I can't figure out how to use my cargo scanner. I have never used it before, but now i need to scan cargo containers for a story line mission (the Raptor area search-the-shipwrecks mission). It says to initiate scan by switching target veiw, but none of the view type keys I know work (Q, E, R, Y, tab, K, F3, F4, F5. F6...What am I missing? Also I was given a scanner for the last mission which worked fine from the F menu, but it doesn't show up on my F screen any more.
Edit: I finally figured it out. The previous poster is wrong about the cargo scanner, it is an un-removeable piece of "energy" equipment that may be upgraded (not removed). You do not access the normal cargo scanner from the "F" menu. There is a mission specific cargo "side-scanner" in the Raptor area that is used by the "F" menu, but since its a mission specific item you don't have to worry about equipping it, or inadvertently selling it off...
Target the item you want to scan with the normal scanner. If you are having trouble with targeting see the previous post. In the lower left corner of your screen you should see a box with the target's picture in it. If you don't see the box you may have to use the function keys to get a viewpoint that displays the target view box. In the extreme lower left corner of this box is a three part blue button. Click on that button and the scan begins.
(I have no clue why the manual and the mission instructions say to "switch the target view", except to speculate that it is a mistranslation of some German phrase which means, "click the switch on the target view box.")
BTW i also cant figure out how to post a reply. I have typed this edit in three times as a reply post and cant get the reply to stick to the thread somehow. So im trying an edit. If this doesnt work i give up.

I think it's from the "F" menu, but there's a few criteria that need to be met before it'll work.
1. Is your scanner actually mounted? You have a finite number of equipment slots, but you can own as much equipment as you like. It's not enough to have a scanner, it has to be connected to your ship's systems as well. In the equipment section of the in-ship menu, there's a little connection icon to the right of each piece of equipment. It looks approximately like this: ( -E=- )
If the tines of the "forks" are separate from each other, and the icon is dark, the equipment is not connected. You need to click on the icon to connect it. Then the tines will interlock, and the icon will light up. You may need to disconnect another piece of equipment first, if you're out of slots.
2. Range. Each scanner has a specific range it'll work in. The first one is 1 unit, the second 2 units, and so on. You'll need to be within that range of an object, in order to scan it.
3. Target. You can only scan an object that you have targetted. To target a specific object, open the target menu by holding down "T", then left click on the object in one of the lists and release "T" again. When an object is targetted, it'll be surrounded by a blue frame, and if it is off screen, an arrow by your sights will point towards it.
I hope this helps. I haven't actually used the scanner myself, but this is how I understand it to work from the game mechanics.

Sorry about that, I gave it my best guess. Seeing as you hadn't replied, I went ahead and posted the correct solution when I found it. I didn't think to check for updates to your original post.
Replys work just like edits do. When you hover the mouse pointer over a post that is not your own, a "Reply" button should pop into existence above the post, just like the "Edit" button does when you hover over one of your own posts.

ok well I am stuck on 'Ramirez's Assignments' I've studied various walkthroughs and stuff. I bought the best jammer i could although there is a better jammer my ship's class doesnt allow for it. I have cargo equipment installed. with the special plug symbol plugged in. I run over to the satalite and scan it successsfully and nothing happens. nothing. ok then i run over to a cargo ship from some company the begins with the letter "m" i can't remember the name and scan it and they have smuggled goods. great i hail them and they say something stupid and thats where that conversation ends. still nothing happens. one walkthrough i read said it was a sarjebar and sons cargo ship so i did the same scan and hail on them and nothing happens although sarjebar and sons isnt carrying smuggled goods unlike the the M cargo ship. sooooooo how do i break the stalemate here? how do I progress in the story?

Cargo scanner is activated by selecting a target, closing to within the scanner's range (1-20Units); then pressing "space bar" down to activate the mouse cursor, instead of steering the ship, and clicking the double-arrow right in the bottom-left corner where current selected target is displayed.
If done correctly, the box will change from the target, to an empty box with the word "Cargo:" in it, then a description of what is scanned...
This assumes two things :
1) you've bought a scanner
2) you've installed it by clicking the linky-chain thingy in your equipment page.

Why was the explanation in my second post not good enough?

sdvsdv

I never used cargo scanner but I have an idea about the cargo scanner, many time I see that how cargo scanner work, that is really amazing, for the figure out the cargo scanner is really it harder. I researched many of the blogs and articles but doesn't get the answer proper so after that get the proper result for the cargo scanner.