Welcome back!
1) How do I locate the closest station to me because I need an SRV (do I have to scour the galaxy map)?
If you are 1500 ly away from the Bubble, then I would just head towards the Bubble at this point. Once you're closer, then you can start deciding where you want to aim for. If you don't already know this trick, you can change the Galaxy Map filter to "allegiance" and get a nice view of the various volumes of space controlled by the different powers, providing a nice visual indication of where the Bubble is in relation to you.
Also be advised that the Galaxy Map now has a
bookmarks feature. So once you do figure out which system you're heading towards, you can bookmark it to find it more easily (for example, if you have to make the trip in multiple play sessions, since your route won’t be preserved).
You can
use eddb.io to find a station that stocks
planetary vehicle hangars, which is the component you need to buy in order to use SRVs. The size of module you purchase determines how many SRVs you can carry at a time; and your module will come fully stocked with SRVs. If you destroy an SRV, you can buy replacements from the
reload screen at stations, same as buying ammo and limpets.
I highly recommend that you buy yourself a Sidewinder, fit it with a hangar, and practise landing in that a few times, especially on some worlds with heavier gravity. If you wreck the Sidey, you're no worse for wear. On a similar note, while you can still get away with turning off your shields to conserve power/reduce heat during your interstellar flight, I would recommend fitting your explorer ship with light shields. Without shields, it is very difficult (and tedious) to land on a planet without shaving precious chunks off your hull integrity.
2) Since I have to come back to the bubble to get an SRV I was wondering if my weaponless and sheild-less ship will be safe?
Yes. Despite what you may have heard from various corners of these forums, the NPC AI has not gone rogue (well, actually, it did go rogue in one sense, but Frontier promises they fixed that and destroyed the AI before it could lead to Skynet…). Just
don't take on any cargo and
don't take any missions until you've sold your exploration data/upgraded your ship.
If for some reason you do get interdicted, then yes, combat will probably be more challenging. However, the standard evasion tactics still apply: submit to interdiction, boost boost boost, have another system targeted so you can high-wake out.
3) Engineers - is there a good resource to read up on what they can do for explorers?
As usual, our community rocks: some awesome commanders have set up
a feature-filled spreadsheet describing the various upgrades/requirements available from the engineers. In particular, you'll want to look at Elvira and Felicity, because they do FSD upgrades. I have been out of the Bubble since pre-2.1 myself, so I can’t comment beyond that.
On a related note, if you are looking for
materials, you can check out
this prospecting database (which pulls data from
another awesome spreadsheet). This will help you find planets to visit in order to prospect for the materials you might need for upgrades.
For more help on things like prospecting, I recommend looking up YouTube videos. There are so many good ones out there that will walk you through how the whole thing works.
