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Mailing List Logs for ShadowRN

Message no. 1
From: Starjammer <starjammer@**********.COM>
Subject: RC deck subscriber lists
Date: Wed, 23 Sep 1998 03:01:17 -0400
According to Rigger 2 and SR3, a RC deck can control a number of drones up
to its rating, and have a subscriber list equal to twice its rating. It
takes a simple action to swap drones on the subscriber list into or out of
the active queue.

What's involved with changing the subscriber list itself? Is it simply a
matter of uploading a new list to the deck, or is it a function of
hardware? If it's software, how much memory does a list of a given size
take? Also, what's needed to prepare a subscriber list in terms of skill
and equipment?

Sorry, haven't been able to locate any rules on this, and it occurs to me
that a good rigger with lots of drones at his disposal is going to have to
have several "mission profile" lists to choose from.

Thanks in advance...

Starjammer | "Would it help if we sacrificed a
goat?"
starjammer@**********.com | -- Street sam "Crusher" Carlson
to mage
Marietta, GA | Straight Blue, on a really bad day
Message no. 2
From: Gurth <gurth@******.NL>
Subject: Re: RC deck subscriber lists
Date: Wed, 23 Sep 1998 12:13:28 +0200
According to Starjammer, at 3:01 on 23 Sep 98, the word on the street was...

> What's involved with changing the subscriber list itself? Is it simply a
> matter of uploading a new list to the deck, or is it a function of
> hardware? If it's software, how much memory does a list of a given size
> take? Also, what's needed to prepare a subscriber list in terms of skill
> and equipment?

I'd say you have to have the drone at hand to program the frequencies and
ID codes of the drone into your remote control deck, which should take
only a few minutes at most, and probably a lot less than that (as these
things would be noted in an easily accessible place, like the drone's
manual).

--
Gurth@******.nl - http://www.xs4all.nl/~gurth/index.html
Unconsciousness is no excuse.
-> NERPS Project Leader * ShadowRN GridSec * Unofficial Shadowrun Guru <-
-> The Plastic Warriors Page: http://www.xs4all.nl/~gurth/plastic.html <-
-> The New Character Mortuary: http://www.electricferret.com/mortuary/ <-

GC3.1: GAT/! d-(dpu) s:- !a>? C+(++)@ U P L E? W(++) N o? K- w+ O V? PS+
PE Y PGP- t(+) 5++ X++ R+++>$ tv+(++) b++@ DI? D+ G(++) e h! !r(---) y?
Incubated into the First Church of the Sqooshy Ball, 21-05-1998
Message no. 3
From: Steve Eley <sfeley@***.NET>
Subject: Re: RC deck subscriber lists
Date: Wed, 23 Sep 1998 10:36:08 -0400
Starjammer wrote:
>
> What's involved with changing the subscriber list itself? Is it simply a
> matter of uploading a new list to the deck, or is it a function of
> hardware? If it's software, how much memory does a list of a given size
> take? Also, what's needed to prepare a subscriber list in terms of skill
> and equipment?

There's nothing stated, but I'd say it's probably just a simple
user-interface job that can be performed in a few minutes offline. Sort
of like programming your VCR. (Cassette recorder, that is, not Vehicle
Control Rig.)


> Sorry, haven't been able to locate any rules on this, and it occurs to me
> that a good rigger with lots of drones at his disposal is going to have to
> have several "mission profile" lists to choose from.

I don't see why that'd be a problem.. If you don't believe multiple lists
is automatic, then you could say that the higher-priced Ultra-Spiffy
WhizBang RC's have a mult-list option, and charge a slight premium on the
equipment cost.


Have Fun,
- Steve Eley
sfeley@***.net
Message no. 4
From: Starjammer <starjammer@**********.COM>
Subject: Re: RC deck subscriber lists
Date: Wed, 23 Sep 1998 10:59:52 -0400
At 10:36 AM 9-23-98 -0400, you wrote:
>Starjammer wrote:
>>
>> Sorry, haven't been able to locate any rules on this, and it occurs to me
>> that a good rigger with lots of drones at his disposal is going to have to
>> have several "mission profile" lists to choose from.
>
>I don't see why that'd be a problem.. If you don't believe multiple lists
>is automatic, then you could say that the higher-priced Ultra-Spiffy
>WhizBang RC's have a mult-list option, and charge a slight premium on the
>equipment cost.
>
> - Steve Eley

<shrug> The specific scenario I'm thinking of goes something like this:
Runner team goes into the site with drone support and recon, while the
rigger runs things off his "Site Penetration" list. Once the team gets
out, the rigger switches over to his "Exit Route" list to control the
drones that the team has salted over their planned escape routes. Of
course, this all hinges on whether or not switching the list can be
accomplished quickly and easily. If not, then the rigger needs to invest
in a better RC deck so he can coordinate more drones.

And I'm hoping that Jon Szeto will put in his $.02, since he wrote the book
and all, and since I was kind enough to answer his RFI... :)

Starjammer | "Would it help if we sacrificed a
goat?"
starjammer@**********.com | -- Street sam "Crusher" Carlson
to mage
Marietta, GA | Straight Blue, on a really bad day
Message no. 5
From: Iridios <iridios@*********.COM>
Subject: Re: RC deck subscriber lists
Date: Wed, 23 Sep 1998 11:25:32 -0400
Starjammer wrote:

> <shrug> The specific scenario I'm thinking of goes something like this:
> Runner team goes into the site with drone support and recon, while the
> rigger runs things off his "Site Penetration" list. Once the team gets
> out, the rigger switches over to his "Exit Route" list to control the
> drones that the team has salted over their planned escape routes. Of
> course, this all hinges on whether or not switching the list can be
> accomplished quickly and easily. If not, then the rigger needs to invest
> in a better RC deck so he can coordinate more drones.

