Well Drive - Revision history

Jaguar at 21:24, 16 June 2024

2024-06-16T21:24:17Z

← Older revision		Revision as of 21:24, 16 June 2024
Line 39:		Line 39:

	Ships operating at Wells 4 and 5 have what engineers call "flutter"--periods where the engines downcycle to avoid overheating--and this introduces fluctuations in expected speeds. Better engines have less flutter and can maintain their top speeds more consistently. Two ships traveling at Well 5, starting from the same location and heading for the same destination, may arrive at different times if one install is higher quality or better maintained (or both) than the other. When Fleet has speed trials, particularly as competitions between ships, what they're testing is how well Engineering maintains the drive, not whether the drive can hit the required speed.		Ships operating at Wells 4 and 5 have what engineers call "flutter"--periods where the engines downcycle to avoid overheating--and this introduces fluctuations in expected speeds. Better engines have less flutter and can maintain their top speeds more consistently. Two ships traveling at Well 5, starting from the same location and heading for the same destination, may arrive at different times if one install is higher quality or better maintained (or both) than the other. When Fleet has speed trials, particularly as competitions between ships, what they're testing is how well Engineering maintains the drive, not whether the drive can hit the required speed.

			=== Other Species ===
			Chatcaavan military vessels are designed to oscillate between Well speeds, a process they call ''tsar zim'', or "soar and surge." This gives them a higher average speed, at the cost of increased maintenance needs. Fleet vessels can do this manually ("interval cruising") but tend to do so only when damaged or if they don't want to risk a constant maximum Well speed.

	==Trivia==		==Trivia==

Jaguar: /* Distances in the Alliance */

2024-06-16T19:37:26Z

Distances in the Alliance

← Older revision		Revision as of 19:37, 16 June 2024
Line 53:		Line 53:
	* The "border station" that [[Alon Levy\|Levy]] greets [[Lisinthir Nase Galare\|Lisinthir]] in during [[Even the Wingless (Fiction)\|Wingless]] is never named, not in Wingless or later in [[Some Things Transcend (Fiction)\|Transcend]] when [[Jahir Seni Galare\|Jahir]] and [[Vasiht'h]] go through it. I assume it's in [[Known Space#Zones of the Alliance\|Sector Fe]]. In Transcend, Jahir notes that the trip from [[Core (Zone)\|Veta]] to that station took a day at Well 5. But traveling into the [[Chatcaavan Empire\|Empire]] to find Lisinthir's vessel took them "days." (Probably because they had to run search patterns while traveling).		* The "border station" that [[Alon Levy\|Levy]] greets [[Lisinthir Nase Galare\|Lisinthir]] in during [[Even the Wingless (Fiction)\|Wingless]] is never named, not in Wingless or later in [[Some Things Transcend (Fiction)\|Transcend]] when [[Jahir Seni Galare\|Jahir]] and [[Vasiht'h]] go through it. I assume it's in [[Known Space#Zones of the Alliance\|Sector Fe]]. In Transcend, Jahir notes that the trip from [[Core (Zone)\|Veta]] to that station took a day at Well 5. But traveling into the [[Chatcaavan Empire\|Empire]] to find Lisinthir's vessel took them "days." (Probably because they had to run search patterns while traveling).
	* I took a swing at how sector sizes are calculated in [[Known Space#Sector Sizes\|Known Space]]. Given the multipliers, Jahir's ship in the previous bullet point should be able to reach Sector Fe from Sector Veta within 27 hours--about the day he mentioned, since [[Alliance Mean Time\|AMT]] defines a day as 25 hours.		* I took a swing at how sector sizes are calculated in [[Known Space#Sector Sizes\|Known Space]]. Given the multipliers, Jahir's ship in the previous bullet point should be able to reach Sector Fe from Sector Veta within 27 hours--about the day he mentioned, since [[Alliance Mean Time\|AMT]] defines a day as 25 hours.
			* Guesstimating again, it looks like the distance [[Surela Silin Asaniefa\|Surela]] and [[TMS Earthrise#Second Crew\|crew]] travel from [[Escutcheon]] to [[Starbase Psi]] is 4 laps, which gives us a distance of 12 days at Well 3.

