Sensors

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An unknown object on the edge of your sensor range. You do not know who owns it or what its name is. All you know is that it traveling at 20 LY a turn an seems to be a low energy object.

Planetary System
2.00
Ground Base
1.00
Pod: Assault Pod
025
Pod: Gold Pod (Cloaked)
0.01
Pod: Gold Pod
0.75
Pods ( All others )
0.75
Buoy
20.00
Ships
0.00 to 2.00
Minefield
0.35
Minefield (Cloaked)
0.05
Table 1: Scanner Profile of Common Objects

The visibility of an object depends on the object ' s scanner profile (see table 1). The lower the scanner profile the more difficult it is for enemy scanners detect the object. A scanner profile of 1.00 means that a scanner can detect this object right at about the scanner ' s rated maximum scan range. A scanner profile of 0.50 means that a scanner can only detect this object when it is closer than one half its rated scanner range. Objects with a scanner profile of greater than 1.00 can be seen by scanners at distances greater than their rated scan ranges.

The scanner profile of a ship depends on several factors; cloaking, the hull ' s warp signature, the ship ' s speed and emissions from the ship ' s own scanners.

EM = Emissions from scanners (See Table 2, below)

WS = Warp signature of hull

S = Ship speed in LY per Turn

Cloak = 50 if ship is cloaked

Cloak = 0 if ship is not cloaked

Ship Scanner Profile = ((WS + EM - Cloak) / 100) * ((S + 80) / 100)


Emissions

Long Range Scanner
30
Scans out to 100% of the ship ' s rated scan range
Medium Range Scanner
20 *
Scans out to 50% of the ship ' s rated scan range
Short Range Scanner
10 *
Scans out to 25% of the ship ' s rated scan range
Planetary Scanner
2 *
Gives the passive scanners a 10 LY range boost.
Passive
0
Very unpredictable, can detect objects from 0 to 300 LY.
Can detect beyond 150 LY only about 5% of the time.
Passive scanners will not work if Short, Medium or Long Range Scanner are on.
* Only emits this amount only if it is the highest power scanner turned on.

Table 2: Scanner Emissions and Ranges

Scanners emit 40 pulses per turn. These pulses are emitted at even intervals as all objects move through subspace. For example: A ship traveling 100 LY per turn will emit a sensor pulse every 2.5 LY. If the ship were to stay in scanner range of an object through out the whole turn the ship would have 40 different chances to detect that object. If the object is only in scanner range for half the turn, the ship would only have 20 chances to detect the object.

Once an object is detected it is tracked by all your ships for the rest of the turn. All objects that a scanner detects will show up as either an unknown contact or as an identified object. Once an object has been identified it should show up as an identified object most of the time, even when it is on the outer edge of your scan range. Objects that have been identified will have very detailed information available to you in the object ' s data pad display , including the ship ' s ID number, name, weapons and cargo load.

The odds of detecting an object that you have never seen before as a new unknown contact are as follows:

SR = Scanner Range ( 100 % of hull scan range if long range scanners are on, see table 2 )

DX = Distance to object from the scanner

SP = Target Object Scanner Profile (See table 1)

PO = Percentage Odds That The Object Will Show Up As a Contact Per Scanner Pulse

PW = ( 1 / 40 ) = The Pulse Timing Width

PO = ((PW * SP *(SR - DX) / SR) * 100 )

The odds that you will identified a here-to-fore unknown contact.

POI = Percentage Odds That The Object Will Be Identified Per Scanner Pulse

POI = ((PW * SP *(SR - DX) / SR) * 100 ) / 2

Scanners on a base have a normal scan range of 100 LY.

Scanners can not track ships traveling through hyperspace. Ships in hyperspace can not use their scanners while in hyperspace. All scanning takes place after all hyperjumps have happened.