ST Cloak and SW Tachyon Detection

Techno_Union · Post by **Techno_Union** » 2004-08-27 07:59pm

Ok, this may seem like it belongs in PST but I promise I will get to the ST vs SW point.

How exactly does a tachyon detection grid (like the one mentioned in "the face of the enemy") work in detecing a cloaked ship?

Does it work by detecting a tachyon emission from the cloaked ship?

If so, then would it be possible that a SW tachyon detection system would work to detect an ST cloaked ships?

I bring this up because I was reading over Slave I in the ICS and it said "Tachyon Emission Detector" when pointing to a part towards the cockpit of the craft. Do you think this means a detector of Slave I's own emissions, or a detector of other emissions from a different ship?

Drooling Iguana · Post by **Drooling Iguana** » 2004-08-27 09:12pm

Well, we know that it's possible to see out of a cloaked ship in ST, so its sensors must intercept some type of particle in order to create a picture of the outside world. It's possible that a cloaked ship is able to bend regular photons around itself so that they pass through unaffected, but is not able to do the same for techyons, thus rendering it detectable through active scanning with tachyon beams.

Ted C · Post by **Ted C** » 2004-08-28 09:46am

The tachyon detection grid in TNG's "Redemption, Pt 2" worked by sending tachyon beams from ship to ship in a fleet to create a "net" of tachyon beams across a given area of space. If a cloaked ship moved through the net, it would interrupt one or more of those beams, and the ships in the fleet would notice the interruption.

This means that cloaked ships aren't entirely transparent to tachyon streams, since they either bend or block such beams when they're in the way. It does not mean that cloaked ships emit tachyons.

Sarevok · Post by **Sarevok** » 2004-09-07 03:17am

Cloaked ship's do emit ion particles from their impulse drive as revealed in The Undiscovered Country. So a sensitive sensor system could detect Trek cloaks.

Alyeska · Post by **Alyeska** » 2004-09-07 11:26am

Cloaked ships HAVE to leave behind an emission trail or else they are stationary or coasting. The thing is that cloaked ships have to have efficent engines that reduce the emission trail to levels that are hard to detect. Now engines such as these are likely inefficent as hell with fuel, but its the stealth that they are going for.

Natorgator · Post by **Natorgator** » 2004-09-07 08:25pm

Alyeska wrote:Cloaked ships HAVE to leave behind an emission trail or else they are stationary or coasting. The thing is that cloaked ships have to have efficent engines that reduce the emission trail to levels that are hard to detect. Now engines such as these are likely inefficent as hell with fuel, but its the stealth that they are going for.

But what about in ST: Nemesis when Geordi said there were no emissions and that the Scimitar's cloak was "perfect"?

JME2 · Post by **JME2** » 2004-09-07 08:51pm

Natorgator wrote:
Alyeska wrote:Cloaked ships HAVE to leave behind an emission trail or else they are stationary or coasting. The thing is that cloaked ships have to have efficent engines that reduce the emission trail to levels that are hard to detect. Now engines such as these are likely inefficent as hell with fuel, but its the stealth that they are going for.
But what about in ST: Nemesis when Geordi said there were no emissions and that the Scimitar's cloak was "perfect"?

It's likely that either the Tal Shiar or the Reman scientists under Shinzon had been working on an advanced cloak prior to his coup. Or perhaps it was a Dominion design he stole for himself; there are a large nuber of possibilities.

Praxis · Post by **Praxis** » 2004-09-07 09:22pm

Natorgator wrote:
Alyeska wrote:Cloaked ships HAVE to leave behind an emission trail or else they are stationary or coasting. The thing is that cloaked ships have to have efficent engines that reduce the emission trail to levels that are hard to detect. Now engines such as these are likely inefficent as hell with fuel, but its the stealth that they are going for.
But what about in ST: Nemesis when Geordi said there were no emissions and that the Scimitar's cloak was "perfect"?

There were no emissions detectable by Star Trek sensors. It doesn't make it 'perfect' in an absolute term, but to the Federation, it appears 'perfect'.