"Well, I'm committed now" or, aka, scan distances.

DukeIronHand

D
Per previous posts here I have started my trip, in the mighty T6, to Colonia.
Just started and have not found "Undiscovered" stuff yet but still shamelessly system scanning things I think are close to my jump-in point for Exploration rank and credits.

Occasionally I will pick an object that seems close (and quick) for a scan but as I start heading toward it I realize it will be neither - yet I keep going as I am already committed and don't want to waste the already spent flight time so I keep going.

Apparently, logically enough, suns and large bodies can can detailed scanned at a longer distance and smaller planets less so. Is there a "rule of thumb" for the distance the various system bodies can be scanned at?

Also does the rating of your sensors play a part here? Hope not as I took D-rated sensors to save weight.
 

Nick Sticks

Nick Sticks
If you do want to get your name on some undiscovered systems then go down or up from the galactic plane to increase the chances.
 

DukeIronHand

D
Nick Sticks said:
If you do want to get your name on some undiscovered systems then go down or up from the galactic plane to increase the chances.
Click to expand...

Thank you.
Yes. Undiscovered's was not the main point of the trip out to Colonia I just figured I would find some...and I just started. Got a long way to go! If I get way out, and am still on a path well-traveled, I can deviate a bit in my flight path.
 

Wyaston Hypatia

Wyaston Hypatia
You are right scanning distance is dependent upon object size.
As far as I know the distance is not dependent upon scanner class.
However it is possible to have DDS engineered for a faster scan rate or longer range - probably too late for you now.

Oh and take a slightly curved route if you want new discoveries.
 

Crank Larson

Crank Larson
Gas giants scan from around 400Lys up to 1000 (depends on their size). Suns can be several thousand Lys. Planets can't usually be scanned until you are 150Lys away (for very large planets), with the smaller ones (e.g. those that orbit gas giants) anything down to just a few Lys.

You can see if there are any undiscovered from the ADS, though. Even though the whole system shows as unexplored, any first discoveries are shown. Watch out for the common situation where only the main sun is scanned, but the rest of the system isn't (I've found some real gems in such systems).

And as advised above, try to get off the beaten track if you can. The road to Colonia has been well-trodden now, but slight variations on route will still give you lots of first discoveries.
 

DukeIronHand

D
Oh, the irony.
Think I am only about 10 jumps into my trip and have just come across a completely (so far) unexplored system.
Can anyone really resist checking these systems out throughly?
And thank you for the additional information Cmdr's.
 

Deleted member 38366

D
My ROT (assumption : unmodded Detailed Surface Scanner)

Resource Belt Clusters, tiny Moons or Black Holes : 5 Ls
Small Planets : 15-25Ls
Large Planets : 100-150Ls
Small Gas Giants : 100-200Ls
Medium Gas Giants : 500Ls
Large Gas Giants : 1000Ls

Small Suns : 1000Ls
Medium Suns : 2500-4000Ls
Larger Suns : 5000-10000Ls

PS.
I'm almost in Colonia, did most of my Travel at the +155 Elevation. >2500LY outside the bubble I mostly stopped seeing discovered Systems and >4000LY I can hardly recall seeing a single CMDR Discovery anymore.
 

Nick Sticks

Nick Sticks
DukeIronHand said:
Oh, the irony.
Think I am only about 10 jumps into my trip and have just come across a completely (so far) unexplored system.
Can anyone really resist checking these systems out throughly?
And thank you for the additional information Cmdr's.
Click to expand...

That happened to me as well.
I immediately headed back to register my claim!
 

Judge Rhadamanthus

Judge Rhadamanthus
I found my first decent find, A terraformable Water World in Bleia Eohn QP-D c13-0. That was on jump 167 of my Colonia trip (26LY rang cutter). If you copypasta that system into the galmap youll get an idea of the direction I took. Lots of undiscovered systems that way.
 
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DukeIronHand

D
Judge Rhadamanthus said:
I found my first decent find, A terraformable Water World in Bleia Eohn QP-D c13-0. That was on jump 167 of my Colonia trip (26LY rang cutter). If you copypasta that system into the galmap youll get an idea of the direction I took. Lots of undiscovered systems that way.
Click to expand...

Just found another unclaimed system my very next jump. Little surprised as I just started this trip - which looks like it is going to take a hell of a long time! Nothing "real cool" so far, just icy bodies, but still.
Maybe next Raxxla. Or the Thargoid home system! Course I would probably be promptly destroyed but...
 

CMDR Cosmic Spacehead

CMDR Cosmic Spacehead
What i generally do when scanning a system is pick the direction with the most bodies in a cluster, rather than target closest first.
Then, I target the larger bodies in the distance and scan them while approaching the smaller bodies, that I can't scan yet. Seems to work well, rather than fly around in circles.
Unless feeling particularly OCD about scanning, I usually won't bother with gas giant moons, especially if there's a lot of them. Unless I'm heading that way to land or something.

