Pattern enhancer

A pattern enhancer is an upright cylinder 1.5 meters tall and 8 centimeters in diameter with a tripod base, and they are used to strengthen transporter signals.

Use of transporters in regions experiencing high levels of electrical or ionic interference can be extremely hazardous. The safest way to transport under such conditions is to have a working transporter on each end of the journey and to beam the subjects from one transporter to the other. However, using two transporters in the field is not always possible. In these situations the use of pattern enhancers can make transport during difficult conditions much safer. Pattern enhancers serve to boost and stabilize transporter signals used in their vicinity. These devices boost signals transmitted both to and from the ship's transporters.

To use a pattern enhancer it must first be placed at the target location. Normally, the pattern enhancers are simply beamed to the site. Since their patterns are so much less complex, transporting equipment is significantly easier and less risky than transporting living beings. Also, if their is a problem in transport it is a simple matter to try again. If for some reason the enhancers cannot be beamed to the desired location, they can also be delivered in a short-range probe. To be effective, at least three pattern enhancers are necessary, and they must be arranged in a triangle. The fields of the three devices then link together, and the signals for all matter transported within the triangle are boosted. As a general rule, the use of pattern enhancers quadruples the level of interference through which safe transport can be performed.

Reference(s)

• Campbell, Brian, et al. The Price of Freedom: The United Federation of Planets Sourcebook, New York: Last Unicorn Games, 1999. ISBN: 0671040030.