I have never built a core group scout and since I usually play small maps I seldom build recon ships period.

on gigantic maps i got a dozen or two, i just need to know whats in the dark space out there before my enemy does

I build a specialized Sensor ship that has upgraded weapons and sensors. I never use the stock Scout ship - although this is true for virtually all standard ships excluding the Defender. (I use the Defender just to get some early military presence while I work towards upgraded weapons that are more worthy of a specially designed ship.)

I sometimes build a core Scout ship early on for the largest maps so that I can explore more effectively although I quickly upgrade to my Scout III class which has longer sensor range and is much faster.

Once I get Eyes of the Universe Scouts become obsolete as all ships have the same sensor range (although you still need hulls out there to explore!). Scouts are also become useless once the exploration phase is complete.

The secondary purpose for building scouts is for quick upgrade to my Tempest-class fighter once I decide to build a war-fighting fleet. Presto! Instant fleet throught mass upgrade.

Never thought about using a cargo hull for the task... Thanks for the new idea!

The stock Scout ship is a ruse to make the game harder for newbies. If the play testers actually built these things, I can see why they think the AI gives them a good game. The stock scout is among the worst ships a person can choose to build. On gigantic maps a small fast ship with sensors is useful for anomalies. On all other sizes, building colony ships is a far better use of time. Getting to Impulse tech to make the flagship have four moves is plenty to get most the anomalies.

On even a large map, by the time sensors are researched and the first survey ship is built, 60% or more of the anomalies are gone. In other words a waste of time, and tech. Again, the exception is gigantic maps, where several survey ships are of high value.

One trick is to upgrade the survey ships to fighters once weapons are researched. This usually only cost 100 to 200 credits.

The way I see it, sensor coverage is very useful. However, sometimes you want to give a fleet that coverage so you can effectively intercept the enmy before they reach your worlds. Sometimes you want that coverage to be independent of your firepower so you can spot a threat that you weren't expecting. Either way, a well-equipped sensor boat is cheap to build and doesn't cost any maintenance, assuming it doesn't have a weapon or defences. Even with Eyes of the Universe of Hypersensors, you still need a point of origin for sighting to happen - if you have no presence in an area, you won't see anything.

Also, having a handful of these puppies on your borders set to guard mode means they'll get activated once an enemy comes near.

I will try this