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{{Cleanup}}
{{related class|Directional Scanning 101|D-Scan 102}}
{{related class|Directional Scanning 101|D-Scan 102}}
The '''directional scanner''' ("d-scan") is a built-in device that comes with all ships and can detect most objects in space at long range. The directional-scanner is an extremely powerful searching tool, especially for PvP, in all sectors of space. A d-scan can cover an area with a range of up to about 14.3 AU (appx. 2 x10<sup>9</sup> km), and at an angle from 5° to 360°. When used the directional scanner lists all valid objects it can find within the scan area.
Every ship in Eve has a Directional Scanner (d-scan) that can be used to discover the rough location of certain kinds of objects up to 14 AU (appx. 2 x10<sup>9</sup> km) away from the ship. There are other kinds of specialized scanners, such as the [[Scanning#Probe_scanning|probe launcher]] (used in Exploration) or the [[Mining#Survey_scanner|survey scanner]] (used in Mining), but the d-scan comes with the ship and requires no additional training or fitting costs.
 
The directional scanner can be used either defensively with full range and angle (allowing the user to see all ships or probes that may pose threat), or offensively to gather intel on things that are off grid. This includes getting enemy fleet composition or approximate location of objects.
 
The directional scanner is especially important in [[wormholes]]. Since the local chat in them does not automatically show other players the directional scan is the first tool to show activity in system.
 
==How it works==
[[image:Qs_openDscan.jpg|200px|thumb|Directional scanner window with labels.]]
[[image:Qs Dscan14-360.jpg|440px|thumb|Directional scanner window with labels.]]
The directional scanner does not scan the space automatically, instead it must be operated manually. Every time the scan button or hotkey is pressed the list in the directional scanner window updates to show all visible objects within the scan cone. The scan will also refresh after changing range, angle or filter in directional scanner. It also refreshes after jumping into another system. After a scan it takes two seconds for the scanner to reset, after which you can initiate another scan.


==What d-scan is good for==
The directional scanner can see the following objects in space:
The directional scanner can see the following objects in space:
* All ships and their names. This excludes [[Recon Ships|combat recon]] and cloaked ships.
* All ships and their names. This excludes [[Recon Ships|combat recon]] and [[Cloaking|cloaked ships]].
* Celestial objects such as moons, asteroid belts and planets.
* Celestial objects such as moons, asteroid belts and planets.
* Structures such as [[POS|player starbases]], citadels, customs offices, mobile depots and stargates. The name of the structure is also visible.
* Structures such as [[POS|player starbases]], citadels, customs offices, mobile depots and stargates. The name of the structure is also visible.
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* NPCs with "♦" in their name. This includes mining operations and Blood Raider Shipyard fleets.
* NPCs with "♦" in their name. This includes mining operations and Blood Raider Shipyard fleets.


The directional scanner is limited by not being able to see the state of the object (empty, damaged, reinforced, pilot info). The directional scanner is also unable to see cosmic signatures, cosmic anomalies, all normal NPCs, beacons and bookmarks.
The directional scanner is not able to see the state of the object (empty, damaged, reinforced, pilot info), nor can it see [[Scanning#Cosmic_signatures|cosmic signatures]], [[Scanning#Cosmic_anomalies|cosmic anomalies]], normal NPCs, beacons or [[bookmarks]].
 
The directional scanner is opened by pressing Alt+D. Or, you can open it by clicking the "radar" button, above the autopilot button but below the cargohold button on the left-hand side of your HUD, and when the window with the three scanners opens, choose the directional scanner.  


To get more precise results the directional scanner allows controlling range, angles and filter.
The directional scanner can be used to see all ships or probes that may pose a threat, or to gather intel on objects that are off grid such as enemy fleets. The d-scan is especially important in [[wormholes]] as the local chat there does not automatically show other players, and the directional scan is the tool for this task.


===Scan cone===
==How to use it==
[[image:Opendscan.jpg|right|thumb|center]]
To open the directional scanner press Alt+D.


The directional scanner lists visible objects that are within its scan cone. This scan cone is defined by the scan range, scan angle and scan direction.  
*Alternatively, click the "radar" button (just above the autopilot button) on the left-hand side of the HUD, and when the window with the four items opens, choose the directional scanner.


