Unknown Artefact (or artifact) Community Thread - The Canonn

[Allitnil]

EDIT: remember what CMDRBacked's friend said: "it's easier than you think, but not everyone will get it". That sound is at a very particular frequency that only some people can ear, that's why a lot of you cannot ear it. Now I've isolated just that sound, cutting off all the "noise"

But this isn't remotely "easy". It requires either perfect hearing (and how many of the original Elite fans can claim that now??) or out of game processing of files. If the solution is really "easier than you think" then it cannot rely on hearing better than many of us had even when we played the original Elite, let alone now, nor can it require any out-of-game processing.

I'm not suggesting that your ideas are wrong, they may well be the correct ones. I'm just hoping they are not because if they are then I can't have any further faith in FDev to keep alive the Elite legacy.

 

[bitstorm]

The 20x speeded recording is also very important, because it makes very clear that a count down is occurring, with the purrs rising in tone, and going slightly faster and faster, while the Howls remain constant. Would be very useful to record an UA until very close to its END: we should discover how the purrs tone and speed change near the END...

Just to add, as far as I can see only the high purrs rise in tone,while the low purrs don't change. But the whole sequence does speed up.

The speed increase may be related to number of cycles i.e it may speed up by an increment at each cycle start, or it may just be time duration, it isn't clear.

The reason I mention that is because the length of one cycle (honk to honk) is related to the length of the morse, so more cycles may well == more of a speed increase and therefore more purrs inside the cycle just prior to scooping.

It would be good to hear an extended recording to 5-10% at a short morse location like io.

 

[Eoran]

Which is another reason why I'm saying leverage the client-side rendering issue.

Multiple CMDRs viewing one UA is not exactly (but is close to) 1 test repeated multiple times.
<snip>

This seems like a really good idea. So long as everyone is geared up to make a good recording this seems like a great way of increasing the number of observation data points.

I can't listen on my phone and I'm crap at Morse, but are you sure about the dashes and dots?

Hiei8 is quite close to SAP8 in Morse.

I can definitely hear the sound rizal72 is referring to now that it's isolated, but not sure I can make out individual dits/dahs from there either.

Interesting. So let's assume that's true for a second, could it really be asking for SAP8 canisters?

It would certainly give even more reason to run more SAP8 / UA tests to try to either confirm or rule that out that SAP8/purr change interaction.

Edit: It would be good to get multiple observers of the next SAP8 / UA too, for the reasons bitstorm said above. If it consistently changes the purr length as the theory suggests, then it stands to reason it should change it for all observers.

 

[VeNoM56k]

Thats my camping done for the day. Weirdly I didn't get ambushed once today in any SSS in the 3 hours I was camping. All convoys, though none were the UA convoy. Might have just been pure luck.

 

[Grumbleweed]

Snake-like apple offering words from da pusher man

OK, Rizal, you are like a ruddy faced 18th century weasel whispering offerings of Opium in Sherlock's ear...

I hear the tone you are talking about... its not the well known chitter, nor the purr which are both present in that recording. Its a higher monotone pitch, and it sounds much more like conventional morse. It repeats over and over again every 5 seconds.

...- ... -- -. (VSMN)

or it could be
...- ... --- . (VSOE)

or it could be something completely different.

There is a second, higher dual tone that sounds like it might be doing something like
..- .. - -- (UITM)

But its loop starts at a different place (there is a slightly longer gap for each loop which I am assuming the start/ends to be, and because of that it gets lost in the first tone, and I'm ignoring the tone and trying to concentrate on the lengths, which could be an incorrect assumption.

However, the fact that we have heard the same noise but interpret them differently, and the fact that I have approximately 90 minutes of morse transcription experience, makes me feel uneasy about basing any theory on it, but I would backup your call for support for anyone who can actually do morse. I think that the 'U' in the two tone one comes at the same time as the 'N' in the monotone one, but I could be wrong (about everything).

Put it all together and you get (dun dun daaaaaah)

VUSIOTEM

Which doesn't mean anything, which in turn doesn't mean anything because I probably transcribed it completely wrong.

So, I can confirm you're not going mad (unless I am too), but I can't genuinely help with the translation.

Now gimme that smoke dragon keeper!

