caught, like bottled water in the light

[melayneseahawk]

But, I finished two scenes that were in-progress, so that's nice. But, I have an question for the technology-minded people:

I need a way to send a transmission from Earth to somewhere out in the galaxy in a way that will make it impossible to track. Yes, this is very scifi, so it can be possible tech, or stolen from a tv show, or whatever, but since I've got tech-minded people narrating sometimes, I need technobabble terminology I can throw around.

For you Stargate folks, I was thinking the Asgard tech on the Odyssey might help, but do you know if there's anything we've seen the Asgard use that might help?

Thanks!

Comments

[muck-a-luck.livejournal.com]

What about that Tollan signal thingy? Was it to call the Nox or something?

[melayneseahawk.livejournal.com]

Yeah, but I don't think the SGC ever had much knowledge of how it worked. I also don't know how traceable it was, but I'm sure I could fudge that.

[theemdash]

I'll ask McKay when he wakes up. I always ask him tech questions about stories and he comes up with plausible things.

[melayneseahawk.livejournal.com]

Thanks!

[theemdash]

"The only device we have seen on Stargate that has not ever shown the weakness of being detected in the Tollan wristband device. The fact that it sends a message within a light pulse makes it very difficult to intercept."

McKay points out that Daniel knows how to send the message if not how it works.

All communication—even if it doesn't use an RF-carrier, even if it uses a subspace-carrier—it still has to operate on a specific frequency so if someone can determine your frequency and crack your encryption, then they can get your message.

The "best" way is communication through a wormhole with a very low-frequency, low-range radio system. Someone can still piggy-back off your signal with that, but they would be in range (like 100 ft or so) that you can see them in hiding.

Also he says the Asgard tech still operates off of some carrier signal that could be intercepted. (And he says that's verifiable because Thor says he had to get "within range" before sending a message which means it sends a frequency modulation through subspace.) If you had a system without a carrier signal, you wouldn't have a range that limits you.

[melayneseahawk.livejournal.com]

Well, what SG-1 needs to do is hack an Earth satellite (the easy part) and set up something that will send information from the satellite to their secret off-world base. So, not only would it have to be hard to trace (if Earth doesn't know it's there, it doesn't have to be impossible to trace), it would have to travel over a distance, without the assistance of a wormhole.

Also, this is taking place after the destruction of Area 52, so while it seems like the Tollan device would probably be the best way to go, I have no idea how it would be possible for them to have access to the technology, even if they knew how to use/adapt it.

Is it even possible to have a transmission that doesn't have a carrier signal? I know so little about this stuff...

[theemdash]

Is it even possible to have a transmission that doesn't have a carrier signal? Not currently with our level of technology (which is not to say that the Tollan device can't).

McKay says someone will discover a signal off a satellite (Tech Ops would notice a jump in bandwidth and power output if you were sending a signal across the galaxy). It's best to make up shit about the Tollan device.

[melayneseahawk.livejournal.com]

Mm, maybe the Odyssey's memory banks have some information about it? That's probably my best option. I was already thinking that they could find some bit of Asgard tech that way, so I guess it's no less valid to assume that the Odyssey might have the Area 52 R&D data hidden away somewhere.