	==References==		==References==

Jaguar: /* Distances in the Alliance */

2024-06-16T19:30:10Z

Distances in the Alliance

← Older revision		Revision as of 19:30, 16 June 2024
Line 52:		Line 52:

	* The "border station" that [[Alon Levy\|Levy]] greets [[Lisinthir Nase Galare\|Lisinthir]] in during [[Even the Wingless (Fiction)\|Wingless]] is never named, not in Wingless or later in [[Some Things Transcend (Fiction)\|Transcend]] when [[Jahir Seni Galare\|Jahir]] and [[Vasiht'h]] go through it. I assume it's in [[Known Space#Zones of the Alliance\|Sector Fe]]. In Transcend, Jahir notes that the trip from [[Core (Zone)\|Veta]] to that station took a day at Well 5. But traveling into the [[Chatcaavan Empire\|Empire]] to find Lisinthir's vessel took them "days." (Probably because they had to run search patterns while traveling).		* The "border station" that [[Alon Levy\|Levy]] greets [[Lisinthir Nase Galare\|Lisinthir]] in during [[Even the Wingless (Fiction)\|Wingless]] is never named, not in Wingless or later in [[Some Things Transcend (Fiction)\|Transcend]] when [[Jahir Seni Galare\|Jahir]] and [[Vasiht'h]] go through it. I assume it's in [[Known Space#Zones of the Alliance\|Sector Fe]]. In Transcend, Jahir notes that the trip from [[Core (Zone)\|Veta]] to that station took a day at Well 5. But traveling into the [[Chatcaavan Empire\|Empire]] to find Lisinthir's vessel took them "days." (Probably because they had to run search patterns while traveling).
			* I took a swing at how sector sizes are calculated in [[Known Space#Sector Sizes\|Known Space]]. Given the multipliers, Jahir's ship in the previous bullet point should be able to reach Sector Fe from Sector Veta within 27 hours--about the day he mentioned, since [[Alliance Mean Time\|AMT]] defines a day as 25 hours.

	==References==		==References==

Jaguar: /* Technology */

2024-06-16T19:28:01Z

Technology

← Older revision		Revision as of 19:28, 16 June 2024
Line 37:		Line 37:
	* Well 1: 49 days		* Well 1: 49 days
	Historically, the fastest of Fleet vessels could not reliably hit Well 5 until later in Alliance history, so sectors were originally drawn up based on the assumption that Well 4 was the emergency speed, and Well 2 and 3 the normal Fleet cruising speeds, with Wells 1 and 2 reserved to civilian ships. Modern civilian ships rarely go over Well 2, still, but Fleet ships can now use Well 5, and 3 and 4 are now their norms.		Historically, the fastest of Fleet vessels could not reliably hit Well 5 until later in Alliance history, so sectors were originally drawn up based on the assumption that Well 4 was the emergency speed, and Well 2 and 3 the normal Fleet cruising speeds, with Wells 1 and 2 reserved to civilian ships. Modern civilian ships rarely go over Well 2, still, but Fleet ships can now use Well 5, and 3 and 4 are now their norms.

			Ships operating at Wells 4 and 5 have what engineers call "flutter"--periods where the engines downcycle to avoid overheating--and this introduces fluctuations in expected speeds. Better engines have less flutter and can maintain their top speeds more consistently. Two ships traveling at Well 5, starting from the same location and heading for the same destination, may arrive at different times if one install is higher quality or better maintained (or both) than the other. When Fleet has speed trials, particularly as competitions between ships, what they're testing is how well Engineering maintains the drive, not whether the drive can hit the required speed.

