Yes, just a question about Bussard Collectors. Do they HAVE to be on the front of nacelles?? couldn't you like stick them on the front of the ship or behind the bridge or... anywhere really!?! Is there any reason why they are where they are?
Andrew
------------------ "I threw bitter tears at the ocean But all that came back was the tide..." 'I Will Not Forget You' Sarah McLachlan
posted
The Bussard collectors generate a powerful electromagnetic field. Maybe it would interfere somehow with the warp field if not aligned in the same axis with the warp field coils.
posted
No no! The field coils directly behind the Bussard collectors generate that field... and I'm not talking about the warp coils that are inside the actual nacelle, I talking about the gold-y coloured vertical grill on say, the E-D right behind the Bussard nose-cone...
------------------ "I threw bitter tears at the ocean But all that came back was the tide..." 'I Will Not Forget You' Sarah McLachlan
posted
They should be able to be placed anywhere, although a couple of red tits placed on the saucer would look funny. Maybe as a leading edge for the secondary hull would work. The alignment shouldn't be an issue, just an engineering problem. The use of power might be though. Can they run the BCs off it's source, or does it need some of it's own power and a bit of power from the coils, feeding off the coils as the warp factor increases?
------------------ I see a red door and I want it painted black
Shik
Starship database: completed; History of Starfleet: done; website: probably never
Member # 343
posted
Um, that "gold-y colored grill" isn't the collectors. That is, as I remember, some form of warp stress abeyance grill designed to help redirect field energy to form the forward lobe & to reduce stress on the nacelles.
Now if only I can remember where I read that.
------------------ "Omigod. Singing meat. This is altogether too much."
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Well that yellow grill is actually something useful I don't know. (Yes I know they wouldn't put something useless on a ship to take up room) It's not on the Excelsior class, Sovereign class, Nova class, or the Pormetheus class. The Bassard collectors Maybe be part of the entire Warp field thingy. Remember, the Pheonix in First Contact had one and I do not think Cochrane would put soemthing like that on just so he start a gas collection from space.
------------------ Predict the unpredictable, but how do you unpredict the unpredictable?
------------------ Remember December '59 The howling wind and the driving rain, Remember the gallant men who drowned On the lifeboat, Mona was her name.
The Bussard collectors collect hydrogen, supposedly to store emergency hydrogen (and/or deuterium) rations. One of the possible reasons for the particular placement is the fact that the scoops need to penetrate the navdef (and maybe warp-) fields.
It also seems that Bussard ramscoops are not necessary for propulsion. Cheyennes, Excelsiors, Const II nacelles (not sure about this. There are rumours of red-coloured tips in DS9), Defiants and Centaur didn't have clear 'Buzzard ramscoops'.
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