Radio with the logic transmitter

The outpost is far away from the base. Running a data cable out there is tedious. The logic transmitter (StructureLogicTransmitter) transfers values without a cable.

Two modes#

A logic transmitter has two modes that you switch on the device:

That is what the game code says: an active sender adds itself to a list of all senders. On the passive receiver you pick one of them with the screwdriver. The code checks no distance limit while doing so.

Mirroring#

The passive receiver mirrors its counterpart: every value you read on the receiver really comes from there. If a chip at the outpost reads the receiver, it gets the Setting of the sender at the base. If it writes something into it, it ends up at the sender:

sbn RADIO HASH("Funk Basis") Setting charge   # base: into the sender
l value radio Setting                         # outpost: read the receiver

Only the receiver needs power for this (50 W according to the game data). When reading and writing, the code checks only whether the receiver has power. The Setting of an active sender goes through even when the sender itself has no power.

Limits of remote control#

A sender carries one value. For more values you need more sender pairs, or you pack several values into one number, which comes later in the course. The failures matter more:

• Without power the receiver returns 0 and reports itself as not readable. An l or lbn on it then stops with IncorrectLogicType. Whatever you write into it without power, the game silently drops.
• Without a linked sender the receiver is not readable either.
• If you switch the mode on the device, the link is gone and Setting is 0. Linking with the screwdriver also sets the sender's Setting to 0.

That is why the receiver goes on a pin, and you check it before every read:

bdns radio no_radio                  # device gone?
bdnvl radio Setting no_radio         # not readable? (power, link)
l value radio Setting