Monday, December 17, 2012

D-Scanning for Noobs

The directional scanner helps you find stuffz in space. It can be a bit tricky to use, but when you can use it effectively you can speed up finding the POS that the Nyx is parked at, or what low-sec belt that idiot Hulk pilot is at.

This is a very basic guide to using the directional scanner in Eve. If you know the basics, probably best to move along.

Your scanner has two components radius and distance.


The distance is obvious. Just use the table below to judge the KM/AU conversion. If you don't know what a AU is, it is an "Astrological Unit". This is the average distance between our sun and the planet earth which is a tad under 150 million km.

1 AU = 150m km
2 AU = 300m km
5 AU = 750m km
10 AU = 1.5bn KM
14.4 AU = 2,147,483,647 (Max scan distance)

So your ship scanner has a range of roughly 14.4 AU. If it's outside that range, you ain't going to pick it up! Remember, in some systems your maximum scan distance might not even be as wide as 20% of the system size.

The raidus is slightly more tricky. At 360 degrees it scans all around your ship in every direction. At 5 degrees it is a very narrow beam which can be difficult to aim properly.

The key thing to remember is that the scanner works on your view, not the direction that your ship is facing. When you narrow the beam of the scanner, the direction it is looking at is the direction YOU are looking at. Spin the camera to point the scanner. You do not need to align your ship to where you want to scan, just move the camera view.

With direction scanning I start off at 360 degrees so I know I'm within scan range of what I'm looking for. Then I do a 180 scan one side of my ship. Then I'll have an idea which side the target it. I then do 30 degree scans on celestials that I can see on that side and keep narrowing the beam until I have then, or not if they are safed up in a spot nowhere near a celestial.

The pics below show me scanning down some industrials. Note how the ship is stationary, I just rotate the camera.

Ah ha! Some industrials in space on a 360 degree scan!

Narrowed scan to 30 degrees. Well they are not around planet 10!

Planet 6 is clear....

So you're all around planet 8 somewhere are you!

If they are at a cluster of celestials such as the above pic, then you may need to get in that cluster to scan them down. This is especially true when trying to find which POS or belt they are at. By warping to the planet you can scan the moons/belts much easier.... whilst making it much easier for others to find you! Obviously things are speeded up if you add moons to your overview!

Easiest way? Get a probing alt with a ship with bonus to scan strength and some Sisters Combat Scanner Probes :)

6 comments:

  1. Have you tried the new Tracking checkbox? It should reset the tracking camera position to the centre of the screen. You can then click on an item in range in the overview, a belt or moon for example, and do a quick 5 degree scan. Obviously if you it's at the far end of range then you might get overlap in the 5 degrees.

    Warped to a planet the other day and scanned about 6 local belts in around twenty seconds on 5 degrees. The ease of use is blowing my mind.

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  2. The tracking box is a great addition. But dscan will be much easier to use once you can select a different filter for scan than the one you're using for your overview and put in distances in AU as well as km..

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    1. Can't you just change tab once its centered and before you actually scan?

      1. Activate tracking checkbox
      2. Select an asteroid belt on your "Celestial Crap" overview tab
      3. Select your "Miners I want to gank" ship tracking overview tab
      4. Hit scan

      Or do you mean a specific dropdown on the scan window for a named Overview setting to use for targets while the current Overview governs the location?

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    2. You can certainly click back and forth between tabs. But it's so bothersome and unnecessary. Think about if you had to have the same setting for brackets as you have on your overview. Everyone's setup is a little different, but as an example, I don't have drones on my main combat overview, but I do have them showing on brackets. So I know when an enemy has deployed drones and how far away from me they area, but I don't want them buzzing around on my overview cluttering the ships that I need quick information on (transversal, radial velocity, distance, ewar effects, corp, etc).

      The same goes for dscan. Especially while in a combat situtation, I need to able to focus on what's in my immediate vicinity (on grid) shown by my overview, while also having a quick overview of any other incoming hostiles, shown by refreshing dscan. I have align points on my overview at the bottom (sorted by distance) that I don't want on my dscan. I only usually want ships. Now, sure, I can switch back and forth between overview tabs to get a ship/probe-only dscan results, but then I'm not getting all the information on my overview that I need in a readable format.

      If for nothing else, it's simply a matter of organization. There's no reason the overview should be tied to the directional scanner. They have filter lists in common, but that's about it. They're not used for the same purpose.

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  3. Need some help here... I can scan what i'm looking for .. ok.. got it.. now how do I approach it and hack it (training mission) Can't warp to the location.. can't figure out the hack part from the probe.. and spent 4 hours this am trying to figure it out... any suggestions ??

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