Question came up in our game. Can ships communicate with each other while both are in hyperspace? Can ships in hyperspace communicate with those outside of hyperspace? Lastly can ships in hyperspace still access the holonet?

As far as was shown in the OT and the PT, the answer is no. Ships in hyperspace can't communicate. Heck, in The Empire Strikes Back, even being in an asteroid field is enough to prevent a "clear transmission," according to Vader.

In TFA, though, it appears this technological barrier has been broken, so it's more of a limitation in technology rather than a physical impossibility.

Aren't there lots of examples of it in TCW? I think the first Geonosian arc has a few.

I would say yes, you just need the right equipment (probably military grade).

I'll admit I haven't seen the Clone Wars all the way through. I've just started watching it recently, but through the middle of season 2 I haven't noticed any ships in hyperspace using their comms.

But I'll keep an eye out!

Well communications travel through Hyperspace right? So I guess it's possible, but in my mind uncommon. Generally I don't recall it happening in the EU. I'd go with whatever feels right for your campaign.

Well communications travel through Hyperspace right? So I guess it's possible, but in my mind uncommon. Generally I don't recall it happening in the EU. I'd go with whatever feels right for your campaign.

http://starwars.wikia.com/wiki/HoloNet/Legends#System

http://starwars.wikia.com/wiki/Hyperwave_transceiver

http://starwars.wikia.com/wiki/Relay_station

If your ship is fancy enough to have its own transceiver, you could use hyperspace comms (from normal space) pretty easily. If not, you'd have to pass your message somewhere locally and have it sent out from there. But either way, the messages are being sent along a series of Relays that eventually get your message to the intended destination. Kinda like how internet works today, taking traffic from your house in California, passing it higher and higher until it reaches the "backbone", then darting across the country to New York, before trickling down and down until it reaches the recipient.

So I really don't think you could communicate while in Hyperspace, for a number of reasons.

- You can't really intercept the traffic since it's going to be packaged and compressed, routing tons of data all at once to be sorted and distributed at the end points. The processing power of the Relays is guaranteed to be much higher than your ship's computer.

- You can't really insert your message into that traffic, since the packaging is rather specific and the most you'd do is corrupt the transmission.

- You're basically moving too fast to deal with any kind of point-to-point transmission straight from you to your recipient. By the time their reply got to you, you'd be light-years past where they'd aimed it.

Point-to-point would work in normal space b/c you can aim the signal and know the recipient won't be too far off that location. But when either/both speakers are moving FTL...

Thanks for everyone's help. I am running a post Force Awakens resistance game. So based on newer tech I'm gonna say it's possible but very rare and say players freighter and squadron don't have it, but the carrier they ride on at times does.

Nothing says the Imperials didn't find some long extinct civilisation that had this capacity say had immense jump gates allowing instantaneous travel across the galaxy well it explains that ridiculous Starkiller Base's ability to blow up an entire solar system so it would be visible in another part of the galaxy...

The Holonet exists for a reason people!

Sorry I know they're now claiming Starkiller Base can move but seriously would it have hurt to show that instead of what they did!

Aren't there lots of examples of it in TCW? I think the first Geonosian arc has a few.

Could you name one? I've seen most of TCW episodes and don't recall a situation where they outright couldn't.

We know for sure they can in TFA and the tracking device mentioned in ESB [i mean ANH] wouldn't work if they lost the signal as soon as the Falcon went into hyperspace.

Well, it's entirely possible the tracking device doesn't work while the ship is in hyperspace, but sends a signal out using the HoloNet as soon as it emerges into realspace.

Aren't there lots of examples of it in TCW? I think the first Geonosian arc has a few.

Could you name one? I've seen most of TCW episodes and don't recall a situation where they outright couldn't.

Well, now I have a reason to go back and watch them again

In every new movie, episode, comic, book that is released, the authors do what they see fit for they story, changing any "cannon" we have previously seen to suit their plots. I would suggest to you to do the same in your games.

In every new movie, episode, comic, book that is released, the authors do what they see fit for they story, changing any "cannon" we have previously seen to suit their plots. I would suggest to you to do the same in your games.

I'd rather not succumb to that kind of lazy storycraft.

Subsequent writers and directors treating the established facts of setting and character as nothing more than impediments to their precious little story is one of serial fictions greatest sins.

Well, it's entirely possible the tracking device doesn't work while the ship is in hyperspace, but sends a signal out using the HoloNet as soon as it emerges into realspace.

