Unknown Artefact (or artifact) Community Thread - The Canonn

[Kulin]

The best method for me is to write out the morse sequence you're expecting, then listen to several iterations to get your ear in. Once you're locked into it, you get it no trouble. The skill is in hearing it automatically without knowing what it was and I've never done enough morse work to get it like that - I can pick out some letters, then listen again to pick out the others around it.

Some easy ones to listen out for in the chittering are R (dit dah dit) K (dah dit dah) and C (dah dit dah dit) because of the way the UA audio comes out - ordinarily you'd listen for things like S (dit dit dit) but the variance in tone and dot/dash length throws me.

In test area 2, the section labelled "WARKUSHANUI 1 A Star" produces chittering of WARKUSHANUI A in morse (no numeral).

EDIT: Listen to "WARKUSHANUI A 2" in test area 2. Once the main part of the name is done, there's a pause, then a clear dit dah (A), then another pause, then a really clear dit dit dah dah dah (2).

I'm asking myself right now if the chittering is staying the same in all 5 minutes, when the artifact is sending. I'm still thinking about what kind of message the name of a stellar object could possibly be.

 

[bitstorm]

Just to say, the UA emits more that just chittering.

There's the chittering which certainly now looks like it's the Human designated name of the local body, but this is then followed by the more obvious uumpaa's, which are various high/low sounds, usually in groups of 5 ish. If you speed the audio up a touch they sound remarkably like someone playing on a tuba, but hey.. =p

While on repeats the chittering is always the local body and doesn't change (I think, not 100%) the high low sounds seem to change each time, they may well be random but they might not be.

 

[QorbeQ]

I'm asking myself right now if the chittering is staying the same in all 5 minutes, when the artifact is sending.

Pretty sure it is.

I'm still thinking about what kind of message the name of a stellar object could possibly be.

Several possibilities.

First one (being investigated I hope) is that replacing the Nav Beacon in a system with a UA will bring much alien death from above.

Another one is that a system with a name we already know gets tagged as something exotic by the UA (e.g. THARG 1 or RAXXLA or something).

Another is that it's looking for a specific location to "trigger" itself.

Yet another - it's broadcasting all the names it finds back to whoever made it and eventually they'll come hunt us all down.

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Just to say, the UA emits more that just chittering.

The currently used terminology is HONK followed by CHITTERING then PURRS I believe

The purring is what has always intrigued me because it seems too ... deliberate. Why code in binary-style noises from random data, but then force the randomness into run-length-limit of 2 unless you're up to something

 

[Jmanis]

The purrs is what has always intrigued me because it seems too ... deliberate. Why code in binary-style noises from random data, but then force the randomness into run-length-limit of 2 unless you're up to something

Absolutely nothing to back this up... but when I first saw a video of the UA, I assumed that the key part was the chittering, as this occurs when the artefact "lights up", and then purring resumes when it goes dark. Towards that end, I just assumed the "purrs" were just a "keepalive" signal.

For a funnier idea though,,, there's never more than three of the same pulse in a row, right? The other idea that crossed my brain was that, since it looks "somewhat organic", assuming it's some sort of hybrid orgain/synthetic device, maybe it's version of being idle is sleeping, and that it's snoring or breathing. Funnily enough, it's *really hard* to take more than three complete breaths in or out in a row

 

[Vingtetun]

I still maintain that the hint of "have you listened to them" is the critical one.

"Them" being the operative word. I know someone mentioned that two in proximity had been tested, but it would make sense for it to be a co-operative goal to bring a whole bunch of them together in one place maybe? I can see MB designing it so we had to work together on something logistically tricky.

 

[QorbeQ]

Absolutely nothing to back this up... but when I first saw a video of the UA, I assumed that the key part was the chittering, as this occurs when the artefact "lights up", and then purring resumes when it goes dark. Towards that end, I just assumed the "purrs" were just a "keepalive" signal.

I do get what you mean. If the purring was meant to be decoded (and I'm thinking as FDev here rather than an in-game entity) then why make it so slow, to the point that you have to collect lots of limited samples (due to in-space degradation) and then realistically have to speed those samples up to hear them properly before you can even THINK about trying to decode "something".

So, if we eliminate the purring as an "idle state" and not encoding anything (as it's a bit of a stretch given the above to be honest), and then take it as read that the honk is the equivalent of a disco scan, then the chittering can be considered to be the response from that scan - identifying the nearest object.

So - as my post above - it's either identifying objects (triggering "something" when in the correct location) or it's been designed to behave like an "alien nav beacon" (whether it will actually do that, to be tested by replacing a normal one, or whether FDev just designed it to "act like one" so that we, as players, get the gist that it's going to be calling it's creators towards us eventually and that there's more to come - who can tell).

