I'm sure you could name many other techno-babble featured episodes as well. As a whole, could he really have been that good? As an enlisted man, he wouldn't have even had SF training, is that right?"The magnetic deflection of a runabout's hull is extremely weak. The probes will never be able to detect it."
"They will if I outfit them with a differential magnetometer."
"A differential magnetometer?"
"Mm-hmm."
"I've never heard of a differential magnetometer. How does it work?"
"I'll let you know as soon as I finish making one."
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DS9 Era Miles O'Brien
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DS9 Era Miles O'Brien
After watching a few early episodes of DS9 recently, I couldn't help feeling that the ability of the character of Miles O'Brien was quite overstretched. From being the guy who worked the transporter aboard the Enterprise to being able to fix quite literally fix every broken thing in the universe. A classic example for me was DS9: Battle Lines. Quote lifted from Memory Alpha:
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Re: DS9 Era Miles O'Brien
His inital status as an enlisted man is a contentious issue, at best. However, it was established that he was something of an engineering prodigy at a young age. Also, each franchise has to have an engineer who is capable of regular superhuman feats of wizardry - it's a law of 'Trek.
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Re: DS9 Era Miles O'Brien
He would have had training, just not academy training which likely would have focused more on leadership than wrench turning anyways.
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Re: DS9 Era Miles O'Brien
Yup, I have found in my time around the military that officers generally know how things are supposed to work and the enlisted folks know how to actually get things to work they way they need to. He would, as someone above stated, lack the leadership training but would likely have extensive practical knowledge of how things worked and how to fix things.
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Re: DS9 Era Miles O'Brien
They even made a point of mentioning that Starfleet was known for such technical wizzardry once, when a Vorta said something like "I suppose you have one of those Starfleet engineering types who can turn rocks into replicators?"
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Re: DS9 Era Miles O'Brien
However, O'Brien was also seemingly able to design and construct completely new pieces of tech as will. And nearly everything worked as planned.
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Re: DS9 Era Miles O'Brien
When it was really needed how often did a series' engineer's crap actually backfire though?
That said a differential magnetometer isn't really that out there. All you're doing is measuring a magnetic field at two points and giving the difference between them.
That said a differential magnetometer isn't really that out there. All you're doing is measuring a magnetic field at two points and giving the difference between them.
Re: DS9 Era Miles O'Brien
Rocks and Shoals.GrahamKennedy wrote:They even made a point of mentioning that Starfleet was known for such technical wizzardry once, when a Vorta said something like "I suppose you have one of those Starfleet engineering types who can turn rocks into replicators?"
He tells Sisko in DS9:Paradise that he didn't know a "turboshaft from a trasporter" befroe he got to the Cardassian Front. He had to figure out how to get a field transporter working in order to get himself and 13 men of Setlik 3. He figured it out, and is then made Tactical Officer aboard the Rutlidge, which is how he got the goldshirt.
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Re: DS9 Era Miles O'Brien
That's almost a prerequisite of being a SF engineer, it seems.Mark wrote:However, O'Brien was also seemingly able to design and construct completely new pieces of tech as will. And nearly everything worked as planned.
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Re: DS9 Era Miles O'Brien
technically since it's deriving, shouldn't it only need one point and be able to tell you the rate of change in the magnetic fieldTyyr wrote:When it was really needed how often did a series' engineer's crap actually backfire though?
That said a differential magnetometer isn't really that out there. All you're doing is measuring a magnetic field at two points and giving the difference between them.
Sorry, you can get back to your actual topic now.
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Re: DS9 Era Miles O'Brien
Early DS9 episode...forget the name...three ambassadors visit the station, Lwaxanna turns up with her sites on Odo, computer gets a 'virus'.....I'm sure at some point during the episode, Bashir says something along the lines of 'our chief of operations is one of the finest in SF'... oh yeah? Why was he assigned to work the transporter for seven+ years aboard the flagship then? If he were that good, surely that would clearly be beneath him. Maybe it's because the minstrel boy to the war is gone, In the ranks of death ye will find him.
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the affection of children...to leave the world a better place...to
know even one life has breathed easier because you have lived. This is
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the affection of children...to leave the world a better place...to
know even one life has breathed easier because you have lived. This is
to have succeeded.”
Re: DS9 Era Miles O'Brien
Ah, but he is the Transporter Chief on the finest starship of the fleet! Surely that puts him head and shouders of your average starship Captain at least.
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Re: DS9 Era Miles O'Brien
Or Bashir is BS-ing trying to soothe the Ambassadors?thelordharry wrote:Early DS9 episode...forget the name...three ambassadors visit the station, Lwaxanna turns up with her sites on Odo, computer gets a 'virus'.....I'm sure at some point during the episode, Bashir says something along the lines of 'our chief of operations is one of the finest in SF'... oh yeah? Why was he assigned to work the transporter for seven+ years aboard the flagship then? If he were that good, surely that would clearly be beneath him. Maybe it's because the minstrel boy to the war is gone, In the ranks of death ye will find him.
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