Shield generator (s?)

[sunnyside]

I believe on DS9 the shields were produced by a single generator. But I seem to recal on ships that the plural was always used.

Also sometimes schematics show shield emitors. Are these supposed to be the generators or could there be a central generator that simply uses the emitors?

 

[Unicron]

DS9 has three main shield generators as part of their main array, mounted below Ops. I'd have to look at the DS9 TM to see what it says about other shield generators. But generally I think most ships have several.

 

[Timo]

Onscreen treknology has always been a bit ambiguous on this issue, but the DS9 TM speaks of three separate "shield generators" within the Ops tower neck, feeding gravitons into the three "shield emitters" that stand at the ends of the long horizontal masts around Ops.

Similarly, the TNG TM speaks of "generators" within the hull of the ship, powering up (that is, feeding with gravitons) the "grid" on the hull that then creates the actual shield.

Shield generators are mentioned a couple of times onscreen during the Dominion War, but we never quite learn whether they are internal or external pieces of hardware. We could just as well accept commonality with what the Tech Manuals describe, then.

Timo Saloniemi

 

[Deks]

Usually shield generators (for star-ships) are supposed to be as far as I know a singular unit which is located inside the ship (if it's a starship in question) and emit the field through the hull grids.
At least they are presented as singular units on screen and function in such a capacity.

I think that star ships normally come equipped with a singular generator (or perhaps two ... the second one being the backup and less powerful) ...and it makes sense.
Star-bases such as DS9 would be able to get away with multiple shield generators that allow for far stronger shields (perhaps, planetary types ?) or a singular generator large enough to emit enough power for a planet type shield matrix (for mushroom sized star-bases?) with a backup one in case of a primary system failure.

 

[ancient]

I recall the VGR episode "Eqinox" (or "The Equinox"...) Anyway, the baddies beamed VGRs modified shield generator off the ship and install it themselves. On the techigram in astrometrics it seemed to be an actual little generator-thing somewhere on the ship.

 

[Timo]

Ahh, good point!

Addressing the original point, it wouldn't be that strange for the heroes to use singular and plural in an unholy mixture, whether they speak of shield generator/s, reactor/s, impulse engine/s or torpedo launcher/s. Any of these gadgets could be considered a single integrated system even when consisting of multiple physically separate components.

Timo Saloniemi

 

[Deks]

ancient said:
I recall the VGR episode "Eqinox" (or "The Equinox"...) Anyway, the baddies beamed VGRs modified shield generator off the ship and install it themselves. On the techigram in astrometrics it seemed to be an actual little generator-thing somewhere on the ship.

This is not correct.
The Equinox crew beamed away a piece of technology (which was indeed a smaller field generator as referenced on the astrometrics screen and in the dialog) off Voyager that was designed specifically to trap the aliens (which was why they needed the sample of a dead one in order to do it) via the existing internal forcefield system the moment they enter the ship by reacting to their biology.

The device was an addition so it can compliment existing internal forcefields.
Once the Equinox crew beamed it off Voyager, Janeway's crew was exposed to an alien attack the moment the main shield grid collapsed as a result of the aliens attack on it.

What was a bit idiotic though is that little generator took about 7 hours to be made for 1 ship.
Janeway had enough time while she was chasing the Equinox to assign someone for the work as they were chasing Ransom a bit more than 7 hours if I'm not mistaken.

But ... Janeway resorted to the use of deflector pulses to enhance the shields temporarily and prevent the aliens from attacking them.

 

[ancient]

Hmm, well to be honest, I have some difficulty keeping VGR's Technobabble straight.

Never-the-less, it Was a modified shield generator...that's what it did...it generated a special modified shield that kept the space dolphins at bay. It may not have been the main shield, but it was definitely a shield generator.

I assume it was similar to a normal shield generator, just, you know, "modified".

 

[Deks]

Nope ... it was a modified field generator that the crew made.
It was based on the schematics that the Equinox crew used to trap one of the aliens in the research lab.

It would usually take 14 hours to make those modifications.
That is why Janeway decided to make their stand on Voyager making an excuse that since her ship had tactical superiority that it was her call to begin with.

The field generator was a separate piece of technology that was part of the internal forcefield technology.
It's possible the said generator was an preexisting one, but if that was the case, then Voyager would have lost capability of creating forcefields inside the ship once the crew beamed it off (which was not the case).

The main shield matrix that surrounds the ship is a separate generator which has nothing to do with the internal forcefield systems.

 

[ancient]

Force field, shield, same thing. Same principle anyway. The technologies should logically look similar.

 

[Deks]

ancient said:
Force field, shield, same thing. Same principle anyway. The technologies should logically look similar.

It's different because one is a system designed for internal security and the other is used to project a shield around a ship from the outside.
2 separate systems with similar functions.

 

[Timo]

Still, both might be argued to be based on a generator+emitter
architecture. If instead Seven modified an away team shield generator or some other putative portable device, this could be an integrated unit requiring no separate emitter system.

The dialogue (or rather monologue) in itself is singularly uninformative. All we get from Seven is

7of9: "Once we modify our field generator to emit multiphasic frequencies it will power the security grids on both ships."

It's a preexisting piece of hardware for sure. But whether it had anything to do with security grids or shields originally, or merely achieved the ability to power security grids through this modification, is left unclear.

For some mysterious reason, Chakotay feels that if the modification need not be extended over two ships, the time required for completion will be halved. I cannot fathom the logic of that, but I do get the impression that the generator even in its unmodified form is a unique piece of equipment rather than one out of many, and doesn't even exist (any more?) aboard the Equinox. It could even very well be a "field generator" in the sense that it is intended to be used out in the field rather than onboard!

Timo Saloniemi

 

[Deks]

Actually ... I think there is no uncertainty with this.
If the dialog is to be trusted, then it means the field generator supplements the security grids in terms of providing capability of frequency shifting, intensity of projected energy, what kind of energy is being produced by the security grid.

The modifications themselves have required 7 hours of time to be done on 1 generator (on board Voyager).
Nothing has been indicated on screen that said how the field generator never existed on the Equinox or that it shouldn't be used on a star ship.

However ... something does strike me as odd ... if the field generator was transported by the Equinox crew (and nothing states that a field generator for the security grid is unique per class of ship) then did Voyager only loose it's capability of creating modified forcefields inside the ship, or full ability to create forcefields inside the ship at all ?

If they lost ability for creating forcefields altogether, then they would have to make a new field generator since the one onboard the Equinox was destroyed when the ship went 'ka-boom', or someone remembered to transport away few pieced of equipment before the said explosion took place.

 

[Newtype_A]

^ It's a plot hole, Deks. Sort of like "If you can transfer the doctor's program to a completely different computer on a completely different ship, why CAN'T you leave a copy of the doctor on OUR computer?"

Even if Voyager had one and only one field generator on board that went up when Equinox was destroyed, you know it would miraculously reappear two episodes later if the writers decided they needed it (or needed it to fail at a convenient moment) as a plot device.

 

[Deks]

Oh I'm not concerned about the field generator being replaced since the crew would be able to replicate/build any piece of technology required for ship function that is not outside of the replicators capability to make.

It more struck me as odd that the loss of the field generator would affect internal security operations in SOME kind of a fashion during the episode itself.

90% of Trek had plot-holes so it's not like I'm not aware of them