Yes, it's a piece of cyberware from Augmentation under Headware(pg. 36). It gives a bonus equal to it's rating for perception checks. It doesn't apply to Astral or Matrix Perception tests, but using sensor's via the matrix isn't actually matrix perception so it still applies (Matrix Perception is defined on page 228 of SR4A, it's basically the use of Computer+Analyze to gather information about users/nodes). It's got the benefit of being pretty cheap both in essence and nuyen (9,000¥ and .3 essence to slot one in at rating 3 which is the max)and a whopping 8 availability means it's very easy to get a hold of.
Most mundanes I build wind up with one (although I usually take it second hand which equates to 4,500 and .36 essence) because it's such a cheap boost to perception. Between that and Vision Enhancement, you can completely negate a chameleon coating and still have a bonus to perception.
I got a chance to look at old riggers and this is usually what I wind up with for their sensor suites:
Ultrawideband Radar 4 [2 Capacity]
Microphone 6 [1 Capacity]
-Audio Enhancement 3, Spatial Recognizer
Camera 6 [1 Capacity] -- Forward Mount
-Low-Light, Flare Compensation, Image Link, Smartlink, Vision Magnification
Motion Detector [1 Capacity]
If cash is low starting out, the one camera is the main concern for targeting and the rest comes later. As you get money from missions, slapping Vision Enhancement 3 into the targeting camera is good (more perception to get lock ons). Also keep in mind the different electronic options available in Unwired. Hardening is a good option once you start getting the money to look into it.
For your Commlink, Customized Interface will help you go a bit faster and Simsense Accelerator is worth it once you get the cash (with the right cyberware it can get you up to 5 IP jumped in
).
Another decent option for riggers (with all your extra IPs you can rake it) involves Leadership (if you have War!) for Command, Direct Fire, and Rally the Troops orders (which give bonuses to Initiative, attack, or composure/mental resistance reroll respectively).
The last tip I've got is all about TacNets. Drones work weird with TacNets in that they can either A) provide their sensor rating as channels to a member, or B) Act as a member of the Tactical network. Getting enough channels is just a matter of slapping enough sensors into the drone. The Sensor Suite above provides 8 channels, enough for a TacNet at max rating.
You can either form up with a TacNet comprising of your Team Mates and you, or you can create several Sensor Drones to act as the other team members, feeding you data to coordinate with. The end result is the same, a bonus to your relevant checks (gunnery being one of them).
After some
leveling, you can end up with a whopping Sensor 6 + Perception 6 + Sensor Specialization 2* + Hot Sim 2 + Visual Enhancement 3 + Attention Coprocessor 3 - 3 Signature = 19 DP for Use Sensors tests. This would put gunnery in the Sensor 6 + Gunnery 6 +Remote Control specilization* 2 + Hot Sim 2 + Remote Control 2 + TacNet 4 + Smartlink 2 = 24 DP range
before sensor locks. Assuming an average DP of 9 dice to oppose sensors, you can easily end up rolling around 27 dice for Gunnery if you put work into it.
Of course, this get's even higher if you wind up edging a sensor test to get a really tight lock on
.
As a sidenote, those Sensor Drones you might look into getting can easily be turned into more combat oriented Tactical Members. Even with only a pilot rating of 3, a Pilot of 3 + Targeting of 3 + Smartlink 2 + TacNet 4 is 12 dice that they get to toss to toss lead around. When you get the money to upgrade them, you can slap a pilot 6 and targeting of 4 in to get them up to 16 dice.
This is why Tactical Riggers are an Army of One.
