Hello and sensor lock on

Hi everyone, I've just signed on to the list. I'm finding the mails about
sensor lock ons very interesting. First off it seems to me that any mechanisms
for sensor lock on will
have to take the following into account -
1) range 2) ship size 3) quality of firing ships sensors
4) any ecm / stealth etc the target has
And possibly the speed and manoeuvres of the target too. Now that seems to me
(IMHO) to be adding a lot of complex stuff and another die roll to the system.
The real killer seems to me though to be the possibility that a player may be
unable to fire on his turn because his ship can't lock on, and I would imagine
that would be rather frustrating! Back in the day when I bought the A5
original booklet of FT it was the elegant simplicity of it all that won me
over, and the fact you could field a table full of ships. I really like a lot
of what Jon has done to the system over the years but wouldn't like to see it
get any more complicated. I know players have the choice of not using a
mechanic if they wish but sadly they don't always realise it! Just my two
penneth worth