Efficiency and power in Stargate.

[Zalenka]

It is my theory that there are two ways to ways to advance pieces of technology in the Stargate universe: these are to either improve the technology's design or to improve the power behind it.

I can think of three different types of technology where this is the case: shields, weapons and hyperdrives.

Shields: I think with shields it's like building a bridge. It is possible to build a very strong structure out of something as flimsy as paper and equally to build a very weak structure out of steel or concrete.
I think our Asgard shields are of a better design than that of the Goauld but do not have the same level of power behind them.

Weapons: I think weapons work similar to force and sharpness. You can hit someone with a minimum amount of force with sharp object and do just as much, if not more damage, as you would if you really smacked them with a blunt one.

Hyperdrives: I think these work on the same principal as weapons and depend on how efficient or powerful they are. The 304s have a pretty good hyperdrive, but they are considerably better when they have a ZPM attached. What would happen if an Asgard ship was fitted with a ZPM? (obviously it would not make any difference if their power source was equal to a ZPM) Another example of this is the Goauld cargo ship modified by O'Neil. Did he add a new power source or were his modification based on developing the technology that pushes the ship through hyperspace.

If these principals are true for stargate, but they may not be, how can we develop what we have?

Are our shields and weapons perfect as they and just neecd more power or are there examples of technology from other races that can develop what we have?

[Aer'ki]

Very good post. Power is very important, but with some tech more power would just mean an overload.
As for examples of non power-intensive superior tech...that's a hard one.

I can throw out a few examples though. The replicators upgraded captured Asgard ships in about every way possible. They didn't bring new parts in, they reworked what was available and made it superior. Go Bugs!

Ancient satelite used a small power source and a capacitor to deliver hive-ship killing energy beam. Tauri tech never did that with their smaller power sources, so the tech must matter more than the power in this case.

The 'eyes' from the Goa'uld weren't power sources, but combined they allowed for Anubis's super-weapon to operate. Don't know what they were, actually.

Biggest example would be Asgard vs Human tech. Powder-propelled bullets worked better than high powered Asgard energy weapons. In this case it was the design of the weapon that matter rather than a tech upgrade.

I'm sure there are others, but as Vala so accurately said, "a few ships with decent shields" are nothing special.

[First]

Yeah good post!

Re: Making old ships go faster. If the power source is abundant, it could just be a matter of "opening up" the engine to allow more power to be channeled in.
An earthly equivalent would be taking an old car engine and fitting bigger camshaft, carby etc. it will use more fuel but produce more power, as long as you have fuel in the fuel tank, and you dont over stress the engine it will work. Engines are often derated to give longer service life, so there is often room to increase power output.
The cargo ship that Oneill modified was burned out after the long journey, they sacrificed reliability for extra performance.


The Ori shields seemed to stand up to most that was thrown at them, without any apparent damage inside the ship. Most ships still seem to suffer some damage even with the shields operating and adequate power levels, thus not stopping 100% of the attack. Maybe Ori shields are better tech?

[Col. Matarrese]

Yeah good post!

Re: Making old ships go faster. If the power source is abundant, it could just be a matter of "opening up" the engine to allow more power to be channeled in.
An earthly equivalent would be taking an old car engine and fitting bigger camshaft, carby etc. it will use more fuel but produce more power, as long as you have fuel in the fuel tank, and you dont over stress the engine it will work. Engines are often derated to give longer service life.
The cargo ship that Oneill modified was burned out after the long journey, they sacrificed reliability for extra performance.


The Ori shields seemed to stand up to most that was thrown at them, without any apparent damage inside the ship. Most ships still seem to suffer some damage even with the shields operating and adequate power levels, thus not stopping 100% of the attack. Maybe Ori shields are better tech?

Plot shields...

[First]

Ahh, the most effective shield of all!!!

[stargater1990]

It is my theory that there are two ways to ways to advance pieces of technology in the Stargate universe: these are to either improve the technology's design or to improve the power behind it.

I can think of three different types of technology where this is the case: shields, weapons and hyperdrives.

Shields: I think with shields it's like building a bridge. It is possible to build a very strong structure out of something as flimsy as paper and equally to build a very weak structure out of steel or concrete.
I think our Asgard shields are of a better design than that of the Goauld but do not have the same level of power behind them.

Weapons: I think weapons work similar to force and sharpness. You can hit someone with a minimum amount of force with sharp object and do just as much, if not more damage, as you would if you really smacked them with a blunt one.

Hyperdrives: I think these work on the same principal as weapons and depend on how efficient or powerful they are. The 304s have a pretty good hyperdrive, but they are considerably better when they have a ZPM attached. What would happen if an Asgard ship was fitted with a ZPM? (obviously it would not make any difference if their power source was equal to a ZPM) Another example of this is the Goauld cargo ship modified by O'Neil. Did he add a new power source or were his modification based on developing the technology that pushes the ship through hyperspace.

