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Tracking Device on the Falcon in ANH

Posted: 2003-04-25 03:24pm
by Soontir C'boath
Just a question here...
How come Han wasn't able to detect the tracking device that was on the Falcon?

Cyaround,
Jason

Posted: 2003-04-25 04:01pm
by DPDarkPrimus
Most likely because he hadn't thought to check for one?

Posted: 2003-04-25 04:07pm
by Soontir C'boath
DPDarkPrimus wrote:Most likely because he hadn't thought to check for one?
I'm not disputing that, but with Leia's caution that they are being track there must've been something that prevented him or lack thereof to look for it...

Only thing I remembered was that the Falcon was so wired up much he wouldn't be able to find anything if he did try but I'm not even sure if that's true.

Cyaround,
Jason

Posted: 2003-04-25 04:13pm
by Akm72
Maybe tracking devices are designed not to be noticed. Jango Fett didn't notice the one Kenobi stuck on his ship, and Slave 1 is much less cluttered than the Falcon.

Posted: 2003-04-25 04:29pm
by Ted C
A device that will fit in the palm of your hand is apparently all that's needed, based on what we saw in AOTC.

I suppose the makers would include an array of tricks to keep it from being noticed...

--Have it only active intermittently to send signals, to minimize opportunities to pick up its transmissions.

--Have it change communication frequencies with each transmission to keep monitors from noticing repeated activity on a particular frequency.

--Use extremely short burst transmissions, to minimize the chance of being picked up by a frequency scanner.

Posted: 2003-04-25 04:33pm
by MKSheppard
Ted C wrote:A device that will fit in the palm of your hand is apparently all that's needed, based on what we saw in AOTC.
Incorrect. In the Boba Fett Enemy Of the Empire Miniseries, a tracker
is put onto slave one, and it weighs about the same as a grease stain. :shock:

Posted: 2003-04-25 04:36pm
by Ted C
MKSheppard wrote:
Ted C wrote:A device that will fit in the palm of your hand is apparently all that's needed, based on what we saw in AOTC.
Incorrect. In the Boba Fett Enemy Of the Empire Miniseries, a tracker
is put onto slave one, and it weighs about the same as a grease stain. :shock:
And that wouldn't fit in the palm of your hand? :wink:

Re: Tracking Device on the Falcon in ANH

Posted: 2003-04-25 04:48pm
by Darth Servo
Soontir C'boath wrote:Just a question here...
How come Han wasn't able to detect the tracking device that was on the Falcon?
Arrogance. Plain and simple.

Leia: "They're tracking us."
Han: "Not this ship sister."

Posted: 2003-04-25 06:00pm
by vakundok
Excuse me, but how do tracking devices actually work? Do they send the signal while in hyperspace or only when the target ship leaves the hyperspace? (Whether the following ship jumps into hyperspace without path or destination and really follows the device in hyperspace or only starts when the target ship arrives to its destination.)

Posted: 2003-04-25 06:10pm
by Isolder74
But the Rebel's apparentally noticed after the ship landed. The thing is that Han was too cocky in his ship's speed advantage that he was sure fire certain that no one could track his ship.

Posted: 2003-04-25 06:17pm
by Warspite
vakundok wrote:Excuse me, but how do tracking devices actually work? Do they send the signal while in hyperspace or only when the target ship leaves the hyperspace? (Whether the following ship jumps into hyperspace without path or destination and really follows the device in hyperspace or only starts when the target ship arrives to its destination.)
In Kamino, the device started to work as soon as it "glued" itself to the hull of Slave-1, and Obi-Wan jumped into Geonosis within visual sight of Slave-1, meaning he already knew the destination by the time he made the jump out of Kamino.
Ifthe device only transmited in real-space, we would see a much bigger time-lag between Jango arriving at Geonosis and Obi-Wan's jump, since Obi-Wan wouldn't know where Jango was headed for.

Posted: 2003-04-25 06:17pm
by Darth Servo
Han could have done a better job in the situation though. Maybe land on a couple of sparsly populated or uninhabitted planets first to send the imperials on wild goose chases and they wouldn't be able to tell on which he'd dropped off Leia and the droids. But then again, maybe not depending on how good imperial sensors are.

Posted: 2003-04-25 07:12pm
by HemlockGrey
Well, maybe Leia wanted to keep the tracking device on? After all, it'll lure the Death Star to the Rebel base. This may seem illogical, but think about it.

The Rebels have to fight it some time. It's an immensely powerful strategic weapon. It can hold dozens of worlds hostage at once, wipe out all vestiges of Rebel support without any risks at all. Plus, destroying it will be a major victory for the Rebels.

So why not lure it to their fortified fortress-world, where they can engage it on their own terms?

Posted: 2003-04-25 07:32pm
by irishmick79
Also, in the "Heir to the Empire" trilogy, Lando and Han have a discussion about detecting tracking devices on the Lady Luck. Lando's ship apparently had a tracking device detector on it, and Han commented that having one on the Falcon would have saved them a headache over Yavin. Lando remarked that the number of different systems on the falcon would have played hell with the detector, along with the odd contour of the Falcon's shape.

