A homing beacon, homing device, tracer, tracer beacon, tracking device, or pulsing beacon was used to track starships or any other entity being transported. Capable of transmitting data enormous distances, homing beacons could relay the position of a ship even after several hyperspace jumps.

Imperial beacons (and, presumably, ones used by the Galactic Republic) used non-mass HoloNet transceivers located in hyperspatial "simu-tunnels" to track ships through hyperspace. When a homing beacon passed a transceiver, the incident was logged; allowing trackers to determine the heading of a vessel from a collection of these reports.

Many homing beacons were miniaturized, so as to prevent detection by the crew of the ship being tracked. As such, they could be hidden either inside of the ship or tucked in some crevice on the ship's exterior; in fact, some beacon models were small enough to be thrown towards a departing ship's hull.

Obi-Wan Kenobi used such a device on Slave I in order to track Jango Fett to Geonosis just prior to the start of the Clone Wars. Around 3 ABY, IG-88B used a set of ultra-small microtracers to track Boba Fett, Dengar, Bossk, Zuckuss, 4-LOM and their ships, in an attempt to have them do the work of tracking down Han Solo for him.

Grand Master Yoda also used a homing beacon to be tracked by Bail Organa and escape from Palpatine and his shock troopers in Coruscant.

The Empire also used a similar device to track the Millennium Falcon in order to discover the location of the hidden Rebel base on Yavin 4. The beacon was planted aboard the Falcon by a HMOR homing droid.

Contents 1 Appearances 1.1 Non-canon appearances 2 Sources 3 External links 4 See also 4.1 In other languages

AppearancesEdit

Tales of the Jedi: The Golden Age of the Sith Tales of the Jedi: The Fall of the Sith Empire Star Wars Knights of the Old Republic: Flashpoint (Mentioned only) Star Wars: The Old Republic: Fatal Alliance Star Wars: Battlefront (Mentioned only) Jedi Quest: The Changing of the Guard Star Wars Episode II: Attack of the Clones Star Wars Episode II: Attack of the Clones comic Star Wars Episode II: Attack of the Clones junior novel Star Wars: Clone Wars – "Chapter 20" Star Wars: The Clone Wars – "Lair of Grievous" Star Wars: The Clone Wars – "Dooku Captured" Star Wars The Clone Wars 11: Hero of the Confederacy, Part 2 Star Wars The Clone Wars 12: Hero of the Confederacy, Part 3 (Mentioned only) Star Wars: The Clone Wars – "Lightsaber Lost" Star Wars: The Clone Wars – "Friends and Enemies" The Life and Legend of Obi-Wan Kenobi Boba Fett: The Fight to Survive Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith Therefore I Am: The Tale of IG-88 Lando Calrissian and the Flamewind of Oseon (as Pulsing beacon) Boba Fett: Enemy of the Empire 1 Boba Fett: Enemy of the Empire 2 Han Solo's Revenge  Beneath Aucellis Park on Wizards.com (original article link, backup links 1 2 on Archive.org) Star Wars: Empire: Darklighter "Changing the Odds"—Star Wars Adventure Journal 3 Star Wars Journal: The Fight for Justice (Mentioned only) Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope (First mentioned) Star Wars 11: Star Search (Mentioned only)  Star Wars Galaxies: An Empire Divided Splinter of the Mind's Eye (First appearance) Splinter of the Mind's Eye 1 "The Draw"—Star Wars Adventure Journal 15 (Mentioned only) Side Trip (Mentioned only) Dark Knight's Devilry A Barve Like That: The Tale of Boba Fett Dark Forces: Rebel Agent / audio drama X-wing: Rogue Squadron X-wing: Wraith Squadron Tatooine Ghost Dark Force Rising "Retreat from Coruscant"—Star Wars Adventure Journal 7 Star Wars: Jedi Knight: Jedi Academy Young Jedi Knights: The Emperor's Plague Recovery (Mentioned only) Edge of Victory II: Rebirth (as tracer) Enemy Lines II: Rebel Stand Force Heretic II: Refugee Dark Nest III: The Swarm War (Mentioned only) Sacrifice "A Fair Trade"—Star Wars Insider 129 Riptide Allies (Mentioned only) Star Wars: Legacy: Trust Issues (Mentioned only)

Non-canon appearancesEdit

• LEGO Star Wars: The Video Game
• LEGO Star Wars: The Complete Saga
• Star Wars: The Force Unleashed video game — Ultimate Sith Edition

SourcesEdit

• Star Wars: Shadows of the Empire trading cards (Card: IG-88's Bold Attack on Boba Fett)
• The Official Star Wars Fact File 65 (Homing Beacons)
• The Official Star Wars Fact File 85 (Homing Beacons)
• The New Essential Guide to Weapons and Technology
• The New Essential Guide to Droids
• Star Wars: The Complete Visual Dictionary
• Star Wars Galaxies Trading Card Game – Agents of Deception (Card: Homing Beacon)
• The Complete Star Wars Encyclopedia
• Galaxy of Intrigue
•  Homing beacon in the Databank (content now obsolete; backup link on Archive.org)
• Star Wars: Beware the Sith

External linksEdit

• Homing Beacon on SWG Wiki

See alsoEdit

• Ion Limpet homing beacon
• Locator