Memory Alpha
Register
Advertisement
Memory Alpha

Sources??

This page is in serious need of sources if it wishes to remain intact. --Gvsualan 02:24, 25 Feb 2005 (GMT)

very exostensial thought, the page itself wishing to remain intact??? lol


We don't have a page on ship phasers yet, but when we do, this page should be used as either a disambiguation page, or an article on both (which would be logical, considering they are both build on the same principal, one just being a bit larger). -- Redge 10:36, 22 Jun 2004 (CEST)

Do you think it's really necessary to distinguish them? They have the same operating principles. I think it's fine as just one page. -- McC 01:00, 23 Feb 2005 (GMT)

I'm deleting the part at the end that says stuff vaporized in TOS because they didn't have enough budget. This is pure speculation and I'm sick of people trying to decanonize TOS as a whole because it doesn't look that pretty. -- Mark 2000


"That Which Survives" establishes that the 23rd century Federation phaser could heat metal to maximum temperature of 8000 degrees Centigrade. This definitely belongs in this article. 64.229.181.69 03:32, 5 Jun 2005 (UTC)

However, that statement does not tell much since different metals have different heat capacities, meaning that the same amount of energy used causes different rises in temperature. Furthermore, that's a rather odd statement considering that the vast majority of metals, if not all of them, (at least those we know today) would be in gaseous form at 8000 degrees Centigrade.--Timo Takalo 23:07, 13 Sep 2005 (UTC)

Phaser Turret Schematic in TOS "Space Seed"

Just wanted to pop in and comment on the first note at the bottom of the article to say that there's at least one episode of TOS besides "The Trouble With Tribbles" where an image of a phaser emitter is seen, and that's in "Space Seed." It's at the point where Khan is in Sickbay and reading schematics and texts for the Enterprise. One of the images is a schematic of the ship's phaser turrets (if I remember correctly, specifically the ones on the saucer section; it's basically a ball turret). It's shown on screen in such a manner that makes it perfect for screen capturing, if I recall.--63.230.159.110 21:01, 8 Jul 2005 (UTC)

You're mistaken, that diagram in "Space Seed" was something else entirely, something with long lateral lines going across the page, probably some kind of perspective view of somthing. --Atrahasis 00:41, 13 Sep 2005 (UTC)

ok, i may be misunderstanding the topic, but you see a live action shot of a phaser emiter on ds9 when the cardies try to take it back, the up close shot consists of torpedo turrets taking aim and the phaser turrets right beside them.

Two Points

There definitely needs to be a picture in this article. If I knew where to get the images, I would add one myself -- but phasers were a standard prop in the two series I watched, TOS and TNG. I'm amazed no one has yet added an image.

Second:

Since early times, human beings have endeavored to create less lethal weapons.

That's a nice sentiment, but it seems to me the opposite is true. Is there some reason for this inaccurate (and not particularly encyclopedic) sentence?

Alien weapons

I may be at the wrong article (ie: disrupotr, phase weapon, energy weapon, etc.) But should this article have "Alien" sub-headings like Tricorder has? I can think of a number of alien weapons, including the "you-have-to-look-closely-to-see" Vulcan phasers. Because this article seems to be strictly about Starfleet phasers (read first line) - AJHalliwell 13:09, 18 Sep 2005 (UTC)

References

I think most of the text referring to the use of each setting of the phaser should be backed up with a reference to an episode, if possible. Zsingaya Talk 18:33, 25 Oct 2005 (UTC)

I believe so as well. At the moment, they all come directly from Star Trek: The Next Generation Technical Manual, which isn't realyl considered a canon source. --From Andoria with Love 19:02, 25 Oct 2005 (UTC)

Re-write

Phaser-type weapons, as has been mentioned above, have been seen in other races, such as the Vulcans. At the moment, the page only has information about Federation weapons, and only a small section on the ship-mounted weapons. I reckon this page could get really good with a community-effort. Special attention should be paid to the Sidearm settings section, which probably doesn't come from on-screen references. Zsingaya Talk 22:34, 25 Oct 2005 (UTC)

removed info

When discharged, phasers typically emitt a "bew bew" like sound wave. This wave pattern is due to the transition of tricobolt particles within the particle accelerator between trans-sonic velocities.

