Replicator Rations

[GotNoRice]

I was watching Voyager last night and it brought back a question I've had for a long time, something that just seems a bit silly and was never really explained on the show. Replicator Rations.

Was Voyager really that starved for energy that they needed to ration the amount of food people could replicate? I know that there were certain specific episode arcs where energy supply was pretty tight but in general it seems like during normal running this should have been a trivial consideration.

Certainly there were other instances when they didn't really seem to care how much energy they used. IIRC at one point in the show they were considering keeping the "Fair Haven" holodeck program running 24/7.

Or was this mainly just a way for the writers to explain why people actually ate Neelix's food?

 

[Deks]

I was watching Voyager last night and it brought back a question I've had for a long time, something that just seems a bit silly and was never really explained on the show. Replicator Rations.

Was Voyager really that starved for energy that they needed to ration the amount of food people could replicate? I know that there were certain specific episode arcs where energy supply was pretty tight but in general it seems like during normal running this should have been a trivial consideration.

Certainly there were other instances when they didn't really seem to care how much energy they used. IIRC at one point in the show they were considering keeping the "Fair Haven" holodeck program running 24/7.

Or was this mainly just a way for the writers to explain why people actually ate Neelix's food?

The ship really WAS in dire need of energy boost in early seasons... that's why they introduced replicator rations and Kes started the airponics bay (which also gave Neelix a chance to cook for the crew).

By the time Fair Haven aired in Season 6 I think, VOY was already running more or less at optimal capacity and there were no Kazon or Vidiians chasing them down all the time.
The crew was also seen looking for raw materials they could use to repair the ship more optimally by themselves (which weren't in exactly abundant supply- and they had to take some major detours), looking for new energy sources.

In fact, the ship was starting to get 'up to speed' more or less by Season 3 (once they left Kazon space) and replicator rationing was eased off bit by bit... however, the crew was getting adjusted to Neelix's cooking, so they basically relied on that for the most part and used replicators to top things up maybe.

Plus, they encountered aliens with better power conservation technologies... there was one species (the Anarans) in the early season who did that... and then later in Season 7, the ship also traded for technology which tripled their replicator efficiency in the Void.
Lets also not forget that Starfleet managed to send VOY tactical updates (and probably some specs for improvement of general efficiency) to ease their voyage back.

Repair of the ship systems took priority in the early seasons, so replicators were likely reserved for spare parts, hull repairs, etc... and the crew relied on ration packs (before and after the airponics bay took off).

 

[Jedi Marso]

The whole 'low on energy' schtick would have been more convincing if we'd seen the holodecks turned OFF, and spaces like personal quarters and the captain's ready room dark until someone entered and turned on the lights, and then the lights only come up half intensity. Little touches like that.

 

[Bry_Sinclair]

The holodeck power systems were incompatible with the rest of the ship (somehow), as the crew discussed back in "Parallax" (which is why they could run the holodoc constantly).

For the replicators, with any sort of rations, each crewmember would get an allocated amount of energy/matter for them to use each week, so they could probably manage straightforward meals each day (all needed for the crews functionality, health and wellbeing), though for non-food items then they seem to take a greater percentage of their allocated amount (since it wouldn't be directly for their survival). So if someone wanted to replicate an instrument or the complete works of Agatha Christie they'd have to save their rations up for one big non-food item, so that could take a week or a month depending on what it was and in that time eat whatever Neelix was cooking.

Of course, if they wanted a shuttlecraft then they just needed to go to the shuttle replicator on deck ten and hey presto they have a brand new shuttle whenever they want

 

[Ray Hardgrit]

The whole 'low on energy' schtick would have been more convincing if we'd seen the holodecks turned OFF, and spaces like personal quarters and the captain's ready room dark until someone entered and turned on the lights, and then the lights only come up half intensity. Little touches like that.

That is true, it would've definitely helped it feel like they had power issues, but they wanted those holodeck stories enough to come up with a bad excuse for why running the holodeck didn't use up their power. Plus right now the average light bulb is like 10 watts maybe? Imagine how efficient they'd be by the 24th century. They could run the lights on the entire ship indefinitely on a hand phaser power cell. The power needed to replicate a sandwich or go faster than light is so unimaginably great that they're basically getting the lights for free by comparison.

 

[Oddish]

Well, what's kind of silly is that it's no problem to propel a 343 meter long starship at 1000c, but making a cup of Joe for the captain (which is 94% water, which is presumably recycled) uses too much juice.

 

[dupersuper]

The whole 'low on energy' schtick would have been more convincing if we'd seen the holodecks turned OFF, and spaces like personal quarters and the captain's ready room dark until someone entered and turned on the lights, and then the lights only come up half intensity. Little touches like that.

I agree the "holodeck is on a different system" hand wave was a cop out. But I doubt normal lights would be of any concern on a ship that can power warp drive, artificial gravity, shields, replicators and transporters.

