Windows/Viewports in Bridge/Control Cabin

[Vladika]

LOL! Also, to make a vacuum tube computer to replace even current day super computers would make them larger than a 100 Dton scout and they would be HORRIBLY unreliable. ANYONE who has spent anytime studying those old machines knows this.

They are horribly unreliable! And the heat given of is massive. (This could explain the energy requirements...)

My Dad owned a vending machines company when I was a kid. He had 1000s of tubes around and diagnostics was a real nightmare. (The best diagnostics seemed to have been "look for the blown valve" it's very visual. Problem is, it doesn't tell you WHY the tube blew in the first place.

I think HG_B is very correct. And spare parts? Maybe that's why the X Boat tender is so large for the ships it supports.

I seem to remember that the US Military thought highly of the Mig 15 IIRC, until they got their hands on one. Vac Tubes throughout.

 

[BytePro]

Aramis posted about using 'micro-vacuum tube systems' not the conventional ones of yesteryear.

Such IC style systems (micro and nano - there has been a lot of research over the decades - just as with rad hardened fiber and rad and EMP hardened solid state electronics) do offer certain potential benefits. Ironically, traditional vacuum tubes were pretty impervious to radiation, EMP, and notably unaffected by things like geomagnetic storms - and the newer types may share these desirable traits. The modern ones also aren't the space hogging failure-prone heaters of our youth.

Note that there are still some RW specialized applications that benefit from the old style tubes. In Traveller, I never referred to them for processing, but have for sensors, comm gear and accelerators. I believe they still have use today in such fields...

 

[aramis]

Aramis posted about using 'micro-vacuum tube systems' not the conventional ones of yesteryear.

Such IC style systems (micro and nano - there has been a lot of research over the decades - just as with rad hardened fiber and rad and EMP hardened solid state electronics) do offer certain potential benefits. Ironically, traditional vacuum tubes were pretty impervious to radiation, EMP, and notably unaffected by things like geomagnetic storms - and the newer types may share these desirable traits. The modern ones also aren't the space hogging failure-prone heaters of our youth.

Note that there are still some RW specialized applications that benefit from the old style tubes. In Traveller, I never referred to them for processing, but have for sensors, comm gear and accelerators. I believe they still have use today in such fields...

Tube amps are still the preferred mode for broadcast transmitters, and for guitar amps. I've a 3-tube fender amp that I've been offered GOOD money for.

 

[BlackBat242]

As a former USMC electronics tech, NOTHING beats a vacuum tube for high-power applications.

 

[selunatic2397]

One of my players asked what the windows were made of...I shrugged and let a group debate hammer out a concensus...

Since synthetic diamond seemed a bit too expensive...and probably fragile to boot...

They seemed to come up with a kind of "Polarized Silicon"...fifty times stronger than steel they boasted!

I had used the debate time to metagame the pirate ship they had captured , to escape their heroic clutches, and merely said...

"Okay, sounds cool to me".

But does it even make sense?

 

[Vladika]

One of my players asked what the windows were made of...I shrugged and let a group debate hammer out a concensus...

Since synthetic diamond seemed a bit too expensive...and probably fragile to boot...

They seemed to come up with a kind of "Polarized Silicon"...fifty times stronger than steel they boasted!

I had used the debate time to metagame the pirate ship they had captured , to escape their heroic clutches, and merely said...

"Okay, sounds cool to me".

But does it even make sense?

Does it matter?

 

[CosmicGamer]

How about transparent carbon windows that also can also be used as a display and sensor.

 

[BytePro]

One of my players asked what the windows were made of...I shrugged and let a group debate hammer out a concensus...
...
But does it even make sense?

Perfectly - if it satisfied the group's suspension of disbelief.

Material science is always yielding up new wonders - who's to say.

 

[Frankymole]

One of my players asked what the windows were made of...I shrugged and let a group debate hammer out a concensus...

Since synthetic diamond seemed a bit too expensive...and probably fragile to boot...

They seemed to come up with a kind of "Polarized Silicon"...fifty times stronger than steel they boasted!

I had used the debate time to metagame the pirate ship they had captured , to escape their heroic clutches, and merely said...

"Okay, sounds cool to me".

But does it even make sense?

Does "polarization" in this sense mean constructed under the influence of gravitation force fields? I think that was the thinking behind crystaliron, that some new methods of crystal growing would become possible with artificial-grav engineering.

 

[Drakon]

When Star Trek 4 came out, we laughed about the "transparent aluminum" line. But then we found out that Conrundum, the mineral basis for sapphires and rubies, is essentially aluminum oxide with traces of iron, titanium, and chromium in it. Rubies and sapphires have a hardness of 9.0 (out of 10,)

Thus we have Sapphirium (tm). a transparent aluminum (oxide) with a hardness able to do the job when most other materials will quit.

 

[Whipsnade]

Current naval warships have bridges for piloting the ship and a Combat Information Center for fighting the ship.

That's always been my take on the matter: Separate compartments for separate functions in separate locations.

On many ships there's a "real" bridge/control center and "flying" bridge for atmospheric maneuvering. For military ships you can add a combat information center to the list. On smaller ships, like the ones most players are operating, they are all one and the same.

 

[Whipsnade]

But does it even make sense?

If it worked for your group it made perfect sense.