 

[Timsk]

This thread moves so fast. Several pages ago from yesterday i mentioned I'd seen some 'modules falling' type comms chatter while dropping into a gold trap where the originator of the message wasn't present. My button mashing screenshot-fu failed unfortunately (!), so can't provide the needed evidence (try harder Timsk, it's not difficult). I have since read that there can be UA related comms chatter in supercruise if following a convoy, so it was potentially that I caught a single line of that while passing through? The significance if so was that it was in 20 Ophiuchi... Can't get in game until tomorrow to check out further, but thought I should mention. Are we looking at wider spawn region I wonder, and if so i are those plague systems a trigger. Will test further tomorrow and report back (SSS hunting doesn't get at all grindy, no not ever //very slight sarcasm intentional)

@rizal72 I hear the 'stuttered high pitched whine' I think you're meaning, have done from the beginning - it's very regular, machine like and there in close up all the time; if we mean the same thing.

Using tools to isolate and exemplify what you're trying to get across is not outside the 'simply listen' directive in my view as it just helps others zero in on things - would so many understand the chittered location morse if it hadn't gone through a similar process I wonder with the brilliant efforts to isolate the individual morse characters.

I don't have the skills to decode the elements, but I certainly do hear what I think you're referring to and it does seem worth further investigation in my view.

 

[Kyp Shard]

remember what CMDRBacked's friend said: "it's easier than you think, but not everyone will get it".

The 20x speeded recording is also very important, because it makes very clear that a count down is occurring, with the purrs rising in tone, and going slightly faster and faster, while the Howls remain constant. Would be very useful to record an UA until very close to its END: we should discover how the purrs tone and speed change near the END...

Yes, I think there is a count down - have done since the space invaders thing. And I agree about watching it play out. We've had reports of the Sap8 affecting the duration of the purrs too right? So it would be good to see if the countdown can be delayed by sap8 at the same time as we try playing it out. Maybe 12 Sap8's will stop it?

 

[rizal72]

But this isn't remotely "easy". It requires either perfect hearing (and how many of the original Elite fans can claim that now??) or out of game processing of files. If the solution is really "easier than you think" then it cannot rely on hearing better than many of us had even when we played the original Elite, let alone now, nor can it require any out-of-game processing.

I'm not suggesting that your ideas are wrong, they may well be the correct ones. I'm just hoping they are not because if they are then I can't have any further faith in FDev to keep alive the Elite legacy.

Seriously, I don't think that 'my sound' will be the solution to the UA. At least another hint or merely decoration. So I undestand what you say: the solution MUST be even simpler than some hidden morse code somewhere...

 

[Kyp Shard]

I see on the wiki that 12 SAP8's has been tried out - anyone know the result of that?

 

[Zenith]

I've spent the last hour in solo behind Vulcan trying to get less purrs from the UA, without success.

I don't think the number of SAPs are that important.
If you get them close, you need less.

I still think the SAPs were added just to make the Morse easier to hear.
Do the help in that way, QorbeQ?

I tried bumping the UA and cores together to get more in close proximity. No apparent change.

I agree, any hint of a connection needs to be repeated - at least 3 or 4 times - for validation, preferably with different varibales such as location, commander numbers etc. Without that it could very well be coincidence and lead us in the wrong direction.

Yes, that's why my original tests last night were all at Sleipnir, the same system we heard reduced purrs from last week.
The variables that have changed since last night are:
In LHS 3006 (Vulcan) instead of Sleipnir.
In Solo instead of Open.
Single CMDR observing.
Rings nearby.

Its a thin line. On one side we need repeatable test. On the other side we need not to forget that the UA-bearers are players like us. Its just a game. We can't expect that they make the same tests over and over again because its very time consuming and exhausting.

But at the moment i think you are right. The test is not conclusive enough, because its contraticting itself. Why are one time 3 purrs with 6 out and in another time 6 purrs with 7 saps out?

I think we should atleast do ONE test with the same amount of SAP8s in Sleipnir A1 until it purrs only three times and then let them hanging out there for 3-4 Howl to Howl sequences, to be sure. Then load in the SAP8s and see if the purring changes.

It would also nice to another test with 12 SAP8, each for every pylon of the UA.

I agree that this would be worthwhile investigating.
More people observing, more SAP8s and more attempts to reproduce 3 purrs.

There's a reason the sound changes when there's a number of SAP8's around. I don't know why the sound changes, but we're using in-game methods to make a difference to the sound output.
The fact that the sound changes at all is worth noting IMO. Everywhere we've been, we've seen the same outcomes with the UA sounds, the only reliable difference being the morse code chittering of the location. Reducing the number of purrs is going to take more testing and coordination.

