Exploration.....Finding Unscanned Systems.

[Monomi]

Well i've just retired my cargo ship resting in a Hanger, going to smash the Exploration but everything has all ready bean discovered, is it worth still detail scanning system when they have all ready bean discovered? I really want to Explore undiscovered areas.. I have not cashed in any Data yet i just don't want to waist my time scanning planets if there is no real money in it.

Whats the best advice from Experienced Explorers? Do i still scan discovered areas or try to find my own undiscovered areas.

Diamond Back Explorer is my ride.

 

[Jan Eppendorf]

My advice would be to find a pocket of space that has not been discovered yet. There are over 400 billion (!) systems to discover and most outside of a bubble of around 1,000 to 1,500 LY around Sol have not been touched. Bring some repair kits and enjoy the ride.

 

[Monk]

Some tips...

Go up or down relative to the galactic plane. Most commanders stay on the same level as populated space as they charge towards nebulae and Sag A*

Take a road less traveled...see that nebula over there...and that one over there? Don't go towards either of them! Find a circuitous route if you still want to visit. With thousands of CMDRs just tmaking a bee line for their favorite sites, most systems along the corridor going to each nebula are going to be well traveled.

Jump start your unscanned systems by just jumping away, only peering at your sys map to find earth-likes...get a good 2-3k ly away and then start stopping at every start in the area. You'll find them.

Don't get discouraged...there are many many many more unscanned systems than scanned. You just gotta lose the meatbags!

 

[AnnuverScotinExile]

WHAT THEY SAID ^^^

Note that you do still get cash for already discovered systems and objects. But if you are the first to claim them, you get a bonus of 50%.

I am just over a 1000 systems into my current journey. I have not seen a system claimed by another CMDR for a couple of months. I estimate that at least 95% of the systems I have visited (and probably more) were not discovered (of course, someone may still beat me back to claim the bonus).

 

[Stanchion Ra]

They have given you good advice. I found my first undiscovered system only about 500 LY from civilized space.

Fly safe and don't rush your fuel scooping.

 

[Brujah]

I still find systems that have already been discovered allow you to scan them and get decent returns. I got a little shy of 100k Credits from a system that was actually inside the controlled space of one of the powers.

So I'm pretty sure there's plenty of money out there further afield. Of course, if what you want is your name next to the system, rather than the cash, that's a tougher prospect. I doubt EVERY system has been scanned though.

 

[Monomi]

Thank you very much for the great advise you guys are legends, i do see that all the Nebula's are always being explored so i started to head straight up from my current position and going to explore the ceiling...thanks again guys.

 

[AnnuverScotinExile]

Thank you very much for the great advise you guys are legends, i do see that all the Nebula's are always being explored so i started to head straight up from my current position and going to explore the ceiling...thanks again guys.

Exploring at the fringes (up, down or at an edge) needs a ship with a very good jump range. The stars are just further apart. But if you go couple of hundred LY up or down from the plane of the galaxy, the stars are still pretty close together, so any exploration ship will do.

 

[Chaz]

You don't need to go too far out to find undiscovered systems. On my current trip out, I was only about 200-300ly out of the core before I started tripping over undiscovered systems left right and center. Found an ELW with 500ly of Sol too, and there's probably many thousands more with in that distance still out there to be discovered.

As has been noted, all the major attractions will have been thoroughly scanned already. If heading to a nebula then don't make a bee line for it. Go up or down 100ly or so and you should find your journey more fruitful. Pleiades, Horse Shoe and Orion nebulas are super popular places to visit, so don't expect to find much undiscovered on the way and certainly not at them. Sag A is also a very popular destination, so if you're going, again don't take the direct route, branch off at an angle. As you head towards the core though, there are literally millions of stars, so it should be easy enough to find your own path in.

Beyond 500ly out you should find that the vast majority of systems you jump to are undiscovered. Again, if you're heading towards a nebula then you'll probably pick up traces of activity as you get within a few jumps of it, but mostly it's still undiscovered country out there.

Edit: Oh yeah even if a system has already been scanned you will still get good returns on re-scanning some of the more profitable planets. Don't bother with ice planets or anything more than 200k ls out if it has already been scanned.

 

[Zenith]

is it worth still detail scanning system when they have all ready bean discovered?

