Complete noob at Kerbnet...How do I scan for anomalies?

[RealKerbal3x]

So currently in KSP I've been flying an airship around Kerbin, with one of my objectives being to seek out anomalies. For the purpose of pinpointing those anomalies, I launched this satellite to polar orbit:

My problem is, despite playing KSP for almost two years now, I really have no idea how Kerbnet works, or how I can use it to my advantage. This is probably evident in my satellite design, because I added that survey scanner even though I didn't intend to scan for ore at all. I know the approximate location of the anomaly I want to visit, but I've gathered that in order to pinpoint it and add a waypoint I need to use Kerbnet. So, some help please?

[VoidSquid]

Worry no more, just use ScanSat  

https://www.curseforge.com/kerbal/ksp-mods/scansat

[RealKerbal3x]

3 minutes ago, VoidSquid said:

Worry no more, just use ScanSat  

https://www.curseforge.com/kerbal/ksp-mods/scansat

Hmm, thanks for the suggestion, but I'd prefer to learn how to use the stock system before I decide to go for a mod instead. Scansat would probably be just as complicated to learn as Kerbnet anyway, so I may as well use that satellite I already put in orbit

[VoidSquid]

7 minutes ago, RealKerbal3x said:

Scansat would probably be just as complicated to learn as Kerbnet anyway

Personal preference, of course, but I found ScanSat much more intuitive and logical than KerbNet. And it does the anomaly scan passively in background over time, you can watch the results on a very nice map.

[RealKerbal3x]

1 minute ago, VoidSquid said:

Personal preference, of course, but I found ScanSat much more intuitive and logical than KerbNet. And it does the anomaly scan passively in background over time, you can watch the results on a very nice map.

Alright, fair enough, I'll take a look

[bewing]

The easiest way to understand Kerbnet is to know that all probe cores have access to KerbNet, as long as they have any communication link back to KSC. You do not need an ore scanner, as you said, unless you want to scan for ore.

To use KerbNet: In flight, select the probe core in your craft and open its menu. There will be a button that says "Access KerbNet". Click that. A window will appear that has a radar-like image. It will show you the terrain below your craft, out to the limit of your field of view. You can change the FOV a bit to obtain a narrow or wide terrain image. By default, the KerbNet map scrolls vertically (top to bottom) in the direction your craft is moving. If you know that your are orbiting east, then you have to mentally remap everything you see. The mental remapping is even a little harder if you are heading south (because everything is "backwards"). The RoveMate probe core is especially interesting because it has a 100% detection rate for anomalies (but it has a very narrow FOV). The more advanced probe cores will also visually display biome info on the map, which is super useful. One of the buttons at the top of the KerbNet display controls how often the image is updated.

Depending on which probe core you used to access KerbNet, each probe core has a different chance per (6 hour) day of detecting any particular anomaly. If there are any within your FOV, they will be marked with a "?" on the map. Your best course of action is to use the additional "custom waypoint" function of KerbNet to create a waypoint on top of (as close as you can get to) the ?. Often, you want to do an initial mapping from a very high orbit, and then (on the same day so it's still visible) do a low orbit pass over the same area with a much narrower FOV, and put an updated waypoint on the anomaly. To create a custom waypoint, move your cursor to an interesting point in the KerbNet window and click. Then type a name in the waypoint name box (or use the silly default name), and then click the "waypoint" button. The color of each waypoint is calculated from the name. If you use all the same names, you get all identical colors -- this might be useful to help classify your waypoints visually.

Once you have a bunch of interesting waypoints to visit, you activate them and travel to them just like you would for a survey contract. Even if you locate the KerbNet anomaly marker precisely, there is an intentional imprecision in the location of the actual anomaly itself. So you need to use your eyes while you are navigating to its location to actually find it. If you use a low orbit to give yourself a nice accurate waypoint, then the anomaly itself will always be within 2km of your waypoint.

On Kerbin, all the Easter Eggs are anomalies, and so are all the alternate radio antennas.

There is no way to "save" a kerbnet image except for taking a screenshot.

Please note that it is not intended for you to sit and stare at KerbNet for days to find all the anomalies on a CB. The intent is that you will visit the craft a few times a day and use KerbNet for a few minutes each time to find all the visible anomalies.

Edited October 31, 2019 by bewing

[VoidSquid]

Perfect explanation  

And this is exactly why I prefer ScanSat  

[bewing]

25 minutes ago, VoidSquid said:

Perfect explanation  

And this is exactly why I prefer ScanSat  

If the devs take my suggestions, then there will be many secrets in the future that you can only find via KerbNet, not any mod.

[RealKerbal3x]

Thanks for the detailed answer, @bewing