Ktrain wrote:Query: Are Umiak creative enough to devise the creation of such a device; if so would they find it practical? and Given the breadth of space they would be monitoring, what would be the likelihood that they would direct such a device in our direction at a peak time to receive our transmissions (they could spend a lot of time focusing on other specs of space)?
Well we do know the both the loroi and the Umiak have a develop some/steal type of tech advancement, and that the Umiak are Xenophobic to a point so I could see them expending resources on a passive com detection system for finding out potential enemies. sort like the ELINT ( electronic intel) role that most militarises have right now, the more famous one in memory was that US P-3 ELINT that got rammed by a Chinese fighter and forced to land on mainland China).
Ktrain wrote: What is the relative cost devoting resources to such a large scale detection array in comparison to scouting after the advent of FTL drives/exploration? What is the value of receiving message from 1000 light years away when your immediate attention is in the local area (for all they know that civilization maybe extinct)?
Well, given the Umiak apparent efficiency in production, I could see them spending a huge amount of resource on this kind of system. now the scale would depend, I believe, on the paranoia of the umiak. I could see them deploying a few large receiving arrays ( like the one in South America or larger telescope farms) on a few plant at first but them spreading them all over their empire. The umiak could also spread out remote listening posts in asteroid fields or on the edge of planetary systems in order to increase the coverage area ( and possibilities of receiving a signal). Now how far the system is spread out over the Umiak empire would depend on both peace and wartime time budgets and how successful such a system would be in Umiak history. Now setting this all up and having the station maned wouldn't not, i think require alot of money or personnel 13 Million was the max under NASA ( linky
http://openseti.org/Budget.html)
as for FTL searching that does take time to find inhabited systems, however, if the passive system was operating a got a signal from an unknown race, you could send a scout (or scout fleet) toward the new discovery. now if you found the race had A-bombed themselves or suffered an massive asteroid impact, the fleet could turn back.