What is Probing

Probing is the process of finding ships, wormholes, exploration sites or wrecks in undefined areas of space. This page explains the basic process for any probing operation. You might want to visit Ship Probing for more information about finding ships in space.

Skills Requirements

• Racial Frigate rank II
• Spaceship Command rank I
• Science rank III
• Astrometrics rank III

Recommended Ships

T1 Frigates

There are T1 frigates which are dedicated to probing. They have a 5% increase to scan strength of probes per level:

• Magnate (Amarr)
• Probe (Minmatar)
• Heron (Caldari)
• Imicus (Gallente)

T2 Frigates

T2 frigates, and more specifically Covert Ops Frigates, are much more skill-intensive for probing than their T1 counterparts, but they bring 10% bonus to scan strength of probe per level of your Covert Ops skills.

Moreover, they allow to fit a cloacking device can be useful, both to wait for the scan results and to warp on target while cloacked.

Another option are Recon Ships, although they don't provide a bonus on the scan strength.

Scanning Equipment/Modules

Scanners

• Core Probe Launcher I – Basic probe launcher which has a capacity of 0.8m3, which means that it can only launch Core Scanner probes. Ideal for exploration.

• Expanded Probe Launcher I – Advanced probe launcher which has a capacity of 10m3, meaning that it can use all types of probes.

Probes

• Core Scanner Probe I – The basic scanning probe, can scan out exploration sites and wormholes. It has a volume of 0.1m3 and a maximum range of 32 AU.

• Combat Scanner Probe I – Advanced scanning probe which can scan out both exploration sites and wormholes, as well as ships, drones and structures. It can basically scan out anything that can be scanned (with the exception of moon surveying). It has a volume of 1.0m3 and a maximum range of 64 AU.

• Deep Space Scanner Probe I – Advanced scanning probe, mostly useful for finding out what is in a system, much like the old multispectral probes. It has a volume of 1.0m3 and a maximum range of 256 AU.

The Scanning Process

The scanning process is based upon a trilateration system, where three probes are used to find a specific point in a 2D plane, and a fourth probe is used to find the specific point on a 3D axis.

In short, four probes must be positioned within range of the site being scanned out and on different planes in order to get a signature that can be warped to. One or more probes should be used to narrow down the signature and once a solid hit has been got on the target with a rather short scanning range set for the first probe/probes, more probes should be launched to pinpoint the exact location of the site.

Once two probes have gotten a solid hit on the signature, a red circle will appear, giving a rough indicator of where the target may be located, anywhere along the red ring. Once three probes have gotten a hit, two signature dots will appear on the map screen, indicating two possible locations for the site or object being scanned down. Once a solid hit has been achieved by four different probes at the same time, the target will have a warpable result on the scanning screen, provided that the probes have a short enough scanning range to get a strong signal strength to the target signature.

To put this more clearly, an example scanning process can be seen below:

Scanning Interface

First, the scanning interface should be opened by either pressing ctrl+f11, or hitting the scanning button on the in-space interface.

Probing Screen

This will open up the probing screen, from which the solar system map can be accessed by pressing the “Map” button on the top right of the scanning window.

Launching Probes

Click for larger view Once on the solar system map, it is time to launch a probe by clicking on the probe launcher. The first thing to do is to determine whether there are any signatures in the system, so it is recommended that the scanning range is set to the maximum potential of the probe being used. This can be done by clicking and dragging the “edge” of the sphere around the probe that has been deployed. In this example, a Core Scanner Probe I is being used, but experienced probers may want to begin by using a Deep Space Scanner Probe I for the maximum scanning range possible. The edges of the probe will light up when the mouse pointer is positioned correctly for resizing the probe.

Once the sphere has been dragged into range of a different size than the current one, it will snap into place at its new range when the left mouse button is depressed. Once the probe has been positioned to cover most or all of the system, it is time to press the analyze button in order to get a scanning result.

Analyzing the Results

A result was gotten, there is a Cosmic Signature of some sort in the system. However, the strength of the signal which the probe pinpointed was rather weak due to the large scanning range set for the probe which was used, so the distance being reported to the site is most likely extremely inaccurate.

