Does anyone else set their SRV bay to priority 5?(Because engines turn off on landing)

[Noobilite]

I always set my SRV bays to priority 5 and have it be over 100%. The reason is that when you land(the only time you can use an SRV) the engines turn themselves off reducing active power usage. This leaves a chunk of energy for things that only need to be turned on once on the ground. this trick automatically does this for you on landing. The only problem is if and when you don't have your cargo on 5 but use a lower priority and simply turn it off for when you want to use it later. It will be on when taking off and need to be turned off manually. this gets annoying, but I could simply put it to 5 and move the priority when needed instead of turning it on and off. Not sure if this effects signature or fuel use though.

I currently use it for 3 things:
1. SRV bay
2. Cargo bay(potentially)
3. Point defense.

SRV bay is a bit obvious. Point defence is for if I got to a guardian site to harvest stuff. I can stick them on priority 5 and have them come on automatically when I land. I only need them for this purpose so I don't worry about having them on. I normally only have a max of 4 cargo for limpets. And only enough to get all 4 from using synthesis.

I'd imagine more can be done with this in other situations, but I haven't run into them yet.

Potential other use case: The PD could be useful for SRV missions where ship can attack you. This would reduce incoming fire near or under the ship allowing you to get away with less damage. Assuming they fire missiles.

Example: AnaRaxxla

In this priority setup I only use shields to land and this auto turns off the Fuel scoop. Those obviously never need to be on at the same time. when in the bubble I change priority to PD, ADC and other things off and keep the shields up potentially. If needed I leave the ADC on for easy docking if I'm going to be going in and out of bases a lot.

 

[Northpin]

I usually set to priority 5 the things that are usable in Supercruise only: fuel scoop, fsd interdictor, supercruise assist
Afmu, repair limpets and srv can be simply turned off and then back on when needed.

i usually dont deactivate the cargo bay door unless i'm exploring with no cargo. In the bubble always there are things to pick up like materials after combat or in hge.

 

[Noobilite]

I usually prioritize based on what I change out to. So, if I go mat collecting I switch cargo to priority 1.

I do the same thing with unneeded things but change them to priority 4 on an exploration build. Then I can keep Fuel scoop and stuff on while exploring. But this works potentially for other ship builds as it can go in the list of things that don't ever need to be on unless landed.

I may have forgot to mention this is for pure exploration builds. I just use my exploration build for various things in the bubble so I don't have to change ship if I don't want to.

I always keep enough spare MW to turn on cargo and a collector limpet and other needed things at the same time. I just change priority to one role at a time. I think my anaraxla can run mining laser, collector limpet, cargo, shields if needed. maybe I should change the repair limpet or fuel limpet for a prospecting limpet. I had the fuel for possibly multiplayer and for potential USS missions where someone asks for fuel. Oddly enough my anaconda is one slot short of what I need. Might need to dump the AMFU for a prospecting limpet. Not sure if it can collect enough mats for using a prospecting limpet though.

 

[JetsonRING]

PP 5, AFAIK is not controlled by engine state but by hardpoint state. Modules set to PP 5 turn off immediately when hardpoints are deployed.

My SRV Hangar, Cargo Scoop (unless mining) and Fuel Scoop are always set to Power Priority 5 because I want those to turn off as soon as I deploy weapons. In small combat ships such as the Eagles and Vulture I even set the FSD module to Power Priority 5 as the FSD module sucks down a lot of power and I do not necessarily need it in combat.

Basically (and not always, depending on mission and outfit) my Power Priorities are set as follows:
Priority 1: Just what I need to get out of Dodge if I have to: Thrusters, FSD (except as noted above), Life Support, Heat-Sinks and (optionally set to PP 2) Shield Generator.
Priority 2: Anything I will need right up to the point where I need to get out of Dodge: Weapons, Sensors, Shields Boosters, Point Defense, Chaff, HRP, MRP, etc. etc.
Priority 5: Anything I want to shut down as soon as I deploy weapons: Fuel Scoop, Cargo Scoop, SRV Hangar and some others, depending on outfit.
Priority 3 or 4: Everything else.

For an exploration build, Collector and Prospector Limpet Controllers (CLC ands PLC) can be set to Power Priority 5 since if you need weapons, you probably aren't grabbing things but for mining for example, since CLC and PLC are needed when mining lasers (PP 2) are deployed those are kept at PP 3.

 

[Noobilite]

I'm pretty sure priority 5 merely turns off first when an overflow occurs. I don't think it's turn off stuff when under 100% while deployed. I think that means your weapons and deployed gear went over 100%. If not that is a weird mechanic I've never heard of.

If you are refering to my build I set it to 5 with over 100% power use because it lets me get more in. I always pack my electrical in my exploration build to max. When you land on a planet though your engines/thrusterd depower as if you had turned them off in the one side screen. This frees up a lot of electricity and then powers on stuff set to 5 because 5 was previously set to over 100% while engines were on and engines use so much power while on. I'm not sure how many people have noticed this. I'm not sure if it happens on stations. It may just be a planet landing thing.

 

[Red_Beard_98]

This is how I generally set priorities; it may vary slightly based on different builds but is usually something like this:

Priority 1: FSD and Life support
Priority 2 : Thrusters (I always keep priority 1 and 2 below 40% power consumption in case of malfunctions)
Priority 3: PD, Sensors, heatsinks
Priority 4: Anything deployable/combat related
Priority 5: Anything only used in supercruise or that can't be used with hardpoints deployed (FSD booster, scoop, flight assists, afmu's, etc)

If you have too much set to priority 1 then you will essentially be completely disabled if you get a PP malfunction. Unless things have changed or I am mistaken, you can have a PP malfunction that drops you to 20% output. That is why I only keep FSD and Life support on P1; I can still breathe and charge my FSD in that case although I wouldn't actually be able to make a jump until the thrusters come back online. There is another malfunction that drops you to 40% output and at 0% integrity PP will only provide 50% output (you used to explode). Keep those levels in mind when planning your priorities. Again, I could be wrong with some of these numbers as I am drawing this from memory of past research into this subject so please correct me if I'm wrong.

