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Jump Gate Question

I

Icarus

Member
OK, I have a question about Babylon 5's jumpage that I need for a B5 Fanfic, that I am writing. You know the four huge pylons, in the middle of which the jumpgate always activates? Well my question is that if these four pylon type things were destroyed or badly damaged the jumpage would not work would it? I mean do they need those pylons or are they just there to give the ships somewhere to aim for when going into hyperspace?

Also, can EarthForce ships create Jumpgates for themselves like I think the Minbari warships can, or am I just plain wrong?

Thanx
Icarus
/ubbthreads/images/icons/grin.gif
 
You would need to differentiate between...

Jump gate - fixed installation for creating jump points
Jump engine - ship-based device for creating jump points
Jump point - where normal space and hyperspace meet

Jump gates are for ships which have no jump engines, and hence cannot create their own jump point. But even ships which have jump engines often use jump gates (especially in peacetime). It is cheaper, and jump engines are better kept charged. One might need them in an emergency.

As for hyperspace beacons, I believe this system is separate from jump gates. A hyperspace beacon usually marks the location of a jump gate, but nothing special depends on one beacon. You can navigate to the jump gate by observing other beacons, albeit less accurately.
 
<blockquote><font class="small">Quote:</font><hr>Originally posted by Icarus:
<font color=yellow>OK, I have a question about Babylon 5's jumpage that I need for a B5 Fanfic, that I am writing. You know the four huge pylons, in the middle of which the jumpgate always activates? Well my question is that if these four pylon type things were destroyed or badly damaged the jumpage would not work would it? I mean do they need those pylons or are they just there to give the ships somewhere to aim for when going into hyperspace?

Also, can EarthForce ships create Jumpgates for themselves like I think the Minbari warships can, or am I just plain wrong?

Thanx
Icarus
/ubbthreads/images/icons/grin.gif</font color=yellow><hr></blockquote>

1) If the pylons are destroyed, there is no jumpgate. If they are damaged, you could probably justify some wierd results, like being subject to relativistic time dilation in hyperspace, being accelerated to near-C (with all attendant stress) in normal space, being thrown way off the beacon instead of emerging, etc.
2) EA ships can make their own jump points, but the ISA's Whitestar is the smallest known ship to be able to do so.
 
If the jumpgate pylons are destroyed or highly damaged then there won't be no jumppoint opening as they have the jump engines built in them, if you've got a jump capable ship then you can make a jumpoint any where.Incidently the four pylons are of earth design while the narns only have three pylons...
 
<blockquote><font class="small">Quote:</font><hr>Originally posted by whitestar90:
<font color=yellow>while the narns only have three pylons...</font color=yellow><hr></blockquote>
/ubbthreads/images/icons/confused.gif The only time I can remember a three pylon jumpgate is the one that G'Kar uses to escape from Zha'ha'dum in Revelations.
 
however, the jump gates with three pylons were probably designed with that in mine... with the three configuration, each pylon probably has to put out more power then in the four configuration. so three is probably cheaper but more prone to failure, and four is more reliable but more expensive to build.

similarly, you probably cant go from a four to a three w/out modifing the remaing pylons...
 
i wouldnt agree with that... the size of the vortex with the four pylons was really just dependent on how far away they were from each other... remember, in thirdspace they made a huge vortex with a standard four pylon gate

no reason to assume the three pylon gates dont work that way
 
<blockquote><font class="small">Quote:</font><hr>Originally posted by A_M_Swallow:
<font color=yellow>The three pylon gates are likely to make a smaller hole than the 4 pylon design.</font color=yellow><hr></blockquote>

Doubt it.........and EA jump gate probably would not work with only three.........because it was deisinged to be four
 
IIRC when B5 mag was still about, there was a column called 'The Great Machine' in which References Editor Fiona Avery answered questions about the B5 universe. I think there was a question about how jumpgates worked.
 
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