You're probably right. However, my point is not that one scanner tech or another is what will be or won't be used in SC. Anything we think we might know about that is purely theorycrafting, since it's not real until it's real. What I wanted to convey is that ANY scanner can be fooled (the older ones are harder to fool, but it's still doable).
All scanners work one of two ways. They either a) send out a signal and then receive the changed signal (active; like sonar, radar, ladar), or b) are continually monitoring for external signals (passive; EM, Infrared, "gravitron"). In either case the ship doing the scanning, regardless of method (active or passive), has to at some point receive input. That input is then converted via a fancy-schmancy computerizational device which translates the analog signal received into some kind of digital signal, which then appears on our screens in a format we can readily understand (i.e. a small ship carrying heavy metals, 15k distant, and moving at such and such velocity). Supposing I knew what kinds of scanners were out there looking for me, what's to say I couldn't send out a fake signal to make the computer think what it was seeing was something else?
Modern active scanners would be the easiest to fool, since we know what kind of waves they are emitting, how those waves react to different surfaces/materials, and how the signal is then changed before it returns to the sensors on the ship. It stands to reason that if I knew a Connie Aquila was looking for me, and I knew what types of scanners that ship may have on board, I would know what types of fake signals to send out to have the best shot at making that ship think I'm somewhere/something else, or not there at all.
Older active and passive scanners (like analog Sonar or Visual Scanning without computer enhancement (like a telescope)) would be the toughest to fool, since if it's there you can theoretically see it and hear it. At longer distances however, these get easier to fool because they are not as sensitive as the more modern methods. Example: I could put a piece of cardboard painted like an Idris at 1/5th scale, 5 times closer to you. Your eyes would say, I see an Idris at 15k. Hiding behind said piece of cardboard are 4 Stealth Ships at 3k, ready to sneakify or whatever they feel like doing behind the sign. Far fetched? Yes. Possible? Yes (and yes, I'm sure the scale cardboard paint by numbers Idris and Javelin cutouts will be available in the RSI store for $35 with LTI, so don't worry if you want to give this a shot). Realistically, you would probably see a particle screen with a hologram projected into the particles as a deceptive visual signal, but I like to picture the cardboard signs in space, held in place by the guy (who drew the pre-mission short straw) in EVA on one of the ships.
I could probably think up more examples, but this post is already in TL:smile:R land. Out of respect for those who's eyes haven't glazed over already, I will stop... now.
P.S. If a schlub like me can put this much thought into scanner tech, the people who are getting paid to do it should be able to hit it out of the park. I'm really looking forward to how scanning and countermeasures are going to work. Imagine finding a jump point, and then deploying a device near the jump point to jumble or block the signals the point puts off, effectively cloaking it from anyone not within visual range, giving those who know where it is more time to get through it first?
