quote:Originally posted by Jason Abbadon: Back in the day, I thought the lower pod was a nacelle....and it probably serves as the flush vents for the nacelles (that dark grey ventlike area at the pod's ventral aft could easily serve that purpose).
The Workbee is 1.3 meters tall, 1.3 meters wide and 2.7 long, roughly. We're looking at the back of the port pylon where it connects to the lower hull. You might do this with a dedicated 2 man turbolift, but even a 200 meter Oberth is going to have a messy time of it.
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I'd rather there be only emergency crawlspaces for maintence between primary and secondary hulls.
For all we know, the lower pod might detatch, sprout solar panels and go into orbit around a planet for months on end while the primary hull heads off to Risa for some fun in the sun.
-------------------- Justice inclines her scales so that wisdom comes at the price of suffering. -Aeschylus, Agamemnon
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quote:Originally posted by Jason Abbadon: Nope. I dont dig it at all.
I'd rather there be only emergency crawlspaces for maintence between primary and secondary hulls.
For all we know, the lower pod might detatch, sprout solar panels and go into orbit around a planet for months on end while the primary hull heads off to Risa for some fun in the sun.
Consider where the pylons terminate at the top section too. Right on the nacelles where the fins are. Now if I had short, stumpy warp nacelles that needed to be operated close to overload for very short periods (minutes?) I'd use the fins to cool the warp coils down. But putting a turbolift access here seems to be a little too suicidal even for redshirts!
I agree, some of the components of the warp drive are down there, but they are like the original Constitutions, mildly unaccessible. I'm wondering if that whole lower aft section might open up like a clamshell when all the systems are shut down? It could be used to change sensor pallets or other pieces of equipment.
posted
I'd figure that large grey section on the pod's forward dorsal side lifts off to reveal sensor palates and such- it's probable that the interior of the pod is completely changed from the STIII era to the TNG era.
For the ship to still be in service by TNG, it must have some impressive capabilities (sensorwise).
BTW, welcome to Flare (always good to see new members that want to talk ships and tech).
Strange we should be diswcussing the Oberth- I'm making up three models of said ship as we speak (though two are going back to the garagge manufacturer as display pieces and for box art pgotography). The model is scaled to 150 meters (a figure I agree with).
-------------------- Justice inclines her scales so that wisdom comes at the price of suffering. -Aeschylus, Agamemnon
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quote:Originally posted by Jason Abbadon: I'd figure that large grey section on the pod's forward dorsal side lifts off to reveal sensor palates and such- it's probable that the interior of the pod is completely changed from the STIII era to the TNG era.
For the ship to still be in service by TNG, it must have some impressive capabilities (sensorwise).
BTW, welcome to Flare (always good to see new members that want to talk ships and tech).
Strange we should be diswcussing the Oberth- I'm making up three models of said ship as we speak (though two are going back to the garagge manufacturer as display pieces and for box art pgotography). The model is scaled to 150 meters (a figure I agree with).
I agree that interior must have been refit several times during the 80 years preceding the TNG era. Which makes you wonder what do they do with all that gear when they aren't counting whales?
I suppose if the aft underside of the pod was the same color as the deflector/sensors on the Enterprise-Refit, it would make more sense initially.
I've got 80 odd models on www.orbithangar.com and as I learn new techniques I like to go back and update them. This time the Grissom is getting updated, after Grissom will be the Regula 1 Spacelab. I do like them to be as accurate as possible so I when I wrote the config files for Grissom I wanted to make sure I wasn't way out in left field with the shuttlebays.
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posted
Sounds cool. BTW, no need to quote someone if it's the preceeding post- we dont stand on ceremony here at Flare.
-------------------- Justice inclines her scales so that wisdom comes at the price of suffering. -Aeschylus, Agamemnon
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posted
Each board has it's own rules and vernacular, so it pays to be polite all the time. I don't know the dirty story behind the Oberths and ILM but I do know really bad design when I see it. I've never seen any plans for the Oberth on or off the net, so I'm guessing at the functions mostly. I'm guessing that no one at Paramount ever questioned the final design?
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I really like the Oberth! Really! It's great to see a ship that now "saucer and secondary hull blob, plus nacelles".
Starfleet should have far stranger vessel design than that- according to it's numerous member species which should (but aparantly dont) have an influence on starship design.
-------------------- Justice inclines her scales so that wisdom comes at the price of suffering. -Aeschylus, Agamemnon
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posted
Ahh! That's the "Rod and Gun Club" theory of military design and appropriation. Same bunch of admirals that handed the US Navy the Mk 14 torpedoes back in the 1930's.
I like the Oberth too, if only for it's incredible underdogness. The warp nacelles have a look that defies description. They aren't PB-47's, they aren't the new Linear models, only half the length of the nacelle seems to have coils in it. Long range doesn't seem to be the catchword of the day here. It probably has mission durations measured in weeks not months or years. But in a sense, it's a lot like the pilot NCC-1701. Everything is smooth and hidden behind pods and panels.
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hey, those same nacelles were on the first Excelsior designs ILM made.
As to the Oberth, it makes sense that the ship not be an extremely long-range ship: these would be the ships that do all the real work of research once the Enterprise moves on to it's next "discovery of the week".
I'd think a whole fleet of science ships was sent out to the Dyson Sphere (along with tachyon detection grids and orbital defenses to prevent unwanted security breaches).
-------------------- Justice inclines her scales so that wisdom comes at the price of suffering. -Aeschylus, Agamemnon
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posted
Jackill has a nice tug variant on the Oberth- no underslung pod, but two large tractor beam emitters under the nacelles.
He's also got a pair of combat versions- one with Miranda phasers and a third nacelle on the ventral side and one with a Miranda torpedo pod underslung where the Oberth's pod is.
-------------------- Justice inclines her scales so that wisdom comes at the price of suffering. -Aeschylus, Agamemnon
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posted
He Who Shall Not Be Named contributed this insight:
quote:
I've mentioned this before, I believe, but given the sheer volume of Oberths that must exist (I postulated 5000 or so over 150 years or the like) & the amazing adaptabiltiy of the pod design--pop it open or swap it out entirely--there has to be far more usage that JUST a research vessel. I've no problem with the Biko being an Oberth & a cargo vessel; that pod is perfect for cargo runs.
My favorite postulation for other subtypes is that of the "intelligence trawler" Threat forces see an Oberth nearby & think, "Oh, they're just studying that nova" but the pod really contains massive specialized passive intelligence-gathering sensors with maybe a few tight-focus active ones. They could be used as boder pickets, fleet AWACS ships, even Starfleet Intelligence command & training ships. Who's to say that there aren't a few with heavily upgraded engine desings & a pod that carries the sensor suites or intel training areas or both?
I agree. I also think their sensor suites could be rigged to detect cloaked ships (until cloaking tech moves up a notch, then sensor tech would need to catch up again).
Consider the Pegasus- it was likely chosen simply because it was so unassumning- and because top-secret intel is easier to maintain on a small ship.
Christopher, as you're new here, let me explain that "He Who Shall Not Be Named" does indeed refer to Chuthlu.
-------------------- Justice inclines her scales so that wisdom comes at the price of suffering. -Aeschylus, Agamemnon
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-------------------- Justice inclines her scales so that wisdom comes at the price of suffering. -Aeschylus, Agamemnon
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