FD.___.0 Drone Interpolation Modules
FD.___.01 Preamble After the development of remote controlled fighters the primarily drone oriented Kzintis began to look into methods via which drones could be controlled at a similarly high rate per seeking weapon control channel. That is more than one drone per seeking weapon control channel.
After six months of research a system was developed. After another six months the system was ready for use.

FD.___.1 Divice
FD.___.11 The Drone Interpolation Module is a computerised object about the size of a box of matches that is linked in between the drone's own Passive Terminal Guidance computer and the drone control signal reception module. The DIM has a timer ( that is synchronised with the broadcast frequency of the drone control channel before launch ) and a signal duplicator that simply sends a duplicate of the signal received ( that is more of the same ) when the drone control channel is broadcasting to another drone.
FD.___.12 The DIM costs 0.25 BPV per drone each is installed on.

FD.___.2 Opperations
FD.___.21 The drone only needs to use 1/2 of a drone control channel ( the channel boardcasts for 1/3 of a millisecond to each drone and has a sixth of a milisecond gap between each broadcast ). That is with the DIM 2 drones may be controlled with the same drone control channel.
FD.___.22 The targets of drones are moving very quickly and when the drones get to 60 million metres ( 6 hexes ) they needed to receive their guidance data more rapidly and thus the drones must be transfered ( possibly to ATG ) to individual drone control channels. Or else at 50 million metres ( 5 hexes ) the drones will BOTH become inert due to "signal contamination".
FD.___.23 Under DIM control a drone can not engage in what is generally called Erratic Manouvering and therefore receives no SMALL TARGET MODIFIER at range.
FD.___.24 A Drone under the control of a DIM can not HET...all the experiments failed with 120° turns failing and becomming 60 degrees and divices to correct that caused 60° HETs to always HET 120°, so a hardwired subroutine was written into the module to stop the drone from hetting at all...the assumption being that at the long ranges at which these modules are opperating, the likelyhood that a drone would need to het is very slim.

FD.___.3 History
The DIM was first released exactly one year after remote controlled fighters became availible to the Kzintis and were availible in limited numbers. The Year after that the DIMs were availible in restricted numbers and five years after that they were generally availible.
All drone using races got DIMs at rates and availibilities one year after the Kzintis.

By michael john campbell (Michaelcampbell) on Sunday, August 10, 2003 - 09:40 pm: Edit

HHHmmmmm no one did their nana that for 27 BPV ( 0.75 BPV per drone ( ATG + DIM )) a Klingon D6D can put 36 drones on the board and control them all at the same time?

By michael john campbell (Michaelcampbell) on Monday, August 11, 2003 - 06:55 pm: Edit

Andrew Harding:

What do you think about this?

By Christopher E. Fant (Cfant) on Monday, August 11, 2003 - 07:18 pm: Edit

MJC, I think your math might be off....


1 hex = 10,000 Kilometers

10,000 Km = 100,000 Meters

100,000 M = 1,000,000 Centimeters

Your proposal is:

50,000,000 Meters = 500,000 Kilometers

500,000 K = 50 hexes (not 5)


Other than that, I think your idea here is imbalancing and would make Uber-Units.

By Scott Tenhoff (Scottt) on Monday, August 11, 2003 - 07:28 pm: Edit

So let me get this straight.

Each Drone would have one of these "DIM"s on it right?

So that would mean if I "Turned Off" one of the Drones (Made it loose tracking with a special sensor), the other would go also, since it's mate with the DIM would be out of the loop.

Am I interpreting it right?

By michael john campbell (Michaelcampbell) on Monday, August 11, 2003 - 07:35 pm: Edit

Yeah, thanks ( any more unbalancing than RCFighters!?! ) and no it's right.

1 million meters ( 1,000,000 m ) happens to be 1000 kilometres therefore 50 million metres is 50,000 kilometres or 5 hexes.


Kilo means thousand...I'm not sure what you think it means.

5 hexes is 50 thousand kilometers which is 50 million metres.

By michael john campbell (Michaelcampbell) on Monday, August 11, 2003 - 07:44 pm: Edit

"Am I interpreting it right? "
No the drones could be set to do different things ( one could be a sword fish drone and the other an MW ) and they would do their thing seperately.

Each drone with a DIM has it's own 1/3 of a millisecond period out of each millisecond to get it's signals, whilst the other drone is simply getting duplicates of it's section of the previous transmission to it.
In this way the signal to go inert is sent to one drone but not both unless both drones are order to go inert.


I'm not sure how many signals would take longer than 0.000333 seconmd to transimit bu the DIM might have a recogniition subroutines and recognise the start of certain commands that are longer than 0.000333 seconds and just "fill in the blanks" when the transmission is no longer being received ( or might hold off the transfere of the recognised data until the full signal has been received ).

By Andrew Harding (Warlock) on Monday, August 11, 2003 - 10:14 pm: Edit

Since 1/3 of a sensor channel is enough to control a fighter and through the fighter up to four drones, this one looks quite reasonable to me. I don't even think the restrictions are needed, though I would keep it as a Kzinti system, with perhaps some Fed and pirate use (similar pattern to UIM usage).

