Talk:Blaster
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[edit] Image
Does anyone know why this image thing isn't working. I thought I understood it, but now, who knows.--Kosure 21:55, 29 Apr 2005 (UTC)
- The last time that I added an image it took a little bit of time for it to show up. It was rather odd. It eventually seemed to fix itself. -- Aidje 22:01, 29 Apr 2005 (UTC)
"Some of the gas used to generate the beam is energized to a plasma state and is fired with the highly energized light at supra-light velocities, perhaps partially in hyperspace." Is there a source on this? I always thought they were fairly slow, at least compared to bullets, so they could be dodged somewhat. In the movies, they take frames to get where they're going, which is way slower than light.-LtNOWIS 00:50, 9 May 2005 (UTC)
- Indeed, the books do speak of bolts being dodged, at least in the books I've read. There's also the thing you mentioned about the films. This doesn't seem accurate. – Aidje talk 03:36, 9 May 2005 (UTC)
- The Technical Commentaries suggest that it's near lightspeed. I'll post a link to the External Links section. --GenkiNeko 11:16, 5 Jun 2005 (UTC)
- There are instances in the films of Jedi moving to deflect bolts after leaving the weapon, so they must be no where near lightspeed. --Fade 11:52, 5 Jun 2005 (UTC)
- I think that because it is obvious that blaster bolts can be seen much before they actually hit their targets in the films, that the part about blasters showing damage before the bolt is seen, should be put in an aside or taken out altogether. Where does that information come from anyway? Lt santa anna 06:01, 9 Sep 2005 (UTC)
- Totally. The blaster bolt is a sublightspeed charged-particle bolt. It's also never mentioned that the "laser charging" technique is used as described, although it probably does occur in the laser and turbolaser cannons, giving rise to the name.--The Erl of Blastech
- A blaster bolt would necessarily have to be comprised of more than just a laser beam. Laser beams are invisible when viewed on edge for the very reason that all the light is pointed in one direction, with as little diffusion as possible. That's why laser-communication can't be intercepted. Blaster bolts have been variously defined as consisting solely of high-energy plasma or a combination of a laser beam plus plasma. It is the heat of the plasma that radiates the visible light. Enochf 21:20, 11 October 2006 (UTC) (innit?)
"Because the bolt traveled at faster-than-light speeds, targets could show signs of damage before the visible portion of the bolt hit. This was because the visible portion, as well as most of the heat, was a side-effect of the actual, lethal bolt." Is there an IU source for this? I know it has been proposed by the tech commentaries, but I'm not sure if there's anything more substantial to support it. --Fade 21:26, 22 Jun 2005 (UTC)
- I can recall at least two instances where damage occurs a split second before the visual component makes contact: Luke's cybernetic hand being hit on the sail barge in RotJ, and when Yoda just barely avoids getting hit by a stray bolt on Kashyyyk in RotS.--Spanky The Dolphin 21:53, 8 Jul 2005 (UTC)
- Filmography like that doesn't really count. It was an error. --The Erl of Blastech
- The bolt cannot possibly travel faster than C... E=mc2
- Um- The point directly above me is completely bullock because the characters of the Star Wars saga travel faster than light on a day-to-day basis
Hey, i just edited the "so was the heat" portion, because the heat is what killed the person, not anything else (look at the stormtrooper's chest when Han shoots him, the armor melts, then explodes into his chest). Also, i suggest altering the "faster than light" thing as well, i am positive that they are slower than light, but whatever. Also, disruptor rifles are different from blaster's, i thought. Aren't they beams that "disrupt" the bond between atoms in a person's body, so they're effectively (and painfully, which is why theyre banned) disintegrated? - Mirage
- According to the Essential Guide to Weapons and Technology, disruptors just use brute force for their power-LtNOWIS 04:42, 11 Aug 2005 (UTC)
- I think they meant that metaphorically; their operating principles are different according to the Arms and Equipment Guide: "A disruptor wave, on the other hand [from blasters], is a series of nonharmonic vibrations that excite the molecules of the target, causing them to lose cohesion and come apart." jSarek 04:56, 11 Aug 2005 (UTC)
Yeah....
They're called blaster bolts, not laser beams.
I moved the Obi-Wan quote, because i thought it was more historical than technical. I hope that's ok, i know it's only minor really. Crazymoon 21:22, 31 May 2006 (UTC)
---
The bolt is just to hold the light part, except for plasma projectors, which almost completely melt and are mostly hot metal. Those are good against armor and droids, but so much against people.
