Voyager warp systems/power systems

[MacLeod]

Or more likely, they totally forgot about about it for all those years. After all it was on thre MSD if it wasn't onbaord or had been used the MSD shouldn't have displayed it.

True it would have meant forking out for a new MSD panel to show it missing. It was just another detail they hoped would not be picked up on. Like having a brand new totally incompatable power system for the holodecks (seems awfully inefficent to me)

 

[C.E. Evans]

Or more likely, they totally forgot about about it for all those years.

They probably didn't know it even existed.

After all it was on thre MSD if it wasn't onbaord or had been used the MSD shouldn't have displayed it.

The MSDs are done by the show's art department, not by the producers and writers. It's ultimately a set decoration when all is said and done. I think it's plausible (if not actually the case) that they didn't even know about the second core in the MSD or else they would have utilized it on the show.

 

[Ian Keldon]

And as we all know, holodeck energy is incompatible from other forms of energy.

Mark

Well, AC is incompatible with DC, and 220 and 110 devices cannot operate on the others' currents, so there must be something about the power requirements of a holodeck that require a specifically tuned energy source.

 

[Ian Keldon]

Pavonis: A am/m reactor could be even unsafer if it would be placed closer to a plasma environment like the nacelles. I think deep inside the hull would still be the safest option.

Who said there was plasma in the nacelles? And why would matter-antimatter reactions be any less safe because of the presence of plasma?

I'm familiar with how modern Trek depicts the operation of the warp drive systems. I just prefer the original conception of the nacelles as the primary power producers for the ship, rather than the primary power consumers they are depicted as now.

The nacelle as power consumer as opposed to producer thing goes all the way back to TMP at least. And we have the MSD/schematics from In A Mirror Darkly that show the TOS Connie is set up basically just like the Movie Connies.

 

[Ian Keldon]

That is canon as far as I know. The intrepid class came with an auxilary/spare warpcore. It was stored (unusable) in a different "tube". Once the original core was ejected, it could be replaced by ejecting and inserting the spare core into the now empty "engine tube". (I lack the proper words there.) Both power and propulsion came from only 1 core.

Shame they forgot about it in "Day of Honor". Maybe the auxiliary core got smashed to smithereens during the fling to the Delta quadrant (along with the Captain's Yacht and their ability to hit Warp 9.975 regularly), or maybe that micro-fracture that Janeway repaired in Caretaker proved more terminal than they'd imagined and the swap-out was already done off screen...

The idea of the Voyager having a spare warp core only appeared on the Master Systems Display. It was never mentioned in any actual episode and may not have ever been in the series writer's bible. The second core on the MSD may be a source of power for systems other than the warp drive perhaps (one core dedicated for the warp drive, another for everything else).

The 2nd core IS in the writer's bible, shown in a cutaway on page 9 (with call out) and listed on the deck directory on page 10 (main core stretches from deck 7-13 and the reserve core from deck 10-14.

Scans of the Voyager TM can be found at the Cygnus site

http://www.cygnus-x1.net/links/lcars/star-trek-voyager-technical-manual.php

 

[C.E. Evans]

Shame they forgot about it in "Day of Honor". Maybe the auxiliary core got smashed to smithereens during the fling to the Delta quadrant (along with the Captain's Yacht and their ability to hit Warp 9.975 regularly), or maybe that micro-fracture that Janeway repaired in Caretaker proved more terminal than they'd imagined and the swap-out was already done off screen...

The idea of the Voyager having a spare warp core only appeared on the Master Systems Display. It was never mentioned in any actual episode and may not have ever been in the series writer's bible. The second core on the MSD may be a source of power for systems other than the warp drive perhaps (one core dedicated for the warp drive, another for everything else).

The 2nd core IS in the writer's bible, shown in a cutaway on page 9 (with call out) and listed on the deck directory on page 10 (main core stretches from deck 7-13 and the reserve core from deck 10-14.

Scans of the Voyager TM can be found at the Cygnus site
http://www.cygnus-x1.net/links/lcars/star-trek-voyager-technical-manual.php

That's NOT the writer's bible.