 

[Arcanonn]

Just a quick aside, I have updated the first couple of posts, feedback appreciated.

I have also put up an appeal for additional pilots to assist in the search. I am seriously considering setting up a new reward fund, thoughts on that idea anyone?

 

[Patau82]

Just a quick aside, I have updated the first couple of posts, feedback appreciated.

I have also put up an appeal for additional pilots to assist in the search. I am seriously considering setting up a new reward fund, thoughts on that idea anyone?

I was thinking the same thing, I'll be more then happy to donate again!

 

[bitstorm]

1. It makes no sense to me that the UA itself degrades, it seems to be a probe right? Unlike a traditional cannister, it's role is to function in space.
2. That it degrades your ship, perhaps it's creating some sort of warp field for its transmission to be relayed via Witch Space =p
3. THe audio cycle, yes I too can't help feeling it's working like a scanner :
   • Honk - send out pulse (strong)
   • Chittering - it interpreting what's coming back (weak)
   • Purrs - relaying information (strong)

2 and 3 seem to somewhat contradict each other, since the blue (witch space (?)) shimmering is given off during chittering only? (is that right?)

 

[Johnny Kelso]

Not sure if anybody has thought of this already (can't be bothered to read all the way through that thread), but has anybody plotted the position of the UA's on the galactic map? Could that be a clue?

 

[Jmanis]

1. It makes no sense to me that the UA itself degrades, it seems to be a probe right? Unlike a traditional cannister, it's role is to function in space.

I rekon that's just an artefact (no pun intended) of the cargo jettison mechanics.

 

[Kulin]

The currently used terminology is HONK followed by CHITTERING then PURRS I believe

The purring is what has always intrigued me because it seems too ... deliberate. Why code in binary-style noises from random data, but then force the randomness into run-length-limit of 2 unless you're up to something

You are welcome to take a close look on my last "purr" analysis:

https://forums.frontier.co.uk/showthread.php?t=141038&p=2477602&viewfull=1#post2477602

The test was to compare the emission of 2 UAs at the same place at the exact same time. And then compare 2 UAs at different places, also at the exact same time. I also wrote over the sound 0 and 1s for low/high pitched purr-tones(some are pretty quiet and not really good to hear, and some are hidden in the howls. there are most of the time 7, sometimes only 6).

As you see in graphic 1 and 2 the purrs are completely different, at the same position at the same time, while the chittering is overall within the same length.

In graphic 3 and 4 you see that the purrs are again completely different, at different positions at the same time, while the chittering is also different this time. Since we know now that this chittering is the name of a stellar object within the current system in morse, we know why they are different, thanks to you.

Because the purrs are always different - even at the same position and at the sime time - i came to the conclusion that the purrs are some kind of effect but not much more. Like a machine loading up to emit the howl at the end. It remembers me a little bit about a discovery scanner, who loads up, sends out a powerful "bong" and gets some kind of chittering back.

The thing is that the fact that the purrs are different in this test scenarios can only mean 3 things(in my oppinion):
1. They don't contain a decrypted message.
2. The message is not embdedded and encrypted by the tone height or length of the purrs.
3. The message is encrypted by a cipher that produces different results with the same key and at the same time.

But that kind of cipher would be pretty hard to crack. I don't think frontier would use such a cipher. Especially after they've told us that we should not overthink the problem.

 

[Han_Zen]

I do get what you mean. If the purring was meant to be decoded (and I'm thinking as FDev here rather than an in-game entity) then why make it so slow, to the point that you have to collect lots of limited samples (due to in-space degradation) and then realistically have to speed those samples up to hear them properly before you can even THINK about trying to decode "something".

So, if we eliminate the purring as an "idle state" and not encoding anything (as it's a bit of a stretch given the above to be honest), and then take it as read that the honk is the equivalent of a disco scan, then the chittering can be considered to be the response from that scan - identifying the nearest object.

So - as my post above - it's either identifying objects (triggering "something" when in the correct location) or it's been designed to behave like an "alien nav beacon" (whether it will actually do that, to be tested by replacing a normal one, or whether FDev just designed it to "act like one" so that we, as players, get the gist that it's going to be calling it's creators towards us eventually and that there's more to come - who can tell).