Edit: That was a bit off topic I guess so to answer the OP, I usually do have my SRV bay on priority 5 and I usually have it powered down unless I plan to land.

 

[Jethro49]

On the contrary, I always keep the SRV bay at priority 1. This is for the case I have to recall the ship while I'm struggling deep in a mountain range : if the ship doesn't find a suitable place to land, it will finally hover and wait for I to climb back in it. In that case, thrusters are on, and so must be the SRV bay...

When exploring, my priorities are set to keep the thrusters, FSD and SRV bay powered (so priority 1), and the AFMU, fuelscoop and FSD booster at lowest priority. The rest is set to 2 or 3. Since a few months, I also try to have a PP that can power the priority 1 equipments with the reduced output (50%).

Finally, I don't trust the power priorities... I saw too many bugs about that to put my exploration data in its reliability

 

[Red Anders]

I don't have it powered up at all unless I'm landed. However I have it set to priority 1 for exactly the reason given above and I always make sure that in my exploration ships, my powerplant can keep both thrusters and SRV bay powered at the same time. I've only ever had to do one 'flying docking' in the SRV, usually I have at least two on board so I could always just self destruct it, but that one time I needed to do it I was very glad that my ship was set up for it.

 

[LifesAJourney]

Priority 1 here, too.

 

[Orvidius]

I use 5 only for the things I won't need in flight when the weapons deploy, namely the AFMUs and the Fuel Scoop. Priority 4 is for things that I might want, but aren't that important, like the cargo scoop and the repair limpets.

I specifically do not put the SRV on priority 5, or even 4. I keep it at 2 or 3 only, and the reason is simple. Sometimes when you recall the ship, if it cannot find a place to land, it will hover and let you dock that way, which requires the SRV hangar and thrusters to be powered on at the same time. Plus, I've heard horror stories of people not being able to get back in because something went wrong with their power priorities and the hangar switched off while they were driving.

The only things I put on Priority 1 are the thrusters and FSD, and also the life support if all three can fit within 40% of the power plant's output. That way if there is ever a malfunction, at least I won't be dropped out of supercruise and take emergency-stop damage.

 

[Red_Beard_98]

Interesting that so many put their SRV on the lower (number-wise) priority levels, I never really considered it important enough! I have had to do the hovering retrieval a couple of times with no issues having mine on priority 5 but I'm guessing this may come down to differences in builds? My builds usually involve a powerplant that can comfortably run with most of my modules powered on. With everything powered on my priority 5 modules will usually still function unless hardpoints are deployed; I never undersize my PP by very much is what I'm getting at. I would rather lose a point or 2 off my jump range for that peace of mind.

Plus, I've heard horror stories of people not being able to get back in because something went wrong with their power priorities and the hangar switched off while they were driving.

If that happens wouldn't it not matter what priority it was on to being with?

 

[Cpt Shadow Wolfe]

Depends on what I'm doing, if I'm out exploring, I turn off everything not necessary to run the ship which includes shields, boosters, cargo scoop, SRV, AFMs, PD, weapons (usually only have a couple mining lasers anyway). By turning them off, it lowers the fuel consumption of the ship and allows to extend the fuel range. I will turn them on when needed, if landing, I turn on all the shields, PD and SRV, or if looking for mats in a ring system (to break up the monotony), then turn on the scoop, PD, shields and lasers. But if I'm in the bubble, generally just set my SRV to 5.

 

[Orvidius]

If that happens wouldn't it not matter what priority it was on to being with?

Not necessarily. If you have enough power that nothing ever needs to be turned off, then you're golden, and the priority settings will never matter (unless you hit 0% on the power plant and have a power drop). If you plan to leave some systems turned off most of the time (AFMUs for instance) and would be over your power budget with everything turned on, then all it takes is making a mistake yourself, or FDev putting out a patch that messes with the power settings, and you can be in trouble. We've seen examples of people getting into trouble with both cases, here on the forum. Including one case that probably involved both a bug and bad priorities, where the thrusters powered off shortly after the ship was dismissed, and it crashed and exploded.

Just remember that the thrusters power off automatically while landed. If you're relying on this in order to power on your SRV hangar, and it's on priority 5, then you'll never be able to hop back into the ship when it's forced to hover instead of finding a landing spot on recall. If you're stuck in a ravine, this will ruin your day.

SRV on 5 won't get you into trouble most of the time. It's the rare cases that bite you.

 

[Darkfyre99]

My general power priorities:

1: Escape: Engines, FSD
2: Survive: Shields, Power Distributors, Life Support
3: Role: Weapons, Limpets, Refineries
4: Hardpoint Utilities: Scanners
5: Other Utilities: Fuel Scoop, Cargo Hatch, SRV
6: Default Off (set at priority 4): AFMU

Needless to say, this isn’t set in stone. For example, the SRV on an exploration build, which doesn’t have any actual “role specific” modules that require prioritizing, can move to its own priority on a low power build. But in general, this is my mindset when setting power priorities.

 

[Northpin]

yeap, basically that's my recipe too - with the exception of 5 where i put things that can be used only in supercruise