My players have decided to begin, after 2 years RL time and 13 months in game time, to foster some team spirit. Part of that is they want radios and such, and they thought it'd be a good idea to get them encrypted.

So, the tactical comm units in Cannon seemed a way to go. The text in the book mentioned they're "DNI equipped for datajack control". Now, is this simply to change settings and such or can you speak into it like this?

I'm asking cos I don't know if a transducer is needed, and if so would the external mod be needed - I assume this is a mod to the radio itself, but the text isn't clear on this.

Some assistance would be appreciated.

To take this one step further, I wouldn't mind some general info on the various communication devices and how they are used: radios, phones, commlinks, micro-transceivers, etc.

Well, one of the vets will correct me if I'm wrong, but here's ow I understand it:

Radios, micro-transceivers, tac-comms, phones and scanners (called commlinks in cyberware) for our purposes are pretty much the same thing, in that they transmit/receive (thus "transcieve") voice over the air waves. The first three use radio waves transmitted directly. The fourth I believe uses microwaves and repeater stations (cell towers) to do the job. I have no idea what makes a scanner or a commlink seperate from a normal radio.

DNI-adaptation allows you to use these external devices as if they were wired directly to your body; that is, you can use them as free actions instead of pushing buttons and twisting dials, and you get finer control over them as well. Transducers are needed if you want to say anything over them without physically speaking, though, because normal DNI doesn't translate voice into something that can be transmitted very well.

Yes, a transducer would still be needed. However, I think it would be reasonable for a transducer to come as a standard integrated component on the high end comm systems that are designed for datajack use. Even if you disagree, however, the transducer is a relatively minor piece of gear, with a trivial cost next to the comm system itself.

So you could use the external transducer to modify a radio so you don't need to pay the extra essence for the transducer over and above the datajack?

That's cool. I can work with that.

Isn't the commlink the 'brains' with all the frequencies and the radio the actual transciever assembly? Or is the commlink as useless as the text makes me think it is? :o)

I think a comlink's just a frequency scanner that lets you listen to multiple radio/cell frequencies at once, but don't quote me on that.

A transducer is never "required", it's simply a nice thing to have. Regardless of rather or not you've got DNI-equipped radios, you can still only send a single word per free action. The transducer is the only way around this limitation.

External Transducer are designed to work with external radios/phones.

Cyberware Transducers are designed to work with internal radios/phones.

Both are on page 19 of Man and Machine.

Phones use cell towers, and are limited to areas where there are such towers AND those towers accept usage by customers of the cell phone company the runner has a contract with.

Radio transceivers (often runners get the Micro-Transceiver variety) are limited in range by their flux rating, the terrain, nearby metal buildings, etc.

Runners with Micro-Transceivers can speak into the Micro-transceiver's microphone, can use a sub-vocal microphone (purchased separately), or can use a datajack and an external transducer. To have the datajack also control the selection of frequency the Micro-transceiver would have to be adjusted for DNI control.

Hell yes, you need transducers.

They're essential if you want to be able to make the face crack up without saying a word out loud, as you sit 10 meters away covered in Ruthenium camouflage and she's trying to negotiate with a troll ganger that has a 3 meter piece of rebar slung over his shoulder, with a still-twitching ork impaled on it.

Scanner and Commlink are receiver onl, i.e. you can't use them to talk, just to listen. They can be used to scan frequencies to evesdrop on ennemy communication.

And yes, trasnducer are the shiznit.

However, you don't need Tact Comms. They're pretty expensive, have low Flux and start at avail 8+ anyway. It's military gear, not really for average shadowrunners. Consider them luxury radio that comme fully loaded.

What you need is a transceiver, then buy some extra ECCM to counter jamming (2-3 points oughta do it for now) and buy level 1 or 2 encryption.

Actually, the personal comm unit (pg. 55 of CC) is a pretty decent bargain. A rating: 4 personal comm unit is basically a rating: 4 transceiver with ECCM: 4 and encryption: 4, for only 6,000 Nuyen. A micro-transceiver with all of those features would cost nearly double that amount. And it has an Availability of 8, so starting characters can get it.

Flux 2 is still a hefty range and a rating 6 booster is what, 300 nuyen at char-gen?

YEah, but do you want to carry a 6kilo lump on your back??

Okay, thanks for the input guys. It was most helpful.