Subject: Cloaking Devices...just an idea??
From: [email-masked] (NOMAD........)
Date: Thu, 21 Jan 1993 11:07:20 GMT
Newsgroups: rec.arts.startrek.tech

DISCUSSION OF STAR TREK CLOAKING DEVICES

	This is a vague attempt to explain observed phenomena of Romulan and
Klingon Cloaking devices. For reference I have taken these phenomena from
STAR TREK Classic series, including films and from STAR TREK:TNG. I have
also used the STAR TREK:TNG Technical Manual. Any material within double
asterisks (**) is NOT AT ALL OFFICIAL. Basically, it has been thrown in to
rationalise the theory.
	All ideas were bounced around within a dedicated panel of Treknicians,
including two Physicists, a Chemist and a Mathematician, with the aid of
three ST:TNG Tech Manuals, two VCRs, a large collection of video footage,
and a particle in a pear tree ...               

Chief cloaking device Treknician (Liverpool University) : CJ Moseley
Assistance provided by: AJL Brown, PA Kelleher, DL Oldroyd

( Reachable at [email-masked]. Mark fao CJM).
( or [email-masked]   Wayne aka NOMAD )                                        

               ESSENTIAL CLOAKING DEVICE MECHANICS

          History:

	The cloaking device was first created by the Romulans before the
formation of Star Fleet. Certainly, by the time Star Fleet began launching
deep space missions, the Romulans had perfected the original design for the
cloaking device. This early version could only fool limited sensor readings
and visual observation.
	Sometime later the Romulans and Klingons entered a period of trade
(or mutual theft) and the Klingons received a new version of the cloaking
device (Klingon: So'wI'). This version could effectively cloak all 
electromagnetic radiation except for Gamma rays, which could penetrate
 the cloak because of the high energy of the photons.
First contact: Stardate: 1709.1 TOS "Balance of Terror"
	Third generation cloaking devices have been common on Romulan and
Klingon craft for over eighty years. The first recorded sighting was by
Captain James Tiberius Kirk, who later stole such a craft (a Klingon Bird of
Prey) and crashed it in San Francisco Bay. Current technology is based upon
this design with some refinements.

          Basic Theorem ...

	The ship generates a gravitational distortion that causes
electromagnetic radiation to curve halfway around the ship before escaping.

          Extended Theorem Discussion ...
 
	In discussion of the extended theorem it is necessary for us to use an
example ship with the modelling of the mechanics involved.
	Two craft readily suggest themselves; the Klingon 'Bird Of Prey'
 or toQDuj (although also used by Romulans) and the Romulan 'Warbird',
 although these craft tend to use slightly different technology, as will
 be seen.

     In discussing cloaking technology it is necessary to discuss
gravitational theorem in general.

          Gravitational Theorem In Brief ...

	The so called force of gravity is in fact, as has been known for some
time, a distortion of spacetime about (in general) a mass. It is possible,
however, to create an artificial distortion and hence artificial gravity.
     Light always travels in straight lines. If, however, space is bent by
a 'mass' (or virtual mass) then light will appear to bend, as far as the
observer is concerned. This phenomenon is most visible in the accretion
discs of black holes, where light can be made to orbit a black hole, just
above the event horizon.
	It is obvious, then, that by bending space around a spacecraft, the
light can also be made to bend, and by this method the vessel can be made
to vanish.

          Gravity Generators or Virtual Mass Projectors

	The Federation has had gravity generators on board most craft since
slightly before contact with the Vulcans. The theory of gravity generators
is that since spacetime is quantized, a particle, the graviton, represents
the distortion of space through one quantum "distance".
	Generation of gravitons is possible by rapidly oscillating a
superconductor generating an electromagnetic wave across a dielectric,
creating a virtual mass. This will distort spacetime as is required. The
only major limiting effect is the gravitational constant G, which is
essentially a measure of the elasticity of space. 

	Now, although theoretically invisible, the ship would be traceable
because of the gravitational distortion. This can, however, be overcome.
The virtual mass projectors can be used to create an area of null gravity,
either side of the virtual mass (in fact, a virtual "antimass" that bends
space back to normal).

          Mapping To Create Cloaking Devices

	The distortion would use the mass of the body to amplify the effect
to a given range, theoretically allowing any sized vessel to be cloaked,
although this is not practically true because of devastating spatial ripple
effects.

