Hard(er) Science: Hand Held Weapons

[F33D]

but containment of a radioactive source weighing that little?

It's only a ~ 1/4 inch of lead around the very small power source. Also, most of the gamma is being absorbed/used by the voltaic material. A quarter inch of lead on the outside would be sufficient.

 

[Anonymous]

So the trick is how well the voltaic material can be made to convert the radiation into electricity. OK, that puts us back in the ball park for easily believable/hand waving

If that's used to recharge your capacitors, what about them? How fast can they cycle? How much do they weigh?

 

[F33D]

If that's used to recharge your capacitors, what about them? How fast can they cycle? How much do they weigh?

The "super capacitors" weight is negligible and part of the power cartridge. For game purposes I'd say 10 shots and a 5 minute recharge time. Carry 1 attached to weapon and 2 on your web belt...

Or, very by TL. Start with TL 10 and work up. Not as good as Star Wars but better than Traveller...

 

[Anonymous]

Apart from being cool and this is a sci-fi setting, whats the plus over an ACR?

OK, no recoil in low/zero G environments, no ballistics effects to worry about (but an atmosphere will degrade the power over range)

What else?

 

[F33D]

OK, no recoil in low/zero G environments, no ballistics effects to worry about (but an atmosphere will degrade the power over range)

It'll be an FEL http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Free-electron_laser therefore you can use in x-ray mode to bypass most conventional armour. Atmospheric attenuation for long range shots can be overcome by tuning it to a better frequency as it's tunable. http://www.nrl.navy.mil/research/nrl-review/2004/featured-research/sprangle/

What else?

The power packs last for years. At least 10 years.