This is.
http://startrek.orbs.com/Star+Trek+Voyager+Bible

 

[Ian Keldon]

The idea of the Voyager having a spare warp core only appeared on the Master Systems Display. It was never mentioned in any actual episode and may not have ever been in the series writer's bible. The second core on the MSD may be a source of power for systems other than the warp drive perhaps (one core dedicated for the warp drive, another for everything else).

The 2nd core IS in the writer's bible, shown in a cutaway on page 9 (with call out) and listed on the deck directory on page 10 (main core stretches from deck 7-13 and the reserve core from deck 10-14.

Scans of the Voyager TM can be found at the Cygnus site
http://www.cygnus-x1.net/links/lcars/star-trek-voyager-technical-manual.php

That's NOT the writer's bible.

This is.
http://startrek.orbs.com/Star+Trek+Voyager+Bible

Whatever name you put on it, the document I linked to is a production-sourced guide written by Sternbach and Okuda and used by the writers so they DID have access to the information, whether they used the information or not.

 

[C.E. Evans]

The 2nd core IS in the writer's bible, shown in a cutaway on page 9 (with call out) and listed on the deck directory on page 10 (main core stretches from deck 7-13 and the reserve core from deck 10-14.

Scans of the Voyager TM can be found at the Cygnus site
http://www.cygnus-x1.net/links/lcars/star-trek-voyager-technical-manual.php

That's NOT the writer's bible.

This is.
http://startrek.orbs.com/Star+Trek+Voyager+Bible

Whatever name you put on it, the document I linked to is a production-sourced guide written by Sternbach and Okuda and used by the writers so they DID have access to the information, whether they used the information or not.

Whatever name you put on it was still not the writer's bible, but rather something that WASN'T REQUIRED for the writing staff to use (by its own admisision). The actual writer's bible contained materials primarily regarding the characters and their backgrounds, and only the most basic things about the ship--which did not include a second core in engineering, hence why it was never used on the show.

 

[Ian Keldon]

Which proves what, exactly? There was a 2nd warp core. The tech guys put in in the writer's guide, the MSD shows it. It's canon. Period.

 

[C.E. Evans]

Which proves what, exactly?

That it wasn't in the writer's bible, exactly. You can't blame a writer for something he didn't know and wasn't required to know.

There was a 2nd warp core. The tech guys put in in the writer's guide, the MSD shows it. It's canon. Period.

Actually it is almost as far as canon as you can get (unless you want to include all the inside jokes on the MSDs such as giant ducks, mice, 20th-century cars and airplanes, as well as a hamster on a treadmill that is the real source of power aboard starships as well). And again, it was not in the writer's guide, but in an optional technical manual the writers could have taken or ignored if they wanted. Period.

 

[T'Girl]

Which proves what, exactly? There was a 2nd warp core. The tech guys put in in the writer's guide, the MSD shows it. It's canon. Period.

Problem with the MSD on the back of the bridge set is that while something it is there, it isn't labeled in any way.

Sure it "looks" like a second warp core, what is it really? The MSD labels the warp core in the engineering room as such.

Don't get me wrong, it probably is a spare warp core. Or at least the slot for one, the Voyager was basically brand and on her first mission, the second warp core might have been missing for a number of reasons. Janeway took Voyager to the badlands on a Monday.

Number two core was to be delivered on Tuesday.

(incidentally, once sanctioned, it becomes canon by definition of what canon is)

Nope, that isn't "what canon is."

Canon is simply everything live action that was on the screen, or in the soundtrack. Period. Published materials, fully authorized by Paramount, are not canon.

")

 

[Rick Sternbach]

"Canon" after production means almost nothing, especially regarding piddling little things for which there is no specific evidence one way or another. Attempting to keep consistent during production is more important. Attempting to keep consistent with licensed products is more important. Ultimately, Star Trek is really more about what's in your head and what ideas you can share with like-minded folks.

As for the Voyager second warp core, there are replacement parts enough to assemble a second working core, but it isn't a simple "plug'n'play" situation. It takes a while for the components to be installed once Voyager ejects its primary core or if pieces of the primary blow apart through the open port. I designed it. If folks want to believe something different, be my guest.

Rick

 

[Silvercrest]

And as we all know, holodeck energy is incompatible from other forms of energy.

Mark

Well, AC is incompatible with DC, and 220 and 110 devices cannot operate on the others' currents, so there must be something about the power requirements of a holodeck that require a specifically tuned energy source.