I just remembered the scene in AotC when Obi-Wan places a tracker on Jango's ship. Obi-wan is following him and comes out of hyperspace less an a minute after Jango does. Obi-wan had to be in hyperspace before Jango emerged in realspace to exit that quickly afterwards. Thus, IMO, it's possible to send signals from one ship to another while they are in hyperspace.

The main question is the range. I'd imagine that trying to get a signal while in hyperspace would be like superman trying to use a cell phone while flying. He'd be flying past the cell towers so fast that he'd never have time to establish communication with one cell tower before he'd be back out of range.

Aren't there lots of examples of it in TCW? I think the first Geonosian arc has a few.

Could you name one? I've seen most of TCW episodes and don't recall a situation where they outright couldn't.

Yes, Brain Invaders (Season 2) has Anakin and other masters taking Poggle to Coruscant, while Ahsoka and Barriss take a medical frigate. Both are clearly in hyperspace while they communicate...or at least there's no reason to think they aren't in hyperspace, because the framing shots on both ships show them in hyperspace before and after the communications.

As far as was shown in the OT and the PT, the answer is no. Ships in hyperspace can't communicate. Heck, in The Empire Strikes Back, even being in an asteroid field is enough to prevent a "clear transmission," according to Vader.

In TFA, though, it appears this technological barrier has been broken, so it's more of a limitation in technology rather than a physical impossibility.

I believe Vader specifically mentions sending a "clear" transmission. Thus implying that an "unclear" transmission is possible. At least if I remember it right.

In the Clone Wars episode 3, season 1, General Grievous is speaking to Dooku through holonet (or CIS version of it) aboard the Malevolence when in hyperspace.

In every new movie, episode, comic, book that is released, the authors do what they see fit for they story, changing any "cannon" we have previously seen to suit their plots. I would suggest to you to do the same in your games.

I'd rather not succumb to that kind of lazy storycraft.

Subsequent writers and directors treating the established facts of setting and character as nothing more than impediments to their precious little story is one of serial fictions greatest sins.

While I loathe the practice of abandoning character traits and plot details between installments (I'm looking at you, Karen Traviss), limiting yourself with technical quibbles like "can ships talk in hyperspace" strikes me as little more than hand-wringing over unimportant details that 99% of readers simply won't notice or care about. A foolish consistency is the hobgoblin of little minds, and I would much prefer to spend my time actually writing than fruitlessly googling obscure questions about made-up technology.

It's worth noting that all 3 corebooks specify standard ship's comms as Subspace (not Hyperspace) communicators, with range equal to the ship's sensors, and near instant transmission times no matter the range...

Since there is explicitly no lightspeed lag with subspace... it's reasonable that a ship with holonet capability (it's not a given, but is a hardpoint installable option) of sufficient range should be able to reach the 30-50 LY apart beacons along well known routes...

In rouge one, cassain gets the order to kill Galen Erso, he communicates woth the resistance trough hyperspace... does this make hyperspace communication cannon, or is it just a plot hole

We definitely see hyperspace communications in Rogue One (when Kassian gets his destination update to travel to Eadu), and we see it several times in Rebels, I'm fairly certain.

The do it a few times in rebels. End season one. And a few in 2.

On 1/31/2016 at 8:36 PM, Kilcannon said:

Thanks for everyone's help. I am running a post Force Awakens resistance game. So based on newer tech I'm gonna say it's possible but very rare and say players freighter and squadron don't have it, but the carrier they ride on at times does.

Well, remember, if you are using Force Awakens as your measuring stick, the X-Wing assault team had the comms systems. That's in fact, exactly the type of ship that had the equipment from what we see. They got the go-signal, and dropped out to begin their assault. So ships as small as Sil 3 CAN support the equipment. Whether this is common issue equipment for all starships is another matter. But it is technically doable on the small scale, based on movie evidence.

This is just one of those things that used to have a set of technical limitations... and those limitations have been bent, broken, and ignored every single time The Story would have been inconvenienced in the slightest by adhering to them.

I'm on board with no subspace communications in hyperspace, but transceivers are fine since they travel transmit hyperspace themselves.

In game terms, that means the ship needs a transceiver, not just a subspace radio. There is an attachment for that which is expensive. As for what we see in TFA, perhaps one of the X-wings (Poes') was a "command" version set up with the transceiver attachment.