Beaming the comm badge

[hux]

I've never quite got this. So many episodes where they want to beam a crew member somewhere (usually when they're a risk to the ship) and the crew member in question has removed their badge.......so the badge materialises but not the person

Seriously?

Firstly, why rely on such a flimsy piece of metal for such an important (and often life saving) procedure

Secondly, Wouldn't there be an easier way to do this such as a DNA match or something

If not then why not just put it under the skin to avoid the constant....oops, I'm afraid he escaped captain....couldn't get a lock.......my bad

Can anyone tell me of an episode where they DID get a lock on someone escaping

It's bad enough that whenever a bad guy gets on board and takes over a section of the ship, the response is always.....

Captain - beam him too the brig
Keith - it's too late, he's using an encryption code and has locked me out, captain
Captain - Keith, your one job on this damn ship is using that computer every single day....the moment a bad guy comes aboard, you suddenly don't know your arse from your elbow and get locked out like a dick every God damn time
Keith - yes Captain

 

[trekshark]

I hate the combadges
we also see numerous occasions where they stop working as communicators due to the ship's comm system or computers being messed up. Totally worthless
real communicators like Kirk or Archer had seem much better

 

[Melakon]

Apparently the thinking was the combadge would do away with the cliche of having bad guys take old style communicators away and stranding the landing party. Instead, it resulted in an entirely new set of cliches that always took a page and a half of dialogue to explain.

 

[CorporalCaptain]

I never liked comm badges.

 

[Tosk]

I hate the combadges
we also see numerous occasions where they stop working as communicators due to the ship's comm system or computers being messed up. Totally worthless
real communicators like Kirk or Archer had seem much better

Don't we also see people using combadges to communicate while on an alien world with no ship in orbit? If so, they clearly can work like old style communicators...except when the script says they don't.

 

[T'Girl]

I have no problem with a wearable communicator, as long as that's all it is.

They were able to beam Spock out of the Romulan Commander's hot tub without him possessing a communicator.

 

[C.E. Evans]

There's nothing wrong with combadges, but there's always something in Trek that someone doesn't like.

As far as not using DNA matches for transporter locks, it may be an issue of such very specific scans have very limited ranges as our heroes have to frequently get within tricorder range of objects to pinpoint very small or less general things from orbit. Subdermal implants like subcutaneous transponders have been used ever since TOS (and retroactively since ENT), but they seem to be used mainly for just undercover missions (they may have a very short battery life compared to communicators and even combadges).

 

[SPCTRE]

Apparently the thinking was the combadge would do away with the cliche of having bad guys take old style communicators away and stranding the landing party. Instead, it resulted in an entirely new set of cliches that always took a page and a half of dialogue to explain.

Yup, and it was similarly inconsistent when it came to internal sensors/locating people with and without combadges.

Best to just ignore it.

 

[Timo]

I don't really see the problem, or the problems. Surely mail could be carried without an address system - each letter or parcel would just have to be accompanied by a long and detailed description of what the recipient and his house looks like, perhaps with some photographs or drawings attached. But an alphanumeric address combined with, say, a porch light that has a number on it makes the procedure much simpler. Similarly, scanning for biological or chemical identifiers obviously works if you have the time for it (it almost took more time than the heroes had with Spock and the Romulan Commander) - but an unambiguous transporter beacon is still a very welcome piece of equipment to have.

Should the beacon be implanted and difficult to remove? That would probably backfire mightily, as the enemy would then use a knife to remove it! Should it be impossible to turn off? That doesn't sound like a good idea, either, as surely our heroes are entitled to a bit of privacy or stealth on occasion.

These commbadges do seem to work just fine by themselves, at short ranges. Are there contrary examples, really? They can also talk across interstellar ranges when there's a starship or other booster available; technology really ought to be flexible like that.

It's just a bit odd that the communications are audio only. Why no visuals? Why no telemetry track from tricorders and the like, something that Picard up on the bridge could call on his screen and get a good idea of what's happening down there, instead of having to rely on Riker saying "It's almost... Like some sort of a... You better come down and see for yourself, Sir!"?

OTOH, perhaps Picard does have that data and those visuals available on his seat's armrest screen, and nobody feels the need to pipe that to the main viewer, it being more useful (more relaxing?) to stare at the local starfield instead.

