posted
Hmmm... yes... and the SGC has Carter's super computer to power their gate, though it's been pointed out several times that a DHD would be better and safer and would automatically compensate for stellar drift like the computer does.
So... now that the DHD was destoryed in 48 hours, we've got the Antarctic (Beta) Gate in the SGC, the Alpha Gate from Giza stored in Russia and not being used, a destroyed Alpha DHD from Giza, and an out-of-power Beta DHD stored at Area 51.
I guess that does suggest that any DHD can power any Gate. However, both the Alpha and Beta Gates were located on Earth...
Here's a question... Now that the SGC is using the Beta Gate, is the unique seventh symbol for Earth different than it was on the Alpha Gate? They suggested that it might be in the episode where they found the second gate, but I've never been able to tell if it actually is.
posted
Yeah, the ep where they found the Beta gate they mentioned that the origin symbol was different. But the SGC is using the Alpha gate now. Beta was destroyed by Anubis.
-------------------- "This is why you people think I'm so unknowable. You don't listen!" - God, "God, the Devil and Bob"
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posted
Ok... see.. i've missed too many recent-ish eps to be able to comment intelligently, I think.
Here's the history of the Gate that I know:
SGC is using Alpha Gate at the start of the series.
Beta Gate discovered in Antarctica and stored at Area 51 along with its DHD.
Beta Gate used for illegal offworld activities by NID personnel.
SG-1 beams alpha gate up to asgard ship as it's going into earth's atmosphere to escape. Alpha Gate presumed destroyed and Beta gate hooked up in the SGC to bring SG-1 home.
Russians discover Alpha Gate in ocean and connect Alpha DHD. They begin their own program which is eventually shut down and the Alpha GAte is mothballed.
This is where my knowledge drops off and this must be where Anubis destroys the Beta Gate and the Russians lease the Alpha Gate to the SGC...right?
Regarding the unique symbols, this is one of the things that the TV series tends to ignore. The Beta gate SHOULD have had different symbols including a unique "home" symbol, but this is ignored. Typically these days, they just assume that most symbols are the same, and if not, then the LOCATIONS of the symbols ar the same. So addresses still work regardless of what the symbols look like. Occasionally we see different symbols on the DHD (never on the gate, though - they only have two gate props, the spinning one in the gateroom set and their "portable" non-spinning field prop), but they're always mixed in with known symbols. So Jackson's translation of the gate symbols in the movie don't exactly work int he TV series.
Want a little Gate fun? Try this ultra-cool gate OS simultaor:
posted
Jackson's translation of the gate symbols in the movie don't exactly work int he TV series.
O'Neil was right: Jackson was, in fact, full of shit.
-------------------- "This is why you people think I'm so unknowable. You don't listen!" - God, "God, the Devil and Bob"
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posted
I think I've downloaded that file before and you're right... it is way cool.
In the movie, the Abydos Gate had a completely different set of symbols than the Earth Gate, IIRC. But we can just ignore that.
Here's the wuestion I never got a solid answer for: Which Gate was active on Earth the earliest, the Giza Gate (which was buried by the Egyptians after driving Ra off Earth) or the Antarctic Gate which was covered in ice.
I've always assumed that the Ant. Gate was in use first and then abandoned during som kind of continental shift which moved it into a frigid climate. Then the Giza Gate was set up and that's the one that the Go'auld eventually began using. I don't think it was ever really explained, but I was pretty sure we had some solid theories.
I also would have thought that the Antarctic gate was here first, probably put here by the original gate builders (as Dr. Jackson theorized in Solitudes). If the gate was covered by ice or otherwise made inactive before Ra arrived, then Ra may have placed the Giza gate on Earth not knowing of the other’s existence.
There are several discrepancies between the movie and the series, with the whole gate symbol issue being one of them. Based on the movie, one would have to decipher the symbols on each and every gate before one could dial home.
Also, the Earth gate in the movie does not quite look the same as on the TV show. The chevrons on the gate in the movie do not illuminate, and the “seventh” chevron on top (yeah, I know, there are actually 9) is slightly different than the rest, as it “frames” the symbol directly underneath it. (Just look at the gate graphic printed on the DVDs. It more closely resembles the “movie” gate.)
Another thing that always bugged me is how there is a “vortex” behind the movie gate, whereas the TV gate’s wormhole is totally flat on both sides. The only time a vortex such as this has been shown on the TV series is in A Mater of Time. Personally, I like the “vortex” effect better, as it makes more scientific sense to me: It seems that the wormhole should taper to the point of a singularity. (And, it just looks cooler!)
Additionally, we get a couple of glimpses of the “alien” Ra in the movie, and this totally contradicts the TV series’ snake-like Goa'ulds.
I also wondered why in the movie, they simply did not turn the gate on at Earth for the purposes of communicating with O’Neill and his team.
I really do not have a problem with Jackson “miraculously” finding the DHD shortly after O’Neill and his team returned to Earth (Children of the Gods). It is reasonable to assume that Ra hid or attempted to destroy the DHD (without actually destroying the gate) to ensure that the Abydonians did not escape through the gate. Also, it may be reasonable to assume that in the movie, O’Neill’s team brought some kind of power source with them in order to power the gate and dial home.