     Tuning Of Cloaking Devices For A Specific Ship

	It should be noted that the energy holding a virtual mass in place
has a certain frequency, at which the cloaking device resonates.
This frequency has to be calculated carefully so that the ship it is
attached to amplifies the cloak, making it more energy efficient, thereby
enabling the cloak to wavemap about the ship by careful interference control.
The frequency is also determined by the amount of time the cloak can distort
space beyond the normal parameters of the gravitational constant G.
     Careful tuning involves compensating for the ship's exact mass and all
forces acting on the ship. Only by complete dedication of all non-essential
processors can ship board computers normally handle this.

	Cloaking Ships.
 
	A modern active Cloaking device has at least two known settings,
possibly switching switching between states:

	Spherical Cloaking Mode.

	On this setting the cloak is generated at a constant distance from the
centre of the amplifying mass. This distance is controllable up to a
certain distance, and extended beyond this distance the cloak chaotically
collapses. This setting is intended for use during warp travel, whereby
the cloak surrounds the warp fields and effectively cloaks them also. The
cloaking device also behaves as a snowplough, compressing and forcing
aside interstellar gas, dust and micrometeors. Power expenditure increases
rapidly, because the ship's mass decreases as warp ten is approached (The
Romulan Warbird in "Tin Man" burnt out its generators attempting to remain
cloaked at high warp).
	The spherical cloaking mode produces a noticeable distortion of visible
light. This is because the field behaves as a lens, focusing light in
places and diffusing it in others, this is especially noticable as the cloak
engages and as the ship uncloaks (the noticable shimmering, and the blurred,
moving stars so often seen).

	Wavemapped Cloaking Mode.

	On this setting the cloak is generated at a constant distance from the
surface of a mass. On a ship with a finely tuned cloaking device, it is
possible to have the cloak set to extend no more than five centimetres; on
a very well tuned vessel less than thirteen millimetres (A cloak at this
level of tuning can not be detected by visual distortion except when
cloaking or uncloaking). Constant computer monitoring is required at this
level, and cannot be performed at warp. Since the cloak would not in fact
extend beyond the warp fields, however, this would make no difference, since
the warp fields themselves would be traceable.
	Wavemapped cloaking cannot be instantly disengaged, because of the
complexity of the field geometry. Instead the cloak should be carefully
powered down to avoid destruction of the cloaking device or possibly the
ship (Although the Mk 4 device may be capable of this, data is inconclusive). 
	In an atmosphere, gas will get trapped inside the cloak if wavemapped.
This will mean physical attacks on the cloak will be transmitted as sound
to the hull and back (making a nice "metallic" ringing).

	Cloaking Devices and Tactical Operations

	Shields
 
	Because of the nature of the spatial distortion of a cloaking device, it
cannot be raised at the same time as deflector shields, which operate by
distorting both space and sub-space.

	Phasers

	It is possible for finely tuned, or wide beam, phasers to penetrate a
cloak from outside. Firing phasers out, however, is a far greater problem,
since a phaser would half orbit around the inside of the cloak and result
in an attack from a diametrically opposite point i.e. you would shoot
yourself. Theoretically it is possible to open an interference 'window' as
below. Unfortunately, due to the nature of phasers, they are tuned to the
same frequency as the power supply. This means that when cloaks are
operational and the power is tuned, the phasers can't shoot through the
cloak.

	Photon Torpedoes

	It is possible to open an interference 'window' in a finely tuned cloak,
so that a photon torpedo will pass through (as opposed to being crushed by
the gravitational distortion so that matter and antimatter are forced to
overlap and explosively detonate part way through the cloak). This
interference window is in fact generated by, at the moment of firing, a
second frequency added to the first. The frequencies interfere and cause a
gap to open in the cloak. Because the cloak has to be very finely tuned,
calculations are necessary to allow the ship to properly cloak after the
launch of the torpedo. These calculations cause a lag in firing, of
approximately point three four seconds before the firing, and a very slight
lag after firing before the window closes totally. This set of calculations
is very complex to program, because the mass of the ship and crew has to be
known very accurately, and so is not really used except under exceptional
circumstances (as in the historical case of the attack by a prototype Bird
Of Prey with a mk 3.2 cloaking device on the Klingon cruiser Kronos-1.
This cloaking device and ship were destroyed by Captain James T. Kirk)

          Operation Of Scanners, Transporters And Tractor Beams

	All these are possible because they are timed to work exactly out of
phase, but at the same frequency as the cloaking device. Since, however,
each ship is individually tuned and the tuning continually changes, only
that ship can 'see' through. However, limits are placed on equipment being
used through the cloak e.g. Range is quite considerably reduced on all the 
systems.
	External tractor beams may penetrate a cloak, but this is due to the
tractor beam having a high graviton component, and hence negates the
virtual (anti-) mass.

