STARFLEET DATABASE FILE: Communicators

Starfleet communicators have taken many shapes over the past 100 years, and the latest communicator design takes the form of an insignia badge worn on the upper left breast. Originally, communicators took the form a of a flip lid device and had a standard range of about 20,000 KM. The design was modified at one point to fit around the wrist. This represented the most radical change in communicator design for Centuries, but repeated failures of the communicator after relatively minor impacts caused them to be changed back to the more favourable flip lid device. The standard range of the latest design of communicator is merely a few hundred KM, but with the presence of a starship acting as a signal booster and relay device, the range can be increased to up to 40,000 KM. It works by utilising a Subspace Transceiver Assembly (STA), and incorporates an analogue-to-digital voice converter and a low power subspace field emitter. 

