[OT?] Off-the-shelf radio beacon?

[Wildepad]

On Sat, 27 Oct 2007 13:09:53 +0200, "Martin Blume" <mblume@socha.net>
wrote:

"Wildepad"

[science fiction story element on homing back to
a gate to a parallel universe]
[...] and celestial navigation requires expertise.

Why not assume that a gadget has been invented that allows
celestial navigation? You take a "CNAV" gadget (size of a
GPS receiver), point it at the sky (ok, you need visibility),
it takes a snapshot of the sky, correlates the stars with
its almanac (you might have to feed in correct local time
beforehand) and after some calculation spits out your local
coordinates.
It might even be possible to do interstellar locationing.

The rest is left as an exercise to the reader.

And if the stars are different?
--

 

[Wildepad]

On Sat, 27 Oct 2007 12:53:36 -0400, Jamie
<jamie_ka1lpa_not_valid_after_ka1lpa_@charter.net> wrote:

Suzy wrote:

"Wildepad" <noreplies> wrote in message
news:7sa2i31099ijjb4rfhblvdau1bonkh7534@4ax.com...
The 'no government permits' requirement is because the user will want
to practice with it extensively before putting it to actual use, and
they cannot afford having their name on file anywhere.
Why?
that's my question, "WHY"

Any time you get a permit/license/givernment permission, your name
goes into a database. Most such databases are open to the public.

Think of the user as a prospector who doesn't want his name in those
databases that claim jumpers use to find targets.
--

 

[Rich Grise]

On Fri, 26 Oct 2007 19:13:00 -0500, Wildepad wrote:

Also, part of the backstory is how the protag practices with all the
equipment, and I don't know how the authorities would react to your
setting off such beacons dozens of times when no one is actually in
danger.

Just make it a McGuffin, or just scenery, like a James Bond tracker,
which has a range of hundreds of miles, and nobody else is aware of. ;-)

Cheers!
Rich