Hello all, Ric here with a quick video on the phaser emitters and how they have varied
with time in Starfleet!
Ship-mounted phaser emitters have come in several flavours in Star Trek but are all
based on the same technology.
I have already covered the reason for their prevalence in Starfleet and what exactly Phasers
are, but in brief; A Phaser beam is a charged stream of Nadion particles in a “phased”
state and Starfleet prefers this to the simpler disruptor system because it offers greater
versatility.
Such mounted Phaser technology began with the Phase cannons in the 2150s equipped to
their first deep space vessels and over the next 150 years or so, the Technology never
really changed, just grew more refined and powerful.
The cannons gave way to turrets and the more general term of “banks” by the mid 23rd
century and operated in a multitude of firing modes.
By this time, a Phaser bank consisted of two ball cannons that operated in unison.
These were placed tactically around a vessel at points to provide coverage, generally around
the saucer section, then on the engineering hull, sometimes the pylons but rarely the
nacelles.
Probably because you do not want such high energy systems running along the length of
a warp nacelle (at a guess).
These two emitters were placed generally in a square bracket and were readily identifiable
on most ships, although vessels Like the Constitution class had them mounted just above the sensor
dome and were less obvious, at least in one interaction of their refits.The could fire
in both bolts of phaser energy and continual streams of lancing particles, both being used
on different ships at different times.
The colour of phasers has also changed with time, presumably varying with something like
the frequency, from red, orange to blue to nearly pure white.
In the 24th century and moving forwards, Starfleet adopted the phaser “strip” as its go to
armament for its Starships, replacing the previous system of Phaser banks.
We do not have an exact canon date for the first Phaser strips equipped on starships,
but we can see that the Ambassador-class was equipped with them around its saucer section.
Such a vessel, the Enterprise NCC-1701-C was lost in 2344, but the class was apocryphally
described as entering service in the 2320s.
The ship’s proceeding this, like the Excelsior and Constitution classes both featured turrets
and former was introduced around 2290 suggesting the switch over occurred around the turn of
the century or a decade or two later.
Additionally, the Constellation class vessels like the USS Stargazer NCC-2893 were still
equipped with the 23rd century style Phaser bank emitters.
These banks are completely still serviceable and newer versions are still made and outfitted
to ships, especially smaller craft like shuttles and runabouts.
Additionally, the standard phaser bank would go on to be the base for the Pulse Phaser
Cannons seen on the Defiant.
I would say that the systems each have their benefits, but honestly, the Phaser Strip generally
outplays the standard banks in pretty much every field.
The biggest advantage of the strip is that it offers a wider field of fire, covering
greater areas and leaving fewer blind-spots than a setup of turrets would.
The disadvantage is that it takes more time to install and is more integrated than a bank,
which could be pulled out and replaced with ease.
There is a lot more involved with a phaser array or strip.
The strip works as a line of emitters that are all linked together and can transfer their
charge to the adjacent emitter, adding to the power as it coalesces along the length
of the array until it reaches the optimal targeting position.
It is then released and channeled towards the target in a beam.
Each emitter in sequence is capable of firing independently too, but this would be at a
much lower yield than a charged beam.
A potential disadvantage of the phaser strip was that they were far more visible when they
were about to be fired, as you could see the energy run along the strip, but that’s a
minor weakness considering the build up is detected in advance by sensor systems anyway.
The line of emitters being damaged is generally not enough to incapacitate them totally either,
although a damaged part of the array would no longer convect a charge.
The phaser strip is still a standard armament now on most vessels and they come in several
types derived from output from the Type IV, earliest models to the Type XII which were
seeing implementation around the turn of the 25th century.
Suffice to say, they have become an iconic loadout for a Federation vessel, while other
powers in the galaxy still prefer cannons or turrets, Starfleet is continuing to pioneer
its phaser array strip, although they are always feilding new ideas.
Thanks for watching this video on Phaser strips, I’ve “beam” Ric and I’ll see you next
time for another one thanks again and goodbye!
I'm not sorry.