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I think I hit on something.

What if during the time the rebel ships were all firing on the Executor the shielding crew started using the particle shield radiators to help keep the ray shields up? With both sets running it would of allowed the ship to better withstand the onslaught, but it allowed a few starfighters to slip in.

Hmm... I suppose you mean sending power intended for them to the ray shields instead, right?

Its an interesting idea, but then they could have kept them raised around the bridge area, couldn't they?

no i mean using them to help distribute the incoming power instead of having it fry the first set

Marko Dash wrote:no i mean using them to help distribute the incoming power instead of having it fry the first set

If you mean what I think you mean, I'm not sure if its even possible.

Marko Dash wrote:What if during the time the rebel ships were all firing on the Executor the shielding crew started using the particle shield radiators to help keep the ray shields up? With both sets running it would of allowed the ship to better withstand the onslaught, but it allowed a few starfighters to slip in.

Why would the radiators for different shield types necessarily be separated? (And that's assuming two different systems were used on the Executor.)

Marko Dash wrote:I think I hit on something.

What if during the time the rebel ships were all firing on the Executor the shielding crew started using the particle shield radiators to help keep the ray shields up? With both sets running it would of allowed the ship to better withstand the onslaught, but it allowed a few starfighters to slip in.

Why would particle shields need radiators? All they do is apply counterforce, they would be no different from the acceleration compensators. A particle shield vs a railgun round should work by applying force against the projectile. Energy would be conserved as the projectile deforms and heats, just as it would had it struck the hull. Energy shields would still be needed to take care of the thermal energy that the now destroyed projectile would be depositing.

Ender wrote:

Marko Dash wrote:I think I hit on something.

What if during the time the rebel ships were all firing on the Executor the shielding crew started using the particle shield radiators to help keep the ray shields up? With both sets running it would of allowed the ship to better withstand the onslaught, but it allowed a few starfighters to slip in.

Why would particle shields need radiators? All they do is apply counterforce, they would be no different from the acceleration compensators. A particle shield vs a railgun round should work by applying force against the projectile. Energy would be conserved as the projectile deforms and heats, just as it would had it struck the hull. Energy shields would still be needed to take care of the thermal energy that the now destroyed projectile would be depositing.

Perhaps to radiate the heat produced in the field generator creating the opposing force repelling the incoming projectile?

Even if the particle shields had radiators and they were used to supplement the ray shield radiators, why would that weaken the particle shields? It's not like they would have to shut off the particle shields to dump some extra energy into their radiators.

IIRC particle shields are stated to use very little power which is why they can always be active; Ray shields are so power intensive that they're only raised for combat. I don't see what, if it's even possible, they would gain by dumping so little power to the Ray shield.

Isolder74 wrote:

Ender wrote:

Marko Dash wrote:I think I hit on something.

What if during the time the rebel ships were all firing on the Executor the shielding crew started using the particle shield radiators to help keep the ray shields up? With both sets running it would of allowed the ship to better withstand the onslaught, but it allowed a few starfighters to slip in.

Why would particle shields need radiators? All they do is apply counterforce, they would be no different from the acceleration compensators. A particle shield vs a railgun round should work by applying force against the projectile. Energy would be conserved as the projectile deforms and heats, just as it would had it struck the hull. Energy shields would still be needed to take care of the thermal energy that the now destroyed projectile would be depositing.

Perhaps to radiate the heat produced in the field generator creating the opposing force repelling the incoming projectile?

The point Mad and Ender are making is that there's no reason for ray and particle shields to use separate radiators or heat sinks - its all energy (kinetic or otherwise) they absorb and dump into the sinks (and eventually dispose of) so "generator specific) radiators are irrelevant.

The only way "ray/particle" shields differ is in the kinds of attacks they're designed to deal with a massless beam cannot be stopped in the same way as a solid object (even a particle beam and projectile can differ in terms of stoppage.) But they all "transmit" energy to the shield generators, and that energy gets absorbed.

Norade wrote:IIRC particle shields are stated to use very little power which is why they can always be active; Ray shields are so power intensive that they're only raised for combat. I don't see what, if it's even possible, they would gain by dumping so little power to the Ray shield.

