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Janet's Star Trek Voyager Site

TRICORDER

Screenshots and scans by Janet

GENERAL INFORMATION

The standard tricorder is a portable handheld sensing, computing and data communications device. It was developed by Starfleet's Research & Development section, and is an invaluable piece of equipment. A good number are routinely carried on board any Federation starship, and on away missions at least one if not all away team members will be issued with a tricorder.

The tricorder is invaluable because:
It incorporates miniaturised versions of those scientific instruments found to be most useful aboard ship and on away missions.
Its capabilities can be augmented by mission-specific peripherals.
Its many functions are handily accessed by touch-sensitive controls or if necessary voice command.

Voyager's crew, in Season 1, use the tricorder model TR-590 mark VII, as used by the crew of USS Enterprise NCC-1701-D from 2366 onwards (the Mark VII and its medical tricorder version, were introduced in Season 3 of [Star Trek: The Next Generation]. Voyager's crew then use the tricorder model TR-590 mark X, an upgrade of the TR-590 mark VII - visually there are only slight differences, see below). The tricorder mark VII measures 8.5x12x3 centimetres and weighes 353 grams, but the upgrade model namely the mark X, is rather bigger (contrary to the trend of miniaturisation) but its capacity is far greater. The mark VII tricorder measures 15.81x7.62x2.84 cm. At 298.3 grams it is slightly lighter than the mark VII.

The casing of the mark VII was constructed of micromilled duranium foam, but the casing of the model TR-590 mark X is gamma-strengthened polyduranide. Like previous models it is divided into two hinged sections for compact storage. The control surfaces consist of ruggedised positive-feedback buttons and a 3.5x3.6 cm display screen (about an inch wider than the mark VIIs).

The tricorder's major optronic subassemblies include:

the primary power loop

sensor assemblies

parallel processing block

control and display interface

subspace communication unit

multiple memory storage units

Power is provided to the total tricorder system via an induction-rechargeable sarium-krellide energy cell rated for 36 hours of continuous use with all its subsystems in active use. This is twice the length of time for the mark VII. True power usage rate and maximum useful time is, of course, dependent on which subsystems are active, and is continuously computed for call-up on the display.

Starfleet R&D are continually trying to improve equipment. There are only slight differences in the external visible difference between the old mark VII and Voyager's mark X, namely the additon of a small control pad section on the top right-hand side and additional sensors on the top of the device, along with a slightly larger and heavier casing. The upgrade incorporated improvements in all areas, such as sensors, data processing speed, equipment reliability and storage capacity, and so I sometimes give comparisons between the mark VII and Voyager's mark X.

Typical power usage is 16.4 watts (compared to 15.48 watts for the mark VII).

The sensor assemblies incorporate a total of 315 (mark VII had 235) mechanical, electromagnetic, and subspace devices mounted about the internal frame as well as embedded in the casing material as conformal instruments. 189 (115 for the mark VII) of these are clustered in the forward end for directional readings, with a field-of-view (FOV) lower limit of 1/4 degree. The other 126 (120 for the mark VII) are omnidirectional devices, taking measurements of the surrounding space.

The latest Voyager tricorder model dispenses with the mark VII's deployable hand sensor (which incidentally incorporated 17 high-resolution devices for detailed readings down to an FOV of one minute of arc).

The data storage sections include 8 wafers of densified chromopolymer isolinear crystal for a total capacity of 9.12 kiloquads.

The computer capabilities of the tricorder are distributed through the device's five inner casing surfaces as preprocessors attached to the various sensors and polled main computing segments (PMCS) (there were 27 PMCS in the mark VII). Each PMCS contains subsections dedicated to rapid management of the sensor assemblies, the prioritising of processing tasks, the routeing of processed data, and the management of control and power systems. The PMCS chips are rated at 275 GFP per second (gigafloating point). The old mark VII (used aboard USS Enterprise NCC-1701-D) rated at 150 GFP calculations per second.

The control and display interface (CDI) routes commands from the panel buttons and from the display screen to the PMCS for the execution of tricorder functions. Multiple functions can be run simultaneously, and are limited only by PMCS speed. In practice, users normally carry out no more than six separate scanning tasks. The opaque control surfaces are fabricated from thin-film copper dilefinate infused with metallic dyes to fix the graphical content. The display screen incorporates a standard nanopixel matrix similar to that used in PADDs and consoles.

Communications functions are carried out by tricorder through the subspace transceiver array (STA). Voice and data are uplinked/downlinked along standard communicator frequencies. Transmission data rates are variable, but the old mark VII's maximum emergency dump mode rated 825 TFP, and involved all memory devices being read in sequence and transmitted (including any library chips in place), making the total time to dump the tricorder's memory to a starship as long as 0.875 seconds. Communication range is limited to that of the normal Starfleet combadge, namely 40,000 kilometres.

When the tricorder is stowed i.e. not in use with the flap closed, all that is visible is the power switch. It shows a red (or orange-red) power-on light and a green power level indicator.

The tricorder can be carried when not in use inside a specially-designed case which can attach to clothing and be worn on the hip, ready to hand.

When the tricorder is in use, it is used with the flap fully open (i.e. the flap drops down), and all the controls are thus visible ready for use.

The tricorder fits neatly into the palm of a human hand, a Vulcan hand, a Talaxian hand, and indeed any hand belonging to most of the humanoid species that Voyager has encountered!

The tricorder can be used to mask someone's location. In [#54 Macrocosm] the Doctor informs Janeway: "Macroviruses are attracted to infrared radiation. Set your tricorder to emit a thermal scattering signal. It'll make it more difficult to target you." And in [#60 Darkling] the Darkling Doctor plans to beam himself and Kes to the planet surface, there to take ship away from there. He tells her: "I know how to use a tricorder. It only takes a moment to reconfigure the subspace wave guide, generate a dispersion signal."

The tricorder can be adjusted to scan for spatial anomalies [#37 Deadlock].

Kim holds a tricorder to scan Kohl hibernation pods and
computer interlink controls in [#39 The Thaw]