Posted: 2003-04-25 10:26pm
by Alan Bolte
I have no idea how the particular tracking device on the Falcon worked, but I recall that somewhere in the vast EU there is a type of tracking device that doesn't send signals at all, but instead makes minor disruptions in holonet 'threads' it crosses while in hyperspace. After all, the empire owns the holonet.

Posted: 2003-04-26 12:04am
by Cal Wright
Time to be a purist. Fuck the Zahn explanation. Did that fucktard NOT watch the movie. Someone has made the quote already.

Leia: They're tracking us. It's the only explanation for the ease of our escape.
Solo: Not THIS ship sister!

Han was fucking cocky about the Falcon. Plain and simple. So he didn't even try to check for a tracking device. He MIGHT have been able to had he checked for one, but that's another debate.

Posted: 2003-04-26 02:13am
by StarshipTitanic
Actually, I like the idea that Leia wanted the Falcon to be tracked. She could have convinced Han to search for it if she wanted to. "Try enjoying your reward when the planet you're on is shot out from under your nerf-herding hide." would have made Han think about it.

It's vaguely like in WW2 when Churchill knew that the Germans were going to destroy a city via bombing but didn't warn anyone because it would show that they had decyphered Engima too soon. Well, sorta...

Posted: 2003-04-26 03:40am
by PainRack
StarshipTitanic wrote:Actually, I like the idea that Leia wanted the Falcon to be tracked. She could have convinced Han to search for it if she wanted to. "Try enjoying your reward when the planet you're on is shot out from under your nerf-herding hide." would have made Han think about it.

It's vaguely like in WW2 when Churchill knew that the Germans were going to destroy a city via bombing but didn't warn anyone because it would show that they had decyphered Engima too soon. Well, sorta...
Except that the urban myth isn't true.

Churchill never did know,and Ultra never did discover that Conventry was the target of the attack until a few hours before the strike itself.All responsible reports placed Churchill as waiting at No 10,waiting for the first wave of German bombers when Conventry was hit.

The reason why this myth keeps popping up was the ultra-secrecy placed on Ultra and the belief that Ultra is invincible.Yes,Ultra did tell Churchill that there was a super-heavy bomber raid coming up,the time and date,unfortunately,the target name was coded.

This intelligence fiasco,along with the U-boats changing their ciphers was what prompted Britain spy services to improve the quality of non Ultra intelligence sources as they realised that relying on one-dimensional source was idiotic,

Posted: 2003-04-26 03:48am
by Hethrir
Cal Wright wrote:Time to be a purist. Fuck the Zahn explanation. Did that fucktard NOT watch the movie. Someone has made the quote already.

Leia: They're tracking us. It's the only explanation for the ease of our escape.
Solo: Not THIS ship sister!

Han was fucking cocky about the Falcon. Plain and simple. So he didn't even try to check for a tracking device. He MIGHT have been able to had he checked for one, but that's another debate.
The irregular hull hinders him from searching for the tracking device. It doesn't say if he checked or not.

Posted: 2003-04-26 08:28am
by Lord Pounder
If the HttE explanatuion is valid why dodn't jango have a surface checker? Think about it you just got a good boot in the head from a Jedi and barely escaped. The Jedi isn't likely to stay down. Your taking off to a place where Dookus army is being build. Surely you exude some caution.

While i'm not a purist like Cal, i have to say that some things in the EU like the fine edge surface scanner is a flawed idea. Hans arrogance is the most likely explanation.

Posted: 2003-04-26 10:38am
by NecronLord
Darth Pounder wrote:If the HttE explanatuion is valid why dodn't jango have a surface checker? Think about it you just got a good boot in the head from a Jedi and barely escaped. The Jedi isn't likely to stay down. Your taking off to a place where Dookus army is being build. Surely you exude some caution.

While i'm not a purist like Cal, i have to say that some things in the EU like the fine edge surface scanner is a flawed idea. Hans arrogance is the most likely explanation.
Maybe the device hadn't been invented. Maybe palm sized trackers were very rare, after all, Obi Wan's fighter was the latest tech too.

Posted: 2003-04-26 03:25pm
by Lord Pounder
Fair enough. I think the major problem is people here are assuming that George Lucas is gonna keep contanuity as far as technology is concerned. George Lucas is pissing on his own work with things like the Greedo shooting, why would he give a rats ass about the EU?

Posted: 2003-04-26 04:06pm
by HemlockGrey
...I still like my explanation the best...

Posted: 2003-04-26 04:11pm
by Ender
HemlockGrey wrote:So why not lure it to their fortified fortress-world, where they can engage it on their own terms?
Because she knows what the Rebels have available to them and what the DS can do. She didnt know about the weakness, so the explanation that she was luring the DS into a trap so starfighters can kill it is idiotic.

Posted: 2003-04-26 04:12pm
by Ender
Darth Pounder wrote:If the HttE explanatuion is valid why dodn't jango have a surface checker? Think about it you just got a good boot in the head from a Jedi and barely escaped. The Jedi isn't likely to stay down. Your taking off to a place where Dookus army is being build. Surely you exude some caution.

While i'm not a purist like Cal, i have to say that some things in the EU like the fine edge surface scanner is a flawed idea. Hans arrogance is the most likely explanation.
Ferrari's exist, so why don't I have one?

The tech may be out there, but that doesn't mean Jango has it.