Vortex manipulator

A vortex manipulator was a form of basic time travel used by the Time Agency of the 51st century. It also had other abilities.

History

Although it was generally used by the Agency, the Family of Blood stole one to follow the Doctor around the universe. (DW: Human Nature/The Family of Blood)

Time Agents were each given a vortex manipulator. Jack Harkness and other Time Agents had their manipulators housed in a wrist strap. (DW: Utopia) The TARDIS controls included a vortex manipulator. (DW: Attack of the Graske)

The manipulator in the TARDIS was likely a different device than the Time Agency's manipulator.

After Rose Tyler as Bad Wolf resurrected Jack Harkness following his extermination by the Daleks, (DW: The Parting of the Ways) Jack used the manipulator to teleport from the Game Station, 200,100 to Earth, 1869. He was aiming for the 21st century but missed and the manipulator burned out after this trip. (DW: Utopia)

When Jack, the Doctor and Martha Jones were being attacked by Futurekind on Malcassairo in the year 100,000,000,000,000, although Jack told the Doctor his vortex manipulator hadn't worked for years, the Doctor reactivated it with his sonic screwdriver, and transported them to Earth, 2008. The group later used it to teleport to the Valiant and for Martha to escape. (DW: The Sound of Drums) The Master later used it to teleport to Earth after taking it from Martha to threaten to blow up the Earth before the Doctor teleported them back. Later, after they defeated the Master, the Doctor deactivated the manipulator before Jack made his way back to the Torchwood Hub, saying that he couldn't have him with a time-travelling teleport and he "could go anywhere". (DW: Last of the Time Lords)

It would appear that while the Doctor clearly performed repairs to the vortex manipulator in order to restore it to function, when he later disabled the teleporter, it would appear that he simply erased operating codes, rather than physically disabling or otherwise damaging the device, as' Jack was easily able to restore the teleporter function once in receipt of the codes from Project Indigo.

Captain John Hart used a manipulator to reunite with Jack (TW: Kiss Kiss, Bang Bang) and then take him to 27 A.D. Gray used his manipulator to take control of the Weevils in Cardiff. (TW: Exit Wounds)

When the Daleks relocated Earth to the Medusa Cascade and invaded it, Jack used information from the UNIT Project Indigo (based on Sontaran teleport pod technology) to reactivate the teleport function on his vortex manipulator. He then teleported to find the Doctor, arriving just after the Doctor was shot by a Dalek, whom Jack then killed. (DW: The Stolen Earth) After the Daleks were defeated, the Doctor deactivated the manipulator again, saying "I told you, no teleport". (DW: Journey's End)

Time Field timeline

After hearing that she was in search of time travel, the salesman Dorium met with River Song in The Maldovarium bar to offer her a Vortex manipulator that was, according to him, "Fresh off the wrist of a handsome Time Agent". As payment Song offered him a Callisto Pulse which could disarm micro-explosives from up to 20 ft. When he inquired as to what kind of micro-explosives the pulse could disarm, she responded by saying the kind that she had just put in his wine. He was then forced to give her the vortex manipulator which she used to teleport to Planet One at some point in the past and then to 102 A.D. on Earth. This manipulator seemed to work different than Jack's, teleporting a person through time rather than through the Time Vortex. (DW: The Pandorica Opens)

After the destruction of the TARDIS, the Doctor used River's manipulator to teleport to Easter, 1996, and then later into the TARDIS itself to rescue River. The Doctor later time-traveled back 12 minutes to fake his death after being seriously wounded by the Stone Dalek to buy some time. The vortex manipulator was then used to transport the Pandorica into the heart of the explosion of the TARDIS. After being brought back by Amy, the Doctor gave the vortex manipulator back to River Song who used it to time-travel/teleport away to the Stormcage in the 52nd century. (DW: The Big Bang)

Abilities

The main function of a vortex manipulator was to transport the user through time and space using teleportation and time travel via the Time Vortex. (DW: Utopia, The Sound of Drums, et al)