The maximum range at which directional scan can scan is approximately 14.355 [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Astronomical_unit AU] (appx. 2 x10<sup>9</sup> km) but the range can be adjusted either by using the steps in slider (1, 5, 10, 14.3 AU). These settings are often sufficient; but if you wish, you can type a specific scan range into the box for any distance up to the maximum. If you click on the AU label button, it will change to KM and adjust the value of the range accordingly.
Either of these will bring up the d-scan window and system map as shown next.
[[File:Dscanwindow.jpg|upright=1.7|thumb|center|D-scan window docked inside the system map]]


The other parameter controlling the shape of the scan cone is scan angle. The angle can't be selected arbitrarily so you are limited to the slider steps (5°, 15°, 30°, 60°, 90° 180° and 360°). The scan is always directed to what '''your camera points''' at and does not care about ship orientation.
By default the d-scan window is docked inside the system map. You can undock it if you wish, in which case you will later need to open the d-scan and the map separately.
[[File:Dscanseparate.jpg|upright=0.60|center|thumb|D-scan window undock/dock switch]]


Because camera manipulation is involved, you may find it helpful to enable Overview brackets to help you see things in space. With brackets enabled, you can align the camera by moving the target celestial's icon toward your ship's indicator. This was a useful technique prior to the introduction of the map, and some pilots may prefer it. Narrow beam directional scans can be quickly accomplished by holding the directional scanner hotkey (default "v") and left clicking on an object or anomaly in either the Overview or Probe Scanner window.  This rapidly aligns the directional scan in the direction of the selected object/anomaly and performs a scan at the selected range and scan angle selected in the directional scan window.
==The map and the cone==
{{Note box|Regardless of the ship's orientation, the scan cone always points in the direction of '''your camera'''.}}
You can change the cone's viewing orientation <span style="color:#53B14E">''in the d-scan window''</span> by left-click dragging to rotate the view and clicking and dragging to move the view back and forth. Note that this does not aim the scanner, but only changes the display that you see in the window.


Check the [[Overview_settings|Overview Guide]] to see how to change what brackets are visible. You can press Alt+Z to turn all brackets on and off.
[[File:Dscanmovecone.jpg|thumb|left|Aiming the dscan cone]]


===Filter===
The easiest way to aim the scanner is to left-click on an object in the system map and hold until the radial menu pops up - then choose the d-scan icon from the menu. The scan cone will move to point at that object.
* You can also right-click on an object in the map and choose "look at" from the drop down menu.
* You can hold down the "v" key and click anywhere in space. With "v" down you can also click-drag to make a rectangle to which the scan will orient.
* If you have brackets turned on in your [[Overview]], you can right-click on any bracket and choose "look at" from the drop down menu. 
* Or, in fact, any adjustment to the camera will also move the scanner.
{{clear}}


With the filter set to "All", anything that can be picked up by the scanner will be displayed, potentially creating a lot of clutter and making it hard to find the desired objects. A variety of other settings can be used to focus attention on a smaller number or more specific category of objects.  
The system map has a number of options that are useful while scanning.
*The top left button allows you to add or remove objects from the map.
*The second left button will "focus" the map, putting your ship in the center of the display.
*The first right button will dock the map to either side of the screen, or make it full screen.


The directional scanner can use any of your [[overview]] presets to filter the results. When you click the filter selector in top right corner of directional scan window you can select the overview to use as a filter. You can also choose to use active overview as the filter.
The directional scanner has some useful features that are integrated into the system map.
*"Align with camera" allows you to rotate your perspective in the system map and simultaneously move your camera. On the map you will see a green circle that represents the scan cone, which now always points directly into the screen. Adjust the map, and whatever the circle points at will be scanned.
*The show cone on/off button is sometimes useful when you need an unobstructed view of the system.


When a filter is active the directional scan will only show objects that would show on the used overview. The directional scanner hovewer does not see any other info on the objects than its type and name. This means that the filtering function will not take into account any of the state settings the overview may have. This means that you can not filter the directional scan by attributes like standing, corp or alliance.
===D-scan parameter controls===
The cone starts at your ship and reaches out for up to 14.3AU (''appx. 2 x10<sup>9</sup> km - click the AU label button to change to KM''). The range can be adjusted either by using the interval slider for 1, 5, 10, or 14.3 AUs, or by typing a specific scan range into the box. 
The cone can be narrow or wide. At its widest it is a 360° sphere; at its narrowest it is a 5° beam. The parameter that controls this is scan angle which is set via a slider in intervals of 5°, 15°, 30°, 60°, 90° 180° and 360°.


