• Welcome! The TrekBBS is the number one place to chat about Star Trek with like-minded fans.
    If you are not already a member then please register an account and join in the discussion!

J-Station Board

Sam McCord

Lieutenant Commander
New project...

wip1k.jpg
 
Wow... I didn't think this would get this little love, lol... oh, well.

This was done as a paid commission for someone wanting to do a fanfilm.
 
It hasn't been up that long. Patience young padawan.

Never personally cared for how it was done on TOS. Always seemed too simple, and I like labels so I know what I'm dealing with. But understandable for the production they had at the time.

That aside, it looks very good in that context, which is what I'm assuming you were going for.
 
The TOS aesthetic doesn't seem to be appreciated much in these days of colorful LCARS MSDs.

Indeed, having worked in the area of converting physical plant status boards to more modern interfaces, I can say that the principles that probably led to the look you've magnificently emulated aren't likely to be around at all in the 23rd century.

Now ... having said all that, you really have done an outstanding job with this. You've aptly suggested organization while retaining a schematic-like incomprehensibility to the diagram that implies anyone looking at it would need a 23rd century engineering degree to make heads or tails of it.

And it looks straight out of the original series! I could easily imagine this up on a painted plywood wall with a sliding panel behind it to make the lights "blink".
 
^

Thank you... I'm glad I got the look right for TOS. I'd like to try a medical panel next... we'll see.
 
The TOS aesthetic doesn't seem to be appreciated much in these days of colorful LCARS MSDs.

Indeed, having worked in the area of converting physical plant status boards to more modern interfaces, I can say that the principles that probably led to the look you've magnificently emulated aren't likely to be around at all in the 23rd century.

Now ... having said all that, you really have done an outstanding job with this. You've aptly suggested organization while retaining a schematic-like incomprehensibility to the diagram that implies anyone looking at it would need a 23rd century engineering degree to make heads or tails of it.

And it looks straight out of the original series! I could easily imagine this up on a painted plywood wall with a sliding panel behind it to make the lights "blink".

Just to clarify, I wasn't speaking to the aesthetics when I said I didn't care for it. That part he did fine on. I was referring to the functionality of a board like that. The only thing labeled is the main bus, so what happens if 2, or 5, or 10 different things start indicating something is wrong? You have to remember each and every one perfectly from memory. Even the braker box in my house has more labels then that. Just about everything inside a standard computer has some form of labeling to indicate what it is. The TOS boards didn't have what would seem to be important information.
 
Well, I like it, but, of course, I'm biased.

As I'm interested in any project using this station design, can you tell us more about the fan film this was commissioned for?
 
Well, someone on another forum requested one of these boards for the starbase in the Franz Joseph technical manual, so I guess I'll have to think about how to lay that one out...
 
I've been meaning to ask this for a while: why would a space station have a deflector dish?
 
Actually the term Navigational Deflector being appended to that dish goes at least as far back as Franz Joseph's Booklet of General Plans in 1974 or so. However, in this instance, I believe the designer intended it to be a long range subspace communications antenna. Maybe Masao, who I think designed it, might be able to elaborate. The first I saw this station was in the Vanguard novels first in 2005, so the TNG connotations wer firmly in place.

--Alex
 
Dish Official Nomenclature, Prior to TNG

Making of Star Trek (1968): Main Sensor
Booklet of General Plans (1973): Main Sensor / Navigational Deflector
Technical Manul (1975): Main Sensor
FASA Enterprise Blueprints (1983): Main Sensor / Navigational Deflector
TMP Blueprints (1980): Navigational Deflector
 
If you are not already a member then please register an account and join in the discussion!

Sign up / Register


Back
Top