All you ever wanted to know about the 9th chevron

[chris_h]

I assumed that whichever gate the DHD is connected to is the dominant gate on a world with more than one Stargate...

As for my theory for the 9th chevron, I figured that it just added an extra distance calculation to an existing address... 8 symbol address is another galaxy, 9 symbol address even further? Or maybe the Ancients had anticipated further expansion and built extra chevrons into the gate for that particular purpose?

Any thoughts?

That's been my own theory.

7 = Local "call"
8 = Long distance (other galaxy, same galactic cluster)
9 = "International" (completely different galactic cluster)

[Positively Kanyon]

7 = Local "call"
8 = Long distance (other galaxy, same galactic cluster)
9 = "International" (completely different galactic cluster)

Brilliant! That's the analogy I was trying to come up with, but you summed it up perfectly.

Anybody else agree or disagree, any more theories?

[Lord Zedd]

Very good theory don't know if it's true but I understand and like what you are saying.Now what if you have 3 gates on the same planet??Ridiculous yes I know why would anyone have 3 gates but suppose you have 3 gates how do you select one of the 3 gates?

[UltraMarioMan]

I think the 9th Chevron might be for dialing gates that are not on a planet. Floating in space lightyears from a system or even floating in the gap between planets..

[Teal'c]

OK, time travel doesn't make sense because the Ancients never mastered time travel. Alternate realities don't make sense since AR#1 Sam said the gate wasn't capable (Along with other reasons already posted in this thread). Multiple gates doesn't make sense simply because it's pretty pointless and the order doesn't make sense.

The only two I can think it could be are A) Further distance calculation (since that is all the Stargate does anyway) so there are 1406 (38x37) other galaxies to dial to. B) Redundancy, in case the Ancient ever needed to use it. C) It looks good

[sshspooky]

The only two I can think it could be are A) Further distance calculation (since that is all the Stargate does anyway) so there are 1406 (38x37) other galaxies to dial to. B) Redundancy, in case the Ancient ever needed to use it. C) It looks good

D) Only 7 chevron addresses were ever intended to be used, from the movie, but in the series they decided to use how the gate was designed to use an extra chevron for an exciting episode, but have never intended and may never intend to even look at the ninth chevron and it's function.


Personally i'd say it must be a distance calculation as the stargate has only ever been used for travel from Point A to Point B. Maybe the ninth chevron just allows you to stop of at a swanky ancient hotel for the night before you continue with your travels. could be a necessity for long journeys.

[ToastBusters]

A while back I presented a list of plausible theories as to what the ninth chevron could be. The theory listed here is one of them, so I'll skip that one. In no particular order:

1. Time travel. Discussed to death, no further discussion needed.

2. Extension. Discussed in this thread, so skipping.

3. Other clusters. 8 symbol address = other galaxy, same cluster while 9 symbol address = other galaxy, some other cluster. Summed up perfectly by chris_h:

7 = Local "call"
8 = Long distance (other galaxy, same galactic cluster)
9 = "International" (completely different galactic cluster)

4. Additional function. Remember that the gate sees each glyph as a numeric value rather than a symbol. (the symbols are merely an interface for the user, if you will) so symbol x could tell the gate "only connect if air is breathable at the other end" while symbol y could tell the gate "do not accept calls, for lack of a better term, from dialed gate"

Other possible commands could be: Dial a new gate for the first time, effectively adding it to the network; Disable target gate; establish wormhole as incoming (useful if your teem on the other end is under fire); only allow solid matter to enter (blocking energy shots) etc.

5. This final theory is my favorite. Establish a wormhole to a location which does not have a gate. You send your puddle jumper through the randomly opened wormhole (no accuracy, but we expect it to open in space anyway) fly to nearby planet, assemble new stargate and return home. Only problem? Well, hope it opens at a convenient location; cause the planet very well could be on the other side of the local star. Remember, with no gate at the other end you would have little control over exactly where the wormhole opens. On the other hand, the asgard seem fairly accurate with those hyperdrives so they might be able to... these are the ancients afterall.

I'm sure at least one of those theories is correct. Any opinions?

[David85]

That doesn't work at all.

If I wanted to dial the 2nd Earth one and wasn't far away then what would I do with the 8th one?

[ToastBusters]

That doesn't work at all.

If I wanted to dial the 2nd Earth one and wasn't far away then what would I do with the 8th one?

Dial your own area code, perhaps?

[Nurbs]

We know more than 7 chevrons requires more power, therefore having a 9th chevron just to open a different gate on the same planet makes no sense. I also think gating to a galaxy outside the local cluster is unlikely, you need a zpm alone inside the cluster, outside of it would require several factors more.