One experiment I want to do is drop the UA to get a range (330m-350m). Hold position.
2 other CMDRs take position 340m from the UA with it directly below their ship according to the radar sensor.
Once all 3 have confirmed they are about 340m from the UA, they each dump 4x SAP8. The end result should be a dense patch of SAP8s with a UA somewhere inside it.
Due to the UA being outside longer than the SAP8's, it will probably take a targeted collector limpet to extract it out of the "cloud"

Spoiler

I see on the wiki that 12 SAP8's has been tried out - anyone know the result of that?

The result was that the UA made less purrs and more spaced apart than usual (3 instead of 5).

 

[Han_Zen]

Seems like the Riaz loop is not the easiest to agee on. It is most likely noice.
However if it turns out that it is Morse and is saying "hip8", that is a medial antibody.

Blah, I don't even belive this my selfe

 

[Kyp Shard]

In this sound clip I'm hearing a definite 7 character pattern of high and low tones with spaces in-between them (apart from set two which has 6 - more about this later). I know this has been discussed earlier, but in this clip there is a repeat of the first set at the end. I've been faffing around trying out morse converters, ascii converters, but I don't know enough to be useful. Here's my transcript of the groups of high (h) and low (l) tones if anyone here can make any sense of them.

l h l h h l h *

l l h l h h

h l l h h l h

l h h l l h h

l h l h h l h repeats *

Now, about that 6 character group. at the start of the sound clip, there is one tone, a pause, then the start of the first group. Maybe that is actually part of the first group, making it 8. OR the last h of the first group belongs in group two, making them all 7.

Again, I know this has been looked into before, but this is simple and right there in front of us; not buried in layers that require the use of audio editing software etc. Plus the repeat is interesting. This could be a single repeating word, that gets more and more urgent as the UA decays (the rising tonality that has been observed before). So, is a 7 digit binary system within anyone here's knowledgebase?

The result was that the UA made less purrs and more spaced apart than usual (3 instead of 5).

Cheers Zenith!

 

[Saool]

Try this : https://www.dropbox.com/s/uzajt5a6ztbywn9/Mars & the Unknown Artefact_1.mp3?dl=0

and just for giggles here 10x =D

https://www.dropbox.com/s/qf0mb1jtfm9f5b8/Mars & the Unknown Artefact_10.mp3?dl=0

Thank you for that.

This is probebly very old news and already explored to bits but... I looked at recording 6 and was pleased that it was already speeded up. The tones that sound like a trombone, or 'Thargoid farts' as I called them always occur in blocks of seven and in two tones.

Here is the clear part of recording 6.

Could this mean anything?



- - - Updated - - -

In this sound clip I'm hearing a definite 7 character pattern of high and low tones with spaces in-between them (apart from set two which has 6 - more about this later). I know this has been discussed earlier, but in this clip there is a repeat of the first set at the end. I've been faffing around trying out morse converters, ascii converters, but I don't know enough to be useful. Here's my transcript of the groups of high (h) and low (l) tones if anyone here can make any sense of them.

l h l h h l h *

l l h l h h

h l l h h l h

l h h l l h h

l h l h h l h repeats *

Now, about that 6 character group. at the start of the sound clip, there is one tone, a pause, then the start of the first group. Maybe that is actually part of the first group, making it 8. OR the last h of the first group belongs in group two, making them all 7.

Again, I know this has been looked into before, but this is simple and right there in front of us; not buried in layers that require the use of audio editing software etc. Plus the repeat is interesting. This could be a single repeating word, that gets more and more urgent as the UA decays (the rising tonality that has been observed before). So, is a 7 digit binary system within anyone here's knowledgebase?



Cheers Zenith!

Heh. I should have read all the recent pages before posting it seems

 

[Kyp Shard]

Thank you for that.

This is probebly very old news and already explored to bits but... I looked at recording 6 and was pleased that it was already speeded up. The tones that sound like a trombone, or 'Thargoid farts' as I called them always occur in blocks of seven and in two tones.

Here is the clear part of recording 6.

Could this mean anything?

View attachment 50469

- - - Updated - - -



Heh. I should have read all the recent pages before posting it seems

No, not at all, you've provided more samples for analysis. And used a better formatting to boot. Nice work

EDIT: Just spotted the match with your 3rd group and my 3rd group.

 

[Dr.Evanzan]

Okay, up-to-date with the thread again.

It struck me though, after no official FD input for almost three months, and hours and hours of fruitless UA hunting (and it really isn't that much fun searching for these things to be honest). The part I am enjoying the most is this discussion and the community effort around it. Not the game itself. Isn't that a little bit perverse?