 

[at Quark's]

Perhaps there wouldn't have been a need for general replicator rations, had Janeway been willing to cut down a bit on her 8472 cups of coffee a day.

 

[dupersuper]

Perhaps there wouldn't have been a need for general replicator rations, had Janeway been willing to cut down a bit on her 8472 cups of coffee a day.

But would they have made it back with such a debilitated captain? Might as well deny Popeye his spinach...

 

[Qonundrum]

Well, what's kind of silly is that it's no problem to propel a 343 meter long starship at 1000c, but making a cup of Joe for the captain (which is 94% water, which is presumably recycled) uses too much juice.

Or siphoned from fusion reactors, taking a cup of hydrogen and two of oxygen... depends if that's more effective than whizzing into three seashells and then their breaking down the particles to their atomic level and treknobabble blahbetyblah... I'm just glad Red Dwarf was the first sci-fi show to say on tv what's probably been happening in real life for years...

 

[at Quark's]

But would they have made it back with such a debilitated captain? Might as well deny Popeye his spinach...

Funny coincidence: just reading this reply as I'm eating spinach.

Perhaps they should have done a Popeye- styled cartoon once with aliens pestering Janeway ...till the moment she has her coffee and gains superpowers.

 

[Orphalesion]

(which is 94% water, which is presumably recycled) uses too much juice.

That's another thing, with replicators and all....wouldn't everything get recycled? So like "Energy"->Replicated Food ->Waste-> "Energy" ?

 

[Oddish]

Moving the protons and neutrons around probably requires some juice. But far less than moving the 700,000 metric ton ship.

 

[TommyR01D]

I thought I'd read that the Drayans (in 2x22 "Innocence") gave Voyager a converter which ended the energy crisis, but I can't find any mention of it on Memory Alpha.

Certainly hotel power requirements should be minuscule in comparison to propulsion. As far as replicators go, it's never really made clear how they work. If they really do break down matter into pure energy as transporters do, then energy shortage should never be a problem - the ship could simply dematerialise some giant rocks every now and again.

 

[Oddish]

Or siphoned from fusion reactors, taking a cup of hydrogen and two of oxygen... depends if that's more effective than whizzing into three seashells and then their breaking down the particles to their atomic level and treknobabble blahbetyblah...

Ooooo, those three seashells. According to the novelization, once Spartan knew how they worked, even he admitted they were better than toilet paper.

As far as replicators go, it's never really made clear how they work. If they really do break down matter into pure energy as transporters do, then energy shortage should never be a problem - the ship could simply dematerialise some giant rocks every now and again.

I always thought they simply constructed things at the atomic level... but if that were the case, recycling stuff would be pointless, it would just burn additional energy.

 

[Mr. Laser Beam]

Ooooo, those three seashells. According to the novelization, once Spartan knew how they worked, even he admitted they were better than toilet paper.

Do NOT, under any circumstances, attempt to Google Stallone's own explanation for how he thinks the three seashells worked. Trust me...you don't want to know.

 

[Oddish]

Already found it, and agreed. Good news is that a man as fastidious and germophobic as Cocteau would never countenance something so... unhygienic.

Since the shells were better than TP, my theory is that they simply hid three buttons, which you pressed in sequence after completing "business".
First seashell: A stream of warm water cleans up the... ah, mess.
Second shell: A puff of warm air, and your buns are dry and toasty.
Third shell: A well placed puff of powder ensures dryness, and prevents nasty sweat due to wearing those kimonos in the hot California sun.
It's efficient, it's touch-free, and it's exactly what a society that greets with air-fives and limits sex to VR only would do.

 

[Timewalker]

Replicator rations and holodeck time were the ship's onboard currency and part of the economy in their tiny community.

Since they were tens of years away from the nearest Federation starbase, they really did need to be careful about wasting energy. Everyone got a basic allotment (though I'd expect the captain and Chakotay probably got a bit more due to rank), and we saw that soon after that is when Paris started running betting pools. Until Janeway shut him down, he was cleaning up... presumably managing to keep himself well-supplied with replicated plain tomato soup, pizza, and Hawaiian shirts. Harry endured the leola root stew long enough to save his rations to afford to replace his clarinet that he forgot on Earth. Sam Wildman's allotment was increased after her pregnancy was discovered and she had Naomi to provide for.

 

[DS9forever]

The holodecks seemed to be the most important areas on the ship. In the first episode of season five, the ship loses power but fortunately life support and the holodecks draw their power from somewhere else!

 

[at Quark's]

Perhaps by season 5. they had booked some success in hooking up the life support system to the 'incompatible power matrix' (as stated in the S1 episode Parallax) of the holodeck, a system that apparently runs a far lower risk of going offline than those of, you know, crucial systems.

If only they could have done the same for the replicators, and thus relieve the crew of Neelix' cooking ...