Directional Scanner and Star Map
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Class Information
This is a syllabus for a class provided by EVE University. This section contains information about this class and its contents. General Information includes materials to create a proper class listing on the EVE University forum. Additional resources and teaching tips are listed under Notes for the Teacher.
General Information
This is a class on the uses and various functions of the Directional scanner. There is a large amount of information stored in the scanner, and it can be overwhelming if you don't know what your looking at. This class teaches the fundamentals of using this tool to their full potential. Hopefully in a format easily understandable by the newest of EVE players.
This class will teach you how to use the the d-scanner, a tool that is widely unused or misunderstood and can help you become a better pilot.
- Duration: 1:00 hours
- Location: Start docked up in Aldrat
Class contents:
- What is D-scanner?
- Setup
- Range
- Angle
- Uses
- Exercises
Student requirements:
- Mumble registration and access - make sure you have Mumble sorted out and operational well before the class begins. Use this guide for set-up: http://wiki.eveuniversity.org/Mumble
- Access to the Class.E-UNI in-game chat channel
- A suitable ship, of any type, as any ship can use the d-scanner.
Additional information: This class consist of a long in-space practical component for d-scanning.
Notes for the Teacher
Required materials:
- Class.E-UNI chat channel, to receive questions and post relevant links
- Bring any ship you feel comfortable sitting in one spot for a long time in.
Practical is pretty much required as it is difficult to understand the d-scanner effectively.
- Scanning Guide from Grismar's wiki, useful guide to scanning.
Class Contents
Introduction
Welcome to this class on using the Directional Scanner!
This course is designed primarily for teaching you how to use the D-scanner.
Over the 60 minutes or so, you'll learn how to use the most underused tool in the game, the d-scanner, along with some practicals on using it.
(Instructor should then introduce himself or herself - covering relevant experience level and background.)
We have a few ground rules for this class:
- Please put your Mumble settings on "Push to Talk" if you have not already done so.
- Feel free to type any questions in the Class.E-UNI chat channel as we proceed - I will try to answer your questions as they come during the class. At the end of my lecture, we'll open Mumble for any further questions or general discussion.
- You should be docked up in Aldrat. The first part will be done while docked up. The second part will be done in-space.
Everyone ready? OK, then - let's begin....
What is the Directional Scanner?
The directional scanner is a tool which allows you see ships within a little over 14 AU. Think of it as a mini-map, letting you see what's near you. However, being EVE, it is nowhere near as simple as that. While it does provide a list of stuff near you, it does not give a range if they are not on-grid with you (you can't see them). The D-scanner will also not be able to find cloaked ships, nor can it get you a warp-in like scanner probes can. But you can use it to give you advance warning, along with finding targets at locations you can warp to i.e. planets, belts, moons.
Using the D-Scanner
[Have your class undock and meet you at the planet of your choice. Once there, have them open their scanning window] When you first open up the scanning window, you will see three tabs. The Moon Analysis tab is useless in Empire space, and far beyond the scope of this class. The scanner window, familiar to those who explore, is also not included in this class. The d-scan tab is the one you should concentrate on. Upon clicking this tab, you will see a field with a checkbox, a slider, and another field.
Overview
First off you will see the checkbox labeled "Use active overview settings". This filters what shows up on the scanner by what your active overview is. Checking this is very important, as it filters out junk like containers, wrecks, and "pos trash". If you do what to find these things you can either add it to your overview or uncheck the box and wade through all the junk.
Two things to note when using this box. First off is that the scanner does not differentiate by the states tab in overview settings i.e. it can't tell the difference between a ship in your fleet and an enemy vessel. Keep this in mind when using the d-scanner in fleet. Luckily UNI fleets don't usually have T2 vessels over frigate tonnage, and rarely have battleships, so you can usually consider these hostile contacts.
Second is why it's so important to have your overview set up to UNI standard. For the longest time probe could not be seen on the scanner unless the settings box was unchecked. This meant you had to wade through hundreds of contacts keeping an eye out for probes. Now probes can be added to the overview, and are with the exception of the pod saver tab. All your setting should have probes on their overview, so you can tell when someone is scanning you down.
[Have class turn off the overview settings and scan. Then have them scan with it on while using the PvP preset. Notice the difference.]
