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A transponder was a type of tracking device on board a starship, starbase, or other spacecraft, which broadcast a signal identifying that craft by name, design, and allegiance. This allowed for easy recognition of craft, especially at distances where visual inspection or accurate sensor readings were not possible.

Transponders could be deactivated or have their details forged, however, so the existence or absence of a transponder signal was not proof-positive of a craft's identity or existence. For this reason, transponder signals could include some kind of code proving to those "in-the-know" that the signal was genuine.

Starfleet Com Net end screen

Transponder 4 identified on screen

In August of 2151, Transponder 4 of Echo 1 was used to relay a subspace communication between Admiral Maxwell Forrest at Starfleet Command on Earth and Captain Jonathan Archer aboard Enterprise. (ENT: "Fortunate Son")

In 2153, Osaarian pirates were equipped with small transponders. Usually, on raiding missions, each Osaarian had one of the devices attached to the right shoulder of his own uniform. However, the transponders could be quickly detached and applied to other items, such as cargo selected for transport. (ENT: "Anomaly (ENT)")

In the final draft script of "Anomaly", these Osaarian devices were commonly referred to as "transponder devices".

In May of 2154, Arik Soong had a transponder implanted to prevent him from escaping from Enterprise NX-01. He later deactivated it on Verex III with a stun baton. (ENT: "Borderland")

Scotty's Gorn transponder

Scott's improvised Gorn transponder

In 2259, Lieutenant jg Montgomery Scott constructed a Gorn transponder by cannibalizing a Hubble K7C Stellar Assessment Array from the USS Stardiver. This allowed him to fool the Gorn into seeing his shuttle as one of their own. Later, he salvaged the device and brought it with him to the USS Enterprise. (SNW: "Hegemony")

In 2369, Chief Miles O'Brien and Lieutenant Jadzia Dax searched for the crash landed runabout USS Yangtzee Kiang and were even unable to find the transponder signal of the runabout. (DS9: "Battle Lines")

Later in 2371, O'Brien planted a transponder on a Flaxian ship that visited Deep Space 9 that year. It was detectable within a range of a half-light year, however, the ship was destroyed before it could be put to use. Following the destruction of the ship, O'Brien was nevertheless able to analyze the telemetry from the transponder and discovered an interference pattern in the transponder's signal, indicating the ship was destroyed by a forced neutrino inverter. (DS9: "Improbable Cause")

Decoy transponder

Decoy transponder dropped by the Titan

While fleeing from the Changeling-compromised Starfleet in 2401, the USS Titan dropped several transponders as decoys to throw off its pursuers. Admiral Jean-Luc Picard subsequently sought Commodore Geordi La Forge's help in cloning the Titan's transponder signal as a more permanent means of disguising their position. However, La Forge informed him that this could only be accomplished with randomized Starfleet security codes, and that doing so would be futile anyway since all ships in the fleet had been integrated and would automatically communicate if they neared each other. (PIC: "The Bounty")

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