Got a question: couldn't the Federation establish a transporter relay system? All they'd have to do is deploy beacons, modified probes, etc. with automated transporter systems. Then, they could beam someone through the relay system and extend the range of the entire transporter system! You could even beam planet-to-planet, if there were enough satellites deployed.
Is this theory valid, or would there be problems?
Posted by Sol System (Member # 30) on :
Signal degradation.
(Also, I think that really long range transporters are ultimately a bad idea, dramatically, as such a technology would of necessity alter the Star Trek universe beyond recognizability. Why bother invading the Alpha Quadrant with thousands of ships when you could just sit hidden somewhere lightyears away and transport explosives into the parliamentary chambers of your enemies? [Of course, you might ask why this isn't a problem now, to which I would respond that transporters, outside a certain well-defined range of activities, get really skittish, and are easily deflected by presumably off-the-shelf scrambler setups. Not to mention the fact that a ship has to get fairly close to do it, close enough that they might as well just launch their explosives conventionally and save on the energy costs.])
Posted by Bernd (Member # 6) on :
With 40,000 km safe distance one would need 1 billion relays for planet-to planet transport. But I wonder what has become of the Ferengi and the Dominion subspace transporters.
Posted by Reverend (Member # 335) on :
Then there's the fact that planets are constantly orbiting the sun which is going to constantly alter the distance between them, not to mention the navigational hazards that would be created by having swarms of relay satellites throughout the system.
Is it possible? Sure. Is it practical? not at the current level of technology. Perhaps with some captured Dominion technology Starfleet could gain some new knowledge, but I think it would take several decades to safely develop. It may be useful to note the other appearances of long range transporting; The Ferengi version was probably something alien that Bok either bought or improvised and if I remembered correctly is was inherently unsafe. There was also a TNG episode (season 3 I believe) where a bunch of terrorists had personal transporters that could beam straight through shields, although I don't recall any mention of their range but again, the devises were inherently damaging. There have also been several instances of extinct or unknown Aliens demonstrating long range transport ability, the most obvious of which being the Iconions. Gary Seven's sponsors also seamed to have some kind of portal technology but one that could be intercepted by 23rd Century Starfleet transporters. It's actually possible that Section 31 has long range capabilities given Slone's sudden appearances and disappearances, although he could have been transporting to DS9 from a nearby ship, possibly even a cloaked one.
I think however that the biggest problem with long range transporters is the security issue, you'd have to start shielding entire planets to protect against attack, intrusion or kidnapping. This would then restrict the use of your own transporters off planet and effectively wall you in behind your own defences, then there's the fear and jealousy issue ala Iconia, history repeating itself etc. This in-fact would be the most compelling reason that Startfleet and the Federation would be very careful about any technology that could drastically tip the balance of power in the quadrant which is probably why they have a habit of blowing up any Iconian gateways they find, better that know one has that capability.
Posted by Omega (Member # 91) on :
There was also a TNG episode (season 3 I believe) where a bunch of terrorists had personal transporters that could beam straight through shields, although I don't recall any mention of their range but again, the devises were inherently damaging.
Dimension shifting. Totally different concept from a transporter.
There have also been several instances of extinct or unknown Aliens demonstrating long range transport ability, the most obvious of which being the Iconions.
"I, Q" was a fun book. They wanted to beam out their entire frelling SUN! Or was that the Tkon...
Posted by Dat (Member # 302) on :
There was also the time when the E-D temporarily bridged the transporters with those from the Yosemite. But of course, the cycle took twice as long.
Posted by Cadet Sorak (Member # 874) on :
Alright, thanks for all the info! It might be an idea for Series VI, farther in the future...?
Posted by David Templar (Member # 580) on :
The Federation does have some pretty far-reaching transporter systems. Well, at least Section 31 does.
![[Big Grin]](biggrin.gif)