SHIP EQUIPMENT / VISUAL FIELD GUIDE
Radar: find a contact, then complete the scan
Distinguish the radar display, a search ping and a completed identification, with separate controls and recovery checks.
01
STEP 1 OF 6
A contact is not a completed identification
The named examples are extracted community game-data records for 4.10.2-LIVE.12881860, captured 15 October 2026. Their parameters are references, not measured ship performance. These exercises have not been gameplay tested. Matching size does not establish fitment, access or a better loadout.
Radar identifies targets and signatures around a ship. A search ping can reveal or refresh contacts; scanning is a separate inspection of a selected candidate. Neither an icon nor entering the scanning view proves a scan has finished.
What do these words mean?
- Surveyor-Lite source example
- This size-1 reference records a 2.5-second ping cooldown and 0.8 for infrared, electromagnetic, cross-section and resource sensitivity. Sensitivities are unitless source coefficients, not 0.8 kilometres or a guaranteed detection distance.
- Contact, ping, scan
- A contact is a returned candidate. A ping requests a search update. A scan inspects an aimed-at candidate and returns information. Keep their visible feedback separate.
- No radar fitting promise
- This is an operating lesson. A listed radar size does not establish an interchangeable slot, physical access or a supported upgrade on your ship.
Surveyor-Lite reference only
Read the complete guide as text
The same published instructions in one readable view. Use the steps above for controls and practice panels.
A contact is not a completed identification
The named examples are extracted community game-data records for 4.10.2-LIVE.12881860, captured 15 October 2026. Their parameters are references, not measured ship performance. These exercises have not been gameplay tested. Matching size does not establish fitment, access or a better loadout.
Radar identifies targets and signatures around a ship. A search ping can reveal or refresh contacts; scanning is a separate inspection of a selected candidate. Neither an icon nor entering the scanning view proves a scan has finished.
- Surveyor-Lite source example
- This size-1 reference records a 2.5-second ping cooldown and 0.8 for infrared, electromagnetic, cross-section and resource sensitivity. Sensitivities are unitless source coefficients, not 0.8 kilometres or a guaranteed detection distance.
- Contact, ping, scan
- A contact is a returned candidate. A ping requests a search update. A scan inspects an aimed-at candidate and returns information. Keep their visible feedback separate.
- No radar fitting promise
- This is an operating lesson. A listed radar size does not establish an interchangeable slot, physical access or a supported upgrade on your ship.
Choose one safe candidate and inspect your controls
Shared control cards use the site’s inspected 4.9 LIVE defaults compared with 4.10 PTU. Each card keeps its own dated source; they are not newly verified 4.10.2 bindings. Your saved input takes precedence: Options > Keybindings > your device > Advanced Controls Customization. Improve an inaccurate control through this article’s normal edit and independent review workflow.
Use a clear, permitted area and a known object or an agreed stationary partner. Attend to speed and separation before reading the display. Record the ship, occupied station, current operator label and visible target indication.
Check the saved actions for Activate Ping, Toggle Scanning Mode and Activate Scanning. Do not reset a working profile. The reference cooldown is not a promise that every attempt returns a new object.
Make a baseline before launch
SC Nomads comparison drill
Record your ship variant, fitted weapons, visible power allocations and healthy status. Keep the same view available for the next practice step.
Expected result: You have a reference to compare with a failure.
If it did not work: Do this while parked. If the screen is unfamiliar, ask the owner to identify one known component before changing anything.
Read the assigned action before trying another key
Open Options, then Keybindings. Select your actual input device and Advanced Controls Customization. Inspect the relevant radar and scanning actions, then return to the same safe test.
Expected result: You know the input your saved profile assigns to each separate action.
If it did not work: If the action is unbound or differs from this card, use your profile’s displayed input. Suggest a sourced correction in this guide instead of repeatedly pressing unrelated keys.
- Clear space and controlled movement
- Known candidate or consenting partner
- Ping and scanning inputs distinguished
- Current operator label recorded
Send one ping and read the returned candidates
Use the shared ping input once, then inspect the resulting contact indications before repeating it. Keep a note of what appeared, refreshed or remained absent. Do not treat a returned marker as proof of the candidate’s contents.
The source cooldown belongs to the captured radar record. If nothing appears, check whether the ping itself occurred, the current station/mode and the candidate. This lesson does not prescribe a universal distance or promise a contact in empty space.