Click for larger view To get a better idea of where the site is located within the system, as well as getting a stronger signal, the first thing to do is to resize the scanning range of the probe. In this example the probe was set to 8 AU.

Click for larger view From this result, we can deduce that the site is located somewhere near the inner planets in the system, which narrows our options down nicely. Due to the layout of the system, there are roughly three possibilities for the location of the site. It can be near either one of the outer planets within range of the original probe, or it might be close to the cluster of planets near the center point of the original probing location. It is therefore best to deploy three probes to cover all bases. One probe with a scanning range of 4 AU has been sent to each of these locations. The positioning of the probes is shown on the left.

The scan from these positions has revealed that the site is located somewhere close to the inner cluster of planets, meaning that we can forget about the two planets which were separated from the rest. By clicking on the signature, a red result sphere will be displayed, telling us which probe got a hit on the site.

Narrowing Down the Results

Click for larger view The next step is to narrow down the signature, inching our way closer to it, gradually raising the strength of the signal we have to the site. To move the probes around, simply click and drag one of the directional arrows around the center of the probe. Once the analyze button is clicked after a probe has been moved on the map screen, it will warp to its destination and begin scanning. In this example, one probe was used to scan the area around the inner planet cluster, close attention being paid to the signal strength indicator to get an indication of how close the probe was to the site. As the probe was moved further to the “left” relative to the above picture, the signal got a bit stronger, but upon moving it even further the signal was lost, which means that the site is most likely located on a higher or a lower plane than the planets. A second probe was then brought in and positioned “above” the planet cluster. The red circle indicates that the site registered on both probes, and the site will be roughly located somewhere along or within the red circle.

Click for larger view At this point, the scanning range of the probes can be shortened to get a stronger signal, which will be done in this example. Once the red circle has been narrowed down, the third probe should be brought in and intersected with the path of the red circle. Should all three probes get a strong enough hit on the signature, the scanning screen will present two signature dots.

Click for larger view The real location of the site will be either one of these two dots and all that remains is to bring out the fourth probe and make it intersect with one of the two dots. If you have found the right one, the signature will be narrowed down to one entry.

Click for larger view Although we have pinpointed the location of the site relative to the whole system, we will still need to reduce the scanning range of our probes somewhat in order to get a stronger signal for the site. This should prove to be a rather simple process since the exact location of the site has been found, we simply do not have a strong enough signal for the warp drive in our spaceship to lock on to. The signature dot will cycle through red, to yellow and finally green once a signal strong enough to warp to has been attained. In order to be able to warp to the site, a signal strength of 100% and a green signature dot needs to be achieved. Once a singular green signature has been achieved, the dot itself or the signature in the scanning screen can be right clicked in order to warp to it. A finished scan can be seen on the left.

The probing/scanning screen

Probe management and recovery

Other than the analyze button, there are a few more buttons that can be used to manage your drones. They can be seen in the below picture:

The button on the far left which looks like a radar is the Analyze button and pressing this button will cause your probes to move into the positions they have been assigned to on the map screen and start scanning.

The next button is the Recover button, pressing it will prompt all active probes to warp to your ship and go into its cargo hold.

The third button is the Reconnect button, pressing it will reconnect your ship sensors to all of your probes present in that system which you have lost your connection to. This can for example happen when you are disconnected from the EVE server, so it is a useful button to prevent loss of probes due to disconnects.

The last button will terminate all of your active probes when it is pressed, causing them to be lost forever.

Individual probes can be selected, disabled, recovered, resized or destroyed by simply right clicking on them and selecting the correct option from the context menu that opens.

Scan Result section:

The scan result section of the scanning window will display the results from your probes after they have analyzed their surroundings.

This menu displays the scan group of the signatures your probes lock on to, as well as the strength of the signals they found and a rough distance to them. The weaker the signal, the less accurate the displayed distance will be.

As the signal gets stronger, additional information will be displayed under the “Group” section, in regards to what kind of frequency the signature is giving off. Once a very strong signal has been achieved, the name of the site will be displayed under “Type”, as can be seen in the picture below:

The scan result filter

The filter for scan results is a powerful tool and it can be used on the fly to filter out undesirable scan results. After a scan has been done, the filter can be adjusted at will to show different results. New scans of the system do not need to be performed after the filter is adjusted, it will simply display what was within range of the probes which were active during the last scan done.

