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I removed vast uncited sections from the "operations" section of the article. I don't know if they originated from a technical manual or what, but I've added and left citable references taken directly from episodes to construct how the transport process works.
By the 24th century, transporter systems could also be operated from computer terminals, other than those in transporter rooms.
Obtaining or maintaining a transporter lock enables the transporter operator to know the subject's location, even in motion, allowing the beaming process to start more quickly. This is an essential safety precaution when a starshipaway team enters a potentially dangerous situation that would require an emergency beam-out.
A transporter lock was usually maintained by tracing the homing signal of a communicator or combadge. When there was a risk that such devices would be lost in the field or are otherwise unavailable, personnel could be implanted with a subcutaneous transponder before an away mission, to still provide a means to maintain a transporter lock. Alternatively, sensors could be used to scan for the bio-sign or energy signature of a subject, which could then be fed into the transporter's targeting scanner for a lock.
Next, the lifeform or object to be beamed was scanned on the quantum level, using a molecular imaging scanner. At this point, Heisenberg compensators took into account the position and direction of all subatomic particles composing the object or individual and created a map of the physical structure being disassembled, amounting to billions of kiloquads of data.
Simultaneously, the object was broken down into a stream of subatomic particles, also called the matter stream. The matter stream was briefly stored in a pattern buffer while the system compensates for Doppler shift to the destination.
As with any type of transmission of energy or radiation, scattering and degradation of the signal must be monitored closely. The annular confinement beam (ACB) acted to maintain the integrity of the information contained in the energy beam. Finally, the initial process was reversed and the object or individual was reassembled at the destination.
I'd also like to see the section written more succinctly, without veering off into deviating examples from the norm.
While certain types of energy could be transported safely, active phaser beams would be disrupted during this breakdown process. (TNG: "Datalore")
Furthermore, in conjunction with the restructuring of the page noted a couple sections up, I'm in the process of compartmentalizing the article into more better defined sections. --Alan (talk) 17:49, October 24, 2018 (UTC)
Split[]
Maybe split "transporter range" into its own page, as "line of sight" is separate from sight. It's a concept/location kind of thing. --LauraCC (talk) 16:39, January 17, 2020 (UTC)