Send a search ping
Activate Ping (Hold & Release)
Hold and release Tab, then look for the returned contacts.
Expected result: Nearby contacts appear or refresh.
If it did not work: If no ping occurs, inspect Flight - Radar > Activate Ping. The latest extracted default distinguishes Tab ping from V scanning mode.
Enter scanning view, then hold the separate scan input
Confirm the current operator view before the scan. Keep the intended object under the scanner while moving at a controllable speed, and read the returned identification rather than guessing from its shape.
Left mouse has different meanings in different modes. The scan input below is not permission to fire a weapon or activate a mining laser. Stop and check the label if the intended scanning interface is absent.
Inspect a contact without firing
Toggle Scanning Mode. Latest inspected CIG default: 4.9 LIVE, compared with 4.10 PTU. Your saved input may differ.
Tap the assigned Toggle Scanning Mode input, then read the changed operator view and place the intended candidate under its scanner. Complete the separate scan action below.
Expected result: The scanning view is active and the intended candidate is under the scanner.
If it did not work: If the view does not change, inspect Toggle Scanning Mode for your saved device. Do not start left-mouse input while still in gun or mining mode.
Inspect the candidate
Activate Scanning
In scanning mode, hold LMB on the target. Release when you have the information you need.
Expected result: The selected contact provides information as the scan completes.
If it did not work: This is a scanning-mode input. In mining mode, LMB operates the laser instead. Confirm the current mode before clicking.
Field note: A mode change is the setup stage. Read the actual identification feedback to decide whether inspection completed.
Name the failed stage before changing equipment
No ping, no contact and no scan result are different symptoms. Check the actual binding and operator view first; then check aim, candidate, current range feedback and system state. Change one condition at a time.
If the radar reading disappears after a ship-specific operation, record the exact hull, game build and last action. A known issue on another model is not a universal undock/redock or replacement fix.
Report the missing reading
SC Nomads fault report
If shields or radar appear wrong, report the exact missing reading, active mode and last change. Ask the engineer to compare with the baseline.
Expected result: The crew has a specific fault to investigate.
If it did not work: The 4.10.2 advisory identifies a Drake Command Module radar fault with an undock/redock workaround, and an Idris-P laser-shield fault without a listed workaround. Neither establishes a universal fix for all ships.
I see a marker but no identifying information.: Confirm scanning view, aim at the same candidate and perform the scan input. A ping result alone is not a completed scan.
The reference says 0.8, but I cannot detect an object at that distance.: The value is unitless. Read actual feedback and target conditions; do not convert a sensitivity coefficient into metres, a scan radius or a promised result.
Return to the task’s operator view and record the result
Release the scan input. Use the assigned Toggle Scanning Mode action when needed, then read the resulting label before resuming flight or another activity. Do not press a mining-mode key merely because this exercise reused the mining lesson’s shared ping card.
Record the ping input/feedback, the scanning view and the information actually returned. An uncertain observation is useful when it names the failed stage. Suggest improvements through the normal guide edit and independent publication flow; no special control-report system is needed.
Leave scanning only after releasing the scan input
Toggle Scanning Mode. Latest inspected CIG default: 4.9 LIVE, compared with 4.10 PTU. Your saved input may differ.
Release the scan input. If still in scanning view and your next task needs another view, use the assigned toggle once and read the operator label again.
Expected result: The operator view matches the next task and no unintended action remains active.
If it did not work: If the view was already correct, leave it alone. A toggle can undo the desired selection; read before pressing again.
- Scan input released
- Next operator view confirmed
- Observed result and build recorded
- No radar fitment or detection-range claim invented
Sources & guide information
4.10.2 extracted examples; dated CIG engineering sources. Not gameplay tested.. Reference information, not a claim of current-patch playtesting.
CIG Engineering Gameplay Guide, Alpha 4.5 foundation and 4.8 ship table; source review 15 October 2026CIG Set up keybindings for your peripherals, updated 17 February 2026; checked 16 October 2026Surveyor-Lite: exact extracted 4.10.2-LIVE.12881860 record, captured 15 October 2026CIG input data via Subliminal: 4.9 LIVE cl12248363; 4.10 PTU comparison, 22 Aug 2026CIG Alpha 4.10.2 Known Issues, updated 9 Oct 2026; checked 14 Oct 2026