	==Trivia==		==Trivia==

Jaguar at 19:11, 16 June 2024

2024-06-16T19:11:53Z

← Older revision		Revision as of 19:11, 16 June 2024
Line 29:		Line 29:
	For civilian ship, anything past Well 4 tends to diminishing returns when the increased cost of maintenance, repair and energy usage were factored against the time saved.<ref name="stt-ch01">''[[Some Things Transcend (Fiction) \|Some Things Transcend]]'', Chaper 1</ref> For vital military or political reasons, military vessels can safely drop deeper in the Well but even those hit the limits of technology, especially material strength and propulsion systems, before whatever may be at the theoretical "bottom" of the Well.<ref name="stt-ch01" /> . Well factors beyond this limit are collectively known as the Abyss and cannot be withstood by modern materials and artificial Well shields.<ref>Author's Notes</ref>		For civilian ship, anything past Well 4 tends to diminishing returns when the increased cost of maintenance, repair and energy usage were factored against the time saved.<ref name="stt-ch01">''[[Some Things Transcend (Fiction) \|Some Things Transcend]]'', Chaper 1</ref> For vital military or political reasons, military vessels can safely drop deeper in the Well but even those hit the limits of technology, especially material strength and propulsion systems, before whatever may be at the theoretical "bottom" of the Well.<ref name="stt-ch01" /> . Well factors beyond this limit are collectively known as the Abyss and cannot be withstood by modern materials and artificial Well shields.<ref>Author's Notes</ref>

	For now, I am assuming speed increases logarithmically, with a base of 2.75. Rolling the dice, there, a distance that can be traveled in 1 day at Well 5 would go over this way:		For now, I am assuming speed increases logarithmically, with a base of 2.65. Rolling the dice, there, a distance that can be traveled in 1 day at Well 5 would go over this way:

	* Well 5 (fastest): 1 day		* Well 5 (fastest): 1 day
	* Well 4: 3 days		* Well 4: 3 days
	* Well 3: 8 days		* Well 3: 7 days
	* Well 2: 21 days		* Well 2: 19 days
	* Well 1: 57 days		* Well 1: 49 days
	Historically, the fastest of Fleet vessels could not reliably hit Well 5 until later in Alliance history, so sectors were originally drawn up based on the assumption that Well 4 was the emergency speed, and Well 2 and 3 the normal Fleet cruising speeds, with Wells 1 and 2 reserved to civilian ships. Modern civilian ships rarely go over Well 2, still, but Fleet ships can now use Well 5, and 3 and 4 are now their norms.		Historically, the fastest of Fleet vessels could not reliably hit Well 5 until later in Alliance history, so sectors were originally drawn up based on the assumption that Well 4 was the emergency speed, and Well 2 and 3 the normal Fleet cruising speeds, with Wells 1 and 2 reserved to civilian ships. Modern civilian ships rarely go over Well 2, still, but Fleet ships can now use Well 5, and 3 and 4 are now their norms.

Jaguar at 19:10, 16 June 2024

2024-06-16T19:10:43Z

← Older revision		Revision as of 19:10, 16 June 2024
Line 29:		Line 29:
	For civilian ship, anything past Well 4 tends to diminishing returns when the increased cost of maintenance, repair and energy usage were factored against the time saved.<ref name="stt-ch01">''[[Some Things Transcend (Fiction) \|Some Things Transcend]]'', Chaper 1</ref> For vital military or political reasons, military vessels can safely drop deeper in the Well but even those hit the limits of technology, especially material strength and propulsion systems, before whatever may be at the theoretical "bottom" of the Well.<ref name="stt-ch01" /> . Well factors beyond this limit are collectively known as the Abyss and cannot be withstood by modern materials and artificial Well shields.<ref>Author's Notes</ref>		For civilian ship, anything past Well 4 tends to diminishing returns when the increased cost of maintenance, repair and energy usage were factored against the time saved.<ref name="stt-ch01">''[[Some Things Transcend (Fiction) \|Some Things Transcend]]'', Chaper 1</ref> For vital military or political reasons, military vessels can safely drop deeper in the Well but even those hit the limits of technology, especially material strength and propulsion systems, before whatever may be at the theoretical "bottom" of the Well.<ref name="stt-ch01" /> . Well factors beyond this limit are collectively known as the Abyss and cannot be withstood by modern materials and artificial Well shields.<ref>Author's Notes</ref>