My thought is, you're counting wrong instead of chevrons 1-9 you have chevron 0-8. The 0th chevron requires a different set of protocols then Sam created in her dialing program. And likely its a special chevron which is why its not normally activated.

[AsgardCarnage]

nope they dont show the dialing computer in ep 1 of atlantis

my guess is that is is an extra distance calc, because the gate is designed for distance traval.

but u guys have to remember from what we have seen there is no way to send a specific symbol to a specific place in the dial. u have to do it in order. so u can just put in the 9th symbol it has to have the forst 8 in front. and we know that the 8th is another galaxy so the 9th will have to be another galaxy + something.

that or the acients just like symetry and it looks better that way

[sshspooky]

since dialing more chevrons requires extra power, maybe the 9th chevron simply allows the gate to stay open longer then 38 minutes?

[lord_rblade]

** VARIOUS SPOILERS **





Okay, here we go. I’m going to begin with what I believe is Ancient History :snicker: and then move on to how I feel the gate networks work.


Ancient History:

First, the Ancients evolved on earth. They built the stargate network throughout the milky way and shared that technology with their allied races (particularly the Asgard, who have a regular gate in the Ida Galaxy) [The Fifth Race]. After spreading throughout the Milky Way, they decided to have some fun and go to the Pegasus Galaxy, taking their great city of Atlantis with them.

By the time they reached Pegasus, they had been so bored to tears they had invented a new gate system (they replaced their gate during the journey). When they got to Pegasus, they installed the version 2 gates as they spread. One day, they awoke the Wraith (ha ha!) and the wraith spread, killing off the ancients, etc. Well, the only gate in the known universe designed to be used across galactic distances was the Atlantis gate. They decided to sink Atlantis in the ocean, and retreat through the stargate back to Earth, where they died from grief :snicker:.


Gateo Mumbo Jumbo:

First of all, version 1 and version 2 gates are basically the same except version 2 gates are designed to be able to dial faster, save power, and allow dialing remotely. There are even DHD’s designed to be attached directly to the gate, which contain attitude thrusters etc, so the gates can be placed in space. Yeah!


The Gate: It’s façade and dialing.

The gate has nine chevrons. These are the, I dunno, chevron-shaped objects on the gate!? For some reason, those dang earthlings number chevrons in the order they are entered. Dorks- fine, I’ll go with it. But we need to number based on all the chevrons that could be entered, and how they are entered in a complete dial. Those dang seven-didgit speed dials aren't for us ancients, they're for you youngsters.

The first three entered are the right ones, the next three the left ones, everybody knows that. That covers the first six, and I won’t touch that with a ten foot pole. [Evolution part 1]

Next, the top chevron. [The Fifth Race] It has TWO functions. First, as it’s role as the seventh chevron, it can do what any other good chevron does, it will encode data. When activated as any of the normal symbols, it is a distance multiplier, telling the gate how much power to draw. It’s primary function, however, is not to act like a normal chevron. When the PoO is sent, no matter where at in the order, the gate will attempt to dial. It will check the coordinates, and attempt to connect. If it can, it will lock the inner ring in place and open the wormhole.

In the event someone wants to enter more than seven symbols before the PoO (heaven forbid) then they can either enter their local area code symbol (for a local dial) or they can enter an out of area symbol. [The Fifth Race, Atlantis: Rising Part 1] BEWARE! If you enter a long-distance dial, your gate must have extra power available to make the dial. Then, the eighth and ninth symbols add a fourth position line for greater precision, followed by the PoO being ‘locked’.

So, to recap, from top clockwise the chevrons are labeled by the order they are encoded based on the longest phone, er, gate-dial that is possible, the ten symbol dial. 7/PoO, 1, 2, 3, 8, 9, 4, 5, 6.

7th/PoO chevron; when sent PoO, activates and attempts a lock. Otherwise, must be seventh symbol sent, and used as distance.
1st chevron, coordinate for line A.
2nd chevron, coordinate for line B.
3rd chevron, coordinate for line C.
8th chevron, coordinate for line D.
9th chevron, second coordinate for line D.
4th chevron, second coordinate for line C.
5th chevron, second coordinate for line B.
6th chevron, second coordinate for line A.

Local Dial: 1234560
Extragalactic (add distance): 12345670
Extra fine targeting (in case there are extra gates in the system): 1234567890
* Don’t forget the extra power requirement of extra-galactic dialing, and recharge your phone card, er.. zpm, before dialing.

