Transporters
Particle transporters are now the standard transportation medium of
Star Fleet. As such, every officer should be familiar with at least
the emergency operation of transporters, and common sources of
problems. Each transporter can transport up to 6 people with maximum
safety, and up to 20 in emergencies.
Basic Operation
Upon achieving sensor lockon, the transporter translates the target
into a particle stream which reflects quantum state of the target upon
lockon. The stream transmits into a pattern buffer, which holds the
target pattern as it is beamed to the destination site. Once the
transporter has engaged, the target is incapable of sensing or acting,
but it also cannot be permanently affected or harmed by its
environment. When transported, it arrives at the the same state it
was in when lock-on was established - except for errors, of course.
Current Star Fleet transporters can complete their operation within
2.5 seconds under optimal conditions, with 4 seconds being the
standard. A properly maintained pattern buffer can hold signals for
up to 7 minutes without significant loss of information. The
transporter controls are thus designed to abort transport attempts
after 5 minutes. System reset and cooldown after each transport
operation requires 15 to 45 seconds. Normal operating range is
60,000km (6 hexes).
Errors
Under optimal conditions, chances of error are less than 1 in 100,000.
Chance of error increases substancially in case of battle; subspace or
electromagnetic interference; excessive volume/speed/range of use. In
such cases, errors can be much more of a danger, especially when
transporting volatile or explosive substances. Errors can occur in
three places: during translation, during holding, and during
reintegration.
- Translation errors usually result from sudden sub-space
distortions. These errors manifest as changes in the target on a
quantum level, and are usually unnoticable. However, errors in
an explosive substance could cause it to react before translation
is complete.
- Holding errors are rare, usually resulting from damage
or improper maintenance of equipment. Safety restrictions
preclude scanning or tampering with the pattern buffer. (The
buffer uses an analog medium which could easily be altered by an
intrusive scan.) A passive sensor records the mass and rough
density distribution of the transported objects, and
automatically logs that information.
- Reintegration errors are cause by sudden changes of the
conditions along the path to the destination point. These
normally cause the transport to abort and retrieve the target,
but sometimes other problems may cause this to become impossible.
Ordnance
Emergency Operation
John H. Kim <jhkim-at-darkshire-dot-net>
Last modified: Mon Oct 23 15:59:09 1995