Scanning to nowhere
15th May 2010 – 3.20 pmFin is scanning our neighbouring system. A bookmark to our static wormhole has been left in our shared can, so I make a copy and set off in my Buzzard to join her. The system is unoccupied and has a wealth of signatures, mostly gas, and Fin lets me know which signatures she has already ignored. This is a nice and lazy way to scan. I resolve even more gas and some rocks before Fin finds the last signature to be the static wormhole. She warps to it, I follow, and we jump through to a class 5 system.
There are two towers in this C5, but no activity in the system. They are not a quiet corporation, though, as their system is clear of everything but four anomalies and one signature. And as we didn't enter through their static connection that single signature must be a wormhole. We resolve it, warp, and jump through to another C5 system. Another occupied system, this one holds a Chimera and Archon, both carriers and both sitting in the same tower's shields. They are also in good standing with us, showing up as 'blue', so hopefully I won't get shot if they find me. We start scanning, although there is no point bookmarking sites in this blue system, and heading back to the tower to keep an eye on the ships sees a Buzzard return and drop a jet-can named 'BM C4'. I am supposing this system holds a static C4 wormhole, and indeed we find it soon enough.
The next connecting system is unoccupied and getting too far away from our home system to be worth scanning further, particularly with two occupied systems between us. It's time to collapse our wormhole, hoping to get a new connection that offers a good route to empire space or some juicy targets. We return to our home system, Fin gets the Orca ready and I refit a web module to my Buzzard to help speed the Orca in to warp. We are getting better experience of collapsing our static connection and after four round-trips the wormhole disappears as planned. Before it goes, and during one of the waits for the Orca's hull polarisation to end, I launch scanning probes in preparation to look for the replacement wormhole. I perform an initial scan to get the probes to warp away from me so that I can re-activate my cloak without having to move further away from the wormhole. This turns out to be a really good, if unintentional, idea.
My scan of the entire system before the wormhole is collapsed returns every signature currently in the system. I can safely ignore all of these, assured that the new wormhole is not amongst the signatures as it does not yet exist. However, when the current wormhole is collapsed the new wormhole will be the only new signal, and a second scan will identify it immediately without having to sift through the signatures of any local sites. It isn't a particularly difficult task to ignore sites already bookmarked, but when it is possible to have a guaranteed single return of what you are looking for it is most convenient. Even though I can resolve the new static wormhole quickly, Fin entices me to mine instead of going out scanning again, noting that if we don't activate the connection we are relatively safe to shoot rocks. I scan the wormhole and jump through.
Our new neighbouring C4 system is unoccupied and empty. I am lucky in my first scan of the system, after finding the signature of the K162. I get to ignore six ladar sites and get a 97% strength return signal on a wormhole after only two scans. The wormhole turns out to be a K162 reaching the end of its life, so I leave it and continue scanning. Fin finds the new static wormhole, again leading to a C5, jumping through to explore whilst I finish scanning the C4. I find nothing but ladar sites and anomalies, which is curious in its lack of gravimetric mining sites. I reason that a mining operation came in here from the K162 and cleared out all the ore, and wonder if they are active in their own system. Risking the EOL status, I jump through the K162 and see mining barges and an Orca on scan. Finding the local tower shows the ships to be in its shields, only the Orca piloted. But if the Orca is manned and running its mining links it could mean miners are active elsewhere in the system.
I warp around the large system to try to find a mining operation in progress but find no activity. I launch probes and look for gravimetric sites, returning cloaked to the local tower to monitor the ships there. Even though I find a static high-sec exit I remember that the wormhole I came through is EOL and realise that there is little point risking becoming isolated when there is no obvious activity. I return and head through the other wormhole to the C5, where an exit to null-sec space has been found. I jump through to take a look, squeezed out in to C-0K0R in Fade, under Mostly Harmless sovereignty. The null-sec system is empty of other ships, prompting Fin to check the neighbouring systems too, whilst I launch probes and scan for possible wormholes. I only find a gravimetric site, Fin another empty system. We both visit the two adjacent systems for extra exploration points before returning to w-space and our tower. W-space is quiet again tonight.
The next time we are in our home system with an inactive static connection and Fin suggests mining I will take her up on that offer. As much fun as the hunt is, whether successful or not, and as financially rewarding as pillaging Sleeper loot happens to be, without targets to shoot or a fleet to engage Sleepers there is little to do. Scanning provides an interesting method of exploration but is not profitable in itself, and is only a means to an end. On the other hand, mining at least provides tangible results with the same level of company and helps to make use of the resources we have. There is good reason to explore the systems around us, but after finding them to be undesirable to be connected to us and collapsing our wormhole I need to recognise the value in following a different course of action, instead of continuing to bang my head against a wall.
2 Responses to “Scanning to nowhere”
I'm fairly new to Eve and actually enjoy a bit of Exploration as well doing Scanning and Probing Signatures. Do that currently in high sec space.
Is there any good way that I can make that activity profitable in some way like as in finding Ladder Signature sites, Radar sites and places like that you can find while Scanning in high sec space?
Since you seem to be really good at Scanning and Probing in it's various ways is there any good way to use it to a profitable mean in high sec Space? Your adventures in null sec sounds interesting enough and with all kind of different options. For now I'm fairly new to Eve and just learning the ropes of the game while in high sec space.
I don't know a great deal about empire space scanning, but I believe it is possible to find complexes and other sites out in high-sec. They are more scarce and lower-profit than in low- or null-sec, but if you can find a system with few pilots in local and can scan a site you should be able to find something of interest.
With a bit of practice and skill training maybe you can pull in some profit. Best of luck!