Scanner

A Core command scanner readout of a Raider ^{(TOS: "Saga of a Star World")}.

The scanner is a multipurpose computer device on fighters and in battlestar Core command centers which either performs or displays varying information on flight, navigation, or tactical status.

The term scanner is interchangeably used to denote a handheld instrument in certain cases.

Vipers

Scanners are included on Vipers, who use them

• to display enemy position,
• in targeting an enemy craft,
• or in reviewing known friendly and enemy ship configurations from the Warbook ^{(TOS: "Saga of a Star World")}.

Battlestars

Several scanners are present in Core command, where they provide sensor readouts as well as other information to the bridge crew.

Cylon version

A Cylon analogue to the scanner is also in use. However, the displays do not print out text, but rather rectangular shapes that zip across the screen ^{(TOS: "The Gun on Ice Planet Zero, Part I")}.

Tie-in Material Information

• According to Encyclopedia Galactica (a non-canonical piece of merchandise published in 1979):

The broad-spectrum cybernetic Scanner is at the heart of the Colonial attack system. A sensitive antenna receives heat, light and all other frequencies of radiation from a 360 sphere, and feeds data into a computer for analysis. Long-range Scanners can match most bodies within a range to objects recorded in the computer's memory in a millicenton. The identified object may then be visually displayed, along with data on rate of travel, armaments, and crew. If the object remains unknown, the Scanner emits a broad spectrum of radiation, and analyzes the echoes that return. The Scanners and their associated computers on board each Viper can take over attack and evasive functions if the pilot loses consciousness. The computer's automatic battle decisions, however, cannot match the skill of a trained Colonial Warrior.

Notes

Scanners are operated manually, requiring manual input from its operator. While voice activated computers exist, such as CORA and the database computer in "Murder on the Rising Star," the simplicity and reliability of scanners make them preferable by most Colonial Warriors and support staff. Corporal Komma comments that he prefers the "old fashioned" keyboard and scanner to voice interactive computer systems ^{(TOS: "Murder on the Rising Star")}.

Related Imagery

• 
  A personnel status for Blue Squadron displayed on a scanner in Core command ^{(TOS: "The Long Patrol")}
• 
  A Centurion at a Cylon version of a scanner at the Ravashol pulsar ^{(TOS: "The Gun on Ice Planet Zero, Part I")}.