To select a new filter, click on the small white arrow on the left of the “scan result filter” box name, and from the menu that opens, select the “create new filter” option.

A window will then open which allows a pilot to select which scan groups he wants his current filter to show. Once the filter has been saved, it can be selected from the scan result filter drop down box and it will sort the displayed scan results out on the fly.

Things to remember about probing.

• The larger the scanning radius you have set, the less accurate your probe will be. Start off with a large scanning radius or even a Deep Space Scanner Probe to determine what is in the system, and then switch to shorter range probes. Gradually make the scanning radius smaller as you get closer to your target. Once you have pinpointed it within the shortest scanning range available for the probe type, it is time to bring out the second probe.
• It is usually best to only move your probe around on one axis between scans while you are trying to get close to the signature being looked for. This ensures that it is easy to move the probe back to where it was should you be moving the probe away from your target, and generally reduces confusion.
• The lower the signal strength reported for the site you are trying to find, the less accurate the reported distance to the site will be in the scanning interface.
• Your ship does not need to warp around the system during the scanning process. Your ship can be completely static in a safe location until you find the signature you are looking for, as your probes will do all of the warping for you as you try to pinpoint your target site.
• probes will always report every single scannable object within their scanning range. The larger the scanning radius of the probe and the further away the signature/object is from the center of the scanning radius, the lower the signal strength for the signature/object will be.
• When results from different probes intersect, they will be combined into a single result on the scanning interface.
• When a signature is clicked in the scanning screen, a red result sphere will be displayed. It will show which probe got the hit on the signature, as well as a rough indicator of how far from the probe the site is likely to be. This should not be taken literally however, as it is not guaranteed that the site will be within the result sphere.
• Filters can be set up on the fly for scan results, and do not require you to redo the scanning process.
• Cosmic Anomalies will always have a signal strength of 100% should they be within range of a probe, one probe will suffice for finding these.

Other References

Quick Reference Distances

Knowing these distances in a snip can be very helpful for a scanner:

1 AU = 150,000,000 km
5 AU = 750,000,000 km
10 AU = 1,500,000,000 km

Signature Groups

Scanner Filters

Cosmic Signatures

Important Skills

Afraid you may have overlooked an important skill?

Below is a list of all the skills that currently affect probing. They are all located in the Science group.

Basic differences between the new and old scanning systems

The scanning system was overhauled completely with the deployment of Apocrypha on the 10th of March, 2009. This overhaul affected both the way in which ships are scanned out, as well as the mechanics for scanning out exploration sites and wormholes leading to distant unexplored space. To make a long story short, the old system of deploying a static probe and waiting for some time for it to give a scanning result has made way for a new scanning system involving basic mathematical triangulation. The system has therefore become a bit more involved and intuitive, and while it may seem daunting at first, it is actually far more convenient than the old system for experienced probers, as the rate of success is not completely determined by only the characters skill, but also the pilots’ spatial awareness and personal skill at setting up and positioning probes.

Here are some of the basic differences between the new and old scanning system:

• probes can now overlap and they in fact have to overlap in order for you to be able to warp to the signatures you find.
• Your ship does not need to move around while you scan in order to deploy probes, you instead move your probes around on the system map screen and they will warp to the positions you order them to go to.
• probes no longer have a set scanning range. Their scanning range can be adjusted on the fly, reducing the amount of probe types you need to carry.
• Scanning is much faster than before. Instead, you will have to rely on your own spatial problem-solving skills in order to position your probes optimally before performing scans.
• It is possible to reconnect to your probes should you get disconnected, no more wasted probes in the event that the connection to the server is lost.
• probes can be recalled to your ship and recovered, removing them from space but putting a new probe in your cargo hold.
• probes will always report every single scannable object within their scanning range. The larger the scanning radius of the probe and the further away the signature/object is from the center of the scanning radius, the lower the signal strength for the signature/object will be.

See Also

• Apocrypha Ship Probing
• Ship Probing (Archive) (Archive article from EON Magazine - Caution some information might not be relevant anymore)