I don't think we need a fan-based explanation as to why a phaser goes "bew bew"... --From Andoria with Love 20:10, 27 February 2006 (UTC)

History

I removed the following from "History", as it comes froma novel and is non-canon:

":It seems that the phaser pistol had not come into regular service even in Kirk's time; in the novel The Ashes of Eden, during a simulation, Kirk (as the phaser control operator of the USS Farragut on the surface of the planet) is holding a laser pistol and musing that only the only phasers around are shipboard phaser banks on the USS Farragut. This imples that at that time, shipboard Phaser Banks were installed on the larger starships, but that the hand held versions were not as common."

Roundeyesamurai 03:14, 4 June 2006 (UTC)

Recent Edits

I find myself dissatisfied with the recent edits, removing the power setting information to the "Background" section. As the information is from a permitted resource, and considered reliable unless contradicted, I think it should be returned. Otherwise, an extensive rewrite of the part of the article regarding phaser capabilities seems in order. The article just doesn't look right as it is. Capt Christopher Donovan 07:23, 9 September 2006 (UTC)

Where is is said that the Tech Manual being a permitted resource? The current canon policy states that the Tech Manual, among other books written by production staff, "may be referenced in Trek Universe articles, but should be formatted as background information as described in Memory Alpha's Manual of Style." Where does it say information from those books are allowed to be included in articles? --From Andoria with Love 04:59, 10 September 2006 (UTC)


Galaxy Phasers

Here's some food for thought.

In Star Trek: Generations, Riker ordered a return fire on the renegade Bird of Prey. The Bird of Prey's shields deflected the blast and they were only dealt minor damage. Ok, so what's the deal here? Why couldn't they continue firing phasers, or cause more damage to an old D12 BOP?

Let me go into a bit more detail.

The Enteprise D was able to fire all weapons simultaneously on full against a Hunsnock vessel and a Borg Cube. The phasers even caused significant damage to the Borg Cube at J25, and knocked out the tractor beam in BoBW. It's odd how the Enterprise was only able to get off one phaser shot at a Bird of Prey, not much of a ship, but was able to put up a decent fight against more powerful enemies like the Borg. You don't mean to tell me that the Klingons just scared them to death do you?

Also, in the battle to retake DS9, Galaxy wings 9-1 and 9-3 simply blew by a Cardassian Galor Class taking her down with no more than five phaser bursts. The Galor didn't even appear to have shields, but I'm just guessing that's DS9 effects. The Galor is a much more poweful ship than a Bird of Prey, but it can't take the same damage that a BOP can?

Lets not forget that the USS Oddyssey wasn't able to do much damage to the Jem'Hadar fighters, but in the battle to retake DS9 we can clearly see a Galaxy Class ship eliminating a Dominion ship with ease while the Defiant is being chased by the Jem'Hadar.

I realize the producers had to work with a script, time, and a budget, but with disregard to that can someone explain the large difference in Galaxy phasers between TNG, DS9, and the movies?

--JeanLucPicard1 20:51, 13 September 2006 (UTC)JeanLucPicard1


Darmok

I bring up another interesting point. In TNG Darmok, the Enterprise fired its phasers from the forward torpedo tube. I know Riker ordered Geordi to reconfigure the phasers to drop the Tamarian field, however, I don't think Geordi was a capable enough engineer or had the right equipment to reconfigure phasers to fire from the torpedo launcher. That would require a major overhaul of weapons systems at a starbase.

