What causes scouters to break?
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What causes scouters to break?
Why do scouters break? Is it because the battle power of the subject being scouted is too large, or is it because the battle power of the subject is increasing at too fast of a rate.
I always assumed it was because the subject's battle power increased at a rate that the scouter couldn't keep up with, but on many forums I've read, people say things like, "<insert character here>'s battle power is higher than this because the scouter broke." Freeza has a base full power of 530,000, so why would a scouter explode at a random number like 21,000-22,000 or over 180,000? Wouldn't that mean that if Zarbon scouted anywhere near Freeza the scouter would explode if a set number was the cause?
I always assumed it was because the subject's battle power increased at a rate that the scouter couldn't keep up with, but on many forums I've read, people say things like, "<insert character here>'s battle power is higher than this because the scouter broke." Freeza has a base full power of 530,000, so why would a scouter explode at a random number like 21,000-22,000 or over 180,000? Wouldn't that mean that if Zarbon scouted anywhere near Freeza the scouter would explode if a set number was the cause?
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Well, Raditz's scouter, being used by Bulma, exploded just after Goku reached a power of 21,000. Zarbon's exploded after Vegeta reached 22,000 (out of 24,000). So, that would indicate that the older model of scouter could really only handle 22,000.
In fact, Dragon Ball Forever (and perhaps one of the Daizenshuu?) outright states that the older model had a limit. It then says that the new models could handle a power rating of over 180,000.
A better question is, can some kind of data overload make a machine explode?! I can't really see my laptop exploding for any reason...
In fact, Dragon Ball Forever (and perhaps one of the Daizenshuu?) outright states that the older model had a limit. It then says that the new models could handle a power rating of over 180,000.
A better question is, can some kind of data overload make a machine explode?! I can't really see my laptop exploding for any reason...

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Dude! You don't got a Dell!Chibi Mystic Gohan wrote: A better question is, can some kind of data overload make a machine explode?! I can't really see my laptop exploding for any reason...
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Yeah, that's either in Daizenshuu 4, 7, or both. I'll check later.Chibi Mystic Gohan wrote:In fact, Dragon Ball Forever (and perhaps one of the Daizenshuu?) outright states that the older model had a limit. It then says that the new models could handle a power rating of over 180,000.
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7 used numerical limitations. I always hated that; it's clearly a matter of calculating at speeds faster that it can't handle. Otherwise why would Dodoria's scouter work when Zarbon's exploded, and how could we know Freeza's PLs if the highest rating the most advanced scouter can read is only 180,000?Herms wrote:Yeah, that's either in Daizenshuu 4, 7, or both. I'll check later.Chibi Mystic Gohan wrote:In fact, Dragon Ball Forever (and perhaps one of the Daizenshuu?) outright states that the older model had a limit. It then says that the new models could handle a power rating of over 180,000.
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1) In the manga? Dodoria just mentions that Zarbon's must not be working right, then checks Vegeta's PL in my version.Chibi Mystic Gohan wrote:Dodoria stated that Zarbon had an older model than his own scouter, so...
Oh, and the newer scouters can read battle powers over 180,000, actually. Obviously, they'll break before 530,000, because Jheece's couldn't read Vegeta's power. Perhaps Freeza's could be read by a supercomputer or something.
2) Daizenshuu says otherwise, hence my point.
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"In that case, it really must have malfunctioned. It's because your scouter is an old model. I'll get the right reading with mine."
"The rating...?"
"Th-that's ridiculous... I-is my newer model malfunctioning, too...!? I-it went up to 24,000...!!"
As for your second point, what does Daizenshuu 7 say, and where? I looked in the item guide, but I didn't see anything about the limits, I don't think...
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Having a set numerical limitation makes sense in the older models' case. Otherwise, it's quite a coincidence that both Bulma's converted scouter and Zarbon's scouter would both happen to break around 22,000.Dayspring wrote:7 used numerical limitations. I always hated that; it's clearly a matter of calculating at speeds faster that it can't handle. Otherwise why would Dodoria's scouter work when Zarbon's exploded, and how could we know Freeza's PLs if the highest rating the most advanced scouter can read is only 180,000?
It's in the entry for the new-model scouter. It says that while it's appearence is the same as the old model, it's been powered up to the point of being able to detect battle powers over 22,000.Chibi Mystic Gohan wrote:As for your second point, what does Daizenshuu 7 say, and where? I looked in the item guide, but I didn't see anything about the limits, I don't think...
Then in Daizenshuu 4's "Technology and Supernatural" section, the entry for scouters says that "The newer models have the ability to detect battle powers over roughly 22,000".
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There are four entries for scouters in total: scouter (the general kind, I guess), old-model scouter, new-model scouter, and newest-model scouter (saishin-gata). It doesn't say what the upper limit for the new model ones is, but it says that the newest models (the kind Ginyu and co. brought with them) can read around 180,000 without exploding. The newest models are also distinguished from the others by having a sharper design.Chibi Mystic Gohan wrote:Oh! I hadn't realized there was one for the newer models. Thanks! So, the statement about the newer models exceeding 100,000 is only in Forever, then? (Although, we can obviously gather than much from the series itself.)
Last edited by Herms on Tue Oct 07, 2008 5:06 am, edited 1 time in total.
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Gah, that's right. I must have been thinking of Jheece. And now that I reread the entry with that in mind, it doesn't actually say 180,000 is their limit, just that it can read up that far without exploding or anything.
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In the anime when SSJ Son Goku and Freeza (I think Freeza was 100%) were fighting, one of the filler scenes showed some of Freeza's people on a different planet monitering the fight through a "supercomputer." It was overwhelmed by the power, so could that possibly be the machine that measured Freeza's "over 1,000,000" battle power (at least for the anime)?Dayspring wrote:7 used numerical limitations. I always hated that; it's clearly a matter of calculating at speeds faster that it can't handle. Otherwise why would Dodoria's scouter work when Zarbon's exploded, and how could we know Freeza's PLs if the highest rating the most advanced scouter can read is only 180,000?
Re: What causes scouters to break?
Monkey D. Goku wrote:Why do scouters break?
Because people crush them in their hand while screaming "IT'S OVER NINE THOUSAND!!!"