	For now, I am assuming speed increases logarithmically, with a base of 2.5. Rolling the dice, there, a distance that can be traveled in 1 day at Well 5 would go over this way:		For now, I am assuming speed increases logarithmically, with a base of 2.75. Rolling the dice, there, a distance that can be traveled in 1 day at Well 5 would go over this way:

	* Well 5 (fastest): 1 day		* Well 5 (fastest): 1 day
	* Well 4: 3 days		* Well 4: 3 days
	* Well 3: 6 days		* Well 3: 8 days
	* Well 2: 16 days		* Well 2: 21 days
	* Well 1: 39 days		* Well 1: 57 days
	Historically, the fastest of Fleet vessels could not reliably hit Well 5 until later in Alliance history, so sectors were originally drawn up based on the assumption that Well 4 was the emergency speed, and Well 2 and 3 the normal Fleet cruising speeds, with Wells 1 and 2 reserved to civilian ships. Modern civilian ships rarely go over Well 2, still, but Fleet ships can now use Well 5, and 3 and 4 are now their norms.		Historically, the fastest of Fleet vessels could not reliably hit Well 5 until later in Alliance history, so sectors were originally drawn up based on the assumption that Well 4 was the emergency speed, and Well 2 and 3 the normal Fleet cruising speeds, with Wells 1 and 2 reserved to civilian ships. Modern civilian ships rarely go over Well 2, still, but Fleet ships can now use Well 5, and 3 and 4 are now their norms.

Jaguar: /* Technology */

2024-06-16T19:05:00Z

Technology

← Older revision		Revision as of 19:05, 16 June 2024
Line 36:		Line 36:
	* Well 2: 16 days		* Well 2: 16 days
	* Well 1: 39 days		* Well 1: 39 days
			Historically, the fastest of Fleet vessels could not reliably hit Well 5 until later in Alliance history, so sectors were originally drawn up based on the assumption that Well 4 was the emergency speed, and Well 2 and 3 the normal Fleet cruising speeds, with Wells 1 and 2 reserved to civilian ships. Modern civilian ships rarely go over Well 2, still, but Fleet ships can now use Well 5, and 3 and 4 are now their norms.

	==Trivia==		==Trivia==

Jaguar: /* Speed */

2024-06-16T18:57:53Z

Speed

← Older revision		Revision as of 18:57, 16 June 2024
Line 28:		Line 28:

	For civilian ship, anything past Well 4 tends to diminishing returns when the increased cost of maintenance, repair and energy usage were factored against the time saved.<ref name="stt-ch01">''[[Some Things Transcend (Fiction) \|Some Things Transcend]]'', Chaper 1</ref> For vital military or political reasons, military vessels can safely drop deeper in the Well but even those hit the limits of technology, especially material strength and propulsion systems, before whatever may be at the theoretical "bottom" of the Well.<ref name="stt-ch01" /> . Well factors beyond this limit are collectively known as the Abyss and cannot be withstood by modern materials and artificial Well shields.<ref>Author's Notes</ref>		For civilian ship, anything past Well 4 tends to diminishing returns when the increased cost of maintenance, repair and energy usage were factored against the time saved.<ref name="stt-ch01">''[[Some Things Transcend (Fiction) \|Some Things Transcend]]'', Chaper 1</ref> For vital military or political reasons, military vessels can safely drop deeper in the Well but even those hit the limits of technology, especially material strength and propulsion systems, before whatever may be at the theoretical "bottom" of the Well.<ref name="stt-ch01" /> . Well factors beyond this limit are collectively known as the Abyss and cannot be withstood by modern materials and artificial Well shields.<ref>Author's Notes</ref>

			For now, I am assuming speed increases logarithmically, with a base of 2.5. Rolling the dice, there, a distance that can be traveled in 1 day at Well 5 would go over this way:

			* Well 5 (fastest): 1 day
			* Well 4: 3 days
			* Well 3: 6 days
			* Well 2: 16 days
			* Well 1: 39 days

