hmmm seems backward to me, the Germans built a flywheel powered generator in WWII. Used diesel-electric to get it up to speed and it then acted as a backup to the main power system, similar in effect to having a large bank of batteries - IIRC it was good for a couple of days power for the satcom and associated systems that it powered.
Tim
PS then again, the game designers weren't prime power engineers so we can give them a slide I suppose.
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From: John Potter
Sent: Saturday, February 25, 2012 1:41 PM
Subject: Re: [Traveller_TNE] HPG = ?
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>On page 66 of the FF&S book. Homopolar Generator. Basically it stores energy in the kinetic form through a spinning flywheel or something similar. Stopping the motion of the generator causes a large amount of kinetic energy to become electrical in a very short period of time (seconds). That is if I understand the principle correctly.
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>On Sat, Feb 25, 2012 at 12:36 PM, Todd Kes <> wrote:
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>>I'm a Battletech fan, and whenever I see HPG I am thinking Hyper-Pulse Generator, the FTL comm system that is used in Battletech (50-ly range, near-instant transmission speed to send a radio pulse).
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>>What does HPG mean in Tverse?
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>>Todd Kes
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>>OOC: BT has its own power generation for FTL travel problems as well. It can take a ship ~180 hrs at 10 AU to recharge its FTL core via sunlight (using a solar panel assembly ~50 km wide to start with, then later dropped to only a km or 2 in width). Or it can use 1 Burn-day of fuel (enough fuel to propel the ship for 1G for 1 day). In the case of one of the smallest Jumpships, that is just under 3 tons of Hydrogen (protium) fuel.
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>>--- On Sat, 2/25/12, John Potter wrote:
>>Thanks Antony. I hadn't realized the HPG was part of J-Drive already.Â
>>I was envisioning a system like;
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>>Power Plant -> HPG (stand alone) -> Jump DrivePower Plant output scales to increase/decrease HPG capacity charge rate
>>HPG installed accounts for the Mj needed for the maximum jump capability of the Jump Drive.Jump Drive size can stay the same size listed in FF&S for easy of ship fitting.This, unless I am off base, should provide an over all volume savings by not requiring as vast of fuel storage by virtue of;
>>Power Plant TL improvements seem to scale better than the Jump Drive.HPG TL improvements seem to scale better than the Jump Drive.Jump Drive charge time per the rules is 1d6 minutesÂ
>>In my system the charge time is fixed based on the Electrical output of Power Planet. So as long as the power plant can bring the HPG to max capacitance for the maximum distance the Jump Drive is rated for, you should save on interior space overall for the ship due to not needing the raw fuel to be present. (Or is my understanding of TL 15 systems totally off?)
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>>Some volume would still be needed for fuel to expend on the Power Plant and Sublight Drives in my outlined scenario.Â
>>In this way the Power Plant simply charges the HPG only when needed then discharges into the Jump Drive which per your explanation seems to be doing already but is an odd way because of the fixed % of the drive volume value
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>>Where does the  reference for the HPG in the Jump Drive come from? I would like to read around it to see what else I might be missing that may be there?
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>If the world was fair then every bad thing that has ever happened to you would have been deserved.
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