By Jessica Orsini (Jessica) on Tuesday, August 12, 2003 - 09:38 am: Edit

::sigh:: Another day, another funky new drone proposal from Mr. Campbell. As if we don't have enough variety in the current drone options.....

By Mike Raper (Raperm) on Tuesday, August 12, 2003 - 10:25 am: Edit

Any single unit controlling 36 drones is just too much, IMHO. A drone bombardment group could overwhelm any target with ease. While it is true that RC fighters can control four drones, it is also true that RC fighters are rare and expensive; ships with drones are not. In combination with carrier groups, these little babies would basically put no limit on drone control. Plasma races would be toast. Neat idea, but just not very fair.

By Marc Baluda (Marc) on Tuesday, August 12, 2003 - 12:06 pm: Edit

How does this add to the game - are MORE drones on the map better?

By Frank Brooks (Alskdjf) on Tuesday, August 12, 2003 - 12:35 pm: Edit

I think it is an attempt to get SFB to use any many counters as F&E (if only for a short time).

I mean, just imagine a Kzinti SSCS fleet vs a B10S fleet.

Ammunition counter sales will skyrocket.

By Ed Crutchfield (Librarian101) on Tuesday, August 12, 2003 - 02:29 pm: Edit

It would seem that taking into account the present launch rates of the various drone racks that getting that many drones out from a single unit is difficult, multiple ships yes. Maybe a happy medium. By the way on conversion factors 10,000KM = 10,000,000M. 1000meters to a KM not 10

By Steve Petrick (Petrick) on Tuesday, August 12, 2003 - 03:43 pm: Edit

Michael John Campbell:

There are a number of inconsistencies in your proposal with the established background for remotely controlled fighters.

First, quite simply, is that a Fighter is many times larger than a drone. Even if you discount the mass for such things as the engine, the phaser, the fuel load, etc., etc., the fighter inherently has a much larger on board computer to help it handle the commands of a pilot/crew in the performance of its operations than that found on a drone.

Second, even though the fighter is larger with a larger on board computer, to install the systems that enable the fighter to operate remotely totally preempts the pilot/crew. I.e., the system to operate the fighter remotely pretty much uses the volume (and probably has more mass) of the pilot.

The two taken together are pretty definite that you are NOT going to make a module small enough to add to one drone. If you could, then remote controlled system would exist in every fighter to facilitate bringing one home after a pilot "ejects" from a fighter that might not make it home. After all, triggering a "Return to carrier" system on a fighter and beaming the pilot off would mean that if the enemy destroyed the crippled fighter heading in a for landing, you would not lose the pilot.

Further, losing the "small target bonus" at long range is illogical unless there is a corresponding INCREASE in the chance the drone would be hit at close range. The fact that a drone has ECM from its small size at 20+ hexes range should mean that at 10-19 hexes range the firing unit should have a plus one to hit it as it flies in a predicable straight line, and a plus two chance to hit it at nine hexes or less range. If it is easier to hit, it is easier to hit. And, as rules writer, you need to clarify further how this interacts with (FD1.52).

As to distance.

A Kilometer is 1,000 meters.
Ten Kilometers is 10,000 meters.
100 Kilometers is 100,000 meters.
1,000 kilometers is 1,000,000 meters.
10,000 kilometers is 10,000,000 meters (one hex) (A3.4).
So, as Michael John Campbell said, five hexes would be 50 Million meters, and six hexes could be expressed as 60 Million meters.

WHY he would choose to use such a cumbersome way of expressing distance rather than simply use the standard scale is beyond me, as I think virtually every player knows that a hex is 10,000 Kilometers, and that five hexes is 50,000 kilometers.

In any case, while there is a chance he might convince SVC to add this rule, I see no need for it currently, and frankly consider it to be a very bad idea.

By michael john campbell (Michaelcampbell) on Tuesday, August 12, 2003 - 09:57 pm: Edit

---

Quote:

the fighter inherently has a much larger on board computer to help it handle the commands of a pilot/crew in the performance of its operations than that found on a drone.

---

---

Quote:

Second, even though the fighter is larger with a larger on board computer, to install the systems that enable the fighter to operate remotely totally preempts the pilot/crew. I.e., the system to operate the fighter remotely pretty much uses the volume (and probably has more mass) of the pilot.

---

---

Quote:

Further, losing the "small target bonus" at long range is illogical unless there is a corresponding INCREASE in the chance the drone would be hit at close range.

---

By Mike Raper (Raperm) on Wednesday, August 13, 2003 - 07:46 am: Edit

---

Quote:

So the rule probably should be scrapped as being far too power with repect to the power increase that will over time happen in fighter users ( most notibly the Hydrans ).

---

By Glenn Hoepfner (Ikabar) on Wednesday, August 13, 2003 - 08:47 am: Edit

The whole thing

By michael john campbell (Michaelcampbell) on Wednesday, August 13, 2003 - 08:56 pm: Edit

The Drone Interpolation MOdule rules...this entire thread.