[ May 02, 2003, 02:01 PM: Message edited by: Commander Dan ]
-------------------- “My experience with Rick Berman is, you know, he does not understand what he's doing, he does not understand science fiction.” -- Andrew Probert
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posted
No... it's not unreasonable to assume they brought a power source. According to the series time line, Carter probably would've been working on the Gate for a little while before the events of the movie, so they probably knew a little bit about it anyway. They had, after all, figured out how to power their own Gate. And we've seen in other episodes that the Gate can be dialed and locked by hand if necessary.
Question... were there 9 chevron markers on the movie Gate like there are on the series Gate? Obviously only 7 were used, but only 7 are generally used in the series too...
Registered: Oct 1999
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quote:Originally posted by Aban Rune: Question... were there 9 chevron markers on the movie Gate like there are on the series Gate? Obviously only 7 were used, but only 7 are generally used in the series too...
I have tried freeze-framing scenes from the movie on my DVD player specifically to determine this. The problem is, there does not seem to be any scenes that give us a good solid view of the bottom of the gate. Even so, it does appear that there are 9 chevrons on the movie gate.
-------------------- “My experience with Rick Berman is, you know, he does not understand what he's doing, he does not understand science fiction.” -- Andrew Probert
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posted
Yup, there are nine chevrons on the movie and series props - and this is one of the sources of debate in the SG1 fandom.
We know that there is an EITHER chevron that can be activated with a little know how. The Asgard inhabit another galaxy, and in "The Fifth Race" the super-smarted O'Neil built a doodad to activate it. The eighth chevron is kinda like an "area code" for at least one other galaxy, though it has never been used other than to get to the Asgard. As for the ninth chevron, there has been speculation for tis use as a time machine or a portal to other dimensions, concepts that exist in the SG1 universe. However, there is no proof of any of this.
The gate requires a LOT of power to operate. In the series, later seasons see them often bring a naquadah generator to power the gate in case the DHD doesn't work. It's SOP for them to confirm a DHD before anyone goes anywhere - without a DHD, it's a whole lot tougher to get home, especially if there's no army trucks or lightning bolts around.
posted
Um... the gate was run off a car battery in "1969". Doesn't take THAT much power.
Question: what happens if you go through the "back" of a stargate? I mean, presumably there's a front with the spinning wheel, but... what's the other side look and act like? Could someone defeat the iris on our gate just by walking through the other side of their own?
-------------------- "This is why you people think I'm so unknowable. You don't listen!" - God, "God, the Devil and Bob"
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posted
Answer: Unknown. It's never been mentioned in the series, but most people seem to think it it'd have a similar result to standing in front of it when it activates. Rather messy.
As for "1969", the army trucks were running with the pedal down for quite some time. It *does* take a lot of energy to unlock the gate - the naquadah generators can pump a lot of energy through in a short time, much like the DHD does under normal circumstances. Hence why they tote one along on most missions.
posted
The age of the Antarctic gate was established as 50 million years in "Frozen". Back then, the Goa'uld should have had no reason to frequent the place, as there were no sentient bipeds around to serve as hosts...
...Unless we buy the rest of the claims in "Frozen", about cyclic human evolution. but Ra would probably still have been among the first Goa'uld to come pester Earth. His "alien" appearance in his dying moments could be attributed to extreme old-age withering, similar to what happened to the host of Apophis when the symbiont died, but faster.
The vortex not being flat was probably a tuning error on the original Earth gate setup, much like the seismic tremors or the frosting. I do wonder about going through the wrong side of the gate, though. The location prop at least has clearly asymmetric sides, so an experienced user shouldn't get confused - but many of the "temples" or "platforms" that mount the location prop still make it possible for an inexperienced user to walk in through the wrong side.
As for the power issue, stargates were apparently built to be user-friendly. They can be dialed and powered up even in the most primitive of conditions, given enough ingenuity. Based on this, one would assume they'd be tolerant of the user error of walking in from the wrong side, too. They aren't complex deathtraps - they are more like public transportation for John Doe the Stupider.
posted
I guess I've always imagined that if you walked through the back of the Stargate while it was on you'd simply appear right in front of the event horizon on the correct side. Stepping back through, then would take you through the wormhole. The wormhole travels through subspace (or whatever the SG-1 equivilant expression is) so I doubt it would be in any way accessable from the wrong side. Like Timo said, they're not meant to be death traps.
Now... correct me if I'm wrong, but, while we've never seen someone go through the back side of the gate, haven't we seen someone *look* through the back side? In other words, someone standing on the back side look through the gate at things on the front side. I could've sworn we have and that it was like looking through slightly rippling colored glass. But I could be thinking of something else.
posted
Yup. Second season, in "Prisoners". When Hammond and the SG-9 commander step through, they merely vanish. And in "Message in a Bottle", NanO'Neil is seen from the other side placing the alien ark into the event horizon.
And regarding the flat vortex in the movie, Timo may be onto something - in the movie on Abydos, the gate there seemed backed against a wall. If there were a vortex formed there, then the back wall shouldn't be so close.
Or we can more logically accept that the vortex CGI would simply be cheaper to animate as flat than flushed. On the flip side, I for one am quite glad that they never changed the original gate traveling sequence - that would just make it wierd.
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