Top: pulse broadening due to the finite sampling time, dispersive smearing due to the incoherent dedispersion algorithm used, and the effects of scattering using the scattering relation of Bhat et al. (2004). The diagonal dashed lines denote a one order-of-magnitude larger or smaller range in predicted scattering. Bottom: minimum detectable flux density for the LOTAAS survey as a function of DM. Sensitivity limits are plotted for different pulse periods P, and different system temperatures T_sys. The effect of pulse broadening due to interstellar scattering is shown by the dotted lines.