Transporter console slider controls

[MarsWeeps]

One thing I've wondered about the transporter console is the purpose of the 3 separate slider controls. We know they are used to activate the transporter beam when beaming up/down.

Why have 3 separate controls? I thought maybe each slider would control 2 pads since there are 6 pads total but we've seen all 3 sliders used whenever there is just one person beaming up/down. The transporter operator uses 2 hands to operate all 3 sliders at the same time. Why not just have a single slider or all 3 tied together? What would happen if the operator's hand slipped and only 1 or 2 of the sliders were engaged?

Could they just be used for redundancy purposes? Any single control would work but they use 3 "just to be safe?"

 

[ZapBrannigan]

Could they just be used for redundancy purposes? Any single control would work but they use 3 "just to be safe?"

That must be it. I would feel a lot safer beaming alone, and least safe in a situation like "Day of the Dove" Act I, where the machine has to take nine grown men in one bite.

TNG "The Realm of Fear" had Chief O'Brien citing some reassuring techno-babble about built-in redundancies in the 24th century transporter. Kirk's rig was probably nowhere near as foolproof.

 

[Timo]

But Chief O'Brien also pulls three levers. They're mere flat graphics, but they still exist in triplicate.

Engine throttles in multi-engine aircraft often come in clusters that are mechanically linked but can be released from their latchings for unusual situations where certain engines must be throttled (down) separately. The analogous situation here would be multiple components of the same type working in parallel for a single goal, with the possibility of any one or two of them failing, or being needed more than the others - what component could this be?

My first thought was antennas. The phased matter signal probably can't be "multiplied" the way abstract data can, or else creating transporter copies would be much easier. But perhaps it can be sent through multiple antennas, and in fact has to be sent through three in order to create a three-dimensional "focus" where it will pop out of phased space again and become people.

It would only be in certain special geometries or damage situations that it would be useful to emphasize certain elements of the antenna trio and attenuate others. It would be a bit like steering a ship or an aircraft by adjusting the speeds of multiple propellers: this would provide additional coarse control to assist the usual fine-control "rudders", even if it might never be good enough to completely replace the "rudders" the way it works on ships and aircraft in emergencies. Indeed, fine control probably is so dominant that it doesn't matter that Scotty pulls the levers slightly out of synch - but he can use his other hand to hit "override" and give the sliders more authority whenever necessary. Or something.

Timo Saloniemi

 

[PCz911]

Good question, never thought about it. The reality is that the design was probably done as Timo indicated, to mirror the throttle quadrant of a multiengine plane. If memory serves, wasnt Roddenberry a pilot? The design probably resonated with him and implied power. I does look cool
As far as the star trek uninverse goes, who knows about the 'logic'.
And, great shot of the console, by the way

 

[cardinal biggles]

If memory serves, wasnt Roddenberry a pilot?

Roddenberry was, but more importantly, so was art designer Matt Jefferies.

 

[Nebusj]

Red, green, and blue, obviously. ``Very funny, Scotty, now beam down my puce.''

 

[MarsWeeps]

What's also strange is how the controls are used. I've seen Scotty start out sliding them slowly for a few inches and then very quickly sliding them to the end, almost like he's "popping the clutch."

 

[Nerys Myk]

The sliders control bass, treble and mid.

 

[Shawnster]

3 dimensions of physical space - height, width and breadth.

 

[feek61]

What's also strange is how the controls are used. I've seen Scotty start out sliding them slowly for a few inches and then very quickly sliding them to the end, almost like he's "popping the clutch."

Yes apparently there is a real art to using those sliders.

 

[EnsignHarper]

What's also strange is how the controls are used. I've seen Scotty start out sliding them slowly for a few inches and then very quickly sliding them to the end, almost like he's "popping the clutch."

Yes apparently there is a real art to using those sliders.

