Besides the tasks listed here, there are many more things that a Communications Officer has to do (establishing Tight-beam links between ships in battle, co-ordination of Medical & Damage-Control parties during combat, sending IFF codes, feeding data to everyone else, etc.), but since making Tasks for these jobs opens the possibility for failure (where they are always assumed to be successful, now), I have not gone into them, preferring to leave automatic success alone! Uhura has a lot more to do than just opening Hailing Frequencies... This is the skill for C3I (Command, Control, Communications, & Intelligence).

To detect a transmission and triangulate on its source: Routine. Communications + Signature modifier of the transmitter (-3 for partial cover) (-4 for proximity to a recent nuclear explosion). 10 seconds. Referee: Assumes the use of a Ship's Communications Station. Detection of a transmission from a source under total cover is Undoable.

To delouse a signal: Routine. Communications. 10 seconds. Referee: Removes static & interference, cleaning up the transmission so that it may be understood. Mishaps result in misunderstandings. Assumes (10D10 + Skill Level)% improvement in understanability. A Ship's Comm. Station is required to attempt this task.

To determine proper IFF codes: Impossible. Communications. 30 minutes. Referee: IFF stands for "Interrogate Friend or Foe", and is a coded signal sent out to craft in order to identify them as friendly. If the proper response is not returned, the craft is not a friend. In order for this Task to be attempted, access to the enemies' current codes is required, either through military intelligence, or contact.

To "crack" a standard merchant code: Formidable. (Unskilled). Communications + Linguistics + INT. 10 minutes. Referee: Assumes a Ship's Communications Station is being used.

To pinpoint a Ship's location within 50 light years of Earth: Simple. Communications OR Astronomy + INT. 1 minute. Referee: Assumes a Ship's Communications Station is being used, along with the computer, to match radio sources to known Colonies & Outposts.

To survey all potential frequencies by an automated sweep: Simple. Communications. 3 seconds. Referee: Success allows the Communications Officer to locate all used frequencies in a given area. Electronic tuning allows coverage of several gigahertz bands every millisecond. Mishaps result in missed frequencies, or "ghosts" being detected.

To run a signature comparison on an electronic transmission: Simple. Communications. Instant. Referee: Success allows access to an identity for any known type of radio emission. By referencing the bank of known equipment, the Comm. Station can generate a readout giving not only the frequency and likely channel-hopping sequence, but also the type of software involved (if known to intelligence sources), and an individual "electronic fingerprint".

To falsify transponder signals: Routine. Communications + Electronics. 1 minute. Referee: Success in this illegal task allows one ship to pass as another. Superficial Mishaps allow you to pass unless someone is actively looking for one of those ships. Minor Mishaps result in a base 50% chance of being caught (Routine, modified by intelligence). Major Mishaps result in anyone detecting your signal (except you!) knowing that it has been tampered with.

To detect a falsified transponder signal: Routine. Communications + INT. 1 second. Referee: This task may only be rolled for if the above task FAILED, and a Minor Mishap was rolled. On a Major Mishap, this task becomes Automatic (Routine, to anyone without Communications skill).

To actively seek out and spot falsified transponder signals: Difficult. (Uncertain). Communications + INT. 1 second. Referee: Unlike the above, this task may be attempted whenever desired. Note that it is Uncertain, and thus can provide false information, with the severity of the falsehood being dependent upon the Mishap rolled.

To prepare the ship's computer to handle communications as the Comm. Officer desires: Routine. Communications + INT. 1 minute. Referee: The Comm. Officer must set parameters for how incoming/outgoing comm. traffic is handled, and program them into the comm. station.

To prepare a squirt transmission: Routine. Communications. 1 minute. Referee: the Ship's Log, Sensor scans, et cetera, are compressed, encoded, and transmitted via secure tight-beam link.

To prepare a Decoy Drone (DD) that can respond to Nav-bouys and follow the flight lanes assigned to it: Formidable. Communications + Computer + Electronis + Mechanics + Ship Drive Engineering. 2 days. Referee: This task involves modifying a Deep Space Sensor Probe so that it may follow a predetermined path while broadcasting "ship noise", and also respond to signals from a system's Navigational Beacons.

To prepare a DD that follows a completely believable random flight plan, and responds to human requests in real-time: Impossible. Communications + Computer + Electronics + Mechanics + Ship Drive Engineering. 2 days. Referee: See above.

To identify avionics/fire control signals: Simple. Communications. Instant. Referee: This is a sub-variant of the seventh task, above. This task assumes the weapon/remote type is listed in the database. If not, only the information that a new type of remote or weapon has been identified will be revealed. If the task succeeds, the type of weapon or remote, maker, power required, and other pertinent information will be revealed. If the task fails, wrong information will be given (with how wrong depending upon the severity of the Mishap rolled). Note that in order to perform this task, the weapon or remote must actually be in use (this can't be done while they're powered down because no signals are being transmitted).