Star Trek Social Club
r/startrek: The Next Generation
Star Trek news and discussion. No slash fic...
Maybe a little slash fic.
New to Star Trek and wondering where to start?
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Upcoming Episodes
| Date | Episode | Title |
|---|---|---|
| 08-28 | SNW 3x08 | "Four-and-a-Half Vulcans" |
| 09-04 | SNW 3x09 | "Terrarium" |
| 09-11 | SNW 3x10 | "New Life and New Civilizations" |
| 01-15 | SFA 1x01 | TBA |
| 01-15 | SFA 1x02 | TBA |
In Production
Strange New Worlds (TBA)
Starfleet Academy (2026-01-15)
In Development
Untitled comedy series
Wondering where to stream a series? Check here.
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I saw these a little while back and thought they looked awesome, but after reading lots of reviews on a few different brands, they all came to the same conclusion. It wasn’t actually viable as a Bluetooth device. Hard to hear for both parties.
Most said they just ended up using it as part of their cosplay, but never used the actual Bluetooth function. At that rate, you could find better looking ones or ones that may have other, simple functions, like just doing the sound effect when you press it.
I imagine if you wanted to create the effect, you could may be able to buy your own pin of it to put on your shirt and then wear a typical Bluetooth ear piece and just act like you are using the communicator. It’s not perfect, but you’d at least have a Bluetooth that is viable and just get the one that makes the sound effect when you press it.
Our tech is simply not there to put proper speakers and microphones AND a well sized battery in something so small.
Especially speakers. Volume is determined by the amount of air the diaphragm can move - and there's an exponential relationship between the size of the diaphragm and the volume of air it moves. Large diaphragm: even small movements (low amplification) can be loud because of how much air you move. Small diaphragm: even at high amplification, the volume will be low.
Smartphone speakers work this around by having an actually large speaker with appropriate sized cavity tucked away. Like, look at an iPhone teardown and see just how big the speakers are for the mediocre volume they can output. A combadge is what, 1/5 the size of the largest iPhone, in volume? And you still need to put electronics AND a battery in there.
It could work as a microphone, but not as a speaker.
Laptop-style speakers may be just enough. It would be tight and maybe the badge would have to be enlarged slightly to accommodate it, though.
I did a deep clean of my laptop not long ago and was surprised at how tiny and flat the speakers actually were. They won't fill a room, but they're enough for light music or a Teams call at arm's length. Granted, it might not be good in a noisy area, but that would be a problem for the mic as well (not to mention public speakerphone use is kind of frowned on lol).
Laptop speakers work with being small by adding a large sound cavity around it, which allows for the sound to be amplified.
You can't jam that into a combadge size while also keeping space for battery and electronics.