U.S.S. Voyager
Transporter Room - PAGE 5

 

HOW VOYAGER'S TRANSPORTERS WORK

Page contents:	Federation transporters Using a transporter Transporter personnel
Transporter Room pages 6/7/8:	Transporter in operation - includes 3D cutaway drawings 158/162/175Kb
Transporter Room page 9:	Other technical data

FEDERATION TRANSPORTERS There are different types of Federation transporter, and the cosmetic design of them and the transporter room that contains them varies between starship class. Here is the transporter aboard the Galaxy class ship USS Enterprise NCC-1701-D - source [TNG: Hollow Pursuits]. But the basic principle is the same throughout the Federation. However, those on the former Cardassian station called Terek Nor, designated Deep Space Nine by Starfleet, uses the Cardassian transporter system left in place in 2369. All twenty-five transporter stations are controlled by the Starfleet co-processor and peripherals group (CPG) attached to the Cardassian computer or from Ops. The transporters are operated with clearance from the Starfleet and Bajoran security staff, for both official personnel movements and commercial cargo transfers. Transporters cannot be used while defensive shields are raised.   USING A TRANSPORTER In terms of use, the person (or persons) to be transported enters the transporter chamber and takes up position on one of the six pads of the transporter platform.  The transporter platform is elevated to prevent the chance of occasional static discharge. However, the transporter on board USS Defiant, original registry number NX-74205, is a 45% scaled version of the standard pattern buffer tank and molecular imaging scanners found on larger starships. It is powered by an impulse system EPS tap and is EM-shielded with a multi-layer duranium jacket. Due to the Defiant's originally planned role as a heavily armoured prototype for use against the Borg, the transporter emitters on the hull are armoured with electroporous plating. Recommendation: a canon book At this point, the transporter operator activates the transport process. (LCARS controls are touch-sensitive and/or voice-operated.) The process does not start immediately with a beam-out. First the system's automated controller, which is a dedicated subprocessor located in the consoles off to one side, runs a self-diagnostic check in order to verify that all of the various system components are in full working order. All the main components of the transporter system are checked automatically each time it is used, in order to eliminate any potential malfunctions.

USS Voyager's transporter chamber [#132 Blink of an Eye]   transporter controls [#104 Counterpoint]   [#9 Emanations]

Then the destination co-ordinates are input either directly by the operator or relayed via computer from another ship's station.

Once the system and travellers signal 'ready', the transporter operator moves the controls upward to activate the beaming-out process. This action is usually performed when the traditional command to 'energise' is given. The computer can also be programmed to initiate a beam-out automatically after a desired time delay, enabling the transporter to be operated by the person beaming out.

[#60 Darkling]

Operation of transporter controls. 499Kb. Opens in a new window. Download for 56K modem approx. 90 seconds. [Darkling] The entire sequence is not shown on the tv screen. All that is shown on tv is in the animation.

Operation of transporter controls - the complete sequence (opens in a pop-up window) [#33 Dreadnought]