In a live blaster bolt, the light rotates around the bolt. The closer the light is, the hotter the bolt is (plasma pro.^^^) I'm not sure if this was the Lucas intension, but I think that the light is charged (not sure how, but light is two electromagnetic waves, so weaken one, and it is charged). Then the bolt is the oposite charge. Then, the light is atracted to the bolt, but is moving to fast to touch the bolt, so it spin around at light speed!
A lightsaber can deflect bolts becaue the blade is the same charge as the light in the bolt-blast.
If Wiki doesn't show enough about light/and or lasers, go to howstuffworks.com. They describe light pretty good.
[edit] Neutrality
- Well, this article seems pretty biased, with the quote in the last section, the bias of blasters over lasers, and the rather poignant favoritism of Han's blaster. That's hardly NPOV. Also need serious expansion, but it's already up for I-Drive. Atarumaster88
(Audience Chamber) 19:38, 11 September 2006 (UTC)
[edit] Appearances
Wait a minute, blasters show up in most EU stories, but not all of them? I didn't think that there were any EU stories that took place before the invention of blasters; shouldn't any book/comic/whatever that doesn't include at least one blaster be listed, just for its rarity value? Jwebb13
00:59, 16 September 2006 (UTC)
- We should start an "Exceptions" list for any stories, games, etc. that blasters don't appear in (if any). —Xwing328(Talk) 14:10, 27 March 2007 (UTC)
[edit] Categories
Should a section be added for blaster carbines or should examples of the type just be included on the blaster rifle page? Jwebb13 02:15, 16 September 2006 (UTC)
[edit] 5.1 and 5.2 Grammar and Factual correction: Lasers are real
I was reading the Laser Mechanics section when something occurred to me: Did anyone besides me know that lasers are in fact real, not just an invention of science-fiction??? And they're not just real, they're all over the place: Bar-code scanners, laser pointers (duh), etc. However, for some reason the writer of the "Laser Mechanics" section placed all the verbs in past tense (implying that lasers are not real), and had some of his facts wrong.
To rectify these, I changed the verbs in that section to present tense and made factual corrections. StarSword 15:47, 20 September 2006 (UTC)
- no...the lasers here are laserly charged particle bolts, completly different id think from sanners :P Jedi Dude 15:49, 20 September 2006 (UTC)
- Wrong on two points, Jedi Dude: First off, it explains right below the "Laser Mechanics" section in the "Blaster Mechanics" section the difference between traditional lasers and Star Wars blasters. Secondly, the US government is currently researching laser weapons. The difference between the laser in the YAL-1A (a laser-armed 747 capable of shooting down ballistic missiles (I'm not making this up)) and the laser in a barcode scanner is merely one of scale. Yes, blasters are not traditional lasers in that they are particle bolts charged by a laser, but the laser itself is produced the same way as the lasers in this century.
StarSword 13:12, 22 September 2006 (UTC)
- StarSword, you seem to be unaware of our policy that all in-universe topics are written in past tense. See the Manual of Style. Whether or not the ABL program exists (and yes, I know ALL about it), in this case laser weapons are in-universe, and are written in past tense. See also the articles on things like oxygen. Do they exist on Earth and in Star Wars? Yes. Are they still written in past tense? Yes. Atarumaster88 (Audience Chamber) 19:13, 22 September 2006 (UTC)
- StarSword, you seem to be unaware of our policy that all in-universe topics are written in past tense. See the Manual of Style. Whether or not the ABL program exists (and yes, I know ALL about it), in this case laser weapons are in-universe, and are written in past tense. See also the articles on things like oxygen. Do they exist on Earth and in Star Wars? Yes. Are they still written in past tense? Yes. Atarumaster88
P.S. And all roads lead to Rome, which basically means that although the basic principles of lasers are still present, different mediums/materials/construction methods may be used that give Star Wars lasers quite a large difference from Terran lasers. I mean, there's a considerable difference just between our Class I and Class IV lasers, so a laser from another galaxy could exhibit considerable variation. Atarumaster88 
(Audience Chamber) 19:15, 22 September 2006 (UTC)
Actually, I wasn't aware of that. StarSword 12:50, 25 September 2006 (UTC)
- Well, all of us were unaware at some point. Happy editing. :-) Atarumaster88 (Audience Chamber) 22:52, 25 September 2006 (UTC)
- Just check Wiki. I'm a geek, more than normal, so I know this crap.
