T O P I C ��� R E V I E W
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Irishman
Member # 1188
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posted
So, guys, I need your opinion. Is this artwork and write-up good enough for a TOS tech manual?
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v81/Irishman/TestRayGenerator.jpg
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Aban Rune
Member # 226
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posted
I likes it. You might round the top and bottom facing corners of your bars, though.
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Ritten
Member # 417
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posted
Text correct. Should the testing be done on parts/equipment instead of tasks?
Instead of replaced in an approved manner it could be refurbished in an approved manner?
Otherwise it seems spot on.
I don't know about rounding too much though, as the TOS equipment seemed just about as you have put it. Squarish and bulky.
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Sol System
Member # 30
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posted
"manhours" seems terribly old-fashioned in this context.
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B.J.
Member # 858
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posted
I disagree about the old-fashioned comment, but "manhours" doesn't really apply in this context, especially for a one-man device. I'd use "hours of operation" or "hours of use", or something similar.
B.J.
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Sol System
Member # 30
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posted
Well, how many of the things using it are going to be men? Best to avoid a lawsuit from the Giant Cone Snail Planet.
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Irishman
Member # 1188
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posted
B.J.,
I can easily change man-hours to hours of use.
Also, it is a real prop used on the show. It's not my design at all.
Now, I wonder how many of these things would be on a Connie?
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Ritten
Member # 417
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posted
12
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AndrewR
Member # 44
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posted
Was that used by the Asian crewman or Ensign? in the redshirt that Bashir and O'Brien come across near the ladder well in "Trials and Tribblations"?
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Irishman
Member # 1188
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posted
Ritten,
Why 12?
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Timo
Member # 245
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posted
Graphics are fine; text prompts a question, not just from a Trekkie nitpicker but from the generic technically oriented reader.
"Emission testing"... Is this thing emitting or absorbing those rays?
I mean, if it starts to leak after prolonged use, probably emitting... But deliberate alpha emissions seem a bit unlikely for engineering diagnostics applications (I mean, rays that barely penetrate paper, yet often make their target radioactive, aren't much good for "X-ray" type of imaging) and are more likely to be the target of passive monitoring.
If this is a see-through kind of tool, I'd probably use beta, gamma and theta instead. If it detects dangerous leaks, then our heroes might wish to know about everything from alpha to omega, but emissions from the device shouldn't be a problem then.
Hmm... Perhaps this thing traps radiation with its permanent forcefields as a method of amplification, and accumulates a "radiation charge" as the result - so the user has to change the three field generator heads after X hours of use. Or perhaps it doesn't sense ypsilon rays, so the user should be warned not to get overconfident...
Timo Saloniemi
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Ritten
Member # 417
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posted
For the size of the E-nil, and mission lengths, it seemed an appropriate number, this would allow for testing teams to use two or three in use for the engineering crew, with the others as replacements incase they don't get back to a starbase to replace the spent units, or lose them on away missions, etc. Even in continuous use of three units for a almost year each this gives almost 4 years before all units are spent, so this would give good coverage for a five year mission in deep deep exploration with zero contact for resupply. I am guessing that they do get turned off, or the power switch wouldn't be needed.
The alpha emissions could also be used to give the tested area a small dose of radition, or attempt to, to see if the items protective qualities are intact, maybe not needed for every task it is used for, but built in for ease of use, as opposed to having a second tool for the job.
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Irishman
Member # 1188
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posted
Exactly, Ritten. It has three-in-one so as to avoid keeping multiple smaller dedicated diagnostic devices. Especially since, as I explain it, where you find the need for one, you generally find the need for all three.
And Timo, your explanation sounds good to me. It absorbs radiation in the scanning heads (the filter vanes are what make it possible to screen out unwanted ambient radiation or types you don't wish to scan for. The vanes come into play mostly when it comes to adjusting the scan radius from pinpoint to a 90 degree arc). Further, like your explanation, because of how it absorbs radiation for scanning purposes, it builds up a charge which must be shunted at a Starbase facility.
How's that?
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Ritten
Member # 417
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posted
How large of a piece of equipment would it need?
I could see this needing to go back to a starbase if something in it burned out that was difficult to make even back at the starbase. I read that series, but only remember parts of it, about the E-nil escorting a colony mission. The moon there was something for that was used for the replicators. If the shielding/emitters/recievers/circutry were somethng like that I could see the need to returning to the OEM for a refurbishment, but to shunt the built up radiation I am not too keen on. A hand held device shouldn't need a house size device to do that.
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AndrewR
Member # 44
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posted
quote: Originally posted by Ritten: A hand held device shouldn't need a house size device to do that.
In TOS time, though, they liked things with a 'classic' look - oversized beyond necessity. Style over substance.
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Irishman
Member # 1188
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posted
Yes, Andrew. Think of this design as the asthetic equivalent of an iPod.
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Bernd
Member # 6
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posted
Wow. Great artwork. In which fictional era is the manual written? Because the style and the font look somewhat more advanced than in TOS. On the other hand, there was hardly a consistent style of technical drawings in TOS anyway.
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Irishman
Member # 1188
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posted
Bernd, it's supposed to be TOS-era, but I'm finding that, as you said, there's not a consistent style, and I'm still finding fonts and colors I think work the best.
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