--JeanLucPicard1 20:54, 13 September 2006 (UTC)JeanLucPicard1

While you're above comments regarding phaser use against a BOP raise some good points (and I wish I had answers for you – basically, it's probably a writing error; in canon, it can't really be explained without speculation), the point about Geordi's recalibrating the phasers in "Darmok" is more of a critique or an opinion of an element of the episode, neither of which are really suitable for talk pages. Having said that, Geordi has worked many miracles during his time as chief engineer – just consider this another one. ;-) --From Andoria with Love 21:17, 13 September 2006 (UTC)

Ship Phaser Power

I have looked through just about all the material concerning Phaser, how they work, who has them, and their different sizes, 4-12.

We know that with the re-fit of the NCC1701 to NCC1701A that the "Phaser Bank" which was exhaustible (Doomsday Machine) and needed to be recharaged after use, to a direct feed from the warp-core from Star Trek the movie. However, moving from the MK IV, MKVIII, MK X (array?) and MK XII there is no coralary information as to the lower and upper power ranges of these weapons. I feel as though this needs to be addressed. I don't own any of the manuals or other tech books, so could someone add some kind of reference to this issue.66.245.46.170

Even if the tech manuals give this information, it can only be included as background information, and not canon. Please read the Memory Alpha:Canon policy if you have any questions. --OuroborosCobra talk 17:03, 24 October 2006 (UTC)
Canonically there are a few statements about phaser power. In "Who Watches the Watchers" Riker considered a 4.2 Gigawatt generator sufficient to power "a small phaser bank". In "The Mind's Eye" Data says a Type 3 phaser rifle was using energy at a rate of "one point oh five megajoules per second". In "A Matter of Time" Geordi cautions that it will be difficult to control the ship's phasers to within 0.06 Terawatts.

Phaser Cannon?

I belive a page addressing Phaser Cannons such as that seen on the Enterprise-D in "All Good Things..." should be added! -- Awar 12:57, 24 May 2007 (UTC).

  • I also belive that this page should also feature an article on Phaser Cannons! -- Awar 12:57, 24 May 2007 (UTC).

Necessary power

I'm not quite sure where this would go, but it definately deserves a mention somewhere:

LaForge: ...a reactor capable of producing 4.2 gigawatts. Riker: Enough to power a small phaser bank, or a subspace relay station, or... LaForge: a hologram generator.

(TNG: "Who Watches The Watchers")

70.243.215.63 21:22, 1 June 2007 (UTC)

TOS ship phasers

There has been something of an inconsistency between ENT: "In a Mirror, Darkly" and the remastered TOS episodes. In IaMD we saw that the USS Defiant had two phaser emitters on the ventral side of the saucer, near the glowing sensor dome, and also two aft phaser emitters, on the starboard and port sides of the aft sensor dome, just above the hangar bay door. In the remastered episodes, however, we can see that forward phaser beams are emitted by the ring around the lower sensor dome, and, unfortunately, we can also see that photon torpedoes are emitted there. This is not a straightforward inconsistency, because the Defiant and Enterprise could have different emitter systems. But this makes it difficult to upgrade the information in this article, and also in the Template:ShipClass article, with information based on enhanced visual data on the original Constitution class vessels. Any comments on this?--Skon 18:50, 21 October 2007 (UTC)

Personally, I'd say that the weapons configuration as shown by the original series special effects is more canon than the remastered episodes, as they are the original source material.

Son'a phasers?

Shouldn't there be a section about the yellow-bolt firing phasers seen in Star Trek: Insurrection that the Son'a use?--Blasterman 18:57, 22 February 2008 (UTC)

phaser acronym

You say that the term "Phaser" is an acronym for "phased energy rectification", but I'm sure I read in a Star Trek Technical Manual the term came from "phased energy release". Don Holt

PHASed Energy Rectification comes from page 123 of the TNG Technical Manual, IIRC. --OuroborosCobra talk 04:35, 15 March 2008 (UTC)