So, to activate your call, send the PoO symbol, and the gate will (hopefully) ‘lock’.
Don’t forget, if you need to get a specific stargate in a system, you may want to dial the whole number out, so you don’t accidentally get routed to the wrong one. It might not be convenient, but at least it’s not dangerous.

To initiate a special command, you would enter the commands utilizing the impossible sequences: whenever two coordinates for a line are identical.
For example, you would enter chevron one as symbol A. Then for chevron two, you would encode symbol B. Then for chevron three you would encode symbol C. Four, C, Five B, and Six A, then hit the ByB (or send the PoO on earth) to activate.
This would trigger maintenance command ABC. This concept allows for quite a few possible maintenance commands, and make it hard for someone to enter a maintenance command on accident (unless they are random dialing, in which case it will just appear that they did not get a lock unless the maintenance command does something funky ).


The Gate: Connecting.

First of all, the gate monitors the initial formation of the wormhole for viability. It runs a million or so safety checks (luv the ancients!), both on the wormhole itself and the target gate. One useful check is that if stuff blocks the formation of the event horizon at the center of the stargate [A Hundred Days], the wormhole can’t form. Another check is that it verifies the functionality of the target gates DHD. It will not connect to a world whose DHD does not respond affirmatively to the self-diagnostic. If any of the safety checks fail, it collapses the forming wormhole, and the outward appearance is that it just doesn’t connect, or ‘lock’. Many frustrated dialers will repeatedly dial, as if the gate system is busted, when in fact it is often just keeping them from gating through a star, gating into a black hole, opening a gate in molten lava, or molten naqueda :snicker: for that matter.

I hope that is a clearer, more sec .. su .. sa.. oh never mind, a more short version of my thoughts. Comments?

[AsgardCarnage]

tha gate will lock without a functioning DHD on the other side. people can gate to earth can't they? maybe they faked a working dhd with the dialing computer but the first time they wouldn't have known about the checks. but in The Torment of Tantalus the DHD was busted and didn't work.

also another quick point people have to remember there is no way that we have seen for the DHD to tell if u are putting in the 8th or 9th symbol exsept for order. so u can't activate the 9th chevron without activating the 8th.

so my guess is its the extra distance calculation, maybe for diffrent galaxy clusters or maybe the galaxies can have 2 digit numbers meaning u could goto ~54,000 (37*37) galaxies isntead of just 37. but i think it is a traval thing not a dimentional or time thing because we have never seen that the gate was design for anything more then travel

[lord_rblade]

yes! an opposing point of view!

people can gate to earth can't they? maybe they faked a working dhd with the dialing computer but the first time they wouldn't have known about the checks. but in The Torment of Tantalus the DHD was busted and didn't work.

Quite truel. I'm working on the assumption that the gate wouldn't allow you to dial out either, until you trick it into thinking there is a functioning DHD. Based on this, to get it to dial out the first time (back in the fifties or whatever) [Torment of Tauntalus] they had to trick the gate into thinking a working dhd was present, possibly just to unlock the inner tract, before they could dial out. As for dialing back without a DHD, Carter is well aware of how to trick the gate, and no doubt teaches classes about it in her free time.

also another quick point people have to remember there is no way that we have seen for the DHD to tell if u are putting in the 8th or 9th symbol exsept for order. so u can't activate the 9th chevron without activating the 8th.

Like i said, yup. That's why in my theories I always use the same order, with a stop symbol (PoO) telling the gate that's all the symbols.

so my guess is its the extra distance calculation, maybe for diffrent galaxy clusters or maybe the galaxies can have 2 digit numbers meaning u could goto ~54,000 (37*37) galaxies isntead of just 37.

Definatley a possibility. At first I thought the best use of the 8th would be like you're implying, kinda a zip code. But then I realized every gate would have to have a huge list of all the zip codes. That's why I'm going with the distance thing carter suggested, and using one of the symbols as a 'local' symbol, that basically tells the gate not to multiply the distance. This would allow for a much greater range of dialing, but would limit the range depending on how the multiplier is used.

We could have a more definiative answer if we could get better shots from SG:A 1:1 .. The dialing computer is shown on all the screens in the bg, but hard to see. At one point, they 'encode' chevron seven, and the screen clearly shows the top one being lit on the dialing computer. that's where i came up with my theory above. no episode has ever shown the bottom two chevrons being utilized in any form, not even extragalactically.

but i think it is a traval thing not a dimentional or time thing because we have never seen that the gate was design for anything more then travel

agreed, the gate doesn't do dimensional/temporal travel (intentionally).