[edit] Merge Blaster Variants
I was looking at the articles for each of the variants and all but the Repeating blaster were rather short. I was wondering if they should a be merged into this article? Reignfire 02:15, 24 September 2006 (UTC)
[edit] What causes blaster bolt color
The article has nothing to say about what causes blaster bolts to be green, blue, or red (or any other colors they might come in). I know it's caused by the blaster gas, but I was hoping for more information.
- well you hoped wrong.
- There's probably something on laser colours here, likely something to do with the setting of the laser's wavelenths. As for the second poster, there's no need to be rude, nor to post when you don't have anything of relevance to add - \\Captain Kwenn// — Ahoy! 18:19, 10 January 2007 (UTC)
- I'm guessing, but I think that the light made inside is just different frequencies of light. It's just like in a laser. You can probably find that on Wiki. Technicaly, you don't need a gas inside. Red laser light can be made with flash bulb and ruby. I guess the same woks in a lightsaber.
It's like a laser pointer. When the light is created, it can be any color, and changed to any color. It could be white even, but not black. Black isn't a light, black is lack of light.
[edit] Handheld Blaster Power
Can someone give me an accurate estimate of a rifle or pistol blaster's firepower (NOT the ridiculously overpowered types like disruptors)? For example, Rukh's blaster knocked down a house in Heir to the Empire, and it was only a regular blaster, yet blaster bolts hitting various surfaces in the other books, films, etc. doesn't show quite that much power (except Han Solo's DL-44,, of course). 82 AirborneTac-Com "All the Way!" 22:58, 11 March 2007 (UTC)
- If I recall correctly he needed several/many shots.
A blaster shot is super hot. Imagine heat enough to melt a half inch of steel or more, in a tiny ball the size of a marble.
[edit] History (Or Lack Therof)
Can anyone tell me when blaster technology first came into being? This information on the triple blaster makes no sense to me. In what context was it mentioned in Star Wars Galaxies? I've been scouring the Internets for answers but little comes up. I somehow assumed more information would be available, blaster technology must have dramatically changed the Galaxy, right? —Ortchel 06:50, 13 March 2007 (UTC)
- Well, the article mentions that the Rakatans had the oldest known blaster, so I suppose we can assume that they invented it? Lalala la 21:59, 8 August 2007 (UTC)
[edit] Recoil
Do blasters have recoil? The video games seem to indicate this, but is there any info on how this works? Or on how strong it is? I mean, there are plenty of occurrences where people use dual blaster pistols, but if the recoil was as strong as real life, they would break their wrists, indicating that whatever recoil suffered is very small. DarthMRN 11:02, 11 April 2007 (UTC)
- Yeah your right, although now that you bring it up, i've seen it in both the movies and the games. Like when Han Solo fires his blaster with one hand, there is noticable recoil, but when the stormtroopers fire their E-11's with 2 hands it seems to nullify the recoil considerabley. Also Han's blaster was modified considerabley, so that may also be an issue with his higher recoil. Also in instances with Droideka's when their arms fire, they recoil, and when clones fire their DC-15a's they recoil back slightly. Also yes, in the games, pretty much all the blasters and slugger's have recoil, either small or big. especially the E-11's. But that may all be game mechanics. Hope that helped! -Z.T.
____
There's just a little recoil from the bolt. Imagine a little more than a BB-gun. More a little more than that...
Maave.
[edit] Sub classes of blasters and specific ones
If you go down a little bit in the blaster article, you will see the blaster variants, and the links to those variants below them. When you go to them, and then link to specific blasters, there has been an increasing amount of tech. information, but it has a lot of room to grow. Such as speciications, prices, dur. etc. And i was thinking that maybe the people that worked on these, and new people, could come back and finish the job so to speak. You know, add more specs, prices, and more. Thoughts? -Z.T.
[edit] Color
Is there any information available to add about the color of blaster bolts?
[edit] Xciter
Would the Xciter be a magnetic bottle? I have a feeling it is. 69.19.14.21 22:52, 2 October 2007 (UTC)
[edit] Inside?
Where is the image page. I want an inside view of a blaster.
Clean UP
This article needs serious cleaning up. First it says blasters fire plasma, then goes on with some totally unrealistic plasma compression stuff? Compressing a plasma does not convert it into a particle beam, please clean this up. 66.82.9.92 05:21, 15 December 2007 (UTC)