Terrestrial Communication
Posted: Tue Jul 02, 2013 5:35 pm
I have a rather complex and lengthy proposal for planetside wireless communication.
Normal chat
Normal chat range would be reduced to 34 blocks over land or sea, and 50 blocks in a cave. This is based on the assumption that an 80dB shout is reduced to quiet conversation levels at a range of 100 feet. Normal chat doesn't work in vacuum because reasons.
Remedying these limitations
How do we increase our chat range? Easy, use amegaphone radio! Not any old radio, mind you; a shortwave transceiver! W00!
Starting out (basic handheld transceiver)
The first thing you need when making a radio is an antenna. I'll be describing the process of making a handheld radio first, I'll get to the bigger stuff later.
_ = Empty slot
| = Steel cable (or the mod's equivalent)
+ = Rubber (or equivalent)
" = Plug, or something
Recipe:
_|_
+|+
+"+
This gives you a small whip antenna. Attaching this to a handheld shortwave transceiver gives you a range of 375km in adverse weather or 1250km in clear weather.
I want it to go further, so I'll extend it:
A = Small whip antenna
Recipe:
_|_
+|+
+A+
That gives me a long whip antenna, which has a range of 625km in bad weather and 2750km in clear weather.
Now for the radio itself:
D = Some sort of display (Probably a VFD if it's available in the mod)
: = Printed circuit board (or equivalent)
K = Keypad / keyboard
{ = Plastic (or equivalent)
Recipe:
{D"
{:{
{K{
That gives me the handheld unit itself.
Right-clicking with the unit in hand displays a GUI containing:
1. An inventory slot for the antenna (interchangeable)
2. An inventory slot for a power source
3. A small chat-box-like box to type in, used for chatting over the radio
4. An option to allow you to use the normal chat box to broadcast instead of having to right-click the radio every time (useful if you want to temporarily disable it)
5. A frequency selector
6. A modulation type selector
Basic use
Once you attach the antenna and add a power source (both done through the GUI), you just need to select a frequency and start broadcasting. In the Real World, different frequencies have benefits over others for different applications, and some have longer range than others during the day. But since this is a game, all you need to do is choose one and go.
Base stations
(I'm not going to bother with recipes for this part. Blame my newly-gotten life.)
When building a base station, you first need to build a transceiver rig. Basically the recipe should just be a bunch of PCBs inside a plastic case. When you've built it, just put it on a table. Or the ground. Or somewhere.
Then, build a whole lot of antenna blocks. These would be a bunch of steel with a little bit of steel wire.
Build the antenna next to he building where you put the transceiver, put an amplifier box next to the antenna, and run some co-ax cable (or equivalent) from the amplifier to the transceiver.
Determining the signal strength is a tad bit tricky. Let's say the base of the antenna is at an altitude of 70 meters. When the game goes to calculate the antenna range, it determines the highest-elevated terrain block within an 8 chunk radius, with the maximum being 100 meters. Let's say this is 85 meters. The antenna's top is at an altitude of 110 meters, giving it an overall height of 40 meters. Every antenna block with an altitude below that of the highest terrain block adds 125km to the range. Every block with an altitude higher than the terrain adds 750km to the range. Therefore, our hypothetical antenna would have a range of 1875+18750km, i.e. 20625km.
To use the transceiver, one must also have a microphone. This would just be a small handheld microphone / keypad combo that you can put into an inventory slot in the transceiver GUI.
The base station GUI would have the following elements:
1. A chatbox
2. A frequency selector
3. A modulation type selector
4. A space to enter an encryption key
Regulation
Much like how the FCC regulates amateur radio use, different factions / nations have the power to restrict certain frequency ranges to use for different purposes or by certain parties, and to restrict others to different ranges or types of transmitter power, modulation, etc.
THIS IS STILL BEING WORKED ON, I HAVE A HUGE-ASS PLAN FOR THIS.
All information subject to change.
Normal chat
Normal chat range would be reduced to 34 blocks over land or sea, and 50 blocks in a cave. This is based on the assumption that an 80dB shout is reduced to quiet conversation levels at a range of 100 feet. Normal chat doesn't work in vacuum because reasons.
Remedying these limitations
How do we increase our chat range? Easy, use a
Starting out (basic handheld transceiver)
The first thing you need when making a radio is an antenna. I'll be describing the process of making a handheld radio first, I'll get to the bigger stuff later.
_ = Empty slot
| = Steel cable (or the mod's equivalent)
+ = Rubber (or equivalent)
" = Plug, or something
Recipe:
_|_
+|+
+"+
This gives you a small whip antenna. Attaching this to a handheld shortwave transceiver gives you a range of 375km in adverse weather or 1250km in clear weather.
I want it to go further, so I'll extend it:
A = Small whip antenna
Recipe:
_|_
+|+
+A+
That gives me a long whip antenna, which has a range of 625km in bad weather and 2750km in clear weather.
Now for the radio itself:
D = Some sort of display (Probably a VFD if it's available in the mod)
: = Printed circuit board (or equivalent)
K = Keypad / keyboard
{ = Plastic (or equivalent)
Recipe:
{D"
{:{
{K{
That gives me the handheld unit itself.
Right-clicking with the unit in hand displays a GUI containing:
1. An inventory slot for the antenna (interchangeable)
2. An inventory slot for a power source
3. A small chat-box-like box to type in, used for chatting over the radio
4. An option to allow you to use the normal chat box to broadcast instead of having to right-click the radio every time (useful if you want to temporarily disable it)
5. A frequency selector
6. A modulation type selector
Basic use
Once you attach the antenna and add a power source (both done through the GUI), you just need to select a frequency and start broadcasting. In the Real World, different frequencies have benefits over others for different applications, and some have longer range than others during the day. But since this is a game, all you need to do is choose one and go.
Base stations
(I'm not going to bother with recipes for this part. Blame my newly-gotten life.)
When building a base station, you first need to build a transceiver rig. Basically the recipe should just be a bunch of PCBs inside a plastic case. When you've built it, just put it on a table. Or the ground. Or somewhere.
Then, build a whole lot of antenna blocks. These would be a bunch of steel with a little bit of steel wire.
Build the antenna next to he building where you put the transceiver, put an amplifier box next to the antenna, and run some co-ax cable (or equivalent) from the amplifier to the transceiver.
Determining the signal strength is a tad bit tricky. Let's say the base of the antenna is at an altitude of 70 meters. When the game goes to calculate the antenna range, it determines the highest-elevated terrain block within an 8 chunk radius, with the maximum being 100 meters. Let's say this is 85 meters. The antenna's top is at an altitude of 110 meters, giving it an overall height of 40 meters. Every antenna block with an altitude below that of the highest terrain block adds 125km to the range. Every block with an altitude higher than the terrain adds 750km to the range. Therefore, our hypothetical antenna would have a range of 1875+18750km, i.e. 20625km.
To use the transceiver, one must also have a microphone. This would just be a small handheld microphone / keypad combo that you can put into an inventory slot in the transceiver GUI.
The base station GUI would have the following elements:
1. A chatbox
2. A frequency selector
3. A modulation type selector
4. A space to enter an encryption key
Regulation
Much like how the FCC regulates amateur radio use, different factions / nations have the power to restrict certain frequency ranges to use for different purposes or by certain parties, and to restrict others to different ranges or types of transmitter power, modulation, etc.
THIS IS STILL BEING WORKED ON, I HAVE A HUGE-ASS PLAN FOR THIS.
All information subject to change.