Round duration for Advanced Fusion EP production

[andyholzrichter]

I am designing a set of TL15 Battledress. Was comparing the EP production of an Advanced Fusion plant & Advanced batteries. The batteries are simple & I don't see a problem with them, but the Advanced Fusion Plant gives an energy production of 1 EP per 1.5vl per round of operation. I find 3 different round lengths. 6s / 1m /20m. Am I correct in assuming that because I found this table in the vehicular section it is using the 1m round to calculate EP produced?

What is the real world energy equivalent to 1EP?

 

[mike wightman]

It doesn't matter because the energy using systems draw power at the same rate as the power plant is producing it, EP for EP

 

[andyholzrichter]

It actually does matter. I have some equipment which is designed under earlier rules. Their specifications list real units instead of EP. I can't use them with this unless I know the conversion.

I reread the battery section last night. It isn't as clear as I thought it was. Batteries state they can "discharge up to 1 EP for 1 hour. Thus a battery that will provide 1 EP every hour for 24 hours would require a storage capacity of 24 EP." This same battery can be recharged in 1 round by connecting it to a power plant. This section implies an EP in a battery and in a power plant is not the same thing. Batteries are EP/hour. Power plants are all listed as EP/round. If an item is listed as using 1EP, what period of time does it take to draw that EP? One reading of the rules would indicate you can run the device from a battery for an hour, then recharge the batter from a power plant in 1 round, then run the device from the battery again for an hour. Or you could run the device from the powerplant on a continuous basis.

I'm planning on a mix of fusion/batteries & previous equipment so I need to know conversion info.

 

[mike wightman]

I know what you mean. Try designing them with T20 equipment equivalents. The vehicle scale components are equivalent with regards to EP usage. (The real problem lies when you try to mix scales IMHO.)
If that won't work then just use your earlier designs.
As to what the vehicle EP is, I've no idea. The starship EP is meant to equate to 250MW, but the vehicle EP is not the same as a ship EP.

 

[andyholzrichter]

I might try redesigning them. I might just chuck the whole T20 design system out the window & go with something else. I like to design the weapons w/ 3G3, but it uses real world units & that gets me to the problem with units. I like T20 in general, but the problems with volume/mass & EP for energy really bug me. My scientific training does not go well with units that don't match up. This is unfortunate because I like the overall simplicity of the T20 design system.

It also doesn't address the way batteries & power plants are worded under vehicles. It appears that you can run an item that requires 1 EP for an hour from a battery, then recharge the battery from a power plant that produces 1 EP in 1 round (however long that is. 1m?) Then you can run the item again off the battery for another hour. Or you could run the item off the power plant instead. If this is the case 1 power plant could cycle through 60 batteries & effectively increase your power available by 60. (At least by one reading of the rule book.)

(I don't want anyone to think I'm trying to be rude/confrontational. I like T20, but some of the wording in the design section is bothering me. I'm trying to find out how other people have resolved this. I'm just trying to find an answer, not be a wise guy.)

 

[tjoneslo]

Originally posted by Andy Holzrichter:
(I don't want anyone to think I'm trying to be rude/confrontational. I like T20, but some of the wording in the design section is bothering me. I'm trying to find out how other people have resolved this. I'm just trying to find an answer, not be a wise guy.)

As one of the senior T20 gearheads, my advise is: if you find yourself worring about issues like this the T20 design system isn't sufficiently detailed to satify you, and no amount of tweaking will make it so. The T20 design system delibertely sacrificed several layers of "realism" for ease of use. Putting these layers of realism back in will break the system. I would suggest switching to a more detailed design system: GURPS Vehicles, CORPS Vehicle Design System are two of the most detailed and in print. I can suggest several more if you would like.

To answer your orignal question: The power plants produce EP per hour, like the batteries, and the power plant fuel supplies. As a rough guide one vehicle EP is 1/10,000 of a Starahip EP or about 25 kW. This is the assumption I used during the playtest and during the writing of the various TA's as a sanity check of the power plant outputs.

 

[andyholzrichter]

That answered a lot of my questions. It appears the line on pp 241 "Recharging may be accomplished by hooking the battery into any available power plant/supply, at a rate of 1 EP recharged per round the battery is hooked to the power supply." could use some clarification since the power plants are rated at EP/round & the batteries are rated at EP/hour according to the book. It makes sense if you understand the batteries are roughly 25kwh & the power plants put out roughly 25kw. Somebody might want to look at an errata for that page. A very good case could be made for power plants being EP/round & batteries being EP/hour. If that was the case, then a power plant is really putting out about 60* the energy of a battery. I would have used that before I got this answer.

At this point I really don't want to go to another design system for vehicles. Having a real answer for the units does help. I realize the numbers are an approximation, but all I was asking for was an approximate answer. I can make it fit once I know where to start. Thanks.

 

[tjoneslo]

To be technically correct: Power plants produce power (in kW) and batterys store energy (in kWs). Or in this case EP and EP/hr. Apples and Oranges.

A technical reading of the rules produces your original results: 1 vehicle round is 1 minute, so a 1 EP power plant can recharge a 1 EP battery which then lasts for 1 hour. But since batteries already outperform all the engines, I'd rather not give them even more of an advantage. I'll post a Errata note on the proper board.

 

[andyholzrichter]

Actually in this case it means the power plants outperform the batteries. I am working on the suit of BD listed above. With my original reading of the rules I would put in a moderate size fusion power plant, some fuel & some batteries. If the batteries are so much more powerful, I might just go with all batteries. Under my original reading of the rules, power plants are effectively 60* more powerful than batteries.