another vessel would jump in to those coordinates, squawks the codes to make the cargo transponder activate, and pick up the cargo. If this was done in deep space, then anyone trying to search for the base would need to search a hex 1 parsec in width (so roughly a sphere with a volume of roughly 18.17 light years, or half a cubic parsec). If the receiving base is also in an empty hex, that is another half parsec you need to search to find it.
The coordinates would be changed for each jump, to prevent anyone from tracking the cargo vessel.
So the base would be expensive, but theoretically possible. And if the players get a contract to keep the basic military base supplied, potentially very profitable too, unless the base uses a standard shipping schedule that can afford the 1000 Cr/dton cargo rates, and remain profitable - Freelance Traveller - The Shipyard - Commercial Efficiency Analysis of Selected Starfreighters
Todd Kes
From: " [Traveller_TNE]" <>
To:
Sent: Tuesday, November 11, 2014 9:07 AM
Subject: Re: [Traveller_TNE] Plot Idea - Comments
#yiv2198093301 #yiv2198093301 -- #yiv2198093301 .yiv2198093301ygrp-photo-title{clear:both;font-size:smaller;height:15px;overflow:hidden;text-align:center;width:75px;}#yiv2198093301 div.yiv2198093301ygrp-photo{background-position:center;background-repeat:no-repeat;background-color:white;border:1px solid black;height:62px;width:62px;}#yiv2198093301 div.yiv2198093301photo-title a, #yiv2198093301 div.yiv2198093301photo-title a:active, #yiv2198093301 div.yiv2198093301photo-title a:hover, #yiv2198093301 div.yiv2198093301photo-title a:visited {text-decoration:none;}#yiv2198093301 div.yiv2198093301attach-table div.yiv2198093301attach-row {clear:both;}#yiv2198093301 div.yiv2198093301attach-table div.yiv2198093301attach-row div {float:left;}#yiv2198093301 p {clear:both;padding:15px 0 3px 0;overflow:hidden;}#yiv2198093301 div.yiv2198093301ygrp-file {width:30px;}#yiv2198093301 div.yiv2198093301attach-table div.yiv2198093301attach-row div div a {text-decoration:none;}#yiv2198093301 div.yiv2198093301attach-table div.yiv2198093301attach-row div div span {font-weight:normal;}#yiv2198093301 div.yiv2198093301ygrp-file-title {font-weight:bold;}#yiv2198093301 #yiv2198093301 #yiv2198093301 #yiv2198093301 --#yiv2198093301ygrp-mkp {border:1px solid #d8d8d8;font-family:Arial;margin:10px 0;padding:0 10px;}#yiv2198093301 #yiv2198093301ygrp-mkp hr {border:1px solid #d8d8d8;}#yiv2198093301 #yiv2198093301ygrp-mkp #yiv2198093301hd {color:#628c2a;font-size:85%;font-weight:700;line-height:122%;margin:10px 0;}#yiv2198093301 #yiv2198093301ygrp-mkp #yiv2198093301ads {margin-bottom:10px;}#yiv2198093301 #yiv2198093301ygrp-mkp .yiv2198093301ad {padding:0 0;}#yiv2198093301 #yiv2198093301ygrp-mkp .yiv2198093301ad p {margin:0;}#yiv2198093301 #yiv2198093301ygrp-mkp .yiv2198093301ad a {color:#0000ff;text-decoration:none;}#yiv2198093301 Since black globes are so hard to get-build-find. Currently stealth aircraft absorb and reflect radar signals to make themselves harder to spot. In BARD the is something called smart paint, how about adding computer controlled crystals to the paint. The crystals would reflect EMS and radar emissions away from the searching ship making it harder to spot the reflecting ship (+1 to Active EMS search attempts). Something else is EM Masking, it makes your ship look smaller on active sensors. Put EM Masking and reverse the process on a two ton craft and on radar now gives a return echo of a much larger ship. The enemy could be drawn off to follow or shoot at the phony target. Also extra EM Masking radiators could be added to EM Masking package. Turn off the radiators facing the rival ship and turn on the ones facing away from it, making it harder (+1 to passive sensors) for passive sensors to pick up the target.I like the concept. How paranoid people would get, if reports of starships fading into nothingness started coming in.Roger
Your best bet is to just have the non-cleared cargo vessels deliver the supplies (food/fuel/life support) to a military base (ground or orbital), then have a military craft jump to previously set coordinates to drop off the supplies into vacuum with a coded transponder. Another vessel would jump in to those coordinates, squawks the codes to make the cargo transponder activate, and pick up the cargo. If this was done in deep space, then anyone trying to search for the base would need to search a hex 1 parsec in width (so roughly a sphere with a volume of roughly 18.17 light years, or half a cubic parsec). If the receiving base is also in an empty hex, that is another half parsec you need to search to find it.
