Does Scanning Sense still provide an active sense when "off"?

[Michael Thayne]

Pretty straightforward question that I surprisingly can't find a clear answer to—if you have Radar, can you detect other people's radar when your Radar is turned off? Does Sonar act as Ultrahearing when turned off? Or would you need to buy those abilities separately?

[Michael Thayne]

Bleh, the title was supposed to be "Does Scanning Sense still provide a passive sense when 'off'"?

[Anthony]

Realistically, scanning senses are only designed to be sensitive to pretty narrow frequency ranges (at any one time) to avoid interference from other sources, but can certainly turn receiver and emitter on and off separately. As far as RAW goes it looks like you're supposed to turn everything on and off at once, but I'd certainly allow mixing things.

[Aldric]

Originally Posted by Michael Thayne

Bleh, the title was supposed to be "Does Scanning Sense still provide a passive sense when 'off'"?

By default it seems the answer to your question is no.

[Dalillama]

Ultrahearing most definitely has to be purchased separately. Knowing when someone else pings you using the particular frequency (sound, light, or otherwise) is a thornier question; as a GM I would probably let someone make a perception check for that.

[Michael Thayne]

Originally Posted by Anthony

Realistically, scanning senses are only designed to be sensitive to pretty narrow frequency ranges (at any one time) to avoid interference from other sources, but can certainly turn receiver and emitter on and off separately. As far as RAW goes it looks like you're supposed to turn everything on and off at once, but I'd certainly allow mixing things.

Ah, this makes a lot of sense. Thanks!

[whswhs]

Originally Posted by Anthony

Realistically, scanning senses are only designed to be sensitive to pretty narrow frequency ranges (at any one time) to avoid interference from other sources, but can certainly turn receiver and emitter on and off separately. As far as RAW goes it looks like you're supposed to turn everything on and off at once, but I'd certainly allow mixing things.

I think it may depend on the scanning sense. Sonar probably will send out a pulse that can be heard by anyone in the relevant space. Lidar probably will be detectable only if you're sitting right on the targeted object.

[Anthony]

Originally Posted by whswhs

I think it may depend on the scanning sense. Sonar probably will send out a pulse that can be heard by anyone in the relevant space. Lidar probably will be detectable only if you're sitting right on the targeted object.

I meant wavelength, not angle.

[Prince Charon]

Originally Posted by Anthony

Realistically, scanning senses are only designed to be sensitive to pretty narrow frequency ranges (at any one time) to avoid interference from other sources, but can certainly turn receiver and emitter on and off separately. As far as RAW goes it looks like you're supposed to turn everything on and off at once, but I'd certainly allow mixing things.

Depending on the GM (or the setting switches), it might be an optional +0% enhancement, or a slightly more expensive one, or it might be the standard for the setting and not having the passive sense available when the active scanning is off is a limitation.

E.g. military SONAR specifically has the receivers on all the time AFAIK, even when they're sending out no pings, or <Sean Connery voice>'one ping only'</Sean Connery voice>.

[Anthony]

Originally Posted by Prince Charon

Military SONAR specifically has the receivers on all the time AFAIK, even when they're sending out no pings, or <Sean Connery voice>'one ping only'</Sean Connery voice>.

Well, the real thing is that a sonar detector is basically free on the scale of a submarine, so there's no real reason not to have both systems, but ultrahearing is not discounted for having sonar.