The exact range of a vortex manipulator was uncertain; under normal conditions, one model could allow travel of a distance of nearly 200,000 years (although in this instance, said manipulator was burned out as a result). (DW: The Parting of the Ways, TW: Everything Changes) Following modifications with a sonic screwdriver, it could allow travel from the End of the Universe to 21st century Earth. It could transport multiple people if necessary, so long as they had some sort of physical contact with it. (DW: The Sound of Drums)

In general, manipulators seem to have been a somewhat unreliable form of time travel, especially when compared to a TARDIS. Former Time Agent Jack Harkness' admission that he was unable to reach his intended destination when returning to Earth's past (DW: Utopia) supports this, as does his later surprise that a trip back from Malcassairo at the End of the Universe using the same (albiet upgraded with a sonic screwdriver) model brought them back so close to when they left. (DW: The Sound of Drums) However, when the universe was a fraction of its former size, a vortex manipulator was able to facilitate multiple precise jumps with no apparent difficulty -- although admittedly, the distances and time differences involved were a great deal smaller. (DW: The Big Bang)

Given that the same manipulator was apparently able to reach the first planet in the universe (DW: The Pandorica Opens) it's possible that Jack's specific model or unit was unreliable, and vortex manipulators in general were capable of time travel on the same scale as a TARDIS. It is also possible that in that particular instance, the Doctor had temporarily modified the device to make it more precise.

The vortex manipulator projected a temporal shield to protect the user from the side effects of an unprotected journey through the vortex. However, transporting more than two people would push the vortex manipulator beyond its intended capacity, rendering the shielding was less effective, and resulted in discomfort for the users. (DW: The Sound of Drums)

Given that the Doctor and the Master did not experience discomfort when transporting from the Valiant, it can be argued that the vortex manipulator is capable of transporting two people without difficulty, and it was only when transporting three people, that the users experienced discomfort.

In addition to transportation, vortex manipulators had several other functions. These included:

Communication between users, listening to radio broadcasts, including storage of messages. (TW: Kiss Kiss, Bang Bang, DW: The Sound of Drums)

Projection of holograms. (DW: The Empty Child, TW: Kiss Kiss, Bang Bang, Fragments)

Tracking of life signs. (DW: Bad Wolf, Journey's End)

Remote control of electronic devices. (TW: Everything Changes, Exit Wounds)

Detection of low sodium levels. (TW: Rendition)

Scanning and alteration of printed texts. (TW: Immortal Sins)

Unlocking combination-locked vaults. (TW: Immortal Sins)

Vortex manipulators were constructed from an unknown, but virtually indestructible metal alloy, and one was able to easily survive a bomb that would destroy a Human. (TW: Children of Earth: Day Five) A vortex manipulator also survived the explosion caused by Big Bang Two. (DW: The Big Bang)

The Doctor considered it very primitive compared to a TARDIS, describing his TARDIS as a "sports car" to Jack Harkness' "space hopper". He also described it as "cheap and nasty time travel, very bad for you", and that he was "trying to give it up". (DW: The Big Bang)

When traveling through time with a vortex manipulator the users seem to use both the teleport function and time travel function depending on where they want to go. For example, when the Doctor, Martha and Jack traveled from the End of the Universe, they left from an alien planet and ended up on Earth. This indicates that the manipulator likely has a long teleport range. (DW: The Sound of Drums)

File:800px-Vortex Manipulator Gray.jpg

Gray's vortex manipulator. (TW: Exit Wounds)

Owners

Captain Jack Harkness (DW: The Empty Child)
Captain John Hart (TW: Kiss Kiss, Bang Bang)
Michael Lexus Billington (DW:Love and Monsters)
Gray (TW: Exit Wounds)
The Family of Blood (stolen) (DW: The Family of Blood)
Mairwyn (Mexico, Time rift flotsam)
Dorium (from dead Time Agent) (DW: The Pandorica Opens)
River Song (acquired from Dorium Maldavar) (DW: The Pandorica Opens, The Big Bang)
- The Doctor briefly borrowed this from her (DW: The Big Bang)

Notes

Jack's Vortex Manipulator is used much in the same way as the Doctor's Sonic Screwdriver in the context of Torchwood, being capable of doing just about whatever the writers want it to. It's only known limitation is being unable to time travel or teleport, both functions having been deactivated by the Doctor.