discord wrote:actually analog signals fare MUCH better on long ranges and 'decoding' interestingly enough, unless you specifically design the signals in that manner(hint, we have not most of the time), analog signals get garbled(but still sorta understandable) while digital get CRC errors and packet loss.....the much lower data density works to the favor of analog signals....and some of those early transmitters were scary powerful.
"the most powerful commercial radio station ever was WLW (700KHz AM), which during certain times in the 1930s broadcasted 500kW radiated power. At night, it covered half the globe. Neighbors within the vicinity of the transmitter heard the audio in their pots, pans, and mattresses."
that is a flipping fuckton of signal, if the combatants do not know where earth is yet, they soon will.
The inverse square law says hello.
I = P/A = P/4*PI*R^2
P = 500,000 W
A = 4 * PI * R^2 = 4 * PI * (6000 KM)^2 = 452,389,342.12 square KM
I = P/A = 500000 / 452389342.12 = 0.0011~ W / square KM, or 1.105 W / square Meter.
This of course is just for a terrestrial distance. We're talking about light years here. Two hundred of them.
1 LY = 9,460,730,472,580,800 Meters
200 LY = 1,892,146,094,516,160,000 Meters
I = P/A = P/4*PI*R^2
4 * PI * (1892146094516160000)^2 = 4.4990331728817951594980068575904e+37 (At this point, my calculator refuses to not use scientific notation)
= 500,000 / 4.4990331728817951594980068575904e+37 = 1.1113498851570630408234376076642e-32 Watts / square meter.
This is ten million times fainter than Voyager 2 (1.9 * 10^-26 W/SqM). In order to get to Voyager 2 levels of being able to hear things across this distance, you'd probably need to increase the signal power by that factor, or a signal of 5,000,000,000,000 Watts, Five trillion watts, A 5 Terawatt signal.
So let's refactor:
5000000000000 / 4.4990331728817951594980068575904e+37 = 1.1113498851570630408234376076642e-25 Watts / square meter.
The only radio telescope capable of transmitting at that level of power is Arecibo AFAIK, and only in the narrow band and not as an isotropic radiator as traditional radio and television signals. It was built in 1963. If they signalled in the precise direction of the Loroi upon the moment of completion at 5 TW, the Loroi would be able to hear it a bit better than we can hear Voyager 2. If they transmitted at the full EIRP of Arecibo, 20 TW, they'd hear that signal about half as well as we can hear Cassini.
However, Outsider's date (2160) is three years too soon for any signal to have been sent.
The chances of the Loroi ever having received signals from Earth is bupkus. Even using an extremely powerful transmitter and signalling as soon as it's complete, assuming that they even transmit in the correct direction and that the Loroi are listening for a signal let alone something they can decode and play back, they're three years away from hearing anything at all at the very best.
I wasn't kidding when I said the odds of them hearing a signal from us is astronomical. It's more likely that we've heard signals from the Loroi, since they've probably had radio longer than we have, and that we've simply missed their signals in all the noise.