Re: [FT universe] was [URL] ...

Oerjan spake thusly upon matters weighty: 
> > Counterpoint: Put an 'interrogation-response' beacon on it. Then you

> > have to track its coords, get nearby, drop an odd-freq pulse out 
> > (short, with a small code) and wait for the response pulse. If you 
> > aren't close, you don't even see the pulses. (Enemy odds of being 
> > close really low). Enemy sensors will not pick up beacon because it 
> > is not active until queried by current code (a la good IFF).  
> 
> Good point. The main point is the FTL accuracy - you need to be able
to
> jump close enough to cache to trigger its response (and, hopefully, to
do
> so without sending an omni- or at least multi-directional "Kilroy was
> here" signal which someone can pick up <g>). If the jump uncertainty
for
> long deep-space jumps is on the order of some light days, you still
need
> a fairly powerful signal.

Ah Oerjan, but I had heard suggested that the approach from a star to 
a star was:
leaving - small jumps to clear gravity well of star
large intermediate hop
arriving - a series of small, more accurate jumps as you close in

So if you made your last jumps small, accurate ones, you could 
place/find such a cache. 

N'est pas?

Tom. 
/************************************************
Thomas Barclay		     
Voice: (613) 831-2018 x 4009
Fax: (613) 831-8255

 "C makes it easy to shoot yourself in the foot.  C++ makes
 it harder, but when you do, it blows away your whole leg."
 -Bjarne Stroustrup
**************************************************/