Federation Commander

This seems like as good a place as any for this question.

I've looked through the BBS about this and can't find exactly what I'm looking for.

From what I can recall of the SFU fiction that I've read, and watching The Original Series again (love those remastered external shots), most of the inter-ship communications are "email-like", where one ship sends a message and then receives a reply later. Not like in TNG where Star Fleet Command can talk to Picard instantaneously when he's way out on the rim.

So, I guess my question is, does that long-range instantaneous communication exist in the SFU? Does it have a range limit?

Are distress signals instantaneous? Is there a range limit on those? The only distress signals I remember in TOS were Fed outpost 4 along the Neutral zone in Balance of Terror (and the range there is ambiguous, IIRC) and the Constellation in the Doomsday Machine, and she was really beaten up, so maybe she couldn't have gotten instantaneous comms online (that and Decker was rather out of it at the time).

Subspace communications are supposed to travel at Warp 9.99, IIRC.
So, things are very, very fast... but not instantaneous.

Pual: I'd guess that the sub-space communications are near instantaneous at the distances involved in SFB / Fed Comm battles.

Now in a PD campaign, OTOh - I can see Comm Lag creating some very interesting (read as *tense*) situations.

Right, the lag on long range communications might make tense situations, in the case of messaging back and forth. So would face to face visual contact even be attempted? Say between a patrolling ship and the Admiral back at the Starbase/Battlestation?

Amok Time was on here Sunday night (love the new externals myself) and Kirk was talking to Admiral Komack on a realtime video call. So, I guess it depends on where in the galaxy you are, how far from the nearest starbase etc.

If your looking for a reason why some messages are faster than other I guess you could always say there are Sub Space repeaters similar to Cell Towers. Either it is Instantaneousor you could get slowed by a huge call volume/Ion Storm.

If I Remember right in the latest TV series on the air. (Yes I know it is outside of our source material.) The First E was dropping Repeater Buoys as it went and something was taking them out behind them.

Hence the need for bases of any sort along the limits of "safe" explored space.

Of course, if you're playing a Prime Directive campaign you need to remember one thing:

Communication moves at the speed of plot!

If you need a comm lag to promote the independent thinking of the group, then something... [lack of repeater bouys, raging ion storms, sub-space distortion, etc] prevents or slows teh normally instaneous communication system.

If you merely need to let them know hteir next assignment, communications are clear and fast...

Prime Directive states that two-way commo is instantaneous in the same F&E hex (500 parsecs), and has a 15-minute lag per hex, plus whatever delays and problems (e.g., ion storms) that the GM uses to drive the adventure.

Carthaginian wrote:Subspace communications are supposed to travel at Warp 9.99, IIRC.
So, things are very, very fast... but not instantaneous.

I believe your going by the "revised" Warp Speeds from NG and later. In TOS I believe it was warp 15 (3375c) which would be approx. 500 ms lag per F&E hex assuming transmitter could range reciever without help. If it is warp 9.99 (~997c) then lag per F&E hex would be approx. 1.5 sec. which with repeater delays and retransmissions, etc. would be 15 minutes per hex easy (if not more, how many RTOs had to write it down and then resend it?).

PD defines commo speed as 15 minute per F&E hex.