Does the Duck Blind make sense for Anthropological study?

[Kamen Rider Blade]

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Does the UFP use of the Duck Blind to observe Primitive Species make sense?

Or is it the method that they use to hide it at fault?

Are there other options?

I still think they need to put more effort in the case power fails or something goes wrong.

There needs to be a method to conceal yourself when your tech fails and not have your Duck Blind be easily noticeable.

Modern hunters have camoflage patterns, yet StarFleet doesn't even use Camoflage netting as the most basic of tools to conceal themselves in the worst case scenario.

There are so many options to passive concealment that don't take power, yet none of them are explored as a backup solution to the technological method.

 

[XCV330]

Starfleet equipment is utterly and completely reliable and never fails, especially at critical moments. Those duck blinds clearly work, especially on a planet with sentient ducks. You can sit down with your copy of of a book about Chicago mobsters, as one often does, and let alpha shift handle the gazing chores, as you both relax in the confidence that nothing will ever go wrong.

 

[Kamen Rider Blade]

Starfleet equipment is utterly and completely reliable and never fails, especially at critical moments. Those duck blinds clearly work, especially on a planet with sentient ducks. You can sit down with your copy of of a book about Chicago mobsters, as one often does, and let alpha shift handle the gazing chores, as you both relax in the confidence that nothing will ever go wrong.

Until it inevitably does.

 

[fireproof78]

Then Starfleet needs to build a better blind.

 

[Unicron]

I think it's a logical application of holographic technology, so long as it doesn't have plot-based problems. What seems less sensible is that Starfleet would use holography this way and yet be unwilling to develop cloaking devices for fleet use the way nations like the Romulans do.

 

[DonIago]

^Well, Starfleet signed a treaty in which they agreed not to do that, soooo...

 

[Kamen Rider Blade]

^Well, Starfleet signed a treaty in which they agreed not to do that, soooo...

There might be certain exceptions within that treaty, like "Anthropological Studies"?

::shrugs::.

 

[Unicron]

^Well, Starfleet signed a treaty in which they agreed not to do that, soooo...

That may be so, but in the extremely limited canon context, we don't really get a logical reason for that restriction. I'm just pointing out that, for practical purposes, hiding stuff with a hologram is effectively the same as using a cloak with merely a variation on technology.

Plus it's not entirely clear how the Romulans could enforce the ban on cloaks anyway, especially since the Klingons (who use cloaks routinely) are allies of the Feds in TNG. It's not as if cloaking tech is a proprietary thing by that point that the Star Empire could expect to practically monopolize, compared to say Dominion genetic engineering used for the Jem'Hadar and the Vorta.

Starfleet Command 3 does have the Tal Shiar using modified cloaks to effectively function like holograms instead, allowing them to masquerade as Klingon and Federation ships while attacking the other group in an attempt to drive a wedge between the alliance.

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[XCV330]

@Greg Cox wrote a good novel that dealt in part with Starfleet observers embedded in an alien world. It was really good, especially Chekhov's dubious wagoneering skills.

 

[DonIago]

I've always assumed that in exchange for agreeing not to pursue ship-based cloaking tech the Romulans agreed not to pursue something that was considered similarly concerning. Perhaps the plasma weapons seen in "Balance of Terror"? Perhaps territory? We have no way to know who ultimately got the better end of the deal.

 

[NCC-73515]

I think it's a logical application of holographic technology, so long as it doesn't have plot-based problems. What seems less sensible is that Starfleet would use holography this way and yet be unwilling to develop cloaking devices for fleet use the way nations like the Romulans do.

The Treaty of Algeron banned the use of cloaked ships, but also redefined the neutral zone. It kept the peace because the Federation honored it. Maybe they got more systems in that neutral zone redefinition.