Range
The range field determines what distance the scanner scans at. The scanner will scan out to the distance you specify in this field. But remember, nothing is simple in EVE! The range you specify in this field is in kilometers, however it can scan out to 14 AUs, which is over a billion kilometers. And since kilometers and AUs don't convert well (149,597,870.7 km = 1 AU), precision rangefinding is difficult. Thankfully, star systems are large enough that this can be overlooked. For general useage, rounding the conversion to 150 million kilometers to 1 AU works.
Most of the time you will have range set to maximum. Since you are usually to busy to figure out this number exactly, there is a trick to setting distance to max. Type all nines into the field until it's full, then click outside the field. The distance will automatically set to maximum.
There are times when you don't want to use maximum distance. First off when you want to see when someone is near you, i.e. in the same planetary system or just off-grid, you can reduce the range so you don't see people on the other side of the system. You can also change the range if your scanning in a direction with multiple planets in alignment.
[Let you class play with range for a bit.]
Angle
The angle slider determines what angle you scan at. Angle can be one of the most useful parts of the scanner, yet the most difficult to master. Unlike range, angle has set intervals and cannot be set at whim. First off is to aim the scanner. The scanner is aimed by forming a line from you camera's point of view, through your ship, and out into space. For those of you who are spatially impared, a simple trick is to left-click on your ship and zoom out. The square that shows up on your ship can be used as a cross-hair.
Next is to determine the size of the cone. The angle you set determines the angle of the cone at the point of origin i.e. your ship. So if you set your angle to 90 degrees the cone will extend 45 degrees out from your center-line. Again a little trick is helpful. If you hit your F11 key, a bar on the right-hand side of the screen will appear. At the bottom is a representation of the system your in. A white cone will appear to the size of your scanner's cone. Note that it appears only in 2D, but in-space the cone propagates in three dimensions. A 60 degree cone is fairly tight, and usually works. You can reduce your angle to be more precise.
Once you've mastered aiming and setting the cone, you can determine where someone is by aiming your scanner. This can be useful not only to find which planet your target, but after finding the planet you can determine which belt/moon he may be at. First you must turn on all brackets, so the symbols for belts/moons show up. Then you aim your scanner at each one until you find your mark. This is also useful as warping to moons in lowsec is a dangerous propostion, since moons have POSs and in lowsec POSs can shoot you.
Uses
The d-scanner has many uses, which will be outlined here.
- Scouting. You can see what ships are in system with you.
- Advance warning. You can see if a ship is about to land on-grid with you, giving you a few more seconds to warp out.
- Limited scanning. Determine if a target is located somewhere you can warp to. Done by first determining which planet he is nearest, then after warping to that planet using an angled scan to find which belt/moon he's at.
- Reduced probing time. You can use the scanner to determine the general location of your target, and then use probes to find him.
- Probe Detector. Find off-grid probes from someone trying to scan you down.
Directional Scanner Scenerios
Bowling For Students
Have your students warp to a planet. Make sure everyone knows what your flying. Tell your class you're an evil fleet of T3 cruisers that likes to eat unistas. Warp yourself outside scanner range (more than 14 AUs). Have you class use the d-scanner to get advance warning when your about to land, and tell them to warp out when they see you. If anyone stays on-grid for more than a few seconds, they're "dead". [The Roxx Weltraum training fleet can be used. It consists of 50 Legions, 100 Tengus, 80 Proteuses, and 3 Lokis. Cloaky Lokis.]
Easy Hunting a Target
Pick a planetary system in the Aldrat system. Any one will do, as long as it has moons or bets. Have your class warp to the planet while you warp to a moon or asteriod belt. Tell your class to find which moon or belt and warp to you.
Finding a Target Out of Plane
Warp to the Eygfe gate. Do not tell your class where you are. Tell you class to find you. Feel free to drop hints if people are having difficulties.
Full-on Hunt
Warp to a random moon or belt anywhere in the Aldrat system. Do not tell the class which planet you are near. Tell your class to find and warp to you.
Class Wrap-up
- Thanks for attending this class!
- I would appreciate any feedback from people on how to improve the class
- Questions ?
- Shameless teacher recruitment insert.