It may be very possible. Most likely the drone IDs and Frequencys are
stored as data on re-writable optical chips within the RC deck, and RC
decks now can have storage memory. So IMO it wouldn't be a problem to
have a second list stored, and a complex action to swap between online
subscriber list and the one in storage.

As far as the size of such a file, personally I would make it 5 - 10
Mp per drone. I wouldn't make it too large, but also it has to be
large enough to avoid being trivial. Such a file should be
corruptable and accessible if someone else manages to co-opt your
system channel.

--
Iridios
iridios@*********.com
ICQ UIN:6629224
http://www.geocities.com/Area51/Shadowlands/9489

[found on an unknown shadow bbs]
<...>runner group looking for new members, one magician
and possibly one rigger preferred. Serious inquiries only.
If interested, login at
http://www.geocities.com/Area51/Shadowlands/9489/newplayer.html
<...>

-------Begin Geek Code Block------
GS d-(++) s+: a- C++ U?@>++ P L E?
W++ N o-- K- w(---) O? M-- V? PS+@
PE Y+ !PGP>++ t++@ 5+ X++@ R++@ tv
b+ DI++ !D G e+@>++++ h--- r+++ y+++
-------End Geek Code Block--------
Message no. 6
From: Jon Szeto <JonSzeto@***.COM>
Subject: Re: RC deck subscriber lists
Date: Fri, 25 Sep 1998 07:56:34 EDT
Starjammer <starjammer@**********.COM> writes (not necessarily in the same
message),

>
> What's involved with changing the subscriber list itself? Is it simply a
> matter of uploading a new list to the deck, or is it a function of
> hardware? If it's software, how much memory does a list of a given size
> take? Also, what's needed to prepare a subscriber list in terms of skill
> and equipment?
>
> Sorry, haven't been able to locate any rules on this, and it occurs to me
> that a good rigger with lots of drones at his disposal is going to have to
> have several "mission profile" lists to choose from.

Hmmm....

Well, technically speaking, a subscriber list is software; after all, it's
little more than a file (or more specifically, database) that matches drones
(listed by their VIN or production serial number) to their assigned digital
callsigns, time segment order, and other information necessary for
communication. The best explainable analogy I can think of is to compare it to
the IRQ and DMA addresses and controllers for a Wintel computer. (Actually, if
you really want to be technically accurate, the model I used as an inspiration
for RC networks is time-division CDMA [Code Division Multiple Access], the
protocol used as the basis for cellular and digital wireless
telecommunications.)

On the other hand, subscriber lists aren't stored on ordinary optical chips,
for a number of reasons (they aren't exactly physically rugged, and chips are
so universal as to pose a potential security risk). Instead, subscriber lists
are stored on special digital code fills, partly for physical but mostly for
security reasons. (For those of you familiar with military COMSEC devices, the
concept I modeled the code fill module after is something similar to the
AN/KYK-13, or the frequency hopping and encryption fill used on the SINCGARS
system.)

One other thing worth mentioning too, not only do you have to configure the
list to match the drones, but you also have to configure the drones to match
the list. Drones aren't "Plug 'n' Play," after all, and for very good reasons
(COMSEC and SIGSEC --- communications and signals security --- come to mind
particularly).

To configure a drone to a subscriber list, you have to upload the codes. This
is accomplished through the digital code fill module, which connects to the
drone via a special data port. For both technical and security reasons, a
digital code fill and its dataport are not compatible with standard datajacks
or cyberdeck terminal ports.

> <shrug> The specific scenario I'm thinking of goes something like this:
> Runner team goes into the site with drone support and recon, while the
> rigger runs things off his "Site Penetration" list. Once the team gets
> out, the rigger switches over to his "Exit Route" list to control the
> drones that the team has salted over their planned escape routes. Of
> course, this all hinges on whether or not switching the list can be
> accomplished quickly and easily. If not, then the rigger needs to invest
> in a better RC deck so he can coordinate more drones.
>

Each subscriber list takes several minutes to program. If doing it under a
stressful or critical situation (IOW, anything that requires a Success Test),
it requires an Electronics (3) Test, with a Base Time of 2 minutes times the
number of drones on the list. (Task Pool dice may be used on this test). A
subscriber list that is not intended for immediate use (like the "Exit Route"
list) is stored on a code fill.

Attuning a drone to a subscriber list (not to be confused with AFFILIATING
one) requires the appropriate code fill. The process takes about 30 seconds
and doesn't require a Skill Test (assuming that the character doing it has
worked with drones before; otherwise the appropriate Vehicle Background (3)
Test is required).

Switching lists requires the rigger to "reboot" the RC deck. Rebooting takes
about 6 seconds, plus an additional 1 second for each drone on the new
subscriber list (so rebooting with a new list of 6 drones takes 6 + 6, or 12
seconds, or 4 Combat Turns). Drones on the old list are immediately
disaffiliated when "rebooting" begins. Drones on the new list are considered
unsubscribed when "rebooting" finishes and must be affiliated, at the normal
rate of 1 per Simple Action (SR3, p. 157).

As always, IMHO and YMMV.

> And I'm hoping that Jon Szeto will put in his $.02, since he wrote the book
> and all, and since I was kind enough to answer his RFI... :)
>

You're welcome. :-)

-- Jon

Further Reading

If you enjoyed reading about RC deck subscriber lists, you may also be interested in:

Disclaimer

These messages were posted a long time ago on a mailing list far, far away. The copyright to their contents probably lies with the original authors of the individual messages, but since they were published in an electronic forum that anyone could subscribe to, and the logs were available to subscribers and most likely non-subscribers as well, it's felt that re-publishing them here is a kind of public service.

Thwap!