Automated Fuel Scooping - Supercruise Assist

[Type-10 Offender]

Do you wait until your fuel is low before scooping? The trick is to scoop little and often, I think - if I see dashed lines on my route planner then I refuel at each star I pass, I usually just travel manually around it at about 30% speed scooping, then back to full speed when the the next destination is in sight. The tank remains reasonably full throughout the journey then.

I usually compare the sizes of the FSD, the fuel tank and the scoop to assess likely refuelling pain. If the FSD is larger than the fuel tank (I'm looking at you in particular, Clipper) then the fuel tank will empty a lot with each jump unless you fit an optional one to bring it up to size (it will also fill up faster while scooping, of course). If the scoop (A-rated) is the same size as the fuel capacity then I find the scooping time is acceptable, if you can fit a larger scoop than fuel capacity then the galaxy is the shellfish of your choice - generally by the time you've travelled around the current star the tank is full again.

But it all depends on ship build - my cargo or combat ships have no scoop (or tiny ones for emergencies) since they'll never travel outside the Bubble. If I ever had to emergency scoop those I'd expect it to take a while.

I tend to take larger jumps at a time, rather than use economic route plotting.
5 jumps instead of like 44... And so a singular jump can take 1/6th of my tank.
Recovering the fuel for a single jump would take a lil bit, even with my size-7 Fuel Scoop.

To be fair I'm using a D-grade scoop... Because the A-grade hikes up my rebuy substantially and I really don't want to push it any higher, if possible.

 

[Riverside]

I feel like this is the equivalent to saying "Skill issue" when the skill in question is literally putting gas in the tank.
You shouldn't have to risk your livelihood for something so minor.

Next time you get the chance to try risking rebuy try experimenting with scooping, see what happens when your ship gets really hot. Fast scooping is a skill worth learning.

Watch out for White Dwarfs too, and to a lesser extent Neutron stars. You don't want to hit the exclusion zone of those.

 

[Untilting]

I tend to take larger jumps at a time, rather than use economic route plotting.
5 jumps instead of like 44... And so a singular jump can take 1/6th of my tank.
Recovering the fuel for a single jump would take a lil bit, even with my size-7 Fuel Scoop.

To be fair I'm using a D-grade scoop... Because the A-grade hikes up my rebuy substantially and I really don't want to push it any higher, if possible.

Aahh OK. 1/6 of a tank actually sounds quite normal - must be a D vs A thing.

 

[Type-10 Offender]

I loved to park the Cobra in orbit around a star and not worrying about fuel consumption. I noticed, too, that SCA-refueling doesn't work anymore. It used to and I thought it was a handy feature.

Yeah, it was nice... Could make use of smaller and lower-grade scoops at the expense of sucking up gas for longer, hit the auto-scoop and listen to some music while I lean back in my chair just taking in the sights as my ship orbited that big ball of spicy fuel.

Folks here calling it lazy... But it was just chill. Relaxing. It was a nice break between combat runs and the like, saved a lil bit on fuel and allowed me to operate away from the docks. With a larger ship, it was quite handy in that regard...

 

[Type-10 Offender]

Next time you get the chance to try risking rebuy try experimenting with scooping, see what happens when your ship gets really hot. Fast scooping is a skill worth learning.

Watch out for White Dwarfs too, and to a lesser extent Neutron stars. You don't want to hit the exclusion zone of those.

I do know HOW to scoop, I just really don't like the fact that I'm taking such a risk for so cheap a resource.

Set the right turning speed, micro-adjust the speed of my ship to move inward and outward if the heat creeps up to an iffy degree...
But it's a touch nerve-wracking, since if I screw up I'll have to at the very least cover the heat damage crashing into the corona causes; let alone the potential bill if I explode or bust some expensive components onboard.

At that point, the savings of fuel scooping are vastly outweighed by the costs of buggering up.

 

[Type-10 Offender]

Aahh OK. 1/6 of a tank actually sounds quite normal - must be a D vs A thing.

Yeah, I primarily made use of the larger slot to try and crack down on the siphon speed issue.
Size-7 slot, just under the phat Bi-weave shield.

 

[yianniv]

I think grade A overheat less.

 

[Type-10 Offender]

I think grade A overheat less.

I can't say I'm aware that that's... A thing?
Higher grade scoop sucks fuel faster. There's also some differences in how much power they use when deployed and such, though I couldn't tell you the stats off the top of my head.

 

[Untilting]

I can't say I'm aware that that's... A thing?
Higher grade scoop sucks fuel faster. There's also some differences in how much power they use when deployed and such, though I couldn't tell you the stats off the top of my head.

Yeah, it's the power plants where A grade runs coolest.

 

[IstvaanDCIV]

I can't understand why people keep SCA fitted. I think it has only one "benefit" and that is the exploit to drop-out at high speed at a station.

The orbiting a body feature is the very worst thing they have exposed new players to, nonsensical.

Seriously OP - you fuel scoop in SCA? That has to be the most ridiculous thing I have read this year.

FLY YOUR SHIP!

I like having SCA fitted because I find the manual "slide your throttle upwards then hit the supercruise button" mechanic to be a tedious exercise that adds nothing to the experience of flying a spaceship between bodies within a system. I don't find it fun or engaging, and I like being able to look things up while planning my next manoeuvre, instead of being forced to watch a proximity meter or miss the drop.

To be fair the "orbiting a body when reaching it" feature is the thing I like the least about SCA. It does have its uses, like when I'm mapping a planet with the DSS. But when I'm not exploring, I would like the option to instead have the throttle go to zero and SCA switch itself off when the ship reaches the targeted body.

