Star Trek Starship Sensor Systems

## **Sensor Systems**

Sensors are a starship's "eyes." They allow it to detect not only phenomena visible to humanoid sight, but an enormous number of electromagnetic and physical phenomena which humanoid senses cannot perceive. Every starship has many types of sensors (Explorer, Scouts, and Research/Laboratory vessels tend to have more or better sensors, for obvious reasons), divided into four types: long-range; lateral (or short-range); navigation; and specialized.

Sensors are rated for three characteristics: the range over which they work accurately; their "gain," or strength and efficiency relative to their power output (represented in game terms as a bonus to Sensors Tests Results); and their Strength, or ability to overcome interference.

### **Gain Package**

 Class Alpha
 Class Beta
 Class Gamma

* The gain Package is acquired individually for each Sensor System and added to the base Strength Package to get the final Passive, Scan, Search, and Focus ratings.

### **Ranges**

The accompanying table indicates the range sensor packages. Range includes Passive, Scan, Search and Focus for high and low resolution use of the sensors (high resolution provides a better "picture" and more information).

## **Lateral Sensor System**

**Passive / Focus**

Lateral sensors, so called because their sensor pallets are usually located along the edges or sides of various parts of a ship, are short-range systems which can detect a wide range of phenomena from any direction around the ship. The individual sensor pallets are located all over the ship's hull to maximize signal gain and system flexibility, and to provide redundancy in case some pallets are damaged. On most starships standard Starfleet sensor packages occupy the majority of the ship's lateral sensor pallets, but the remainder are open for mission-specific sensor packages. The standard Starfleet science sensor array consists of six pallets, each containing one to six specific sensory devices.

Lateral sensors are both active and passive. Among their many uses, they are employed extensively in combat situations to monitor enemy movement and activities. Their maximum active range is approximately 1 light-year; their gain depends on the gain package taken (see table).

## **Navigational Sensor System**

**Scan**

Navigational sensors, which help the flight control officer steer the ship in the proper direction and avoid space debris, include a quasar telescope, passive subspace multibeacon receivers, stellar graviton detectors, a Federation Timebase Beacon receiver, and various IR and UV imagers and trackers. The ship's guidance and navigation (G&N) relay handles the flow of sensor data and converts it into usable information with three- and four-dimensional flight motion software which feeds directly into the flight control system.

The accompanying table indicates the strength, gain and weight cost of navigational sensors. The gain applies to Sensors or Capital Ship Piloting Tests to detect an object in a vessels flight path, determine where the starship is located, chart a course, or the like.

## **Long-Range Sensor System**

**Search**

The long-range sensors, located behind the deflector dish, include narrow- and wide-angle active electromagnetic scanners, a parametric subspace field stress sensor, a gravimetric distortion scanner, an electromagnetic flux sensor, a lifeform analysis instrument cluster, a passive neutrino imaging scanner, a thermal imaging array, and a gamma-ray telescope.

Long-range sensors usually involve active scanning. They work better at high resolution, but this limits their range to five light-years. Their maximum range (at medium-to-low resolution) is typically in the 14-17 light-year range. The arc of detection is usually about 45 degrees in front of the ship, though this narrows slightly at longer ranges.

## **Source**

* Spacedock - Starship and Construction Manual (pages 49-51)
* thedemonapostle