	==Trivia==		==Trivia==

Jaguar at 18:49, 16 June 2024

2024-06-16T18:49:53Z

← Older revision		Revision as of 18:49, 16 June 2024
Line 36:		Line 36:
	* The computer can and usually does superimpose images of stars moving when in Well for crew comfort, even though one doesn't actually pass stars in the Well.<ref name="sota-13">''[[Sword of the Alliance (Fiction) \|Sword of the Alliance]]'', Chapter 13</ref>		* The computer can and usually does superimpose images of stars moving when in Well for crew comfort, even though one doesn't actually pass stars in the Well.<ref name="sota-13">''[[Sword of the Alliance (Fiction) \|Sword of the Alliance]]'', Chapter 13</ref>
	* There's a way to "bounce" a slow-moving ship out of Well if you know its vector and engine harmonies, but it's a 'bit of a gamble.' <ref name="oto-03">''[[Only the Open (Fiction) \| Only the Open]]'', Chapter 3</ref> Fleet personnel call it a tripwire. This is more of a pirate technique than a Chatcaavan one.		* There's a way to "bounce" a slow-moving ship out of Well if you know its vector and engine harmonies, but it's a 'bit of a gamble.' <ref name="oto-03">''[[Only the Open (Fiction) \| Only the Open]]'', Chapter 3</ref> Fleet personnel call it a tripwire. This is more of a pirate technique than a Chatcaavan one.

			== Distances in the Alliance ==
			It's never clearly explained how much faster each well speed is from the next tier, how large distances are in the Alliance, the average size of a sector, etc. Some guesses:

			* The "border station" that [[Alon Levy\|Levy]] greets [[Lisinthir Nase Galare\|Lisinthir]] in during [[Even the Wingless (Fiction)\|Wingless]] is never named, not in Wingless or later in [[Some Things Transcend (Fiction)\|Transcend]] when [[Jahir Seni Galare\|Jahir]] and [[Vasiht'h]] go through it. I assume it's in [[Known Space#Zones of the Alliance\|Sector Fe]]. In Transcend, Jahir notes that the trip from [[Core (Zone)\|Veta]] to that station took a day at Well 5. But traveling into the [[Chatcaavan Empire\|Empire]] to find Lisinthir's vessel took them "days." (Probably because they had to run search patterns while traveling).

	==References==		==References==

Jaguar: /* Speed */ added author's notes

2022-08-14T00:53:47Z

Speed: added author's notes

← Older revision		Revision as of 00:53, 14 August 2022
Line 21:		Line 21:
	===Speed===		===Speed===
	Has five "speeds":		Has five "speeds":
	*1		*1 (The Cusp of the Well)
	*2 (The Lip of the Well)		*2 (The Lip of the Well)
	*3 (The Lip of the Well); most civilian ships stop here.		*3 (The Lip of the Well); most civilian ships stop here.
	*4 Civilian courier ships occasionally go this speed.		*4 Civilian courier ships occasionally go this speed.
	*5 (The Well's Deep) This speed is only typical of Fleet vessels pushing things.		*5 (The Well's Deep) This speed is only typical of Fleet vessels pushing things.
	*6?
	*Deeper?

	For civilian ship, anything past Well 4 tends to diminishing returns when the increased cost of maintenance, repair and energy usage were factored against the time saved.<ref name="stt-ch01">''[[Some Things Transcend (Fiction) \|Some Things Transcend]]'', Chaper 1</ref> For vital military or political reasons, military vessels can safely drop deeper in the Well but even those hit the limits of technology, especially material strength and propulsion systems, before whatever may be at the theoretical "bottom" of the Well.<ref name="stt-ch01" />		For civilian ship, anything past Well 4 tends to diminishing returns when the increased cost of maintenance, repair and energy usage were factored against the time saved.<ref name="stt-ch01">''[[Some Things Transcend (Fiction) \|Some Things Transcend]]'', Chaper 1</ref> For vital military or political reasons, military vessels can safely drop deeper in the Well but even those hit the limits of technology, especially material strength and propulsion systems, before whatever may be at the theoretical "bottom" of the Well.<ref name="stt-ch01" /> . Well factors beyond this limit are collectively known as the Abyss and cannot be withstood by modern materials and artificial Well shields.<ref>Author's Notes</ref>

	==Trivia==		==Trivia==