What does a ray shield do that necessitates it drawing moer power than a parrticle shield? There's no reason it neccesarily needs more energy than a particle shield, and if it consumes energy it must do work.

Marko Dash wrote:no i mean using them to help distribute the incoming power instead of having it fry the first set

If you mean "what if the REbels over-optimized their defenses to handle energy weapon attacks but not projectiles - it might amke some sense, however why would they fail to ignore the threat of projectile weapons? Proton torpedoes and concussion missiles are still part of shipboard armament and would be stopped by parrticle shielding.

Connor MacLeod wrote:

Norade wrote:IIRC particle shields are stated to use very little power which is why they can always be active; Ray shields are so power intensive that they're only raised for combat. I don't see what, if it's even possible, they would gain by dumping so little power to the Ray shield.

What does a ray shield do that necessitates it drawing moer power than a parrticle shield? There's no reason it neccesarily needs more energy than a particle shield, and if it consumes energy it must do work.

I was going by what the Guide to Vehicles and Vessels had to say, and as near as I can tell that's still cannon.

I'm assuming the each shield system has its own set, otherwise stressing one would limit the other, and by using some of the PS's sinks the RSs could hold out longer.

Marko Dash wrote:I'm assuming the each shield system has its own set, otherwise stressing one would limit the other, and by using some of the PS's sinks the RSs could hold out longer.

Why would they each have their own set of radiators? As you point out, the shields getting pounded the hardest will last longer if all available radiators are used. And, really, letting the combat shields last as long as they can is pretty much the general idea.

Could be that they're completely distinct technologies, which covers that question nicely, I think.

drachefly wrote:Could be that they're completely distinct technologies, which covers that question nicely, I think.

What, they have incompatible waste heat or something?

Mad wrote:

Marko Dash wrote:I'm assuming the each shield system has its own set, otherwise stressing one would limit the other, and by using some of the PS's sinks the RSs could hold out longer.

Why would they each have their own set of radiators? As you point out, the shields getting pounded the hardest will last longer if all available radiators are used. And, really, letting the combat shields last as long as they can is pretty much the general idea.

The two systems having seperate physical heat sinks and radiators can be chalked up to an attempt at redundancy. Both having seperate but apperently networked(or the trick in question wouldn't work at all) radiators and heat sinks means less of a change a glancing hit will knock out the radiators to both.

Isolder74 wrote:The two systems having seperate physical heat sinks and radiators can be chalked up to an attempt at redundancy.

Evidence that this is done?

Both having seperate but apperently networked(or the trick in question wouldn't work at all) radiators and heat sinks means less of a change a glancing hit will knock out the radiators to both.

When has one shield type ever fallen without taking the other with it?

You guys aren't grasping the issue here. What differencee is there between the kinetic energy of a physical impactor transferred to the target once its struck, and the energy of a laser or paticle beam once its's struck the target?

Separate methods of shield generation make sense. But once the energgy (kinetic or otherwise) is absorbed, those distinctions cease to matter as far as the absorption/retransmission ssystem is concerned. At best what you are proposing is that you have a double-redudnant shield system.. but why would you do that? Having a bigger single heat sink and radiator system makes as much sense, since there is no conceivable reason why the two systems would be incompatiable (as Mad says, do they have incompatible waste heat or something?)

Besides, I think you people need to actually look at some of the examples in the books and movies. TLs and missiles were both used in the ROTS and ROTJ battles, and once shields were knocked down both weapons could be used interchangably.

In both the Tyrant's Test novels, as well as the Stackpole and Allston X-wing novels (Specifically Bacta War, Isard's Revenge, and the Wraith Squadron books) proton torpedoes/concussion missiles and turbolaser/energy weapons are used interchangably to knock down shields and allow other attacks through (Lusankya in Bacta War, an ISD in Isard's Revenge, Iron fist in the stackpole novels, etc.)

Planetary shields attacked by a torpedo sphere use proton torpedoes, but oncee down the turbolasers could target through.

Mad wrote:What, they have incompatible waste heat or something?

Sorry, I missed the part where the OP clarified the original post in that way. I thought he meant 'radiator' to mean 'emitter'.