		Romulan Weaponry

	Romulan weaponry by its very nature requires huge power reserves, and
cloaking a vessel as large as a Warbird also requires considerable energy.
Hence the only time when Romulan Craft can raise enough power to fire and
cloak at the same time is as it drops to sublight speeds, converting
kinetic energy to electrical. However it is at precisely this moment that
the fine cloaking is most difficult to engage. On the new mk 3.3 cloak it
may be possible, but we have seen no evidence as yet.

		Effects Of Cloaking On Crew And Craft

	As a cloak engages (and possibly disengages) a spatial ripple forms
through the amplifing mass. Even on a vessel as small as a Bird Of Prey
this effect can be disasterous.
	As the ripple forms, the ships inertial damping and gravity generators
attempt to respond. If the ripple is fairly limited, no real effect will
result, but, should the ripple be large, the systems will fail to
adequately compensate and the ripple will distort space. This distortion,
although small, can alter the neural pathways in the brain, effectively
rendering the crew insane, or worse. Statistically, a large enough ripple
should occur some 0.00007854% of the time, on a ship of approximately
the same mass as a Bird Of Prey.
	On Romulan vessels the advanced gravity generators are programmed to
compensate for the ripple ahead of time; because of the size of a Warbird,
even a small ripple would be amplified to a state where the stresses could
destroy a ship. The computers controlling the gravity compensation on a
Warbird are directly connected to sensors around the centre of the vessel,
that then watch the ripple form and can accurately compensate for even
large ripples.
	Romulan technology is not however completely infallible (despite what
the Romulans may claim), and calculations predict that Warbird crews should
be subjected to neural disturbance 0.0000001386% of all operations, with
a 0.000000000341% chance of complete structural failure due to spatial
ripple stress.

	It is precisely for this reason that The Federation has not adopted
cloaking devices on board its own vessels as standard (although a few
vessels may exist with cloaks). It is not possible for Galaxy class
vessels to withstand the stress of cloaking in any case, without a similar
method of construction to Romulan craft. Unfortunately, our warp field
mechanics suggests that such a shape and design of engine is inefficient in 
comparison with Starfleet vessels.

		Detection Through Cloaks

	For a ship to be cloaked, it has to be generating power in phase with
the cloaking device. This means that leaking radiation can pass through the
cloaking device. The exact nature of the radiation depends upon the ship
type used and the exact design of cloak. Normally, uncharged neutronic
radiation is detected. However, this radiation rapidly dissipates in space,
and will probably not even pass a spherical cloak.
	It is hence impossible to detect a cloaked vessel should ambient
radiation levels be high enough. However it is possible that at high
radiation levels the cloak may automatically cause spatial ripple, when
engaging and disengaging, amplifing through the energy particle medium.
	We are not sure, at this time, how cloaked vessels are detected by their
allies. It is thought, perhaps, that part of the cloaking device resonates
in sympathy with another cloaked vessel making detection possible, but the
system must be specifically tuned for detection, and can only be used when
both vessels are using spherical or non-fine tuned wave mapped cloaking
modes, the fine tuned cloak being too specialized to adequately detect or
be detected by other vessels.