The annular confinement beam (ACB) creates a spatial matrix from the primary energising coils overhead. A secondary inner field is a backup safety feature, to prevent an energy discharge if the ACB is disrupted. Four redundant molecular imaging scanners in the overhead pads make a 'memory file' of each transporting subject's quantum state. The pattern is stored in the ship's computer as a retrievable transporter trace, and an entry in the transporter log records the beam-out itself. Using a widespread quark manipulation field, the phase transition coils in the lower pads begin the actual disassembly of each body by partially unbinding their energy on the subatomic level. Once the person or object is converted into a subatomic matter stream it is sent into the pattern buffer. This is because of the Doppler effect, which means that any relative motion between the transporter and the target area to be beamed to must be taken into account. The pattern buffer therefore adjusts the transmission frequency to compensate for the Dopplershift, ensuring a safe transport. The pattern buffer tank is normally located on the deck below the transporter room. Each pattern buffer tank is shared by a pair of transporters. In an emergency, the pattern buffer is capable of holding the entire matter stream for up to 420 seconds before degradation of a pattern occurs. This length of time refers to Galaxy-class ships and the time may have been improved upon in the design of the Intrepid class, for in 2375 Voyager hid telepaths from the Devore Imperium, a regime which hunts telepaths and sends captured telepaths to 'detainment centres' - on this occasion, depicted in [Counterpoint], telepathic crew of Voyager such as Tuvok and Vorik, along with twelve Brenari refugees went into transporter suspension several times during Devore inspection visits. However, the Doctor had treat two people for cellular degradation and warned that if it continued some people might be killed by it. Phased array emitters transmit and receive a transporter the ACB (annular confinement beam) and matter-stream energy beams. The annular confinement beam is a cylindrical forcefield designed to ensure that the subject being transported remains within the beam. If there is a problem while a transport is in progress, the order is often given for the ACB to be narrowed. from [Hunters] For instance, once beam-out is secured, an ACB 'carrier' directs each pattern's matter stream through an emitter array on the external hull of the ship toward the target co-ordinates. A booster set of the coils and scanners then works in reverse within the ACB to reassemble each pattern into its original form. These emitter arrays work in such a way that they can provide 360-degree coverage in all directions, as well as being able to transport subjects within the ship itself. Location of transporter emitters Source: CC Once disassembly of the subject's body begins it is be impossible for them to move or speak. People become transparent within the transporter beam because their molecules are being transferred to the pattern buffer and so it is impossible anatomically for that body to continue to function. In [TNG: Manhunt] Lwaxana Troi verbally scolds Picard for his lascivious thoughts toward her while she is in the process of being beamed out - this is not evidence that speech or movement is possible within a transporter beam, but a tv blooper. Weapons or other accessories deemed undesirable for security reasons may be detected, deactivated, or even removed from persons arriving within the ACB. This is designated 'transporter protocol 5' [DS9: To the Death]. This means that when someone arrives aboard, they are unarmed. Starfleet policy is presumably that weapons are retained by Voyager's security staff and where applicable are returned to their owner when they leave the ship. In [Repentance] when the crew and passengers of a damaged Nygean ship were rescued by being beamed aboard Voyager, the Nygean wardens were alarmed to discover that their weapons had been removed and confiscated by Voyager's security staff during transport, and Tuvok informs Yediq, the Nygean commander, "They will be returned to you when you leave." When beaming subjects onto the ship, the biofilter automatically scans the incoming matter and detects and removes any known harmful virus or disease. Manual purging of the filters is carried out when there is fear of particularly virulent bacteria, as in [#54 Macrocosm] although on that occasion the Doctor did not carry out the purge before the macrovirus had escaped from the transporter room. In [#160 Prophecy] the biofilter did not detect the Nehret, a fatal disease carried by all 204 Klingons beamed aboard and which was contagious to other Klingons. The Doctor explained that the biofilter did not detect the Nehret because it was dormant at the time. Targeting scanners located in the ship's sensor arrays determine the co-ordinates to which subjects are beamed and also provide environmental information on the target site. Because no special arrival apparatus is required, a transporter destination may be another point the same ship, another vessel, or on a planetary surface. A destination site's transporter system may be used to aid reception, if so equipped.

Beaming someone aboard: the sequence is from [#132 Blink of an Eye]

Transport between two objects at warp speed is not possible unless the warp factor is matched and maintained precisely. The procedure requires an experienced operator. Drawing on her Maquis experience, Torres successfully carried out this action in [#27 Maneuvers] to rescue Chakotay from his Kazon captors.

Within five seconds of the initial energising signal, the transported body has fully reformed at the target destination.

The computer can be set to carry out a beam-out after a desired time delay. This allows someone to operate the transporter controls without needing another person present to operate them.

Transporter operations are highly complex and are designed to leave no room for error, which is why so much of the process is automated.

TRANSPORTER PERSONNEL

On Voyager there seems to be no single person with the designation 'transporter chief', whereas on certain starship classes such as Galaxy class, the transporter chief verifies the co-ordinates, oversees the transport process and regularly services the transporter. Aboard Voyager, operation of the transporter is carried out by various authorised personnel, who are not necessarily of officer rank, and transporter operation can of course be accomplished from the Tactical/Security and Ops stations on the bridge (from where, also, it can be blocked if done so soon enough after a transport has been initiated). However, the transporter systems are serviced by the engineering department under the supervision of the chief engineer, B'Elanna Torres.