Phaser Settings

I think the Phaser page needs to have more information regarding phaser settings with episode cites. From TOS, I'm very familiar with "set phasers to stun" and "set phasers to kill." Watching DS9 now, I've become aware that Garak's favorite setting (which fits his pragmatic, decisive nature when it comes to self-preservation) is evidently "vaporize" (can't imagine a Starfleet officer ever giving that as a command). He employs this setting in DS9: "Profit and Loss"--using the Ferengi phaser he took from Quark, evidently--and DS9: "Second Skin"--using a Starfleet phaser Sisko gave him. It certainly avoids the problem of having to hide the body. I'm not familiar enough with the entire ST canon, though, to make this enhancement to the article. Were characters vaporized in TOS (and I've forgotten)? By which side? And in the other series? MultiplePOV 00:56, 2 May 2008 (UTC)

Just a side note, I believe he was using Cardassian hand phasers in both of those cases. --OuroborosCobra talk 01:18, 2 May 2008 (UTC)
And they weren't phasers at all, but disruptors, which do seem to default to the "vaporize" setting, and were routinely used by the Cardassians. SwishyGarak 02:04, 2 May 2008 (UTC)

In DS9: "Profit and Loss" Garak takes Quark's weapon from him; then Gul Toran comes along and takes Garak's weapon from him. So it is Quark's weapon that Garak whips out to kill Toran. (He then gives the weapon to Hogue when he sends the dissidents into the airlock.) If something visually tells you that Quark's weapon is a Cardassian disruptor, okay, but otherwise I'd think Quark would have a Ferengi weapon (it's slightly smaller than Garak's). Isn't it phasers that Ferengis use?

In DS9: "Second Skin", Captain Sisko hands Garak (who is unwillingly accompanying the rescue team to Cardassia) a weapon. So unless something visually tells you that Sisko is giving him a Cardassian disruptor, I'd assume it was a Starfleet phaser.MultiplePOV 02:17, 2 May 2008 (UTC)

All three had the same weapon type in Profit and Loss. --Alan 02:21, 2 May 2008 (UTC)

Interestingly, Entek's backup (a young Obsidian Order operative) has his weapon set to kill, not vaporize. The young dissident falls back with an audible wump (I'm assuming the DS9 crew believed him dead, not stunned, because they don't bother trying to have him beamed up). When Entek makes a little noise pulling out his weapon, Garak whips back and vaporizes him in a nice special effect (not as instantly as Toran in his episode). I'll have to look at the weapon types again in Toran's scene. MultiplePOV 02:29, 2 May 2008 (UTC)

Ferengis also use disruptors, according to disruptor. And in "Second Skin", Garak didn't use a Starfleet phaser from Sisko to kill Entek, it was a weapon that Odo took from the Cardassian. Kira has the Starfleet weapon. You can see it in a screencap at trekcore.com SwishyGarak 02:31, 2 May 2008 (UTC)
Also: you can set edits to "preview" - no need to vaporize the database. SwishyGarak 02:34, 2 May 2008 (UTC)

Well, thank you for the information on vaporize. That explains why the Phaser page doesn't mention vaporize. I've got to say, I'm surprised Quark would be so violent--but I guess that if he had to steel himself to shoot someone, he'd want to make sure he got away with it. Does canon say vaporized people leave some trace (for example, just being beamed up leaves some trace--do they call it a "signature"?--for a short while)? But, of course, you'd have to know what area to investigate for the trace. As far as my "vaporizing" the database, I apologize. I'm one of those people who can never see the typos in an e-mail until it's sent. I'll try to catch my errors on preview mode. MultiplePOV 02:42, 2 May 2008 (UTC)

There is evidence left behind after vaporization, per "A Simple Investigation". --OuroborosCobra talk 03:43, 2 May 2008 (UTC)
Pseudohuman has added lots of new text to the article. He says phasers can disintegrate humanoids, and cites Star Trek: First Contact. Does anyone know, where/when in that movie this happened? --SwishyGarak 16:28, 25 May 2008 (UTC)
Advertisement