CMDR Cosmic Spacehead
 

Judge Rhadamanthus

Judge Rhadamanthus
And some warning for the future. I went to the Jaques system in open last night just to see how often someone in a PVP ship would intercept a non combat build cutter. 8 of the ten times I was intercepted almost as soon as hitting the system. I Submitted and went throttle down waiting for a message. Every time they just open fire. Every time big well armed ships. Full power to systems and used the log out timer. I don't have time to reward that kind of selfish player.

These guys hang at Jaques trying to get first time arrivals in the hope of killing spawning them back in the bubble. Go Solo or PvE group when you get here to save that time and data.

Oh and keep it up with the progress reports. Your trip is my morning coffee read
 
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Judge Rhadamanthus

Judge Rhadamanthus
CMDR_Cosmicspacehead said:
..... I usually won't bother with gas giant moons, especially if there's a lot of them. Unless I'm heading that way to land or something.

CMDR Cosmic Spacehead
Click to expand...

What about systems like this though ( Prua Phoe AF-Z d7 )? That last Gas giant moon was worth it, actually there were lots of good moons in that system on second look.
 
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DukeIronHand

D
Judge Rhadamanthus said:
And some warning for the future. I went to the Jaques system in open last night just to see how often someone in a PVP ship would intercept a non combat build cutter. 8 of the ten times I was intercepted almost as soon as hitting the system. I Submitted and went throttle down waiting for a message. Every time they just open fire. Every time big well armed ships. Full power to systems and used the log out timer. I don't have time to reward that kind of selfish player.

These guys hang at Jaques trying to get first time arrivals in the hope of killing spawning them back in the bubble. Go Solo or PvE group when you get here to save that time and data.

Oh and keep it up with the progress reports. Your trip is my morning coffee read
Click to expand...

Thanks for the heads up. Luckily I am a Solo/PG guy anyway.
Yea I accidentally started in Open last week (in the bubble) and was also promptly attacked.
Oh well. It's Open. Guess they can have it.
 

Nick Sticks

Nick Sticks

DukeIronHand

D
Out of curiosity did you dump your cargo once you missed the CG?
For my Colonia trip (2nd Cmdr account bought just for this) I went back and forth between the T6 and T7 finally deciding on the 6 until I see how things work in Colonia, i.e., medium pads necessity.

And now that I am doing "big exploring" out the gate I am kind of glad I didn't have enough money for a T9 - also on my ship short list. If you couldn't tell I am a bit of a T-ship fan. Going to buy a 7 or 9 when I get to Colonia based on money made for the trip and module availability.

Also I must say I had forgotten how much I like to explore. Let's see if I feel the same way after my 300th jump.
 
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MrFailfactory

MrFailfactory
FalconFly said:
My ROT (assumption : unmodded Detailed Surface Scanner)

Resource Belt Clusters, tiny Moons or Black Holes : 5 Ls
Small Planets : 15-25Ls
Large Planets : 100-150Ls
Small Gas Giants : 100-200Ls
Medium Gas Giants : 500Ls
Large Gas Giants : 1000Ls

Small Suns : 1000Ls
Medium Suns : 2500-4000Ls
Larger Suns : 5000-10000Ls

PS.
I'm almost in Colonia, did most of my Travel at the +155 Elevation. >2500LY outside the bubble I mostly stopped seeing discovered Systems and >4000LY I can hardly recall seeing a single CMDR Discovery anymore.
Click to expand...

These are pretty solid numbers if you are using the standard DSS. A good G5 Long Range roll increases most of these substantially (my current record is 24k for a star), but since you have already left, then I guess it's something to think about on your main Commander for any possible future expeditions.

Riôt
 

DukeIronHand

D
MrFailfactory said:
These are pretty solid numbers if you are using the standard DSS. A good G5 Long Range roll increases most of these substantially (my current record is 24k for a star), but since you have already left, then I guess it's something to think about on your main Commander for any possible future expeditions.

Riôt
Click to expand...

Oi!
Missed out then. Course if I waited to Engineer that my trip would have been delayed substantially.
In this career I essentially farmed HRES's and CZ's (in a 20 LY area) till I got a nest egg to travel on.
No rank no nothing.
 

Shadowdancer

Shadowdancer
DukeIronHand said:
Apparently, logically enough, suns and large bodies can can detailed scanned at a longer distance and smaller planets less so. Is there a "rule of thumb" for the distance the various system bodies can be scanned at?
Click to expand...
It's based on the size, the surface scanner only has a certain angular resolution. You can roughly go by something like:
  • "Proper" "normal" stars can be scanned at thousands of Ls,
  • big gas giants and small stars like brown dwarfs at hundreds of Ls, and
  • planets and their moons you will have to approach to within tens of Ls.
There are of exceptionally huge stars that the scanner will pick up at (several) ten thousand Ls, and very small objects like white dwarfs, neutron stars, or light black holes, that you need to get uncomfortably close to.
 
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