Board Thread:Warhammer 40k General Discussion/@comment-24383134-20140113002832/@comment-107.219.200.245-20140115134427

Becasue the Astronicon can be detected also by the equipment of the Navigators, and not just the Navigators themselves (lets face it, why they use equipment that wasn't psychicaly atuned anyway?), it it is not that big a leap of logic that any technology able to detect psychic activity in the warp would be able to pick up the Astronomicon's signal. Seeing as the Warp does have some parallels in material galactic "geography" it would makes sense that the farther away you are, the weaker the signal. Then there is also the case that Imperial technology is specifically tuned to optimize detection of the Astronomicon. In therory, though, yes: Anyone with warp sensitive equipment would be able to detect and utilize the Astronomicon for navigation... maybe not as efficiently as Imperial equipment, but it's definitely there. Then there is the fact that, while it may assist other races, the benefits far outweigh the tactical deficiencies, especially since the Astronomicon is of far greater advantage to the Imperium as opposed to anyone else, simply because of the massive size of the Imperium. The Imperium would not be able to sustain the logisics of its own size without it.