Basic discovery scanner vs Detailed surface scanner

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How do I activate my Detailed Surface Scanner please? It doesn't appear with the discovery scanner on my 'weapons' list.
 
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They do different jobs.
The discovery scanner finds planets and stuff. (when you "ping" the system with it)
The surface scanner scans them (when you target a planet and align with it)

The surface scanner increases returns for scanning quite a bit, so keep it if you are considering exploration.
 
No, you need at least the basic for the detailed to work. With the detailed you get larger payments for the data you collect from scaning planets and stars.
 
doesn't the basic discovery scanner simply detect planets and stars in the system....the intermediate and advanced discovery scanners have a greater range ?

The detailed surface scanner will result in a higher credits payout when you scan each planet or star.

Is that right?
 
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However there is better discovery scanners: intermediate discovery scanner and advanced discovery scanner. When you "ping" or more accurately foghorn the system teh more advanced discovery scanners will discover astronomical bodies at a greater range than the basic one. In the case of teh advanced one (which costs 1.5 million or so) at a MUCH greater range.
 
Basic - 500Ls range
Intermed - 1000Ls
Advanced - Systemwide

Surface scanner is a supplementary scanner as has been mentioned, works in conjunction with any of the disc scanners automatically
 
doesn't the basic discovery scanner simply detect planets and stars in the system....the intermediate and advanced discovery scanners have a greater range ?

The detailed surface scanner will result in a higher credits payout when you scan each planet or star.

Is that right?
Yes, right, exactly.
The Intermediate has a range of 1000ls - The Advanced will detect everything in the system.
That's including the Brown Dwarf 350000ls away!
 
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Nope - Discovery Scanners just tell you that there are celestial bodies within range. Those work 360° arround your ship. The DSF scans those bodies for more details (classification of object, type of surface etc.) in a narrow arc in front of the ship at a range that depends on the mass of said body. While a star can be scanned at 3K ls, you need to get to 5 - 50 ls range for moons or roid belts.
 
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Does anyone know what lvl 2 and lvl 3 detailed scans are? This can be seen in your statistics tab under exploration.

Have a surface detail scanner but does not seem to count for these.
 
I think what you are looking for is the intermediate and then advanced discovery scanners - they do the same job as the basic discovery scanner namely find out what objects are in a system only at greater distances. The detailed surface scanner comes in the usual classes and is used when you fly towards the objects found by the discovery scanner when it automatically scans them to find out what they are.

So you fly into a system and without doing anything may get "newly discovered astronomical object" and the star appears. If you have the discovery scanner on your second fire group you hold the trigger for 30 seconds and get a big "boop" noise telling you it has finished and you may then have other "newly discovered astronomical objects". You then point your ship at each object (including the star) and target it and the detailed surface scanner will start and then tell you what it is - class M yellow or whatever for stars, gas giant, rocky etc for planets. Stars can be scanned from a considerable distance, large planets from around 100ls and small moons from 10ls - so to properly scan a system you do need to fly towards each object.
 
Does anyone know what lvl 2 and lvl 3 detailed scans are? This can be seen in your statistics tab under exploration.

Have a surface detail scanner but does not seem to count for these.

L2 and L3 Deep Scans are not implemented yet, though i really hope it will somewhere in the near future.
 

Harbinger

Volunteer Moderator
Nope - Discovery Scanners just tell you that there are celestial bodies within range. Those work 360° arround your ship. The DSF scans those bodies for more details (classification of object, type of surface etc.) in a narrow arc in front of the ship at a range that depends on the mass of said body. While a star can be scanned at 3K ls, you need to get to 5 - 50 ls range for moons or roid belts.

what CMDR Beltane says is also true.

It's not entirely accurate, the [Basic/Intermediate/Advanced] Discovery Scanner both detects bodies and does the surface scanning.

The Detailed Surface Scanner is an addon to the above which provides more detailed information upon completion of the surface scan. It is not necessary to have one (you can even claim first discovery without it). It's definitely a recommended addon if you want to maximise your potential profits from exploration though.
 
It's not entirely accurate, the [Basic/Intermediate/Advanced] Discovery Scanner both detects bodies and does the surface scanning.

The Detailed Surface Scanner is an addon to the above which provides more detailed information upon completion of the surface scan. It is not necessary to have one (you can even claim first discovery without it). It's definitely a recommended addon if you want to maximise your potential profits from exploration though.

Sorry to resurrect an old thread and useful info, thanks! Does that mean elite-dangerous.wikia.com is wrong when it says you need the DSS to claim first exploration?

"The Detailed Surface Scanner will give a pilot info on the composition of a moon, planet, star, or other stellar body and also data such as orbital distance and orbit time. Using this module is the ONLY way to claim first exploration and permanently mark the object with your commander's name."
 
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