Never used them except as general idea generators. Too many players have read them so they know what to expect. Kind of negates why you'd run one...
Very true. The Classics are long in the tooth now and rather well known.
This is sometimes offset by the fact that there are younger players, (a relative term these days ), who have had no exposure to Traveller for whom it is all fresh. I know that was the case when I adapted Death Station for Thousand Suns.
I'm surprised more people haven't done Night of Conquest. It's one of the better adventures of the lot.
The Referee might be able to partially nerf that idea. Our modern cell phones require satellite link-ups, which a TL-4 planet won't have. So the comms need direct LOS to reach the ship. What if that's only possible at specific spots in town? I can't say I'd enjoy the Adventure of Finding Cell Service, but it is a reasonable explanation for the PCs having to venture out into the town & face the invaders.
As another data point, there's no reason that an orbiting ship has to, you know, orbit.
It can pick an altitude and just perform a station keeping maneuver. This allows the starship to act as an ad hoc relay.
Similarly, there should be a mini-constellation (3-5) of station keeping "GPS" satellites that can be deployed in "wilderness" scenarios. No reason to blanket the globe with 'em, when they can follow the party around.
I have an additional turret rack 'weapon' called a satcaster, plopping satellites into orbit for comms or survey work. Main orbital vector acquired by launching ship maneuver, station keeping done by the satellite, months or years depending on the stability of the orbit. Pretty standard stuff on scout and merc ships.