Re: [FT] Sensor Range Question

On Mon, 26 Apr 1999, djwj wrote:

> Then there's the manuver itself. I assume that space combat occours at
the 1
> inch = 1 kilometer scale.

interesting; i assume 1 MU (ie inch) = 1000 km. consider that the
orbital
radii in MT are on the order of tens of MU.

there have been extensive discussions about combat at extreme ranges, ie
lightseconds; mostly this centres on the fact that the radar echo takes
several seconds to get back, and your laser takes a few more to get out,
so you have a minimum error envelope of several seconds' worth of
acceleration. people have described a turn's fire as putting out a hail
of
shots covering the envelope, in the hope that maybe one will hit.

in contrast, a range of 30 mu in my system is 30 million metres, or 0.1
lightseconds. this isn't too bad.

> one to ten seconds (common time
> intervals for RPGs and wargames).

the consensus is, i think, 1 turn = 15 minutes.

there is an equation.

s	length of a move unit (m)
f	fraction of the turn over which you burn drives
a	acceleration of 1 thrust point when burning (m/s^2)
t	length of a turn (s)

s	=	fat^2

or:

f	=	s/at^2
a	=	s/ft^2
t	=	(s/fa)^(1/2)

the mechanics of FT suggest that f << 1, ie f is quite small. in fact,
this equation is wrong, but it's accurate for small f, and i can't
figure
out the fully correct version.

if you put in s = 1000 km, t = 1000 s (16m40s), f = 0.1, you get a = 10
m/s2, or ~1 earth gravity, which is nice.

if you want s = 1000 m, t = 10 s and f = 0.1, you get a = 100 m/s^2, or
10
G. this means you have scouts pulling 80 G, though. this is ok if you
have
inertial compensators or some such, but your post indicates that you are
thinking more realistically.

anyway, you pays your money and you takes your choice.

Tom