Efficient scooping for long distance travel.

puca

P
AnnuverScotinExile said:
You will overheat if you do. You need to clear the star and get the ambient temperature done before you jump.
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This has not been my experience in the asp. I can start the FSD while scooping is still in double digits and not go above 85%ish heat on jumpout. But one does need to learn the timing for pointing the nose at the next system while FSD cooldown is still going, such that you are ready to engage FSD.
 
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Katejina

Katejina
If I were in a hurry ( and not scanning the star, as you seem to suggest) I would jump jump jump jump until I was low on fuel (with enough for at least one more max-range jump) and then scoop at max capability. Usually only takes a couple minutes or so.

What I do now is jump> Scoop at roughly 80% of max capability while scanning the star > target next system > jump.

If there is nothing of interest in the system, I can be in and out in under a minute. And in this fashion, I rarely have to stop to scoop unless I come across the badlands or a particularly large t tauri field.

My scooping peaks at 176, I tend to begin my jump when it hits 30 and I rarely go above 80% thermals.
 
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newman1702

newman1702
Katejina said:
My scooping peaks at 176, I tend to begin my jump when it hits 30 and I rarely go above 80% thermals.
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You are going to adore the 6A scoop with 876 (or was it 872? I always forget). You only ever reach that maximum if you're seriously low on fuel, and even then it's done in a few seconds. That's with an additional small fuel tank which might get removed in a future expedition (don't find it necessary).
 

Jakester13

Jakester13
Katejina said:
What I do now is jump> Scoop at roughly 80% of max capability while scanning the star > target next system > jump.

...

My scooping peaks at 176, I tend to begin my jump when it hits 30 and I rarely go above 80% thermals.
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Those A3 scoops, eh? But this is exactly what I do.

And the poster who said he can't fill the tank without overheating: You're doing it wrong! Find out your scoop's maximum rate, then approach the star until you've got 80-90% of the max rate, throttle back to 30km/s and you can sit there for 5-10 minutes fuelling, no issues.

o7
 

Katejina

Katejina
Jakester13 said:
Those A3 scoops, eh? But this is exactly what I do.

And the poster who said he can't fill the tank without overheating: You're doing it wrong! Find out your scoop's maximum rate, then approach the star until you've got 80-90% of the max rate, throttle back to 30km/s and you can sit there for 5-10 minutes fuelling, no issues.

o7
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Jakester13 said:
Those A3 scoops, eh? But this is exactly what I do.

And the poster who said he can't fill the tank without overheating: You're doing it wrong! Find out your scoop's maximum rate, then approach the star until you've got 80-90% of the max rate, throttle back to 30km/s and you can sit there for 5-10 minutes fuelling, no issues.

o7
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Yeah, I got some... comments, on my fuel scoop when I first began this expedition. Which is funny, because my previous scoop peaked at like, 48? Maybe less. I thought I got my hands on something really good and I've made it work wonderfully for me. With the right auto-plot, I can go thousands of light years without needing to stop and scoop. And if there is a second star close enough to scan from the first one, I just keep scooping while I scan.

Then again, I'm not in a rush!

I tend to sit at 65-70% thermals when I'm scooping at ~140-150.
 

Satsuma

Satsuma
One thing I've noticed, too: If I'm traveling long distances, the next system will be directly behind the star every 3-4 jumps. If I'm in a hurry, then, I can capitalize on that to barrel through the star's low corona to get a ton of fuel and come out pointed at the next system. That, coupled with the swoop-n-scoop technique Dr Kali mentions, pretty much obliviates the need to do any other (slower) refueling.

When you're out 500ly + from the bubble, start switching off systems, too. I disable my weapons, my shields, my cargo door, my AFMU, and my power distributor when I'm exploring. It makes the ship run cooler, which gives you more leeway for fast scooping.
 

CMDR AKIRA MASAKARI

CMDR AKIRA MASAKARI
eheh, it's amazing to see how a simple question can bring hundred of answers.
Personally I don't scan every star, so when I jump in I immidiatly point next system en route, honk thew horn and hit the FSD button the very second the timer finishes, and when FSD is charging I look at system map at 50% throttle. If the system is not interesting I close the map, and seyt 100% throttle before FSD recharge is over. This way I jump as fast as it can be done (45 seconds from system to system).

This way I fuel scoop only when i get the empty tank warning, and I have the impression it's the fastest way possible. Of course when i get the empty tank warning I can still make 3x30LY jumps, so I'm still in the comfort zone.
Personally if I would scoop at every star I will either loose time or either be forced to manuever that fast that eventually I'd get an e-stop. So my method is to scoop as infrequently as possible. With it I can do 2500LY/hr in an ASP if I really need to (not much fun).
 
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Sapient6

S
Satsuma said:
One thing I've noticed, too: If I'm traveling long distances, the next system will be directly behind the star every 3-4 jumps. If I'm in a hurry, then, I can capitalize on that to barrel through the star's low corona to get a ton of fuel and come out pointed at the next system. That, coupled with the swoop-n-scoop technique Dr Kali mentions, pretty much obliviates the need to do any other (slower) refueling.

