Laser Antenna
| Laser Antenna | |
|---|---|
| |
| Category: | Functional |
| Function: | secure long-range communication |
| Fits small grid | |
| Mass: | 666.0 kg |
| PCU: | 100 |
| Size: | 3x3x3 |
| Time to Build: | 20 sec |
| Fits large grid | |
| Mass: | 3584.0 kg |
| PCU: | 100 |
| Size: | 1x2x1 |
| Time to Build: | 40 sec |
| Data Controls: | [edit] [purge] (?) |
The 
Laser Antenna is used for direct, two-way communication between two specific grids. One Laser Antenna directly links to a second Laser Antenna, allowing for remote access, including Remote Control, at any range. Laser Antennas' maximum range is unlimited if you can afford the very high power costs.
The laser antenna is, in contrast to regular Antennas, practically undetectable by passers-by. Regular antennas broadcast their name and position to anyone within range, while a Laser Antenna will not. This makes Laser Antennas particularly useful for PvP servers and for long-distance remote access to bases or ships.
Usage
What are the requirements?
Regular Antennas allow remote access to unpaired friendly antennas any time, anywhere, as long as they are in range, but they are visible to enemies. In contrast, a Laser Antenna requires pairing and a direct line of sight to the other Laser Antenna, but it's stealthy.
As long as they have power and the line-of-sight connection is established, a mobile grid's Laser Antenna will turn to point at its paired Laser Antenna like a compass.
If however a player, ship, station, a hill, an asteroid, or planet gets in the way of the line of sight, the link is temporarily broken. Blocking line of sight of the enemy's laser antenna can be a valid PvP strategy.
The Laser Antenna will automatically attempt to reconnect as soon as power or line of sight are restored. The "line of sight" calculations does not always correspond to human intuition though. If the target grid is mobile, there is a risk of losing a Remote Controled drone behind obstacles or because it has drained its batteries.
How to connect two Laser Antennas
If two Laser Antennas have line of sight, they allow grid-to-grid remote access in both directions. To set up a connection between two Laser Antennas, you need to be seated in a control station or cockpit. Don't use your suit antenna, it'll run out of power and lacks range.
How to copy and paste coordinates
In this scenario, the drone with LA is at the station with LA, and you have physical access to both.
- Enter the Control Panel of the grid that Laser Antenna 1 is on, and press Copy my coords.
- Enter the Control Panel of the grid that Laser Antenna 2 is on, and press Paste coords.
Wait for the Control Panel to confirm that the connection has been established. - Still in Laser Antenna 2's Control Panel, press Copy my coords. Alternatively, a faction member back at Laser Antenna 1 can click Copy Target Coords.
- In Laser Antenna 1's Control Panel, press Paste coords.
Wait for the Control Panel to confirm that the connection has been established.
This method is stealthy because it requires no visibly broadcasting antennas, but you need to prepare it in advance.
How to connect to known receivers
Use this method if you have no means of copying the other grid's coordinates, e.g. because it is moving quickly. This method however requires the grids to have active antennas that can reach one another. In PvP multiplayer, you run the risk of spies detecting your two antennas during the process.
Known Receivers are owned grids with active antennas whose Laser Antennas are not yet paired. They automatically appear in the list in the Laser Antennas' Control Panels.
Select a known receiver from the list and click Connect to Receiver to link the two Laser Antennas. Remember to switch the auxiliary antennas off to avoid detection.
How to Disconnect Laser Antennas
Open the Laser Antenna's Control Panel of one of the paired grids and click Idle. The grids lose connection and you'll save power.
How to create custom coordinates
The GPS coordinates are plain text in the following format:
GPS:My Laser Antenna:53536.5:-26782.43:11966.76:
You could replace the name "My Laser Antenna" with your laser antenna's name in a text editor, and replace the numbers with your Laser Antenna's coordinates, and copy the text into the clipboard, and it would also work when you click Paste Coords. Don't use colons in the GPS name.
Tip: A Broadcast Controller block has an action to send its own position to you as GPS coordinates, this way, a drone could "bookmark" a location for you.
What do the Status Symbols mean?
Let's assume your two antennas are named Laser Antenna A and Laser Antenna B. At least one of them is mobile and therefor the connection is not immediate, so you are wondering what the connection status is. Open the control panel for the laser antenna and scroll down to see the status display:
Laser Antenna A >> Laser Antenna B
A is rotating, please wait.Laser Antenna A ?> Laser Antenna B
A is searching for B at target GPS coordinates, please waitLaser Antenna A ~> Laser Antenna B
A is attempting to connect to B. It's possible that B still needs to turn around to face A, or that B is switched off, or not there, we don't know yet.Laser Antenna A [=> Laser Antenna B]
A is temporarily connected to BLaser Antenna A [#=> Laser Antenna B]
A is permanently connected to B
Power
The power consumption of a Laser Antenna depends on the distance to the Laser Antenna that it is linked to. At a distance of less than 200km, it will consume 10*distance_in_meters Watts. At a distance of greater than 200 km, it will consume 0.000025 * distance_in_meters ^ 2 + 1000000 Watts.
Power consumption is linear up to 200km, then the cost turns into a quadratic function. You need 26MW for a 1000km connection, and 901MW for a 6000km distance.
Construction
On large grid, the laser antenna is 1 x 1 x 2 blocks large and attaches to other blocks on five sides of its cube-shaped bottom half. On small grid, it is 3 x 3 x 3 blocks large and attaches to other blocks only on the bottom of its cylindrical bottom half.
The round top half of the block is the rotating laser emitter that must not be covered to maintain line of sight.
Recipe
| Laser Antenna | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Component | Large Ship/Station Required | Large Ship/Station Optional | Small Ship Required | Small Ship Optional |
 Superconductor | 100 | — | 10 | — |
 Steel Plate | 40 | 10 | 6 | 4 |
 Small Steel Tube | — | — | 10 | — |
 Radio-comm Comp. | 20 | — | 5 | — |
 Motor | 16 | — | 5 | — |
 Detector Components | 30 | — | — | — |
 Construction Comp. | 40 | — | 10 | — |
 Computer | 50 | — | 30 | — |
 Bulletproof Glass | 4 | — | 2 | — |
