Communications question

[SSB_Shadow 46]

How does short and long range communication hook and how does it work?

 

My group are a yet-to-be rebels who attacked a communications tower. They are issuing orders to other rebel friends (pilots and snipers) with comlinks. They intend to knock out the tower so the imperials cannot communicate to each other. The group eventually knocks it out.

 

So.... what does this mean?

The imperials cannot use long-range comlinks anymore? Does this apply to the rebel group as well (meaning they cannot speak with their snipers or pilot anymore).
Does this limit short-range comlinks as well?

 

Also wondering; how easy or difficult is it to hack into a channel and listen in to a group? This applies both for the heroes and the imperials.

[copperbell 617]

Have you watched Star Wars Rebels?

When they introduced Tarkin in the series they had Kanan, Hera & co take over a communications tower only for Tarkin to blow up said communications tower doing pretty much what you described!

[SSB_Shadow 46]

Have you watched Star Wars Rebels?

When they introduced Tarkin in the series they had Kanan, Hera & co take over a communications tower only for Tarkin to blow up said communications tower doing pretty much what you described!

Oh, right. I didn't think of that episode.

Maybe I'm wondering if the heroes are hindered to call for backup with the destruction of the tower or do they transmit in some other way? I've heard one can perhaps do it through a starship...

Or rather how does the heroes contact each other without using an imperial radio tower with the risk of them overhearing them?

[RogueCorona 1,043]

The rebels probably use other means as much as possible.

[ThePatriot 238]

How does short and long range communication hook and how does it work?

 

My group are a yet-to-be rebels who attacked a communications tower. They are issuing orders to other rebel friends (pilots and snipers) with comlinks. They intend to knock out the tower so the imperials cannot communicate to each other. The group eventually knocks it out.

 

So.... what does this mean?

The imperials cannot use long-range comlinks anymore? Does this apply to the rebel group as well (meaning they cannot speak with their snipers or pilot anymore).

Does this limit short-range comlinks as well?

 

Also wondering; how easy or difficult is it to hack into a channel and listen in to a group? This applies both for the heroes and the imperials.

 

How it works is that each side deploys their own com satellite network in space that orbits the planet. Depending upon how the sats are built like with stealth features to hide them they can easily be detected and destroyed by whichever side has air superiority. If that is contested then you can mark off planetary wide coms using sats.

 

The second layer to the system are the base stations set up on the ground. A long range com station can cover up to several thousand kms of area, but that is truly dependent on the relay itself. The short range comlinks tie into the long range network normally. Now a word here is that if this is an unsecured networked it is open to being jammed by the opposing side. The solution to that is have hardened equipment for the base relay station and the comlink. This prevents jammers from affecting the network since the hardening is done as a protection against jamming. 

 

The third layer of the system is local relays that handle all signals that are within 100 kms of the base station. Again it can be hardened to prevent disruption through jamming. 

 

The final layer is the handheld or helmet comlink. It connects to the third layer and if the person they need to speak to is beyond that layer's range the signal goes up to the closest long range relay then descends down the layers to the closest local relay to the recipient. 

 

Hardening prevents disruption of services by jamming. Another protection that can be added is encryption modules to all comlinks and relays in the communications layer. Now the major downside to having an emplaced network like this is that it is easy for each point in every layer to be pinpointed through radio wave detection. All it takes is an opposing base relay station to use their systems to triangulate onto the signal that is put out by their enemy. A way to prohibit triangulation is the use of burst transmissions. Burst transmissions are prerecorded then compressed to be roughly 1-2 seconds long and sent to the closest relay station. Enemy base stations have a very short time to perform a triangulation. The time is variable as it is dependent upon the length of the actual transmission. 

 

It's generally recommended to have multiple backups of the network that can go online at a moment's notice when one of the stations in the relay gets taken down. This way the link stays open between the layers and no disruptions occur.

[ThePatriot 238]

A note about burst communications. The downside to them is that they function like a letter. You send information and you have to wait for a reply. It is not a constant link, so any really detailed planning usually is done face to face in a pre-selected location using burst transmissions.

 

Another note, but this is about encryption. Any encrypted communication will be hard to decypher by the enemy unless they know the decryption key. It prevents the enemy from know what exactly it is that your cells are talking about. They can be clued in that something major will happen if there is a sudden flurry of radio communications within a certain geographic area. The counter to that is burst transmissions which makes it harder for the enemy to know what plans are going to be executed and where.