When you're out 500ly + from the bubble, start switching off systems, too. I disable my weapons, my shields, my cargo door, my AFMU, and my power distributor when I'm exploring. It makes the ship run cooler, which gives you more leeway for fast scooping.
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No need to disable your weapons, they don't draw power or generate heat when they aren't deployed.
 

Satsuma

Satsuma
Sapient6 said:
No need to disable your weapons, they don't draw power or generate heat when they aren't deployed.
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Good to know!

After reading this and some other threads about some of the crazy fast speeds people have been getting, I decided to work out a consistent way to travel quickly while exploring. It's not as efficient as Dr Kali's method, but it does focus on fast travel while still gathering data.

As an explorer, however, we're not simply just blazing to some end point. We want to explore. Find new things. With this in mind, I decided to play around and see what I could do to travel quickly while still exploring. I set up some conditions, first of all. I chose to bias this towards maximizing my return in exploration data for time spent. I did this because this isn't intended as a technique for mapping out an area or surveying it. It's for getting somewhere while acting like a scout as you go.


The rules I set up are:

  1. I must honk the system
  2. I must scan the primary, if it's not a brown dwarf
  3. If there are planets, I must view the system map
  4. If there are neutron stars or black holes, I must scan them
  5. If there are water words, ammonia worlds, or earthlike worlds, I must scan them
  6. I must screenshot any water, ammonia, or earthlike worlds, plus revisit the system view to look at the details
  7. I must cancel any jumps if the heat rises above 100%



Some of these rules are meant to make this a sustainable method of travel - like the rule about not overheating. Taking screenshots and revisiting the system view is my own bias: I like these worlds, and if I'm exploring, I'll take a look at them.


My basic technique involves refueling while pointed straight down at the primary. :D


The reason for this is it lets me honk the system and start scanning the primary while I start refueling. I don't go nuts with refueling. I aim for about 65% heat on my Cobra Mk III. By the time I hit that, I've honked the system and my scan on the primary is moving along. Then I hit the system view. This will lock up your UI for some time, which is why I'm conservative about scooping. If I see anything on the system view, I go check it out. Otherwise I close the system view, target the next system, and go. A lot of ships will let you start charging the FSD while you're still scooping, and experience lets me know when I can do that. Otherwise, it's not a big deal to simply burn away from the primary until I'm out of the corona, and then hit the FSD.


I did a timed run like this, stretching out about 750 light years as the crow flies. This was 34 jumps for my Cobra. It took me 50 minutes to travel that (including scanning 1 water world and 3 "false friend" high metal content worlds), which works out to about 900 light years an hour, or a tad under 90 seconds per system visited. It's not a spectacular rate of travel, but it's not bad, and I'm collecting data the whole way. The light years per hour figure is very ship specific, but the technique works for anything and you should easily be able to manage 90 seconds per jump in anything.


A few things to note: Some people prefer to not refuel until they're about half empty. This speeds up your travel if you're not checking the system view, but honestly most of your time will be spent waiting for the damn system view to open, so you might as well refuel every time.


Also, be careful with the system view - otherwise known as Satsuma's Bane. I accidentally hit my FSD switch instead of my "target" switch while nose down to a star and refueling, and didn't notice until I'd hit the "system view" key. You can't do anything while it's loading. I repeat, you can't do anything while it's loading. By the time it loaded and I exited out of it, I was up to 186% heat. I was very lucky. It could have easily taken 10 seconds more, in which case I'd have lost my ship.


[video=youtube_share;mVViv4ppD7s]https://youtu.be/mVViv4ppD7s[/video]
Here's a video showing the technique.


Happy Exploring!
 

youneverasked

Y
Joe Akeem said:
When i'm in a hurry I set 'show orbit lines' to On and dive at 75% speed until I barely can see the orbital line at the top of the canopy.

Follow the stars orbit until aligned with next jump. Go full trottle and engage when temp has lowered slightly.
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This. 6kLY out, and I've mastered diving the stars so that I'm topped up by the time the next system swings into view.
 

Aewarin Jameson

Aewarin Jameson
AnnuverScotinExile said:
You will overheat if you do. You need to clear the star and get the ambient temperature done before you jump.
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Admittedly I am only a junior explorer but I found if you start the SC sequence when the computer says "fuel scoop retracted" (or whatever it is) that should avoid overheating - doing it before requires timing and mine is a little off atm.
 

CMDR AKIRA MASAKARI

CMDR AKIRA MASAKARI
Liqua said:
Admittedly I am only a junior explorer but I found if you start the SC sequence when the computer says "fuel scoop retracted" (or whatever it is) that should avoid overheating - doing it before requires timing and mine is a little off atm.
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It depends. If you are supercruising away from a star you can start FSD while scooping. You gain heat charging FSD and loose heat getting away from the star. With my configuration, if I'm gaining distance from a star, I can start the FSD at 70% heat and don't overheat. All the smoke and the alarms are just cosmetical untill you get over 100% heat. Of course you must pay attention to star radius too: Getting away from an O star can require a lot of time. Around these stars you loose heat slower, so a little bit more caution is required.
 
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