Scanning process for undiscovered systems

[Tanager2626]

I'm sorry of this has been covered elsewhere, but I am mighty confused about exactly what types of scan (and how to perform them) are required to capture the data needed to claim new systems and objects in the system once you get back to a station to sell the data.

When I arrive in a system, I perform a system scan with the Advanced Discovery Scanner, which reveals whatever stars, planets, moons etc. exist there. I then go on the system map, and look to see if the star and planets have a commander name attached. So now, I see that the system and all of the bodies are undiscovered (or at least so far unclaimed). What do I need to do?

1/ If I just scoot out of the system at this point, does the Advanced Discovery Scanner scan count for anything? Will I get the discovery for the star, or any of the planets?
2/ If I stop and target the star, I understand that I need to wait for it to scan (turning symbol in LH panel) for a few seconds until the details appear. But having done the Advnced Discovery Scan, it seems that the details already are there and the scan is not required - which is what makes me wonder whether the Advanced Discovery Scan is sufficient.
3/ What about the more distant planets - do I get the name claim for them from the Advanced Discovery Scan - or do I need to go to them and do a point, target and scan thing? And if so - how cloe?
4/ I understand that I can additionally do a Detailed Surface Scan of planets - what else does that count for in terms of purely getting your name as discoverer?

Sorry of these are naive questions - but would really appreciate clarification to the above from experienced commanders. I got to Sagitarius A* 4 years ago, and have not played for 2 years, but am now back and have just got my AspX Engineered with jump range 61.5ly and am on my first longer voyage, and discovered my first undiscovered system today. And I also did my first Neutron Star Charged FSD hop - so today was a good day!

 

[Faded Glory]

A bit confused since you posted this today... There is no Advanced Discovery Scanner now. What you are doing, I suspect is honking the discovery scanner part of the FSS.

If, after 'honking' you are able to see anything in the system map, then it has already been discovered (tagged). In an unexplored system, the system map will be blank, except for the primary star as the FSS auto-scans bodies in close proximity.

So, if you want to go further, you will need to enter the FSS interface, charge the FSS (which will automatically scan all stars in a system) and then you will see in the FSS interface how many bodies are in a system, what percentage of the system you have scanned and there is an energy graph at the bottom of the screen with signals on it.

To scan bodies, which will tag them, you need to use the FSS. It's not necessary to fly to planets to scan them anymore. I suggest you either look for youtube tutorials, or perhaps there are in-game tutorials, I'm afraid I'm not sure.

There is now a new Detailed Surface Scanner which allows you to fire probes at a body, and these probes will pinpoint any planetary POI's if they exist, and additionally you get the mapped by credit if you are the first, and more credits also. You do need to fly to the body for that.

You will also want to familiarize yourself with the fact that there are now two HUD modes, you need to be in analysis mode to do all of the above, and look at your controls setup to bind controls for the FSS, DSS and HUD mode toggle.

 

[Tanager2626]

A bit confused since you posted this today... There is no Advanced Discovery Scanner now. What you are doing, I suspect is honking the discovery scanner part of the FSS.

If, after 'honking' you are able to see anything in the system map, then it has already been discovered (tagged). In an unexplored system, the system map will be blank, except for the primary star as the FSS auto-scans bodies in close proximity.

So, if you want to go further, you will need to enter the FSS interface, charge the FSS (which will automatically scan all stars in a system) and then you will see in the FSS interface how many bodies are in a system, what percentage of the system you have scanned and there is an energy graph at the bottom of the screen with signals on it.

To scan bodies, which will tag them, you need to use the FSS. It's not necessary to fly to planets to scan them anymore. I suggest you either look for youtube tutorials, or perhaps there are in-game tutorials, I'm afraid I'm not sure.

There is now a new Detailed Surface Scanner which allows you to fire probes at a body, and these probes will pinpoint any planetary POI's if they exist, and additionally you get the mapped by credit if you are the first, and more credits also. You do need to fly to the body for that.

