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Star Wars Sensors - the Good, the Bad, and the Ugly

Posted: 2005-06-27 09:28pm
by Techno_Union
I did a search "for sensors" and didn't come up with any results (which I found odd -- but that's beside the point).

I have heard many different ranges when it comes to SW sensors, everything from a small 7 light-day range to a huge 100ly range... I was curious as to what the low, mid, and high ranges were for SW sensors?

The several light-day range comes from the ROTS:ICS under the Munificent-class light destroyer/communications frigate -- these were labeled as "high performance." The 100ly range -- the only time I've seen a 100ly range -- was for the subspace comm. arrays featured in the EGTWT. So I am curious when sensor ranges were mentioned in SW.

Posted: 2005-06-27 10:22pm
by Darth Wong
Try asking a US Air Force officer what the range of American sensors is. Maybe that will illustrate the problem with this line of questioning.

Posted: 2005-06-27 11:03pm
by Techno_Union
Darth Wong wrote:Try asking a US Air Force officer what the range of American sensors is. Maybe that will illustrate the problem with this line of questioning.
Sorry, I was trying to see if there has ever been mention of an actual range that SW sensors perform the best at -- like the 7 light-day one from the ROTS:ICS.

Posted: 2005-06-27 11:11pm
by Dangermouse
Darth Wong wrote:Try asking a US Air Force officer what the range of American sensors is. Maybe that will illustrate the problem with this line of questioning.
I know very little about aircraft sensors and their operation or the US Air Force for that matter. I am curious now; is it because that sensors in general (and specifically aircraft sensors) are that highly situational dependent and the answer will depend on jamming and other factors? Would you mind elaborating on this post?

Posted: 2005-06-27 11:45pm
by Darth Wong
The answer you will get will probably sound a lot like "it depends".

How big is the target? What kind of target is it? Which type of sensor are you talking about? Is it moving towards you, or laterally? What kind of background clutter is there? Is there ECM? Etc.

Posted: 2005-06-28 06:24am
by Cykeisme
What's the range of your eyesight?