A lot of the time with the right director, Scotty will be looking into the hooded screen while slowly sliding, THEN looking up and sliding it hard. I would bet there is some kind of phasing the operator is looking at, and then at the right second, triggering the process with a last hard slide. Notice also, how they are consistent about Spock being the only one to operate it with one hand. That shows the sliders might be offering resistance or some kind, and only a Vulcan is strong enough to do it with one hand.

 

[Wingsley]

Lest we forget: it is entirely possible that the Transporter, as well as many other Federation starship technologies, probably operates on three-phase electricity.

This explanation will be over-simplified, but consider this:

Many industrial processes, especially those with machines that use heavy-duty electric motors, are typically linked directly to three-phase power lines. Let's use the United States for an example: in the U.S., electricity is standardized on a frequency of 60 Hz. This means an electric connection from a standard power grid, each phase much "fire" its peak electrical power at intervals of 60 cycles per second. If you drive under three-phase power lines under load while listening to an AM radio, the static you hear in the radio registering each of the three phases firing at 60 Hz.

Three-phase power operates by alternating these peak cycles. If each wire (phase) is firing rhythmically at 60 Hz, the whole principle behind making the conductors accentuate each other is to get them to "fire" at one-third of a cycle apart from one another. If a single phase carries, say, 7,200 volts, then the alternating phases of a three-phase circuit accentuate each other for a phase-to-phase voltage of 12,470 volts. Industrial electric motors love this. Instead of getting your peak power at only 60 cycles per second, you're actually getting it at 180 cycles per second.

So, what if those Transporter levers are linked to a kind of three-phase power connection? I'm not saying the levers are power switches, but it seems interesting that the standard Transporter Room mechanism typically operates six pads and that the mechanism is "energized" by actuating three levers.

 

[Tiberius]

The real answer is: "Because it looks cool." Anything else is technically just fanwanking.

 

[F. King Daniel]

The real answer is: "Because it looks cool." Anything else is technically just fanwanking.

According to the first fanwank (the Star Fleet Technical Manual), the controls are:

-Photon ionization control
-Neural paralyzer control
-Magnetic field control

It says underneath, "controls are operated simultaneously" which makes you wonder why they don't just have one lever perform all three functions...

 

[scotpens]

The sliders control bass, treble and mid.

Do they go all the way to 11?

 

[Robert Comsol]

When I read the thread title the first thing that came to my mind was the aviatic analogy Timo already mentioned.

Regarding the close-up footage of Scotty operating the controls (and hiding his missing finger) I can't help but wonder if that wasn't mostly a stock shot they inserted in later episodes, whenever needed.

Bob

 

[YARN]

The real question is whether Starfleet uses Traktor or Serato.

 

[Mario de Monti]

Whichever explanation one might prefer, in-universe I wouldn´t trust using a device as potentially fatal as the transporter, if its safe use was depending on the (artful) handling by the operator of three mechanical sliders, which have to be moved simultaneously and with the perfect force and the perfect timing
The transporter scene in Galaxy Quest just leaps to mind ...

Mario

 

[Robert Comsol]

I wouldn´t trust using a device as potentially fatal as the transporter, if its safe use was depending on the (artful) handling by the operator of three mechanical sliders.

Sounds like such an operator would require the skills of an accomplished surgeon like Dr. McCoy.

That would explain why he is so reluctant using that device, knowing what set of skills is required...

Bob

 

[drt]

The real answer is: "Because it looks cool." Anything else is technically just fanwanking.

According to the first fanwank (the Star Fleet Technical Manual), the controls are:

-Photon ionization control
-Neural paralyzer control
-Magnetic field control

It says underneath, "controls are operated simultaneously" which makes you wonder why they don't just have one lever perform all three functions...

Not that it matters to the discussion, but I'm pretty sure that's a fan-created page that ended up in the online versions of the SFTM.

On topic, I always liked the way they were operated with the initial slow (perhaps fine adjustment phase) followed by the final slam home (once everything was properly "aligned", I suppose).