You will also want to familiarize yourself with the fact that there are now two HUD modes, you need to be in analysis mode to do all of the above, and look at your controls setup to bind controls for the FSS, DSS and HUD mode toggle.

Thanks for the Reply, and apologies for causing confusion - I'm still adjusting to changes from a few years ago.
Not sure what "Honking" means exactly, but what I do use is in Analysis mode, with the label "D Scan" or something line that. It takes about 5 seconds and gives a blue message stating how many bodies have been discovered. I assumed that this was the Advanced Discovery Scanner, and understood that this was now included automatically with each ship rather than being something you had to buy as before and position in an Optional slot. Is that "Honking"?

A bit confused by what you describe as entering the FSS interface. I see lots of bodies in the system (none with any previous discoverer) after doing the D-Scan, - but will look for tutorials as you say.
Thank you for taking the time to help

 

[Tanager2626]

If, after 'honking' you are able to see anything in the system map, then it has already been discovered (tagged).

One more question - I don't understand the above sentence. I have "Honked" the system and I do see 5 coupled stars and 3 planets, but don't believe these have been previously discovered or tagged, as there is no name of anyone on any of these in this system. Have I miss-understood what you stated?

 

[Zieman]

Those planet are probably inside the passive scanning range.
The 'honk' auto-discovers all stellar objects in the system.

 

[Hawk of Battle]

The discovery scanner, or D-scanner, is colloquially known as "honking", because it sounds like, well, a honking noise, almost like a ships foghorn. You will recognize it easily. It will tell you how many bodies there are in a system, and will allow you to perform the next type of scan. Once you have honked a system, you can then activate the full system scan, or FSS. Check your keybindings to see what it's on, I think its default is the ' button, but it's been a while and I've switched mine so I may be mistaken.

Entering FSS, you'll now be in a new screen where you can pan around and see the entire system, almost like looking through a telescope on the outside of your ship. You will see in the middle there is a slide bar. By pressing left and right you can tune into different signals found in the system. You need to set or tune those signals, and then pan around the system to find them (white arrows will appear when you are close to a signal you are attuned to). Zooming in with mouse 1 will then reveal those signals, whether they be planets, asteroids, moons or, in the bubble, man made stuff like distress signals and conflict zones. Revealing them like this will reveal any discovered tags and basically everything else about the body. The FSS is generally how you find the majority of stuff.

Then, if you feel so inclined, you can fly to those bodies and use a detailed surface scan to map the surface. You fire probes at the body until it reaches 100%. Bonuses are given for using fewer probes.

 

[Tanager2626]

The discovery scanner, or D-scanner, is colloquially known as "honking", because it sounds like, well, a honking noise, almost like a ships foghorn. You will recognize it easily. It will tell you how many bodies there are in a system, and will allow you to perform the next type of scan. Once you have honked a system, you can then activate the full system scan, or FSS. Check your keybindings to see what it's on, I think its default is the ' button, but it's been a while and I've switched mine so I may be mistaken.

Entering FSS, you'll now be in a new screen where you can pan around and see the entire system, almost like looking through a telescope on the outside of your ship. You will see in the middle there is a slide bar. By pressing left and right you can tune into different signals found in the system. You need to set or tune those signals, and then pan around the system to find them (white arrows will appear when you are close to a signal you are attuned to). Zooming in with mouse 1 will then reveal those signals, whether they be planets, asteroids, moons or, in the bubble, man made stuff like distress signals and conflict zones. Revealing them like this will reveal any discovered tags and basically everything else about the body. The FSS is generally how you find the majority of stuff.

Then, if you feel so inclined, you can fly to those bodies and use a detailed surface scan to map the surface. You fire probes at the body until it reaches 100%. Bonueses are given for using fewer probes.

Thanks to all the replies. Very helpful and much appreciated.
I think that is it - the two planets I saw were very close to teh first star. I have now performed a full FSS and discovered all 28 objects - and hey - a whole bunch of planets I did not see before.
I'm on he PS4 and had to assign all of the key mappings myself - but set up now.

 

[Faded Glory]

No, I don't think so, and I'm unsure how you are seeing undiscovered bodies in the system map, although I think Zieman might have come up with the answer!

