StarDestroyer.Net BBS

In season 4 of Voyager, the EMH makes contact with Starfleet, and knowing that Voyager's crew is alive, Starfleet launches Project Pathfinder, in which, thanks mostly to the brilliance of Reginald Barclay, Starfleet is able to make contact with Voyager, to the point where they can have at least 11 minute conversations with a ship 30,000 light years away. How far can this technology go for the Federation, concerning their logistics, expansion, and exploration?

For one thing, we do know that Neelix is within transmission distance, and is considered a Federation ambassador, so if desired, Starfleet could give him and the Talaxians missions. They could also establish contact with the other races that Voyager ran into that aren't Borg or murderous, invading conquerers. So, what else can Starfleet and the Federation use this newly developed technology for?

They could eliminate any potential comms lag within the Federation itself or with any neighbors. Though I'm not sure it that is really an issue at that point

Adam Reynolds wrote:They could eliminate any potential comms lag within the Federation itself or with any neighbors. Though I'm not sure it that is really an issue at that point

It does seem to be an issue that has largely been solved by TNG/DS9; there is near-instantaneous, lag-free communication across light-years with ease. Presumably it's done by... I have no fucking idea, shifting radio frequencies into warp or something.

Being able to communicate deep into unexplored territory has its uses. For example, say you don't want people to cotton on to you poking around in their backyard. Send a few small exploratory starships deep into the DQ (or the Gamma, if you want to nose around in the Dominion's business) and use the Pathfinder technology to communicate with them and receive regular updates.

Elheru Aran wrote:It does seem to be an issue that has largely been solved by TNG/DS9; there is near-instantaneous, lag-free communication across light-years with ease. Presumably it's done by... I have no fucking idea, shifting radio frequencies into warp or something.

They have a subspace relay network for that.

There was the episode were Barclay was made a super-genius by some aliens and he repaired one of them.

But they seemed to be old tech as Archer's Enterprise utilized something similar on a smaller scale, a subspace communications amplifier.

And during the earlier TNG there were episodes with messages that had a time lag of several hours at least.

So, while within Federation space communication might have become almost instantaneous, the Deep Space Explorers might still have to fight with communication lags.

For these the Pathfinder Project might be a solution - if the problem exists for them.

Elheru Aran wrote:

Adam Reynolds wrote:They could eliminate any potential comms lag within the Federation itself or with any neighbors. Though I'm not sure it that is really an issue at that point

It does seem to be an issue that has largely been solved by TNG/DS9; there is near-instantaneous, lag-free communication across light-years with ease. Presumably it's done by... I have no fucking idea, shifting radio frequencies into warp or something.

Being able to communicate deep into unexplored territory has its uses. For example, say you don't want people to cotton on to you poking around in their backyard. Send a few small exploratory starships deep into the DQ (or the Gamma, if you want to nose around in the Dominion's business) and use the Pathfinder technology to communicate with them and receive regular updates.

Is this system somehow untraceable?

I don't think so, Barclay was essentially making calls to calculated projected sectors until Voyager picked up a Starfleet transmission, which Seven picked up from Astrometrics. Also, in a later episode, Ferengi hijacked the signal to sent their own transmission to send a modified holo-Barlcay to try and get Seven's nanoprobes. Though, this was due to having insider information thanks to hiring a Dabo girl romance Barclay until he spilled the information on how the array worked.

So, it seems that if you're properly prepared, you can intercept a transmission if you're between the broadcaster and the receiver of the message, and change the message itself.