If these principals are true for stargate, but they may not be, how can we develop what we have?

Are our shields and weapons perfect as they and just neecd more power or are there examples of technology from other races that can develop what we have?

that is certinly one way to improve the performance of atleast asgard shields because they held up to much more enemy fire with a zpm than just standard power(which i assume to be a naquada generator)

[SGSargon]

The 'eyes' from the Goa'uld weren't power sources, but combined they allowed for Anubis's super-weapon to operate. Don't know what they were, actually.

I belive that the "eyes" are like that blue crystal from "The Visitor" (Devil's Rainbow), which Adam described "it's like a magnifying glass, only it magnifies energy, not light".
The Ori vessels have proved to resist explosions from the inside, maybe they have dampening fields just like the Asgard ships, so any interior damage will be neutralized.
Efficiency is a good power, and a good power(source) is efficient.

[Raj_2006]

did the zpm boost the sheild strenght or just made the shield reach its full potential? Same with the hyperdrive, thts wht i believe.

[Myles]

did the zpm boost the sheild strenght or just made the shield reach its full potential? Same with the hyperdrive, thts wht i believe.

Yes, the ZPM just boots the power so the shields and hyperdrive can be used to their full potential. There's no way just adding a ZPM means that a hyperdrive with any other power source instantly becomes faster. Equally powered 304's, one with a ZPM and one 304 with some other power source, will be equally strong.

[Zalenka]

Yes, the ZPM just boots the power so the shields and hyperdrive can be used to their full potential. There's no way just adding a ZPM means that a hyperdrive with any other power source instantly becomes faster. Equally powered 304's, one with a ZPM and one 304 with some other power source, will be equally strong.

Does this mean then that the Asgard hyperdrive on the 304s does not work at full potential and that a ZPM will allow it to do so? It could also be assured from this that Asgard power cores and ZPMs are of equal power as a 304 (with a ZPM) can make it to Atlantis in the same amount of time as astandard Asgard ship, 3 days.

[lord groovy]

Does this mean then that the Asgard hyperdrive on the 304s does not work at full potential and that a ZPM will allow it to do so? It could also be assured from this that Asgard power cores and ZPMs are of equal power as a 304 (with a ZPM) can make it to Atlantis in the same amount of time as astandard Asgard ship, 3 days.

Or that anyone thinks that the drive works like light bulb...

[Zalenka]

Or that anyone thinks that the drive works like light bulb...

I think that it is kind of how they work. The more power the brighter the bulb. Too much power and it blows.

It would mean though that the Asgard hyperdrive is not built for ZPM levels of power, as I suggested, as they were worried that the first trip to Atlantis did tax the drive to the point that they were worried if they could use it again.

[Aer'ki]

On another thread I posted a theory about how hyperdrives don't thrust in hyperspace...they gain their speed in the split second transition between realspace and hyperspace and then coast to target, where they revert.

It has been mentioned in some episodes(don't know which, please feel free to throw out some names) in which the initial jump to hyperspace is said to require a lot of energy.

I think in this way faster speeds can be attained with a larger initial energy spike...so a ZPM would allow them quite a speed jump, and then provide the lesser amount of juice to keep the hyperspace field active and the ship in hyperspace.

I also think this initial jump is what causes wear and tear on a drive, and once they make it to hyperspace they are effectively safe...unless the emitters are damaged by other problems. This is why the puddle jumper McKay upgraded was suspected to make one, maybe two jumps...they never said anything about half jumps or breaking down halfway. Once the jump begins you coast to target and revert. Initiating another jump is the tricky part.

[Starsaber]

When you explain it like that, it makes a lot of sense. The comment about the modified Jumper is what made the difference for me.

Maybe the Wraith ships don't "coast" as well and that's why they had to make stops on the way to Atlantis in The Siege.

[Zatnikitelman]

Wraith ships have to stop because they are damaged by the hyperspace radiation. Mentioned I think in Seige Pt3, maybe Pt1.

We're always assuming the hyperdrive is an appliance you plug up and it runs drawing power and converting it into motion. In Ethon, the naquadah generators that everyone seems to think power the ships were [/u]auxiliary[/u]. In Last Man, only one power core was mentioned and it was about to overload. From evidence gathered onscreen, the hypercore ARE the power sources for the ships similar to Star Trek's warp core, or atleast the engine in a car-it provides power to drive the car and powers the accessories such as AC, lights etc. The ZPM allows the engine as such to act more as a "focusing" for lack of a tired mind's better term device to take the extra power and convert it into some form of energy that is used to propel the ship through hyperspace.