Communicator

Communicators used by the Federation, Romulans, Klingons, Borg and Ferengi are all similar in nature and are considered fast FTL radios. With support from a ship in orbit they have a range of about 50,000 km; without support on a planet, they allow line-of-sight communications to a distance of 500 km. They can be combadge types, like the Federation currently uses, or hand-held. Transporters can lock onto this signal in order to increase reliability of transport. Commbadges are also used to give the location of individuals on starbase and starships. The badges can adhere to almost any surface using a magnatomic adhesion area. They are powered by a rechargeable Saurium Krellide crystal that provides continuous usage for two weeks. They can be security coded to particular individuals.

Communicators are also used in combat situations by providing a personal transponder which will help prevent casualties from friendly fire. This ability can be deactivated.

A communicator, or personal receiver, is a handheld communication devices used by many species for person-to-person, person-to-ship, and inter-ship communications. Communicators usually transmitted on subspace frequencies.

23rd century Starfleet communicator

Communicators were used by Starfleet landing parties and away teams; occasionally, communicators were used in situations where normal intraship communications were inaccessable (or inadvisable), during the 22nd and 23rd centuries. (See, for example, TOS: "Mirror, Mirror")

Employing a flip-top design, a member of Starfleet spoke directly into the device to give commands and speak with other personnel. (TOS: "The Cage", et cetera)

25th century Starfleet Commbadge

By the 24th century, these communication devices were integrated into the standard uniform badges and became known as combadges. Users no longer had to speak directly into the communicator, but rather could activate and deactivate them with the touch of a finger. The combadge came into general use by 2344 (TNG: "Yesterday's Enterprise"). Late-24th century communicators were composed of a crystalline composite of silicon, beryllium, carbon-seventy, and gold. (TNG: "Time's Arrow", "The Last Outpost")

The combadges were also designed to self-activate after their casing was destroyed to aid in the rescue of victims. (VOY: "Time and Again")

When accessing a computer, the communicator of the person at the terminal will log in the user information, thereby making it possible to trace back who accessed the computer. (TNG: "The Drumhead")

Other species also possessed similar communicator devices. (TOS: "A Taste of Armageddon", "Elaan of Troyius"; ENT: "Fallen Hero")

Alternative Uses

In some cases, communicators served purposes beyond basic communication. For example, communicators were often used to allow transporter locks for beaming, thus acting as homing transponders. When used in tandem, two communicators could produce a sonic disruption by using sound beams to create a sympathetic vibration in an unstable object, such as a cliff face. Kirk and Spock used such a technique to ward off a party of angry Capellans on Capella IV in 2267. (TOS: "Friday's Child")