The coordinates would be changed for each jump, to prevent anyone from tracking the cargo vessel.
So the base would be expensive, but theoretically possible. And if the players get a contract to keep the basic military base supplied, potentially very profitable too, unless the base uses a standard shipping schedule that can afford the 1000 Cr/dton cargo rates, and remain profitable - Freelance Traveller - The Shipyard - Commercial Efficiency Analysis of Selected Starfreighters
Todd Kes
From: " [Traveller_TNE]" <>
To:
Sent: Tuesday, November 11, 2014 9:07 AM
Subject: Re: [Traveller_TNE] Plot Idea - Comments
#yiv2198093301 #yiv2198093301 -- #yiv2198093301 .yiv2198093301ygrp-photo-title{clear:both;font-size:smaller;height:15px;overflow:hidden;text-align:center;width:75px;}#yiv2198093301 div.yiv2198093301ygrp-photo{background-position:center;background-repeat:no-repeat;background-color:white;border:1px solid black;height:62px;width:62px;}#yiv2198093301 div.yiv2198093301photo-title a, #yiv2198093301 div.yiv2198093301photo-title a:active, #yiv2198093301 div.yiv2198093301photo-title a:hover, #yiv2198093301 div.yiv2198093301photo-title a:visited {text-decoration:none;}#yiv2198093301 div.yiv2198093301attach-table div.yiv2198093301attach-row {clear:both;}#yiv2198093301 div.yiv2198093301attach-table div.yiv2198093301attach-row div {float:left;}#yiv2198093301 p {clear:both;padding:15px 0 3px 0;overflow:hidden;}#yiv2198093301 div.yiv2198093301ygrp-file {width:30px;}#yiv2198093301 div.yiv2198093301attach-table div.yiv2198093301attach-row div div a {text-decoration:none;}#yiv2198093301 div.yiv2198093301attach-table div.yiv2198093301attach-row div div span {font-weight:normal;}#yiv2198093301 div.yiv2198093301ygrp-file-title {font-weight:bold;}#yiv2198093301 #yiv2198093301 #yiv2198093301 #yiv2198093301 --#yiv2198093301ygrp-mkp {border:1px solid #d8d8d8;font-family:Arial;margin:10px 0;padding:0 10px;}#yiv2198093301 #yiv2198093301ygrp-mkp hr {border:1px solid #d8d8d8;}#yiv2198093301 #yiv2198093301ygrp-mkp #yiv2198093301hd {color:#628c2a;font-size:85%;font-weight:700;line-height:122%;margin:10px 0;}#yiv2198093301 #yiv2198093301ygrp-mkp #yiv2198093301ads {margin-bottom:10px;}#yiv2198093301 #yiv2198093301ygrp-mkp .yiv2198093301ad {padding:0 0;}#yiv2198093301 #yiv2198093301ygrp-mkp .yiv2198093301ad p {margin:0;}#yiv2198093301 #yiv2198093301ygrp-mkp .yiv2198093301ad a {color:#0000ff;text-decoration:none;}#yiv2198093301 Since black globes are so hard to get-build-find. Currently stealth aircraft absorb and reflect radar signals to make themselves harder to spot. In BARD the is something called smart paint, how about adding computer controlled crystals to the paint. The crystals would reflect EMS and radar emissions away from the searching ship making it harder to spot the reflecting ship (+1 to Active EMS search attempts). Something else is EM Masking, it makes your ship look smaller on active sensors. Put EM Masking and reverse the process on a two ton craft and on radar now gives a return echo of a much larger ship. The enemy could be drawn off to follow or shoot at the phony target. Also extra EM Masking radiators could be added to EM Masking package. Turn off the radiators facing the rival ship and turn on the ones facing away from it, making it harder (+1 to passive sensors) for passive sensors to pick up the target.I like the concept. How paranoid people would get, if reports of starships fading into nothingness started coming in.Roger