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Addendum to the specifications for the FENRIS and FEYNMAN class starships
Re: DELPHI array deep space sensor phalanx
Fr: Capt. Sebastian DiFalco, Project Officer
To: Commanding Officers of FENRIS and FEYNMAN class ships,
Engineering Officers, Operation Managers and Sensor Officers
The DELPHI sensor array as used in the FENRIS and FEYNMAN class designs is
supposed to perform as sensor mainstay on those vessels. Located in dedicated
decks on top of the saucer section and with an auxiliary feed from the bottom
of the engineering section (fwd on the FEYNMAN, fwd and aft on the FENRIS
class) it is designed to cover both long distance subspace scans as well as
medium and short range all frequency data collection.
Pre-evaluation and system control is maintained from the DELPHI computer core
located in the center of the lower array deck, it also allows for pattern match
and software cloak detection using prediction algorithms and real time input
comparision independently from the ship's main computer cores. This proved to
be invaluable when the cloaked Borg forces attacked Starbase Gamma and has
also been tested on the early prototype cloaking detector used on the USS NOVA
before her refit.
It is important to point out that the DELPHI array's subspace efficiency is
greatly depending on the shape of the warp bubble around the ship, especially
at higher warp speeds. Both FENRIS and FEYNMAN class have been equipped with
sophisticated hardware to accomodate this question, FENRIS with a third fixed
shaper nacelle, while the FEYNMAN operates with a servo mechanism to move both
engine nacelles.
Among the known problems of the DELPHI system is the heat problem that is
caused by the large amount of energy consumed during pinpoint scanning, high
resolution short range surveillance and rapid frequency shifting. A new cooling
system based on hydroxelene fluid that is supposed to take 150% more heat is
under evaluation aboard the USS FENRIS at this time and will be implemented on
the other ships if successful. The Fenris CEO, is in charge of this development
program.
The DELPHI system is not meant to replace conventional sensor systems, although
a number of components used on the GALAXY, OLYMPIC and DIOGENES classes as
seperate subsystems have been included into the phalanx. Therefore the
auxiliary sensor systems on the FENRIS and FEYNMAN classes, mostly designed
for tactical purposes and offline backup while the scientific and more
sophisticated tasks are left to DELPHI, can take an amount of sensor load that
allows the ship to stay operational when DELPHI is offline, but greatly reduces
the efficiency.
It is recommended to dedicate a senior officer to the position of Sensor
Specialist or include the responsibility for the array into the Science or
Operation Manager's departments. The system is still new and requires regular
maintenance, upgrade and qualified supervision. Especially the optimum fine
tuning of the warp field control for maximum scanning efficiency is a task that
requires dedicated personnel.
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