    The Definitive And Brief Guide To Cloaks and Cloaked Vessels

     Mk 1 (wa') Cloak: Original usage, early Warbirds only. Used E/M
shielding quite effectively to cloak only visible and near-visible radiation
Can instantaneously cloak and decloak, but had large power drainage.
     Mk 2 (cha') Cloak: A major improvement on the Mk 1, this device used
E/M to cloak all other electromagnetic radiation, except high energy Gamma
rays. Can instantaneously cloak and decloak, but was remarkably inefficient.
Craft : Romulan Scouts and Warbirds, also Klingon D-7 Cruisers (qughDuj
buv D-Soch) and later the joint Romulan/Klingon scout and Bird Of Prey.
**Star Fleet did have experimental craft with this cloak for a short period,
whilst prototypes were heavily guarded, and before wide spread appearance of
Mark 3 cloaks.**
	Mk 3.0 (wej-pagh) Cloak: The first gravity distorting cloak, as
described above.The early prototype craft had problems with energetic
effects occurring inside the cloak as a result of trapped spurious thermal
emissions within the cloaking field. **When these effects built up to the
point at which lasing started, massive damage was caused to several
experimental Klingon vessels (records do not mention Romulan Technology for
this period).** A stopgap defence against this effect was created by
painting the craft green. This tuned the lasing energy to a frequency where
it could leak very slowly through the cloak without revealing the ships
presence, still common practice on most cloaked vessels. 
	This early Mk 3 had only the spherical field setting and could not
be effectively wavemapped. It could not instantly cloak and decloak, but
saw much use on most Romulan craft and the Bird Of Prey.
	Mk 3.1 (wej-wa') Cloak: This improved device featured instantaneous 
propagation of the spherical cloak, and first saw use of the wavemapped
cloak. It is reported to have been used as above and as an upgraded cloak
for D-7 Cruisers. **A version was made for use on Star Fleet vessels before
the effects were entirely understood.** Green painting was generally still
necessary.
	Mk 3.2 (wej-cha') Cloak: This version saw the creation of the fine
tuned Cloak. This device was perhaps first created by the Klingons, but
required large power reserves. The Romulans later reworked the idea into a
more efficient form (officially designated the Mark 3.2a). The old cloak is
still in active service on older Klingon craft.
	Mk 3.2a (wej-cha'a') Cloak: Romulan reworking of the 3.2. No special
colouration of the craft was necessary because the tuning had been perfected
to a stage where laser energy could be directed to special receptors on the
ship, aiding in maintaining power reserves. The cloak is still extensively
used by Romulans and Klingons alike. 
	Mk 3.3 Cloak: This latest version allowed powering down of all non-
finely tuned cloaks instantly. It is only fitted, as far as is known, to
Romulan Warbirds. Klingons claim to still use the 3.2a. 
	Unconfirmed Mk 4 Cloak: Our agents in the Romulan Empire have leaked
news to us concerning a new cloaking device that can instantly be activated
without fear of the dangerous spatial ripple occurring. They also claim
that this device would render a ship completely undetectable.

****For Star Fleet Archives

Chief scientific archivist CJ Moseley

Further thoughts, loopholes and problems. (Errata, but nothing's gone wrong
yet...)

If you're not sure where Starfleet use cloaking devices, see the
novelisation of STVI:TUC or the blueprints of the USS Lynx(while decloaked!)

Writers using Mk 4 cloaks are quite welcome to it, but don't expect 
us to explain it.

Should someone decide that Federation vessels may have cloaks, they should 
really be Mk 3.2a or better, so that they can still be painted white.

Cloaked planets are silly,but not impossible.(All it should require is a
convenient geothermal power source, although huge cloaks will normally
produce defects in carbon-based lifeforms).

Ramming ships with a cloak on should be mutually destructive. For one thing, 
the computers, no matter how fast, cannot cope with a near-instantaneous
change of momentum, and the cloak will damage the rammed ship exactly like a
direct collision, as well as possibly causing all kind of buggery* to both
ships and space as things distort.
* This is a technical term meaning heavy damage. A good method for repairing
broken cloaking devices according to our Klingon technical advisor is to
inflict heavy damage upon them. 

Switching them off suddenly... Not at all advisable with anything less than
a Mk4 unless you enjoy a crew of babbling idiots. However, there's no reason 
why a writer may not decide that a ship could feasibly be catapulted through
time by this method. The physics is vaguely applicable, if somewhat pear-
shaped.

Session ends...0251 am GMT on 18th Jan 93
Stardate: Heavily Damaged if I know...

Chris Moseley

........so There it is..please feel free to add stuff or to flame it on 
	any points that are wrong....we don't mind constructive critisism
	it's the sarcastic buggers we don't like.....any more ideas would
	be more than welcome.Please either post on to the network or
	to the address below (please not to the one above as they have 
	a limited mail sys. all mail willl be handeled and answered!)..

              [email-masked]        ..well hope to hear from you soon.
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