Dialing more than seven chevrons

[Aesop]

This may not be the right sub-forum for this question but I figured since Destiny's a nine-chevron address, I might as well.

How does the gate know when an address over seven-chevrons is being dialed? I've noticed sometimes on phones I dial, say, seven digits when I intend to dial ten and it automatically starts ringing before after seven have been entered (usually because the local prefix is similar to the area code I'm intending to dial).

Does the gate not establish a wormhole after seven chevrons (when dialing eight or nine) because the first seven chevrons don't match any existing seven chevron address? Or does the DHD actually enter all of the coordinates at once and it just tells us that they're encoded/locked?

Something I was mulling over earlier today. Thought I'd ask.

[Generic Blue]

Hmmm, maybe the point of origin as a point after all... im guessing the point of origin is like a period, the sentence isnt over until it is entered.

[morbosfist]

The base design of the gate tells it to accept seven chevrons as a valid address on the spot. Manual dialling proves that. It takes additional protocols to convince the gate to accept larger addresses.

[AquaGamer53]

The real DHDs have a big "enter" button in the center of the console that is pressed at the end of the address. The SGC software must have an equivalent, same for the Destiny remotes too I'd guess.

[Aesop]

The real DHDs have a big "enter" button in the center of the console that is pressed at the end of the address. The SGC software must have an equivalent, same for the Destiny remotes too I'd guess.

Of course! I can't believe I didn't consider that. Maybe once the final chevron is encoded the computer operator presses "Enter" or something along those lines?

[ColdZero]

Or it could be like dial plan pattern matching on phones in an office. Since all 7 symbol addresses end in the unique POO of the gate and all 8 symbol, Othalla and Atlantis also end in the POO of the gate, thats easy. The destiny address is also easy to do even if the POO happens to be earth, its just another combination.

N = gate glyphs
P = POO glyph

NNNNNNP = Dial 7 symbol address
NNNNNNNP = Dial 8 symbol address
ABCDEFGH[earth's POO] = Dial Destiny

Since POO symbols aren't used in regular gate dialing and are always the last symbol, you'd never run into a situation where you'd get a false dial on a 8 or 9 symbol address that just happens to have the 7th symbol as the POO for the gate you are dialing from.

[Tilkistheboss]

I think that in terms of gate activation and dialling it is far more likely that the gate is based on a "put in an address and call" system rather than a "call automatically when a viable address is entered" system. Remember that all chevrons have to lock in place before the dialling sequence can be completed. It is probably the case that the dialler simply decides when to start the connection.

This way... Theoretically... if 1,2,3 chevrons etc are locked in place the dialler can select to start the connection regardless and it would be the Stargate that will not recognise the dialled position of the address and will shut down as a safety measure.

[AquaGamer53]

Of course! I can't believe I didn't consider that. Maybe once the final chevron is encoded the computer operator presses "Enter" or something along those lines?

Yeah, I was thinking it was something like that. The only problem with my explanation is that when you manually dial a gate, there is no "enter button".

Side note: The problem I have with gates being manually dialed is that the DHD's only purpose it to have a dialing interface and power supply. All the coordinate info must be stored in the actual gate to manually dial.

But still, there is no "enter button"... I have to think about a little more.

[Supreme Commander Sil]

The real DHDs have a big "enter" button in the center of the console that is pressed at the end of the address. The SGC software must have an equivalent, same for the Destiny remotes too I'd guess.

As I was going to say.

Walter probably hits "enter" when all the symbols are entered . OR the SGC has a different setting for the eighth chevron (when it shows the screen in the series, there are seven slots into which the symbols go.
The Kinomotes have a touch screen and work on the same principle, probably.

[ColdZero]

Why do you even need an enter button? The POO, except for the 9 glyph address is always the last symbol that is dialed. All the stargate has to do is wait till it sees that last symbol entered, manually, from the dhd or the sgc computer and go, hey do I have enough power? ok go.

[AquaGamer53]

Why do you even need an enter button? The POO, except for the 9 glyph address is always the last symbol that is dialed. All the stargate has to do is wait till it sees that last symbol entered, manually, from the dhd or the sgc computer and go, hey do I have enough power? ok go.

Maybe it's a confirmation button, so the gate doesn't waste power opening a wormhole. This solves my problem with manual dialing because then if the gate doesn't have a DHD then it must be set to dial any valid address because it could be an emergency (the DHD is busted so there still has to be a way to get home sort of thing).

[Abiron]

I have to briefly digress here to go back to my tired, now non-canon explanation of the big center DHD button, although, as usual, it will not provide a satisfactory answer to the question.

When SG-1 was originally being planned, the center button on the DHD was supposed to be the Point of Origin. Artwork done for the series prior to production proves this. There was even supposed to be a visible glyph on the central button, to add up to 39 on the DHD instead of the strange 38 on DHD vs. 39 on gate issue that we have now. The real-world reason that this was changed has never been explained, but until Solitudes it was still a possibility, even without seeing the glyph on the big button. In Solitudes, they put the "other" Earth PoO symbol on the main glyph set, and since then there hasn't been any possible return to the "original intent."

(Hmmm...the original web source of the reference image has died...lucky I saved a copy: http://www.barfleet.org/files/starga..._schematic.jpg)

As for the question at hand: I would have to agree that the gate doesn't try to actually connect to anything until the Point of Origin has been entered. In "The Fifth Race," the extra chevron distance equation was the 7th chevron instead of the PoO. The Earth symbol was still the last symbol dialed. So I have to agree with others here that the gate doesn't try to actually connect until the PoO is input, which acts as the "enter key" that tells the gate to initiate a wormhole.