z coordinates of enemy mercs/equipment do not appear to be taken into account based on my experience (stand next to a tall tower with an enemy on it and they show up when scanned)

... through spinning in a circle, the scan arc is 360 degrees.

so scan area = pi * r^2 where r is the listed scan distance.


..... is that what you're trying to figure out?

What? Scanner is a pie-slice at a given radius of a given arc in degrees centered on the user. By spinning in a circle, those slices make a full circle. The area of a circle is pi r squared. [[[EDIT: Ignore the following, it is incorrect]]] You just gave the area of a square with 200m sides...

Too many big words in this thread.

STHAP

http://exploration.grc.nasa.gov/education/rocket/Images/volumenose.gif

note the edit...

anyway, it's not a 2d cone either. a 2d cone would be a triangle. a cone is just a triangle spinning like a top in 3d. but that is wrong too. the reason it is a 'pie slice' is because it is based on a scan radius... so the maximum extent from you will follow a circle (sweep of a set-length line segment about a point in 2d). otherwise you are saying that it is scanning further at the 'legs' of the triangular scan area than in the center where you are actually pointing.

but regardless... do this in your head. or draw it on paper. spin an isosoles (sp...) triangle 360 degrees around one point. when you spin it, the area overlapped makes a perfect circle.

No worries. But absolutely nothing to test dude. I gave you the formula and it is quite simple.

Was confused because a 'cone' is a 3d object, not the 'pie slice' (?) that i think you meant. In the pic you linked, the area of the scanner is the area behind the curved segment. Which is a segment of a circle . There is absolutely nothing to indicate in any way shape or form that triangles have anything to do with it.

But that can't be correct - that's almost 126 kilometers of effective scan area.....

now if you wanted to be really cool you could figure out the 4-dimensional 'green space' of area secured by a scanner in seconds per meters squared per percentage of relevant dB bandwidth covered assuming immediate re-scan upon cooldown completion over a 360 degree arc.

yep, i just made that up. but doable and would point to 'most useful scanner'.

good Lord I need to go to bed.

But that can't be correct - that's almost 126 kilometers of effective scan area.....

3D volumes are rather large.

Even a mere 10 meter by 10 meter cube is a cubic kilometer, and we are talking about a donut (spinning the cone) which extends out 200 meters in our case.

meters squared, not meters.

the area of a 100 x 100m banquet hall is 10,000 m^2 ... which has nothing to do with 10 kilometers.

I'm talking about the -total- scan area of everything this thing can cover.

]We can't assume volume because the scanner has no z axis, though. So it has to be surface area.

and that's what you're getting. 126,000 m^2. which is appropriate.

Are we making this assumption for easier mathematical analysis? Because it must have some Z axis if it can scan targets of a higher elevation, which would make the donut more of a pillar that extends to the flight ceiling.

But that can't be right - that would be ENORMOUS compared to just 200 meters of scan distance. That'd be almost 16,000,000 meters.

Are we making this assumption for easier mathematical analysis? Because it must have some Z axis if it can scan targets of a higher elevation, which would make the donut more of a pillar that extends to the flight ceiling.

Ah, well then assuming a circle, pi*(200m)^2=125,664m^2 is completely correct for surface area.

no dude, you're doing the math twice... incorrect. 200m scan radius = 3.14* 200m*200m = ~125,000 m^2. That's it. that is the final answer. you don't then multiply that again by anything.

And no-one thinks this is bat **** insane considering it's precision being 28db???

nope. cuz of the cooldown. note the 4-dimensional area by relevant bandwidth percentages teaser I mentioned before.

and you also have to consider how much of any given area is actually relevant to key terrain tactically. so a lot of area scanned is just a waste.

use the a-45 quantum.