Silly question

Do I have to get close to a planet, or star and scan it with a detailed surface scanner to get my name on it? Or do I just have to scan it with my advanced/etc scanner?
 
You need to get close to it and scan it with a surface scanner. Also, it needs to already not be tagged, and you need to be the first to turn in data for that object.
 
Do I have to get close to a planet, or star and scan it with a detailed surface scanner to get my name on it? Or do I just have to scan it with my advanced/etc scanner?


I see nothing silly about this question :) Your initial assumption is correct - to get your name on an object you have to use a detailed surface scanner on it. In addition, you have to be the first to sell the data on this object, therefore you don't get your first discovered tags when you scan them, but when you return.
 
Do I have to get close to a planet, or star and scan it with a detailed surface scanner to get my name on it? Or do I just have to scan it with my advanced/etc scanner?

To get your name on a star or planet you first have to lock onto it. The surface scanner will begin its scan automatically once you get within a certain range of the object. That range depends on the size/mass of the object, for example the surface scanner will begin its scan once you're within around 70 LS of a typical rocky body or water world, but for a sun you only need to be within several thousand LS for the scanner to activate (provided you're pointing at it :)). With Gas Giants somewhere in between those two extremes.

Your name will only appear on an object if you're the first to get home and sell the data.


Edit: ninja'd by ninjas.
 
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to get your name on an object you have to use a detailed surface scanner on it

The default built in scanner will do, I believe. You don't need a DSS for Discovered By tags, so long as you've got close enough to scan it and get a name and not an 'Unexplored' in your system map.
 
The default built in scanner will do, I believe. You don't need a DSS for Discovered By tags, so long as you've got close enough to scan it and get a name and not an 'Unexplored' in your system map.


True, I tend to forget that level 2 scans exist :) It's the same mechanic with or without the DSS, you need to fly to it and scan it to get your tag.
 
can we expand, a little? What is the difference between the scanners? What is the advantage, of basically paying more etc?
 
Arry -

Discovery Scanner - finds things. Fills in the system map. Gives you navigation panel entries and allows you to target a body. The first two have limited range and you have to use intuition and good eyesight to find planets, then get in range before you can target them.

Basic: 500ls
Intermediate: 1000ls
Advanced: unlimited range

The Advanced one is hugely expensive, but it's worthwhile. You can arrive in a system, honk the scanner, and instantly see everything on the system map. You know if the system's worth your time or not before you go flying round it.

The Detailed Surface Scanner simply increases the value of whatever you discover. It pays for itself fairly quickly, but it doesn't help you find anything. It should really be called the Detailed Surface Analyzer, or Spectroscope, or something. It's not a "scanner" per se.
 
Arry -

Discovery Scanner - finds things. Fills in the system map. Gives you navigation panel entries and allows you to target a body. The first two have limited range and you have to use intuition and good eyesight to find planets, then get in range before you can target them.

Basic: 500ls
Intermediate: 1000ls
Advanced: unlimited range

The Advanced one is hugely expensive, but it's worthwhile. You can arrive in a system, honk the scanner, and instantly see everything on the system map. You know if the system's worth your time or not before you go flying round it.

The Detailed Surface Scanner simply increases the value of whatever you discover. It pays for itself fairly quickly, but it doesn't help you find anything. It should really be called the Detailed Surface Analyzer, or Spectroscope, or something. It's not a "scanner" per se.
Thanks, very informative.
 
Is there a rough guide to how much extra the dss pays?
And is there a guide as to what not to bother scanning? I spent the first couple of weeks scanning absolutely everything except asteroids. It takes forever.
Later i learned to check if the system was discovered or not first. Still tend to scan everything in undiscovered systems but i wonder if rocky and icy bodies are really worth the time.
 
Is there a rough guide to how much extra the dss pays?
And is there a guide as to what not to bother scanning? I spent the first couple of weeks scanning absolutely everything except asteroids. It takes forever.
Later i learned to check if the system was discovered or not first. Still tend to scan everything in undiscovered systems but i wonder if rocky and icy bodies are really worth the time.

If you want to make money from exploration you should focus only on the objects that are worth scanning. My list:

Earth-like planets - these are the most profitable objects out there but also very rare
Water worlds (TC) - almost as profitable as ELWs
Water worlds - more common than WW (TC) but bring less money
Ammonia worlds - good money but almost as rare as ELWs
High metal content (TC) - good money but is very difficult to distinguish them from normal HMCs
HMC - very common, can bring 5-10k profit
Rocky (TC) - seem to be rare
Gas giant with water based/ammonia based life - relatively common
Water giants - rare - same profit as above
Class II Gas giant

All the rest is not worth scanning, IMO

Edit: forgot to mention Metal Rich planets
 
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TC = Terraforming Candidate. If you DSS the world you find that in the system-map-description of the scanned body "This body is a candidate for terraforming". Bingo!
In my opinion this is one of the causes, why the HMC-Planets are worth scanning, too. There are more terraformables than one thinks.
 
Nutters guide is perfect for the values:

Lw01Dg5.jpg


from: https://forums.frontier.co.uk/showthread.php?t=81653
 
Cool. Thanks. I've been blindly scanning and going. Tonight i looked back in system map and noticed one planet had water based life! I then saw it said water based on the wee screen on the left of the cockpit too.
Are TC only visible in the system map?
 
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