drennan@nybcb.UUCP (drennan) (11/12/84)
[ a sprinkling of boric acid ] > One other inconsistency associated with phasers. We saw several > times (in "Arena" [with the Gorn] for example) that one cannot beam up or > down with the deflectors up. Deflectors also stop phasers. So how does > Enterprise fire phasers when the screens are up??? > Sorry for harping on this, but my area of research is laser-induced > chemistry. > > George Raiche > Dept. of Chemistry > Dartmouth > > "Let's get the hell out of here." Perhaps the deflectors are timed in such a way that the very portion that the phaser will be firing through at a given time is dropped for the duration of the blast. If small portions of the screens could be selectively dropped, this sort of timing would be a simple thing to do. I would be analogous to the way World War I fighters planes had their guns timed so the bullets wouldn't hit the spinning propellor. But this just brought up another question in my mind. A shot to this area where the shields were dropped would hit the phaser beam. What would happen then? What is the effect of colliding phasers? Jim Drennan New York Blood Center ..seismo!cmcl2!nybcb!drennan "Damn it, Jim, I'm a doctor, not a bricklayer!"
herbie@watdcsu.UUCP (Herb Chong, Computing Services) (11/13/84)
This could be minimized by choosing the points to lower the deflectors
by some random scheme.
Herb Chong...
I'm user-friendly -- I don't byte, I nybble....
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N2L 3G1 (519)886-4733 x3524disc@houxz.UUCP (S.BERRY) (11/14/84)
Please correct me if I'm wrong, but I seem to recall a difference between deflectors and shields (Shields being another "level" of protection over deflectors). The main source for this seems to be WoK--the scene where Reliant approaches Enterprise. Anybody want to confirm, either from the movies or series? Naturally, this would have some bearing on the question at hand. SJBerry
frdish@aecom.UUCP (11/14/84)
> [ a sprinkling of boric acid ] > > > One other inconsistency associated with phasers. We saw several > > times (in "Arena" [with the Gorn] for example) that one cannot beam up or > > down with the deflectors up. Deflectors also stop phasers. So how does > > Enterprise fire phasers when the screens are up??? > > Sorry for harping on this, but my area of research is laser-induced > > chemistry. > > > > George Raiche > > Dept. of Chemistry > > Dartmouth > > > > "Let's get the hell out of here." > > > Perhaps the deflectors are timed in such a way that the very > portion that the phaser will be firing through at a given time is dropped > for the duration of the blast. If small portions of the screens could be > selectively dropped, this sort of timing would be a simple thing to do. > I would be analogous to the way World War I fighters planes had their guns > timed so the bullets wouldn't hit the spinning propellor. > But this just brought up another question in my mind. A shot to > this area where the shields were dropped would hit the phaser beam. What > would happen then? What is the effect of colliding phasers? > > Jim Drennan > New York Blood Center > ..seismo!cmcl2!nybcb!drennan > > > "Damn it, Jim, I'm a doctor, not a bricklayer!" assuming what Jim says is true, wouldn't the same be true of a transporter beam? just drop shields where the transporter beam is to go through. any ideas about that? -- "It's either believe that, or else believe we're only characters in a series of stories being written by a couple of hacks who need the money." Larry Freund UUCP: {cucard,philabs,pegasus,esquire,rocky2,ihnp4}!aecom!frdish
ron@wjvax.UUCP (Ron Christian) (11/16/84)
() Hey! How about this: The shield DROPS completely when the phaser is fired, but the process is pulsed according to a random number sequence. You don't have to worry about generating discontinuities in the shield to fire phasers through that way. The enemy must pulse his shield/phasers in a completely different random pattern to make the shield effective. Since the chance of timing intersection (energy leak?) is (hopefully) small, the two ships have to count on wearing each other's shields down. Another thing: I THINK I remember from somewhere that there are banks of 'shields', not a single shield that covers the whole ship. So the ship is potentially only vulnerable at the shield it's firing through. Does this make sense? -- "Where can you find Ron Christian a stale work environment Watkins-Johnson Co. with excellent pay?" San Jose, Calif. --bay area newspaper (...ios!wjvax!ron)
schmidt@reed.UUCP (Alan Schmidt) (11/21/84)
> > One other inconsistency associated with phasers. We saw several > > times (in "Arena" [with the Gorn] for example) that one cannot beam up or > > down with the deflectors up. Deflectors also stop phasers. So how does > > Enterprise fire phasers when the screens are up??? > > Sorry for harping on this, but my area of research is laser-induced > > chemistry. > > > > George Raiche > > Dept. of Chemistry > > Dartmouth > > > > "Let's get the hell out of here." How about this: The shield is selectively dropped before the phasers to allow firing (the rest of the shields stay in place). Furthermore, there is interference from the shields such that the phaser beam is scattered somewhat. This decreases its efficiency to a small degree, but this is in favor of defending the ship. Theoretically, the transporter beam could be OPERATED, but the interference from the shields would scramble the molecules of the people/things in the beam to a great enough degree that they could not be rematerialized correctly. Humbly, -- Alan !tektronix!reed!schmidt
msj@gitpyr.UUCP (Mike St. Johns) (11/27/84)
In article <> schmidt@reed.UUCP (PUT YOUR NAME HERE) writes: >> > One other inconsistency associated with phasers. We saw several >> > times (in "Arena" [with the Gorn] for example) that one cannot beam up or >> > down with the deflectors up. Deflectors also stop phasers. So how does >> > Enterprise fire phasers when the screens are up??? >> > Sorry for harping on this, but my area of research is laser-induced >> > chemistry. >> > >> > George Raiche >> > Dept. of Chemistry >> > Dartmouth >> > >> > "Let's get the hell out of here." > > How about this: The shield is selectively dropped before the >phasers to allow firing (the rest of the shields stay in place). >Furthermore, there is interference from the shields such that the phaser >beam is scattered somewhat. This decreases its efficiency to a small >degree, but this is in favor of defending the ship. Theoretically, the >transporter beam could be OPERATED, but the interference from the >shields would scramble the molecules of the people/things in the beam to >a great enough degree that they could not be rematerialized correctly. > > Humbly, > -- Alan > !tektronix!reed!schmidt Phasers are fired the same way it was possible for the aviators of old to fire through their propellers. The phasers are synchronized with the deflectors. The shields are never dropped, they are fired THROUGH. And yes it WAS possible for the transporters to be used through the deflectors at one time. See "The Final Reflection" by John Ford for details. With proper handling, it was possible to synchronize the transporter beam with the shields and actually beam through the screens. Being as it was the Klingons who discovered this, the Federation promptly figured out a way of preventing it. Actually, it might still be possible to beam down through the screens, but would you chance your life to the fact that a sudden hit on the screens ANYWHERE might throw the synchronization off and scramble you in the process? -- Mike St. Johns Georgia Insitute of Technology, Atlanta Georgia, 30332 ...!{akgua,allegra,amd,hplabs,ihnp4,seismo,ut-ngp}!gatech!gitpyr!msj