Power Transfers

Embracer Of Darkness · Post by **Embracer Of Darkness** » 2003-09-20 12:17pm

Okay, I just heard someone on Star Trek say "activate the power transfer" for the millionth time. The power transfer in question was to another ship. What I want to know is, how is this power transfer supposed to be explained when they don't use any sort of jumper cables?

Also, I just remembered an episode of Voyager where Janeway gave the command to "activate the power transfer" to keep the memory device active in 'Memorial'. This must mean that these remote power transfers can take plase through planetary atmospheres.

I'm also curious as to the range of these power transfers, and if a ship could use the technique to overload an enemy ship. Could this possibly even be used in vs. debates?

Yours, Embracer Of Darkness.

Burak Gazan · Post by **Burak Gazan** » 2003-09-20 01:09pm

In "Timescape" the E-D was engaged in a power transfer operation to a crippled Romulan Warbird. A feedback in the transfer beam caused sufficent disruption as to create a warp core breach. If it wasn't for the "temporal anomalies"

, the E-D would be a cloud of debris. So, I'd have to say it doesn't sound like a safe tactic for overloading any potential hostile vessels

Embracer Of Darkness · Post by **Embracer Of Darkness** » 2003-09-20 02:35pm

Burak Gazan wrote:In "Timescape" the E-D was engaged in a power transfer operation to a crippled Romulan Warbird. A feedback in the transfer beam caused sufficent disruption as to create a warp core breach. If it wasn't for the "temporal anomalies" , the E-D would be a cloud of debris. So, I'd have to say it doesn't sound like a safe tactic for overloading any potential hostile vessels

ROFLMAO! Good point. I forgot about that.

kojikun · Post by **kojikun** » 2003-09-20 03:04pm

They could easily use microwave transcievers. We real humans are considering using microwaves to transmit energy from orbiting solar power satellites down to earth. But that would be too easy and logical for Trek, so who knows.

Tsyroc · Post by **Tsyroc** » 2003-09-20 03:27pm

Maybe Trek Tech is somehow based on Tesla Coils except without all the cool visual effects.

kojikun · Post by **kojikun** » 2003-09-20 03:39pm

Tsyroc wrote:Maybe Trek Tech is somehow based on Tesla Coils except without all the cool visual effects.

Thing is, a Tesla Coil is just a RF resonance transformer that optimizes the frequency of the entire circuit so that the secondary's natural oscillation frequency is taken advantage of. It basically does for electricity what a guy does when he pushes his kid on a swing, making the kid go higher and higher ever time.

The result, tho, would be simple RF, as it is now. And even then it would be low frequency (only a few hundreds of kilohertz at most). And it would also spit off a decent amount of electrons that would likely move towards the ship. So no, they wouldn't use Tesla Coils, they'd be better off using microwave systems which use a different method of getting the resonance using high voltage (5000V).

Tsyroc · Post by **Tsyroc** » 2003-09-20 04:03pm

kojikun wrote: Thing is, a Tesla Coil is just a RF resonance transformer that optimizes the frequency of the entire circuit so that the secondary's natural oscillation frequency is taken advantage of. It basically does for electricity what a guy does when he pushes his kid on a swing, making the kid go higher and higher ever time.

The result, tho, would be simple RF, as it is now. And even then it would be low frequency (only a few hundreds of kilohertz at most). And it would also spit off a decent amount of electrons that would likely move towards the ship. So no, they wouldn't use Tesla Coils, they'd be better off using microwave systems which use a different method of getting the resonance using high voltage (5000V).

The key part being "better off" using a different method.

I just though it would be amusing with all of the conspiracy loons mixed in with the current Tesla mythos if there were some freaky deaky way that somehow Trek tech somehow encorporated some sort of advanced science based on Telsa's coil or something Tesla did. It'd have to be something different since the visuals display anything like the kind of light show that comes off of a Tesla coil.

I also thought of it because I thought that Tesla Coils were intended to broadcast power through the air and the subject was on broadcasting power.

Sharp-kun · Post by **Sharp-kun** » 2003-09-20 04:33pm

Burak Gazan wrote:In "Timescape" the E-D was engaged in a power transfer operation to a crippled Romulan Warbird. A feedback in the transfer beam caused sufficent disruption as to create a warp core breach. If it wasn't for the "temporal anomalies" , the E-D would be a cloud of debris. So, I'd have to say it doesn't sound like a safe tactic for overloading any potential hostile vessels

It has to be pointed out though, that anything can cause a warp core breach on the E-D

Agent R · Post by **Agent R** » 2003-09-20 06:29pm

Burak Gazan wrote:In "Timescape" the E-D was engaged in a power transfer operation to a crippled Romulan Warbird. A feedback in the transfer beam caused sufficent disruption as to create a warp core breach. If it wasn't for the "temporal anomalies" , the E-D would be a cloud of debris. So, I'd have to say it doesn't sound like a safe tactic for overloading any potential hostile vessels

I thought the E-D's core breached because the temporal aliens fired the Warbird's weapons at it when it's shields were down to prevent the power transfer from killing their kids in the Warbird's artificial singularity core.

Robert Walper · Post by **Robert Walper** » 2003-09-20 10:51pm

Actually, the power transfer technology is quite simple. It utlizes the transporter technology in combination with the hydrogen collectors on the ship's nacelles. They redirect power from the warp core through the jeffery tube system into the main deflector dish, while intaking extra energy from the hydrogen collectors. They then have several ensigns on deck fifteen monitor the process, in case any remodulation of the tachyon pulse rate is required. This theoritically could be done from the bridge, but would require an entire refit of the manifolds aboard the ship, causing instability of the warp drive during impulse speeds. Thus the extra ensigns are required.

:p

Chardok · Post by **Chardok** » 2003-09-21 05:44am

I sincerely hope you are extremely clever and just made that up. In which case i'm very impressed and you should write a program that translates regular speech into treknobabble.
If, in fact, that is how it is described in a tech manual, Then the fact that you have a manual detailing wireless ship-to-ship power transfer is....well...i don't know...different...

Robert Walper · Post by **Robert Walper** » 2003-09-22 02:48pm

Chardok wrote:I sincerely hope you are extremely clever and just made that up. In which case i'm very impressed and you should write a program that translates regular speech into treknobabble.
If, in fact, that is how it is described in a tech manual, Then the fact that you have a manual detailing wireless ship-to-ship power transfer is....well...i don't know...different...

LOL...Yes, I did make that up. Once a person has a certain amount of Trek vocabulary, you can make up an "explanation" for virtaully anything.

This actually works for real life as well. I had a coworker of mine talking to me about computers, and she mentioned she was taking a computer course. Out of curiousity, I asked her what a CPU stands for, RAM, etc. She got those no probably. Then I spun up the line "Ah ha, but what happens if you have a static discharge through the ventral access of the motherboard?" She was stumped at this point, and I laughed and explained to her not to be taken in by smooth talkers who might "seem" like they know what they are talking about.

Being able to conjure up bullshit like that is an effective to find out if a person actually knows what they are talking about if you are suspicous of their self proclaimed "knowledge".

Sarevok · Post by **Sarevok** » 2003-09-24 05:17am

Robert Walper wrote:
Chardok wrote: Being able to conjure up bullshit like that is an effective to find out if a person actually knows what they are talking about if you are suspicous of their self proclaimed "knowledge".

I agree with that. It is a highly effective way to see if someone is lying.