| abstract | - A Videocom Radio broadcasts a combined picture and voice message that travels at the speed of light. It is useful over relatively short distances in space and when communicating between points on a planet or from an orbiting vessel or station to the planet. A videocom message takes one second to travel 300,000 kilometers. If, for example, the points of communication are 30 million kilometers apart, a message sent from one point to the other would take 100 seconds to reach the receiver. Any reply would take another 100 seconds to cross the distance. This would mean that after sending a message, the sender would have to wait at least 200 seconds (3 minutes, 20 seconds) before receiving a reply. A videocom radio costs 1,000 credits. Additional viewing/speaking screens cost 100 credits apiece.
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