[belaran]

OK, so that is interesting. I assumed that to remote control his drive, he would need a RCC, but a wireless enabled control rig, using the "free datajack" allows to do it - with a noise reduction of one... Cool

[adzling]

The RCC is for giving multiple drones the same command with a single action and sharing autosofts between multiple same-type drones.

[belaran]

Yep, I realized that now. Cool, because I allowed him to remote-start his chopper a couple of sessions ago, and then thought he could not,  but turns out I was right !

[belaran]

OK, follow up question on this. As I have concluded that the PC has no real good reason to leave his control rig wirless "on" (except for remoting driving his chopper), here come the next question: can disable the wireless on the chopper itself ?

On one hand, one could say "no wireless, no VR", but is it really true ? If the rules says somewhere "any vehicule has to be wirless 'on' at anytime", I'm good with it, I just don't want to cheat the PC here.

And, assuming that shutting down the wireless on the chopper is an option, I would guess this would impairs the sensors array right ? (Can't check the rulebook about that right now)

[Jack_Spade]

You can turn wireless off for all vehicles.
But expect that a few alerts will go off at the sky guide host if you do that with a heli.

The sensors are not impaired by that - neither is the (auto-)pilot.

[belaran]

OK, but what is the downside of switch off the wireless ? If there is no upside, why would anyone run is vehicule "on" (except for norms wanting to use the autogrid) ?

[Jack_Spade]

Well, for one thing you get a lot less attention from law enforcement if you sent your position data and flight plan - also it stops other vehicles crashing into you
I generally see that as a plus.

[belaran]

.... but for a chopper, none of those applies - well a radar would see an echo and no icon, but in this case, as the chopper has stealth mods added,  not even sure it would.

(but granted, i see the value for groundcraft)

[Herr Brackhaus]

It's not a chopper; it's a helo!

[belaran]

Well technically it's a VTOL, but for the intent of discussion I think we can approximate it to a chopper

[Sterling]

Aircraft "radar" rely on reading the transponder details being sent out by other aircraft, they are not the old-fashioned beams of radio waves being transmitted and bounced back when they hit a target.

If your Helo is flying without any wireless I would guess that the transponder is off as is the "radar".

You're risking collisions with other aircraft, drones, and if you are picked up on a true military radar with no accompanying transponder information then I can see things getting very exciting as you play missile vs helo.

[belaran]

Granted, flying wireless may make invisible to civilian air control, but could turn you immediatly for military (nation or megacorp)

[Marcus Gideon]

Vehicles still come with their own sensor suites. So they will be able to detect other vehicles, even if they have their wireless disabled. The car in front of you isn't broadcasting but you can still tell there's a car in front of you.

However, even in modern day, cops will pull you over if you're driving in the dark without headlights. I could imagine that especially for police, that wireless on your car is probably sending out license, registration, insurance, current speed, approximate tire wear, last oil change, and favorite radio station. When they see you drive by with your wireless completely disabled to the point if they query your vehicle in particular they still don't get a response, it would be akin to driving without a license plate and with the headlights turned off. As much as you're hoping not to be noticed, you're actually sticking out like a sore thumb.

[Herr Brackhaus]

Unlikely, Marcus, because a) cops couldn't afford to spend the time it takes to pull over every joker who runs silently, and b) because throwbacks are still a thing.

If it has no wireless functionality, it has no GridGuide and no capability to broadcast any of the things you mentioned.

[MijRai]

I'm with Marcus; if you have your vehicle on silent, people of the law enforcement persuasion are likely to notice.  It's like broadcasting a SIN.  If you don't do it, you are supposed to get stopped.  In lower-class areas they're less likely to care, but if something seems hinky to them they'll probably use it as 'probable cause' to pull you over.  Driving a throwback would get you pulled over frequently.