It the stations can't jump away for maintenance, they are dependent on the local system for logistics. If they can jump, they are effectively tenders.You can easily has two or three standard station designs and like the tenders would not be dependent on the system for maintenance. You would also get the 10% discount for multiple builds
Express boat tenders are jump capable, and each may carry up to four xboats in its cavernous ship bay. As a result, the tenders can be found in fringe or off-route systems ferrying extra xboats to areas that need them. They also undertake recovery missions to pick up damaged xboats or boats which have misjumped to off-route systems.
You could have a Docking Facility for any craft, instead of specific Hangars?Don't forget a 10% discount for the tenders.
I thought I had attached examples earlier, edited above add them. to See if that was what you were thinking of or are you thinking a standard tender w/o a Jump or maneuver drive?You can easily has two or three standard station designs and like the tenders would not be dependent on the system for maintenance. You would also get the 10% discount for multiple builds
Of course. I looked at 1 hangar and 3 docking facilities, but the cost savings was not that great.You could have a Docking Facility for any craft, instead of specific Hangars?
Some Clamps would allow you to hold a few more craft externally?
You use both docking clamps and an internal bay for repairs.Of course. I looked at 1 hangar and 3 docking facilities, but the cost savings was not that great.
The Scout service is building them, so some cost cutting is expected.
Docking clamps seems a little too frugal to me, but you could definitely do it.
I mean, it also is carrying updated news from all over Charted Space. Its not just carrying news for say the system it just entered. Say a x-boat leaves a planet in the core, heading for the farthest reaches Coreward. It hits the next system, sends its data, updates its data, collecting any other e-news, etcetra. It has to have a robust and large amount of memory to do this. Imagine having to essentially have the equivalent of all the electronic media of Earth, times a thousand. Sure, eventually it has to get old stuff scrubed, but it is carrying a...heheh boat load of info. Its not system specific.In the original LBB version ship construction [both Book 2 and High Guard], there wasn't any room in a 100 dton hull for a maneuver drive after figuring in the tonnage for a 'mail distribution system'. The mail system tonnage was a complete guess-timate, as there was no reference as to how much server space terabytes of X-mail would take up. Given that the X-Boat system was originally designed in the era where home computers were flipping over cassettes and having 5 and quarter floppy drive was high-speed/low-drag, the designers opted for 'a lot' and left it at that.
So, because the X-boat itself needed to retrieved from wherever it popped in from J-space, refueled, the crew rotated, and the data-packets exchanged, the designers came up with a ship that could act as a mobile 'Pony Express station' in space. XBT's can do light repairs, refuel, bring spare crewmen, and bring spare X-boats to back to base. For an information system designed in 1977, it's worked surprisingly well.
As for making a stationary mail station, that's not a bad idea except that astrogation for J-space isn't that precise. It takes accurate charts and a VERY experience navigator to get the same jump course to arrive within hundreds of klicks of your position the last time you tried it. Since the X-boats don't have maneuver drives, the 'postal station' has to come to them.
Not to mention some space for high-priority packages... say 10 dtons or so ... for items requiring physical transfer.I mean, it also is carrying updated news from all over Charted Space. Its not just carrying news for say the system it just entered. Say a x-boat leaves a planet in the core, heading for the farthest reaches Coreward. It hits the next system, sends its data, updates its data, collecting any other e-news, etcetra. It has to have a robust and large amount of memory to do this. Imagine having to essentially have the equivalent of all the electronic media of Earth, times a thousand. Sure, eventually it has to get old stuff scrubed, but it is carrying a...heheh boat load of info. Its not system specific.
One no your transit time is not multiplied by two. You do understand that such a station would not be in orbit of a planet right.You need as many tugs as you would tenders. And those craft will need full life support, not just the 24 hours of basic life support for small craft.
And your transit time for getting the XBoats ready is still multiplied by two.
As I said, You do you. Just don't keep arguing a point proven to be a matter of opinion.
Well you certainly showed that you can always twist the numbers to prove your point.Eight Tenders is excessive. Few places will need anything more than 4-5.
Jewell/Jewell/Spinward Marches has four routes and there are five routes in Bahadur/Sabine/Deneb and Buagki/Strand/Corridor. So those are outliers.
Most others will need a pair and a spare.
Don't forget a 10% discount for the tenders.
A station will either need to be based on either the needs of that system, the worst case scenario, or have multiple stations. Most likely NOT a standardized design unless you go the multiple stations route.
1. I stated as much, however the cost savings was measured in five figures.Well you certainly showed that you can always twist the numbers to prove your point.
1 a tender only has 1 full dock so you massively over did that.
2 10 grappling arms for 4 X-Boats over done a little
3 you do realize that at M2 you can reach mars in less than a week right no reason for extended life support
I can literally design a station at half that tonnage that will do the job better with a better cost efficiency.
TL 13 why the station is easily made self efficient needing a restock from a TL 15 system once every 4 to 6 months.
I’ll put up my design sometime this week
A tender goes out and tends the Boat.One no your transit time is not multiplied by two. You do understand that such a station would not be in orbit of a planet right.
No you wouldn’t need full life support for the tugs this is part of your assumption that the station would be orbiting a world. I can actually prove my point economically.
But remember that the 100d limit of a star goes above and below the plane of the ecliptic.Id personally make it a station orbitting outside the 100d of a planet outside the 100D of the star. That way you can have a stable location for all xboats to jump to.