[UT] Expendable Jammer

[zorg]

On UT p.157, there is the Expendable Jammer. It gives a penalty to the EOps/Comm skill. Cool.

How long does it work? The description doesn't say (unless I just don't see it).

[CraigR]

IDHMBWM, but given the term "Expendable," I'd say its useful lifespan is "until destroyed."

[David Johnston]

How long I'd have it working for is one minute. That's long enough to be useful, and short enough to not be silly.

[Not another shrubbery]

I expect it is measurable in seconds, given the last sentence in the paragraph under the heading Energy. The Warbler warheads last for 10 seconds... that might be a reasonable value to use for the Jammers. The digital timers make up for the short duration, to some extent.

[zorg]

Originally Posted by Not another shrubbery

I expect it is measurable in seconds, given the last sentence in the paragraph under the heading Energy. The Warbler warheads last for 10 seconds... that might be a reasonable value to use for the Jammers. The digital timers make up for the short duration, to some extent.

That sounds reasonable, yes.

I just wondered whether I was missing something.

[Exxar]

I don't have any real experience in energy usage by such systems, but my educated guess says that emitting an ear-splitting shriek or intense stroboscopic lights spends waaaaay more energy than emitting a bucketload of radio emissions.

I'd set the duration of Expendable Jammer to a minimum of 1 minute, and would even consider putting it in the 10-minute range.

[Not another shrubbery]

Originally Posted by Exxar

I don't have any real experience in energy usage by such systems, but my educated guess says that emitting an ear-splitting shriek or intense stroboscopic lights spends waaaaay more energy than emitting a bucketload of radio emissions.

I'd set the duration of Expendable Jammer to a minimum of 1 minute, and would even consider putting it in the 10-minute range.

I'm no expert, either. David would be able to confirm what the intent was, or one of the gear-heads around might have a better sense of what is reasonable. Basing it off that line in the introductory paragraph and comparing it to the Warbler makes it seem like some odd seconds should be right. FTM, we can probably assume that the power source is the equivalent of an AA cell. If a C cell powers a TL9 Radar Jammer (UT99) for 10 hours, an AA cell probably should last < .001 times that, less than 36 seconds. Given that it is jamming a larger band of frequencies, and that the digital timer adds functionality but should be a further draw on space and power, I think that 10 seconds ought to be in the ballpark. More than 30 seconds or so looks like it would be imbalanced with other TL9 gadgetry.

[zorg]

With 10 secs, it's not horribly useful, though. Prevent the enemy from using the comm for 10 seconds is not that big a deal, considering the limited area of effect.
I'm not saying it's useless - but with 10 secs, the uses are strictly limited.

[Shrale]

Originally Posted by zorg

On UT p.157, there is the Expendable Jammer. It gives a penalty to the EOps/Comm skill. Cool.

How long does it work? The description doesn't say (unless I just don't see it).

its says at the top under the section header ENERGY

...some destroy themselves on contact others activate for several seconds...

so if it doesn't say specifically adjust as needed.

[Exxar]

Originally Posted by Not another shrubbery

I'm no expert, either. David would be able to confirm what the intent was, or one of the gear-heads around might have a better sense of what is reasonable. Basing it off that line in the introductory paragraph and comparing it to the Warbler makes it seem like some odd seconds should be right. FTM, we can probably assume that the power source is the equivalent of an AA cell. If a C cell powers a TL9 Radar Jammer (UT99) for 10 hours, an AA cell probably should last < .001 times that, less than 36 seconds. Given that it is jamming a larger band of frequencies, and that the digital timer adds functionality but should be a further draw on space and power, I think that 10 seconds ought to be in the ballpark. More than 30 seconds or so looks like it would be imbalanced with other TL9 gadgetry.

This argument is valid, but then the duration would increase with warhead size, since you can put a larger power cell in larger warheads.

EDIT: And a timer uses negligible power. There are plenty of examples of that in the modern world - wristwatches run for years on those little round batteries, comparable to A cells if I'm not mistaken. And while it is borderline debatable if A cells could be crammed into 10mm warheads, they could definitively be used in larger ones. Also, at TL9 a timer is a chip a few millimeters across, and even smaller than that if it's not intended for physical manipulation by humans (like when constructing the jammer round). And it's control interface, if not remotely projected ono a HUD, would be a touchscreen on the round's casing.

At TL9, such gadgets are miniaturized to the point where they take up virtually no space, power or other resources when built into a macroscale item. Heck, everything has them built-in.