10-Forward Enterprise(s) size(s) monkey wrench in debate?

[Robert Comsol]

Those "windows" are the saucer's deflector dish...

According to the creator of the Enterprise-D these belong to some kind of observation gallery.

Andrew Probert even put some people there to illustrate the idea. So I think it's fair to say that the TNG Technical Manual got that wrong with the deflector idea.

Besides, that window area is sometimes lit and sometimes not (depending which VFX model was in use).

Bob

 

[Tiberius]

Ah, but which is more authoritative (notice I didn't say canonical)? The designer's original intent, or the intent of the people who develop the show over seven years?

 

[Robert Comsol]

I'd say it's the person that created the ship in all its details, unless "canonically" certain details were revisioned later on-screen which isn't the case here.

I mean, how could the TNG Tech Manual author seriously claim to know the function of an item better than the person who had actually created and put it there?

And IIRC ever since TMP, illuminated deflector "thingies" had a blue color, while windows or the like were usually featured with a white color.

Bob

 

[Timo]

I mean, how could the TNG Tech Manual author seriously claim to know the function of an item better than the person who had actually created and put it there?

In dealing with fiction, this sounds perfectly plausible and practical.

OTOH, the same lot of people that wanted to give the saucer a deflector by appropriating a series of windows similar to those on the TOS saucer bow were later responsible for turning those TOS features into pretty explicit windows...

As regards the color, remember that we never saw the saucer at warp from a forward angle. The squares might be lit blue only when in use, with the golden glow matching the standby color we witnessed in the TOS movies.

Timo Saloniemi

 

[Tiberius]

I'd say it's the person that created the ship in all its details, unless "canonically" certain details were revisioned later on-screen which isn't the case here.

I mean, how could the TNG Tech Manual author seriously claim to know the function of an item better than the person who had actually created and put it there?

And IIRC ever since TMP, illuminated deflector "thingies" had a blue color, while windows or the like were usually featured with a white color.

Bob

Ah, but we're dealing with fiction here, not reality. According to the original designer of the D, she only has one tractor beam emitter as well. It's perfectly plausible that things change and are fluid on a fictional vehicle.

 

[SicOne]

If the E-D is indeed 642m long, how thick is the front of the saucer where Ten-Forward is supposed to be? Is there enough room for two decks there? One deck? Two full decks separated by Jeffries tube space?

Something else that also puzzles me. On the MSDs, the decks are something like nearly 4 meters tall. Why? A deck could just be 3 meters, or even slightly less. There don't HAVE to be Jeffries tubes EVERYWHERE. It's like there's a meter of free space over every ceiling on every deck, everywhere.

 

[Robert Comsol]

^^ According to "Disaster" we get an insight of the turbo shaft and judging by the visible spacing between the doors on the various levels, there doesn't seem to be that much of space between individual decks.

Bob

 

[F. King Daniel]

If the E-D is indeed 642m long, how thick is the front of the saucer where Ten-Forward is supposed to be? Is there enough room for two decks there? One deck? Two full decks separated by Jeffries tube space?

Something else that also puzzles me. On the MSDs, the decks are something like nearly 4 meters tall. Why? A deck could just be 3 meters, or even slightly less. There don't HAVE to be Jeffries tubes EVERYWHERE. It's like there's a meter of free space over every ceiling on every deck, everywhere.

Most Trek ships don't have enough room for the complex ceilings seen in the sets. In Mr. Scott's Guide and the old cutaway poster, the refit 1701/1701-A has 8' saucer decks, the height of the corridor ceilings, despite sets like sickbay being much taller. I prefer them to err on the side of caution and give too much space than too little.

 

[Mytran]

That might be what's said in the text of Mr Scott, but the actual corridor diagrams show a complete deck height of 9'6" overall.