There is indeed still a discovery scanner that can be assigned to a fire group - it replaces the old 'honk', sort of - but that is still part of the FSS, and it does not (should not) provide a system map reveal in previously undiscovered systems.

In systems that have never been visited by another player then the system map is (should be) empty. There is no way you should ever see an un-tagged body in the system map under the new system other than those that are auto-scanned by the FSS because they are close to you.

You could start here with OA's introduction to the new system.

 

[Sapyx]

Yes, "honking" is "using the discovery scanner". It's called "honking" because it makes that loud foghorn sound when you're done.

The Honk discovers all stellar-classed objects within the system (stars, neutron stars/black holes, and brown dwarfs). These objects are now automatically Tagged as being First Discovered By you. The Honk also does a planetary body count, telling you how many other things there are to find in the system.

After honking, you need to activate the Full Spectrum Scanner (FSS). The FSS, like the Discovery Scanner, comes built-in to all ships and you do not need to install anything for it. The FSS gives you a turret-view from your current location, with planets and other POIs presented as flashing blobs; you need to tune the scanner to find the correct wavelength for each blob and zoom in to resolve each of the planets. Doing this is what gets you the "Discovered By" Tag. In a never-before-explored system, you will not see any planets on the system map until and unless they have been scanned.

The Discovery Scanner also has a "passive scanner". If you are within 32 Ls of an object, it will automatically detect and Scan it, just as if you'd used the FSS on it. This usually only applies to the primary star, any secondary stars in close orbit, and any close-orbiting planets.

Finally, you can get a separate module installed on your ship, the "detailed surface scanner". This is in effect a probe launcher. With it, you can fire probes at planets, but you have to fly up real close to a planet (it's got to be close enough to see as a visible disc, rather than a dot) before you can probe it. When you fire the Detailed Surface Scanner, it opens another turret-view screen (not unlike the FSS screen) which tells you your current progress in probing the targeted planet, and how many probes it thinks you need to get the job done. Complete a probe past 90% scanned, and you have successfully Mapped a planet and attain a second, "First Mapped By" Tag.

Finally finally, the First Discovered and First Mapped Tags are only "locked in" when you sell the data - you won't actually get to see your name in lights (well, in brown, but you get the point) until you sell the data. If you explode before selling the data, the Tags - and any cash you might have made from the discoveries - are lost.

 

[Rudi Raumkraut]

All correct what is said.
Just want to add that you can honk from your cockpit OR within the FSS interface. Sounded like that was confusing...

 

[varonica]

One more question - I don't understand the above sentence. I have "Honked" the system and I do see 5 coupled stars and 3 planets, but don't believe these have been previously discovered or tagged, as there is no name of anyone on any of these in this system. Have I miss-understood what you stated?

The primary honk will discover all stars and asteroid fields in a system, it will also discover any planets in close proximity to the entry point. If there are no tags you are first into the system and the bodies you see have been auto-discovered. There may be more, the total number will have been revealed when you scanned but won't show until you run the FSS and focus on each body in the system.

 

[Zieman]

asteroid fields

Not all asteroid fields, only those in passive scan range. All others you need to discover by using FSS on one of that belt's clusters.

 

[varonica]

Not all asteroid fields, only those in passive scan range. All others you need to discover by using FSS on one of that belt's clusters.

You can actually see all the asteroid fields in the system map following your first honk, the individual asteroid clusters are a different thing altogether, the clusters are parts of the asteroid field, like vulcanism on a planet, you know there is vulcanism and the number of sites, but you can't locate them until you scan the planet. The first honk will locate all the asteroid fields but not tag all the clusters.

 

[Zieman]

You can actually see all the asteroid fields in the system map following your first honk,

Well I'll be damned, this actually is the case!
I stand corrected.

 

[varonica]

Well I'll be damned, this actually is the case!
I stand corrected.

It becomes clear when you look at the asteroid fields in Orrery view, they are just marked as a huge area around the star, so that's the asteroid field we see in the system map when we first honk.