Some common filters and their uses. These are often mixed to create filter for specific situations:
Every time the scan button is pressed, the list in the directional scanner window updates to show all relevant objects in the scan cone. The scan also refreshes after you change the range, angle or filter parameters; and after jumping into another system. After a scan it takes two seconds for the scanner to reset.
* Ships. Visible ship, especially moving ones, are indicators that someone is active in the system.
* Drones. Drones appearing in space with a ship indicate active combat.
* Wrecks. Wrecks stay in space for two hours so if any are visible there has been someone fighting recently.
* Core scanner probes. With this you can see if someone is scanning sites. Especially useful when running sites yourself as the hostile must scan your site before warping in.
* Combat scanner probes. Seeing these in space is clear indicator of hostile intent.
* Control towers and force fields. The force field of an active control tower is separate object in directional scan. Tells if anyone is living in the system.
** Precision scans can be used to see if a ship is near forcefield, indicating unpiloted ship parked inside force field.
** When gathering intel on hostile towers you can take short range scan of the tower with all structures enabled and copy the results.
* Upwell structures. While undockable structures aren't visible in overview they are visible in directional scan.


It is strongly recommended that you create overviews specifically for being used as directional scan filters and use them.
The list shows icon, name and type. It does '''not''' show distance or coordinates. Finding the distance to a target and/or its coordinates requires more advanced scanning equipment.
[[image:Qs Dscan14-360.jpg|upright=1.5|center|thumb|D-scan results window]]


Common filters include probes to give early warning if someone is attempting to locate you, ships for obvious reasons and structures to tell if someone is actively living in the system.
A variety of filters can be set to narrow down the results of a scan. The filter selector in top right corner of the directional scan window opens a menu of possible filter configurations. The filters are listed, each with a number to the right. The number can be pressed on the keyboard to select a filter - or you can click on the number; or on the checkbox to the left of the filter.


How to set up to the E-UNI standard is shown in the [[Overview Guide]].
With the filter set to "all", anything that can be seen by the scanner will be displayed. With the filter set to "active overview" only objects permitted in the [[overview]] will be shown.


===System map===
The d-scan can use any of your overview presets to filter the results. Again, note that the scanner does not see any information on the objects other than name and type. This means that the filtering function will not take into account any of the state settings the overview may have.
[[image:Qs_Dscan5-60map.jpg|200px|thumb|The scan cone as seen in system map.]]
[[image:Qs_04dscanprac.jpg|200px|thumb|The scan can be aimed at an object in map.]]
The directional scanner has many useful features integrated to the system map.  


"Dock in solar system map" ties the directional scanner to solar system map. With this enabled opening and closing system map/directional scanner will also open or close the other. You should undock the directional scanner from the solar system map so you can have directional scanner all the time.
Some common d-scan uses - set these in an overview tab or tabs and then select the tab in the d-scan:
 
* Ships. Visible ships, especially moving ones, are indicators that someone is active in the system.
"Align with camera" ties map camera and space camera together allowing you to aim the directional scanner in the map window.
* Drones. Drones appearing in space with a ship usually indicate active combat.
 
* Wrecks. If any are visible there has been someone fighting recently.
"Show scan cone" displays the scan cone in system map. In addition to showing the cone this will also highight all objects on the map that are inside the scan cone.
* Combat scanner probes. Seeing these in space is an indicator of hostile intent.
* Core scanner probes. Someone else is scanning sites. This is especially useful when running sites yourself as the hostile must scan your site before warping in.
* Control towers and force fields. The force field of an active control tower is separate object in directional scan and can tell you if anyone is living in the system.
** Precision scans can be used to see if a ship is near a force field, indicating unpiloted ship parked inside force field.
** When gathering intel on hostile towers you can take a short range scan of the tower with all structures enabled and copy the results.
* Upwell structures. While undockable structures aren't visible in overview they are visible in directional scan.


The map can be also used to quicly aim the directional scanner to any object visible in the map. To do this hold right click on an object and select "directional scan" in the radial menu that opens.
The E-UNI overview setup is shown in the [[Overview Guide]].


==Practical applications==
==Practical applications==
Retrieved from "https://wiki.eveuniversity.org/Directional_scanning"