Great, so de-tune that sucker and hook it up to the replicators immediately so people can go off rations. And not be dependent on Neelix's cooking.

 

[Timo]

The thing is, we never got the impression that rerouting the holodeck power resources would have made much of a difference. When there were practical problems with hooking them up to, supposedly, propulsion, the fallback plan was to reroute the life support power resources of one deck. How much power could we be talking about with a few air conditioners?

On the other hand, warp drive supposedly is very power-intensive. So our failure to understand treknology is probably at the other end: life support for some reason consumes enormous amounts of power, comparable to those involved in warp propulsion and in the creation of holodeck illusions out of thin air...

But the general gist of things seems to be that holodecks are not a crucial resource in a power emergency. LaForge could keep them running in "Booby Trap"; Janeway could keep them running in the Delta Quadrant. And our heroes have used holo-decoys in many a desperate situation where the rerouting of lots of power doesn't appear a plausible option.

Timo Saloniemi

 

[Tomalak]

The thing is, we never got the impression that rerouting the holodeck power resources would have made much of a difference. When there were practical problems with hooking them up to, supposedly, propulsion, the fallback plan was to reroute the life support power resources of one deck. How much power could we be talking about with a few air conditioners?

Must be the artificial gravity. It never goes wrong, so must have numerous backups to keep the whole system running. The operation of the ship seems to be basically dependent on gravity, as everything is oriented as it would be on a planet. There are few if any hand-holds, and of course, no seat belts to strap you to your seat so you can do your job in zero-g.

If the worst happens, and gravity goes down, all that unsecured equipment (which is everything), goes flying. Major chaos ensues. I'm going to assume it's a big power drain. It's very, very reliable, but that comes at a cost.

 

[Boris Skrbic]

The reserve warp core was built in from the start. I'm quoting from an August 1994 production memo by Rick Sternbach regarding the shooting miniature (the memo binder appears in Rick's eBay auctions):

Reserve Warp Core Storage Hatch

NOTE: In the event we ever want to really jettison the warp engine core (and maybe even watch it blow up), we can do so, since the Voyager can carry certain redundant components within the engineering hull. We cannot run the "spare" engine from its storage area, but we can say that after we jettison the primary core, the spare components can be transferred back into the primary volume for reconnection to the warp nacelles. The spare core components can be moved by EVA pods and/or tractor beams.

The memo is followed by a detailed sketch of the "Reserve Warp Core Storage Hatch", so I suppose it should be easy to locate on photos of the shooting miniature. Rick's deck chart of August 3, 1994 places the "Reserve Warp Engine Core" on decks 10 through 14, which is where it remained in the Voyager Technical Guide (provided to the writers). Also, let's not forget Doug Drexler's writers' room chart.

I haven't watched enough Voyager to know if it was ever mentioned in practice, but there is no reason to contradict such a clear design intent without solid evidence to the contrary.

 

[C.E. Evans]

^^^
The idea was never used on the show. In "Day of Honor," and in "Renaissance Man," a great deal was actually made that the Voyager only had one warp core or that it couldnt be replaced.

 

[Boris Skrbic]

Couldn't find a tech memo for "Renaissance Man", but Rick did mention it to Jeri Taylor regarding the first draft of "Day of Honor". I'm not sure from these comments whether or not it was in that first draft.

As for the imagined spare core: We've had the spare warp core components sitting in the ship graphics ever since Season 1, and we describe it in the orange tech guide. If you want to say that we have it, fine; if you want to ignore it, that's fine, too. If Janeway asks about the spare in Scene 18, Torres might say that we've got it, but it takes a week to install under normal conditions, and we can't spare the engineering crew to do it. The shuttle retrieval is the best option.

 

[C.E. Evans]

Sounds like something that came after the story was written. I don't think Taylor originally knew about the second core in the tech guide and wrote "Day of Honor" around the idea that the Voyager only had one. "Renaissance Man" seemed to continue that idea.

 

[Boris Skrbic]

Since the core did remain visible in the MSD, the furthest I might go is to say that it was seriously damaged at some point, assuming Rick's one-week installation doesn't work for every episode. There is no need to stretch the original design any further.