XPost: rec.arts.sf.tv, rec.arts.tv
From: ANIM8Rfsk@cox.net
in article 1130365447.430840.75250@f14g2000cwb.googlegroups.com, Doug
Freyburger at dfreybur@yahoo.com wrote on 10/26/05 3:24 PM:
> Paul Vader wrote:
>> ANIM8Rfsk writes:
>>
>>>> Star Trek communicators are magic. Deal with it. *
>
> There are levels of magic. Since plenty of SF books used
> subspace, it was a well established part of the genre.
> Subspace radio didn't take much additional stretch of the
> imagination. Unlike transporters which started out as
> pure plot devices with little prior use in the field.
>
>>> First I want an example of communicators talking through a planet.
>>
>> The enterprise is in orbit. Therefore, for much of the time, it has no line
>> of sight to the landing party. The planet's in the way.
>>
>> Unless the enterprise always uses geosyncronous orbits anyway. I suppose
>> that's a possible fanwank. *
>
> It looked to me like some of their authors understood
> what a geosync orbit is and mentioned it, others didn't
> and figured they were on a powered hover over the
> landing party. I don't think any author bothered to
> figure through such issues. They just put the Enterrpise
> above the landing party and that's that. Here we are as
> fans knowing that's wrong but we have had decades to
> think through such matters.
>
Still, the writer's guide specifies 16,000 miles as transporter range.
That's an odd thing to bother to come up with, EXCEPT that it does work out
that they can't just park in geosync, and introduces the whole 'oh no the
engines are off we're spiraling in!' element. Either they worked this out
in advance, or they got really really lucky.
--
You Can't Stop the Signal
--- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05
* Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)
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