 MAD scanner vs Cyberscanner, Looking at Sensor options |
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 Nov 29 2005, 06:24 PM
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#26
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Incertum est quo loco te mors expectet;  Group: Dumpshocked Posts: 6,548 Joined: 24-October 03 From: DeeCee, U.S. Member No.: 5,760  |
I would be hesitant to say that. I walk through a metal detector every day. Generally I have, at minimum, 4 keys on my keychain (plus an anti-theft thing I swiped). One of the keys is ferrous, the other four are not (I've tested this with a magnet. Unfortunately, my anti-theft thing no longer works as a result.) It is not uncommon for me to also have loose change in my pocket, a belt buckle of some other non-conducting material, etc. The metal detector does not ever notice ANY of this stuff. It does, of course, pick up my steel toed boots. Hence, my personal experience would indicated MADs are of limited use when attempting to find people with too many keys or gold or silver coins in their pockets. |
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Nov 29 2005, 06:48 PM
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#27
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Moving Target Group: Members Posts: 715 Joined: 4-September 05 From: Metaplane GEPLK136 (The one with the lizards. You remember the lizards, don't you?) Member No.: 7,684 |
You can adjust both the sensitivity, and, depending on the type of detection used, you can avoid detecting certain metals (by not looking for metals within a given inductance range, for instance). It seems common sense that current ones would edit out pocket change (no one is using a gun made of zinc or brass) and leave in steel, and only look for amounts big enough to be knives or guns or a pipe bomb (hopefully not made from zinc or copper tubing...)
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Nov 29 2005, 06:50 PM
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#28
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Moving Target Group: Members Posts: 355 Joined: 3-October 05 From: Ann Arbor, MI Member No.: 7,803 |
And for real life, you're right.
But this is a game. And since exactly 0 items in the book say "this item is made of ferrous metal" using a distinction like ferrous metal doesn't -work-. People will constantly argue that their stuff ISN'T ferrous, because it gives them an advantage. |
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Nov 29 2005, 08:40 PM
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#29
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Incertum est quo loco te mors expectet; Group: Dumpshocked Posts: 6,548 Joined: 24-October 03 From: DeeCee, U.S. Member No.: 5,760 |
I fail to see how a Magnetic Anomoly Detector will detect things which cause no magnetic anomolies (like a piece of brass or nickel).
As for the 'in game rules', well, that's your decision. In my game, unless the person specifies at the time of purchase whether something is specifically made to not be steel, I make the decision based upon my own experience. It really isn't hard to determine if an item is magnetic or not. If you decide a MAD detects *EVERYTHING* in your game, that's fine, but I suspect that would be a house rule. |
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Nov 30 2005, 07:20 AM
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#30
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Moving Target Group: Members Posts: 715 Joined: 4-September 05 From: Metaplane GEPLK136 (The one with the lizards. You remember the lizards, don't you?) Member No.: 7,684 |
Magnetic anomaly Detectors work in one of several ways, but most methods share one thing in common: They create a strong magnetic field (Sometimes as a pulse, sometimes at a given frequency.) This field will induce current in ANY conductor (theoretically, even organic conductors, or ceramic ones!). This induced current will, of course, create its own electromagnetic emissions (remember your physics! This is also how RFID tags work!) which the MAD can then listen for. It is sort of like an electromagnetic "echo" -- the MAD creates an EM pulse, and listens for the response created by a conductive material. Different metals will have their induced fields decay at different rates, depending on their inductance. Thus, a MAD can screen out certain metals (by screening out metals with a certain phase difference in their electro-magetic "echos"), and of course can have varying degrees of sensitivity. So, the way real life MADs work, the "ferrous" metal part is nonsense. Ferrous metals often create stronger echos; and are detected at lower sensitivities; but any conductor can be detected. As for sensitivity, theoretically, you can set the MAD for any level of detection, and find (through trial and error with controlled testing) which setting finds all the weapons with the least number of false positives. Too low of sensitivity, and guns get through, too high, and everyone is searched and the MAD is useless. In practice, a few studies I've read have shown that the settings are, essentially, random -- that is, whoever is in charge of calibrating these machines regularly isn't doing their job. Thus, a die roll determining the sensitivity is also acurate to RL. All in all, the thing to remember most about MADs is this: They are, like everything else in 2070, equipped with wireless access; and they are only available up to rating 3 -- which means a maximum firewall of 3. Any technomanceror hacker or even decker in a box is going to cut through that like butter and set the sensitivity to "only detect a 55 gallon drum full of iron" for the next three minutes. They will then waltz past assuring the guards that their assault rifle must be a plastic toy to have not set off the MAD. |
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Nov 30 2005, 02:59 PM
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#31
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Incertum est quo loco te mors expectet; Group: Dumpshocked Posts: 6,548 Joined: 24-October 03 From: DeeCee, U.S. Member No.: 5,760 |
Hmm... Interesting. But I would suspect non-ferrous (or less conductive) materials are more easily hidden by the signature of the person who is walking through. Hence, internal cyberware and our little tin nick nacks won't show up, yes?
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