 

[Nephthys Vasudan]

Bro, you can't just waive issues folks have by calling them "lazy". I don't want to risk MELTING IN THE FIERY CORONA OF THE SUN for fuel; a resource which, may I remind everyone, is dirt cheap. Like, I'd rather pay 8,000 credits or so to refuel after a long haul between destinations than pay the bloody 16,000,000 fee for popping my chonker.

Even if crashing and burning up is a rarity, it's still a risk... And for less maneuverable, high-mass ships it's hard to get out of safely.

You have bigger issues to worry about if you can't simply orbit a star to fuel your ship.

I meant what I said.... you're just being lazy and embarrassing yourself in the process.

It's so easy - I just get close - orbit at the "Sweet spot" for speed and its done - no more than a minute or two if I need a chunk of fuel.

If you don't like how long it takes - maybe you need to rethink the strategy you have chosen for your fuel in terms of consumption/navigation.

This is a "you" problem.

 

[pr1sm]

While manually fueling, I've never really preferred orbiting the star while refueling. I just dive into the scooping range to my desired level, flying far enough around just to get my next jump target in view (if possible)... then close the throttle and park there. Tank fills, no risk of an accidental collision with the star.

It's most satisfying when I can pull away from the fill and time the exit so that fueling completes just before/as the scoop rate drops to zero.

I do that as well, stick it in park, check my comms, systems, go grab a drink etc etc. Though i usually do that once i need to fully top up, i usually use the jump in, fly far enough around scooping as i go to until the next jump is in line method

 

[Hanerib]

I found this instructional picture by commander Anarch157a

Steam Community :: Guide :: Fuel Scooping for fun and profit

My father used to say: "One scooping a day keeps the Fuel Rats away". Scooping fuel from stars will not only keep you going, it will also save you a lot of time. This guide will teach you ho

steamcommunity.com

For inspiration one could also contemplate on wisdom of Commander Garak, perhaps making the journey to Colonia one day also.

Memorial Cmdr Garak | Canonn Research Group

Located in the Colonia system, just off of body 4, you will find Jaques Station. Within 7km of that station you will find the beacon commemorating CMDR Garak. There are no audio logs, but there is a message if you scan the listening post. This is what that message reads: There are many legends of...

canonn.science

I hope this helps.

 

[Northpin]

I do know HOW to scoop, I just really don't like the fact that I'm taking such a risk for so cheap a resource.

I somehow feel that you may have other issues... like using smaller and lower rating fuel scoops and low efficiency power plants.

I mean, with a properly built ship and with proper technique, fuel scooping should be a 0 risk endeavour
So, make sure you always use A-rated power plants, preferably engineered with blueprints that improve efficiency (G5 armored with Thermal Spread Experimental or G1 Low Emissions with Thermal Spread or G2 Low Emissions with Monstered etc) and the biggest fuel scoop with the highest rating you can afford

Also you dont really need to orbit the star - you can simply stop at a convenient distance, that will provide you with maximum scooping rate but without overheating (if your heat gets over 66% - it will keep getting higher)
Some ships are inherently hot - like the ones you're flying T9/T10 - so yea - there is that too.

If you are worried about cash - make sure you buy your expensive ships and module from LYR space - you'd get a 15% discount that will be reflected in the rebuy screen

And again, if you are eating too many rebuys - you do need to reevaluate your combat skills, your ship building skills or your fleeing skills.
Yea, knowing when to pull out of combat and leave the scene is a skill.

 

[IstvaanDCIV]

Some ships are inherently hot - like the ones you're flying T9/T10 - so yea - there is that too.

Small correction, but from extensive experience in using an E-rated Class 8 Fuel Scoop on board a Type-10, overheating really shouldn't be an an issue. It takes more than that to heat up a T-10.

The Type-9, on the other hand, gets toasty pretty damn quickly. Like if I'm boosting away from a station and then immediately engage the FSD, I'll get the "temperature critical" warning, which I don't get with the T-10.

Must be all the T-10's armour providing extra thermal mass, I reckon.

 

[Helmut Grokenberger]

I challenge you to scoop an empty fuel tank with a C4 scoop on a Beluga.

 

[DjVortex]

it can take a minute or more of carefully circling a star's superhot edges to get your tank up to half full on larger ships...

Pro tip: When fuel-scooping, once the scooping rate is something acceptable (ie. you are at the desired distance and speed), just set the throttle to a minimum. In other words, just "park" the ship where it is, using minimum supercruise throttle. The fuel-scooping will continue at that rate.

At the proper distance (and with an A-grade power plant) you can sit there refueling as long as you want at a very good scoop rate without the ship overheating. No need to keep circling the star. And the size of your fuel scoop doesn't really matter (with a smaller scoop it will only take longer to fill up, but it won't be any more difficult or cause your ship to overheat).

 

[varonica]

Aahh OK. 1/6 of a tank actually sounds quite normal - must be a D vs A thing.

A full range jump takes one third of my Phantom's fuel, 1/6 is actually, to my mind, overly cautious in fuel storage.

 

[Terekhov]

A full range jump takes one third of my Phantom's fuel, 1/6 is actually, to my mind, overly cautious in fuel storage.

Phanom tank 32T, 5A FSD (not deep charge) 5T max fuel/jump. You should get 6 Jumps from it. Did you downsize your tank?

 

[Terekhov]

And as a general reply - Don't use SCA for scooping. Fit a decent sized scoop (Same size as FSD or larger, one size smaller a bit slow but passable if you must).

With a decent scoop and the right filters, you can scoop for severl seconds after each jump and be on your way to the next star repidly.

Attempting to optimise scoop rate in SCA would likely fry new players ships and as has been said above, you can simply set a suitable distance from the star, and sit there in idle if you want.