Then there's the oddity of the "Three to beam up" command. How does the transporter chief or the computer make the selection?

Timo Saloniemi

 

[T'Girl]

I don't really see the problem, or the problems. Surely mail could be carried without an address system - each letter or parcel would just have to be accompanied by a long and detailed description of what the recipient and his house looks like

It's like when you order a pizza, or summon a taxi, sure they have a GPS transceiver in their vehicle, but you still have to stand outside with your cellphone and flag them down as they cruise slowly up and down the street.

If it's a clear day, Timo should be able to stand outside, turn his face upwards and have the orbiting starship identify him by facial recognition.

 

[SPCTRE]

The orbiting pizza delivery starship, that is.

 

[Timo]

If it's a clear day, Timo should be able to stand outside, turn his face upwards and have the orbiting starship identify him by facial recognition.

Many starship sensors don't even seem to be line-of-sight. Being under a lead roof two kilometers thick might prevent recognition, but looking at your shoelaces shouldn't.

Still, there's probably a massive difference in reaction time between beaming up a dedicated beacon with the adjoining person, and tracking down the beacon-less person you want beamed up. "The Enterprise Incident" is a good example of this. And it seems given that the whereabouts of a person are not being constantly monitored, but need to be established anew when the need arises, even aboard starships. Privacy issues, or simple workload limits? The former sounds much more consistent.

Timo Saloniemi

 

[Richard Baker]

There have been a couple of occasions when an away team calls the ship for "Three to beam up" but never specify which people- there could be twelve in the room but only the intended people transport.

 

[Melakon]

"Three to beam up"

Usually those three are standing apart from the rest of the group, so the transporter operator only has to grab those two nearest the speaker.

 

[C.E. Evans]

It's just a bit odd that the communications are audio only. Why no visuals? Why no telemetry track from tricorders and the like, something that Picard up on the bridge could call on his screen and get a good idea of what's happening down there, instead of having to rely on Riker saying "It's almost... Like some sort of a... You better come down and see for yourself, Sir!"?

I think to a certain extent, communicators and combadges are meant to be very basic and rugged devices modeled on the KISS (Keep It Simple, Stupid) philosophy. There may be more ultra-sophisticated personal communication devices with mega-definition video capability not too unlike today's smartphones, but they may not be sturdy or reliable enough for Starfleet usage (prone to breaking down from minimal impacts in the field...and occasional dropped signals/no bars).

 

[Sector 7]

Apparently the thinking was the combadge would do away with the cliche of having bad guys take old style communicators away and stranding the landing party. Instead, it resulted in an entirely new set of cliches that always took a page and a half of dialogue to explain.

This is a 24th century staple. In fact, it is why I prefer TOS Trek.

 

[Dexter Remmick]

I always found the combadge to be a highly useful device. But they were utilized poorly. Mainly the scenario OP described.

"I only got their combadge captain."
"Have you tried searching for Vulcan/Talaxian/Human life signs?"
"Brilliant sir!"

I would have thought the transportees DNA would be on file somewhere, and would be used to better identify and speed the process of identification. The badge was another tool for accuracy.

 

[Timo]

We did get a pretty good idea of TOS era sensor performance in "The Enterprise Incident", where Spock's half-human biology still didn't allow the sensors to pick him up from among Romulans until after a long search. Communicator beacons would have been essential gear back then for ID purposes!

As for TNG era, sensors may have improved a bit, but it still takes at least the length of a "beat" in the script to come up with a result on a "scan for Klingon lifesigns" or whatnot. So comm-beacons would still represent the first step in the ID process, with direct sensor scans a fairly distant second, and near-realtime forensics of other sorts (say, tracing a pattern of opening doors, patching together CCTV imagery, etc) a third step.

Given this, though, it is distressingly often that the transporter chief manages to beam up Crusher and her patient, just as intended, rather than Crusher and the equally proximal Riker or Worf, when Crusher calls for "two to beam up". Why do the sensors work so quickly and informatively in that case - or why does the chief jump to conclusions so easily (and correctly)?

Timo Saloniemi

 

[hux]

You'd think they'd be sick of com badges materialising without the person but apparently not. They even seem surprised when the badge turns up but not the person......like...."oh my God, I did not anticipate that this could happen" (even though it happened last week)

-Get a lock on him
-Too late, he's gone to warp
-Awww shucks