It could be that the UA is just a prototype scanner drone or advanced scanner. It is not unlikely that the chittering is the only decodable part of the sound.
I also think there is more to come. Why was 1.3.07 postponed just after you guys proved (I think it is proved now) the morse theory

I have been testing a bit. As I'm shait at morse and fall off the track after two or three characters, Iv'e tried using Morse View: http://morseview.sourceforge.net/
to decode your chittering_audio.mp3. Not been successful so far, but do I get some similar patterns.
I was hoping to get a fail safe method to analyse the different recordings Wishblend have made :-/

 

[Arcanonn]

My money would probably still go on prototype equipment based on alien tech.......but on the other hand the comms chatter from the convoy leans more toward it actually being alien. Why would they build something that busts up the ship carrying it? ^^ It's intriguing to say the least.

 

[Han_Zen]

My money would probably still go on prototype equipment based on alien tech.......but on the other hand the comms chatter from the convoy leans more toward it actually being alien. Why would they build something that busts up the ship carrying it? ^^ It's intriguing to say the least.

Could be prototype equipment based on alien tech built by some shady organisation like the Dark Wheel or the Alliance
It destroys modules because it is not properly shielded with a Sap 8 core.

 

[nikos]

Could be prototype equipment based on alien tech built by some shady organisation like the Dark Wheel or the Alliance

Exactly, perhaps the toxic aspect is an unwanted side-effect of the alien component. Morse code would also align with this possibility, as it would make little sense for aliens to speak Morse.

One last test I believe is worth doing: record UA audio next to an UNEXPLORED celestial body, decode its Morse code (if there), THEN scan the object and see if the results agree.

If they do, then it sounds like a scanner. If they don't then maybe the UA is retrasmitting something picked up from your ship?

 

[Cmdr Delmonte[VR]]

it may have been done, but when "Listening" has anyone tried with the Life support "Off" as the noise in the game becomes muffled when cockpit is blown out or life support is off, does this "tune" the audio in any way ?

 

[Han_Zen]

it may have been done, but when "Listening" has anyone tried with the Life support "Off" as the noise in the game becomes muffled when cockpit is blown out or life support is off, does this "tune" the audio in any way ?

It has been tested (not with blown cockpit). No effect.

 

[Wishblend]

Hi guys I think I may have come across something.

Going of what we have found out about the corrupted Morse signal, I was doing another recording when I noticed something.

We all know about the different colour pulses (Purple & Green) that come out of the ua.

Going of my area recordings, I think I might have a pattern, using the honk as a space, I broke them down in to green and purple flashes.

Most of them are made up of four letter sequences, for example (PPPG / GGGG / GGPP / PPPP).

Some of them are only three spaces but I might have missed some of the colour flashes as some are faster than the others.

At first I was thinking maybe they have got a separate morse code hidden in the colours as well but it didn't fit and then I realised that a 4 Digit Binary Code for fit perfectly.

4 Digit Binary Code & what the code means.

0000 = 0
0001 = 1
0010 = 2
0011 = 3
0100 = 4
0101 = 5
0110 = 6
0111 = 7
1000 = 8
1001 = 9
1010 = A
1011 = B
1100 = C
1101 = D
1110 = E
1111 = F

Area 1

GG / PGP / PGGP / PPPG / PGG / PPGP / PPPG / PP / PGG / P

Area 1

P / PPPG / GGGG / PGG / GGPG / GPPP / GP / PPGP

Area 1

P / PPPP /GGG / PGP / GGG / GGPP /

Area 2

P / GGPP / PPPP / GPP / GPPP / GPPP / PP / PPPP / PP

Area 2

P / GGPG / PPPP / PPGP / GPGG / PGP / GGPP / GGPP

I tried to have a go at deciphering it but I am tired and can't do it at the moment.

Elite’s Executive Producer Michael Brookes randomly jumps into the thread a few hours later with…… “Have you listened to them?”
g

Well if you listen to the UA and use the honk as a space separator between 4 letter segments, we have listened to them.

- - - Updated - - -

- - - Updated - - -

it may have been done, but when "Listening" has anyone tried with the Life support "Off" as the noise in the game becomes muffled when cockpit is blown out or life support is off, does this "tune" the audio in any way ?

All recordings are done in drone view (F12) no ship sounds unless in cockpit to check the derogation of the ua.

 

[Han_Zen]

Hi guys I think I may have come across something.

Going of what we have found out about the corrupted Morse signal, I was doing another recording when I noticed something.

We all know about the different colour pulses (Purple & Green) that come out of the ua.

Going of my area recordings, I think I might have a pattern, using the honk as a space, I broke them down in to green and purple flashes.

Most of them are made up of four letter sequences, for example (PPPG / GGGG / GGPP / PPPP).

Some of them are only three spaces but I might have missed some of the colour flashes as some are faster than the others.

At first I was thinking maybe they have got a separate morse code hidden in the colours as well but it didn't fit and then I realised that a 4 Digit Binary Code for fit perfectly.

Interesting. Will try to test later.