New Enterprise Phaser Banks?

[Neumann]

To everyone who has seen the movie, have you noticed that the new phaser banks seem to have two different looking ball turrets?

This link, courtesy of memory alpha: http://images1.wikia.nocookie.net/_.../9/93/USS_Enterprise_forward_phaser_banks.jpg

I've been checking, and all the phaser banks on the enterprise look like these, so the question remains do they have different functions or something?

 

[blssdwlf]

To everyone who has seen the movie, have you noticed that the new phaser banks seem to have two different looking ball turrets?

This link, courtesy of memory alpha: http://images1.wikia.nocookie.net/_.../9/93/USS_Enterprise_forward_phaser_banks.jpg

I've been checking, and all the phaser banks on the enterprise look like these, so the question remains do they have different functions or something?

The one on the right looks like it is pointed back and upwards (notice the flat area that would correspond to the flat area that is facing forwards on the left one.)

 

[Neumann]

From what I've seen the seem to "pop up" like a robotic turret, but can someone clarify?

 

[Crazy Eddie]

^ I don't think they are, but if they're anything like the hand phasers the entire ball probably swivels a few degrees to expose another emitter with a different beam mode; either stun setting or some type of beam phaser like Kelvin's point defense weapons.

That would be a good explanation for why Kelvin's phaser armament seemed so disproportionately heavy; the older ship packed two different types of phasers (offensive and defensive) into separate mounts while Enterprise moves its power systems into the hull to support a smaller number of dual-purpose weapons that can deliver the same firepower more efficiently.

 

[Neumann]

But is there any comment on the book "Star Trek: The art of the film" or from any of the producers? It was already hard enough to notice all the moving elements of the new enterprise and this one can't be seen clearly enough in the movie!

Can anyone help ?

 

[Colonel Midnight]

Do phaser discharges come out of both, or just one?

Reason why I'm asking is that it looks a bit like the "optical sight" system used on the ship acquisition program I'm involved with... In other words, perhaps the one on the left (in that screen-cap) is the targeting portion of the phaser turret, while the actual discharge/blast is fired from the one on the right.

Just an idea, but that was the first thing that came to mind when I looked at the screen-cap you provided.

Cheers,
-CM-

 

[T'Girl]

^^^^


The turret on the left does kind of look like the targeting pod on a Apache gunship.

 

[muzzleflash]

They're both like that, the one on the right is simply rotated up.

 

[Crazy Eddie]

But remember these are directed energy weapons; actually, both of them look alot more like the ball turret on the Airborne Laser Testbed to me.

 

[Timo]

...The difference between the two real-world turrets would be fairly minimal, as both would feature a simplified gimballing housing (a sphere or R2D2-style dome) with one or more minimally distorting and easily cleaned (and thus flat) windows for EM throughput. I'd think phasers would fall in the same broad category, even if they aren't exactly EM.

It seems we're not expected to believe that any sort of major machinery rotates along with those turrets, just like the lasing elements of the ABL don't rotate with that turret. But the turrets themselves could well be mechanical contraptions in all the Trek incarnations, and only STXI would provide the resolution to show this to the audience.

That said, the dual-window, dual-mode idea is nice, reflecting the new phasers. But I don't think it's supposed to go that way - I doubt we'll ever get to see two different modes of firing for the new hero ship. And I'm not yet convinced that I see dual windows...

Timo Saloniemi