I don't think its unreasonable to ask for an increase in the spawn rate (if that's possible in relation to what they are/do?).

Yeah, I agree and asked for an improved spawn rate before when others were asking for hints.
I understand that they want these to be rare but currently the spawn rate is just punitive, particularly as they have been 'discovered' already.
To be searching solidly for several weeks - doing nothing else during Elite game time - and not finding anything is such an incredible waste of my time, it makes me very sad.
If it wasn't for the fact I'm so desperate to help get to the bottom of this mystery, I think I would have packed in playing Elite in disgust.
Although, TBH, it seems like currently playing Elite is just something I do in the background while trying to catch up on the latest 20+ pages of this thread!

OK CMDRs, VERY IMPORTANT!

I've managed to almost completely ISOLATE the infamous background sound the UA is constantly emitting. Big thanks to Adobe Audition software.
I've learned so many things about the UA sound, and the fact that is very smartly composed from a lot of layers, at different frequencies and tones. Talking later about it.

By the way, please use HEADPHONES or you will miss the details:
https://soundcloud.com/riccardo-sallusti/ua-4th-sound-isolated

Now, please, tell me that it's not MORSE.

I'm not good at all with MORSE but I'm hearing:

.... .. . .. ---.. = hiei8

that means absolutely nothing to me.

I'm asking for help from the experts.
After this I'm done, and I promise I will stop bothering you about it.

EDIT: remember what CMDRBacked's friend said: "it's easier than you think, but not everyone will get it". That sound is at a very particular frequency that only some people can ear, that's why a lot of you cannot ear it. Now I've isolated just that sound, cutting off all the "noise"

EDIT2: link to dropbox: https://www.dropbox.com/s/ym192axrnn5bsgn/UA_4th_sound_isolated.wav?dl=0

EDIT3: to clarify better, I'm hearing the MORSE code on the plain UA sound, without any editing at all. I've done the editing just for you CMDRs. So the sound is there, not for everybody it seems. I hope at least one of you can hear the lot of bips I'm hearing.

Good work, Rizal!
Hopefully one of our Morse code experts can decode this?

You know what, this short clip ant sounds is spooky similier

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9SnL2auGFwo

Have you managed to decode the chittering?
Is it Morse code?

 

[bitstorm]

OK CMDRs, VERY IMPORTANT!

I've managed to almost completely ISOLATE the infamous background sound the UA is constantly emitting. Big thanks to Adobe Audition software.
I've learned so many things about the UA sound, and the fact that is very smartly composed from a lot of layers, at different frequencies and tones. Talking later about it.

By the way, please use HEADPHONES or you will miss the details:
https://soundcloud.com/riccardo-sallusti/ua-4th-sound-isolated

Now, please, tell me that it's not MORSE.

I'm not good at all with MORSE but I'm hearing:

.... .. . .. ---.. = hiei8

that means absolutely nothing to me.

I'm asking for help from the experts.

Ah the high pitched thing in the background? Not noticed that before.

I am not the experts btw.

I'm really struggling to make it into morse but it seems to be set of notes that repeat around 3 times over your recording.

This is getting a bit close encounters but been mucking around on a keyboard and to me it sounds like CDCGECDCDC pause repeat.

Here I made a flute recording of it....

https://www.dropbox.com/s/kupbvb72vcifsh3/cdcgecdcdc.mp3?dl=0

That?

My music skills aren't very good as you can see!

 

[Lazerus Artificial]

Guys...can someone explain this?
just found it on reddit

[video=youtube;8kNQnIha_Nw]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8kNQnIha_Nw&feature=youtu.be[/video]



Its not visible on radar and i cant recognize the ship.
The thrusters or weapons or what the glowing bits are...i dont recognize them either...
what is it?

the glowy bits are weapons, gimballed it seems but they hit like railguns...i try to capture a picture of them

 

[PanPiper.]

A hoax or is that real? I thought first a miss jump inside a sun like binary., but after death before insurance screen,
Your ship destroyed by thargoid.
Certainly needs checking up on..

Ah,OK looks like a hoax,,

 

[Lazerus Artificial]

thats not a railgun...holy...


also:

 

[Eoran]

<snip>

Here I made a flute recording of it....

https://www.dropbox.com/s/kupbvb72vcifsh3/cdcgecdcdc.mp3?dl=0
<snip>

Hehe, this is easily the best thread on the forums: +rep for the flute adaptation