Yes! Definitely! It takes a little practice, but you get into a rhythm with each jump into a new system.
Jump in, aim at the central star, slow down when the fuel scoop kicks in, hold in the Advanced Discovery Scanner (BWONG!), check the System Map for anything that might be interesting.
By the time you've checked the System Map, your fuel scooping should be done or almost done. The ones to watch out for are Earth-like worlds (blue & green), water worlds (mostly blue), high metal content worlds (various colours, but more than just a rock).
If they're at the right distance from the star, they might be Candidates for Terraforming, and that increases the amount paid out for the scan data when you sell it.
The only ones to avoid altogether are asteroid belts. They are literally worthless.

Do i still scan discovered areas or try to find my own undiscovered areas?

Yes, scan previously discovered systems because while you might not get the first discovery bonus (+50%), you still get Cr for each star, planet and moon you scan.

The main advice I'd personally add is to get a fuel scoop in your largest slot, but not necessarily A rated. That's just paying lots of money for little extra. In your case, I would suggest a 4B Fuel Scoop.
An A rated Power Plant copes with heat better. You can get by with a 2A Power Plant which is lighter, manages heat and still provides enough power for your modules.
http://www.edshipyard.com/#/L=70i,mpT5QG5QG0Wg,2-4s6u7_5K5K5K8I,4-40MM7Q42jw2UI

 

[Roqinn]

I've found quite a few and I'm only about 2000LY out to the galactic north. Believe me when I say that there are still a LOT of things to discover! I would suggest that you check the Exploration forum on here. If you want to see where people have not been, check out a program called EDDiscovery. https://forums.frontier.co.uk/showthread.php?t=138155

 

[Flavio]

Today I decided to do a bit of exploring and took about 8 or 9 big jumps (24ly each) and then just jumped to the nearest system. Am not sure where I am as I was just jumping arbitrarily (actually I did a search for a system HIP xx where xx are two numbers and then plotted the fastest route to it and just jumped a few times in that direction, I changed to most economical route) and after a dozen small jumps (5ly each) I started to find totally unexplored planets (one system had 3 unexplored stars and various planets). Anyway I ended up about 350ly from Sol and am in a system with an unexplored water world. So you do not have to go that far to find new stuff but make sure that you are not heading somewhere that looks interesting or if you want to go somewhere specific then take the long way round.
As you have noticed, a lot of systems within 300ly of Sol are already discovered so you may wish to make as big a jump to get past those but they are worth scanning anyway.

 

[IronGremlin]

Most commanders, as far as I can tell from.reading these forums, use "fastest route" when moving from point to point.

I'd also guess that most travel done outside of about 1000 ly in any given direction is probably done with powerful jump drives.

So, i'd say, get about 5-600 ly out, pick.a direction tangential to thr galactic plane, and plot a route that way running economically.

If you didn't find at least one system that someone hadn't scanned yet, id be amazed.

 

[relayer]

I still find systems that have already been discovered allow you to scan them and get decent returns. I got a little shy of 100k Credits from a system that was actually inside the controlled space of one of the powers.

So I'm pretty sure there's plenty of money out there further afield. Of course, if what you want is your name next to the system, rather than the cash, that's a tougher prospect. I doubt EVERY system has been scanned though.

Edit: Oh yeah even if a system has already been scanned you will still get good returns on re-scanning some of the more profitable planets. Don't bother with ice planets or anything more than 200k ls out if it has already been scanned.

Yes, scan previously discovered systems because while you might not get the first discovery bonus (+50%), you still get Cr for each star, planet and moon you scan.

Definitely this! Even on regular trade routes I have made quite a nice chunk of change because many folks just "honk and go" to get their names on a Discovery but do not take the time to scan planets ("unexplored"). You will need the Detailed Surface Scanner to do this.

I get a lot of Metallics of varying densities; I've found several Ammonia Life worlds (good pay!) and several Water Worlds (more good pay!). I even found an Earthlike World (mucho dinero!) in the middle of a standard "trade lane." I have found many stars "discovered" but "unexplored" and since you pop right out in the star's vicinity, detail scanning takes about 1 minute.


It also helps you refine your fuel scooping technique and reading the System Map so you know which "unexplored" planets to scan with the Detailed Discovery scanner. This practice will not only give you extra credits, it will stand you in good stead when you head way out into the black.

You might also find this graphic of icons used in the System Map very handy for deciding whether to scan a planet or not:
http://i.imgur.com/nsI1V08.jpg

Good hunting!

 

[thorn-]

I went exploring only once... I think I flew about 500-600 LY past occupied space. Not towards a particular "interesting destination", just in some random direction, and didn't fly back through the same systems. The whole trip, I found exactly *one* star and *four* planets that didn't have some other Cmdr's name stamped on it as the first to discover. Even the new planets I found - the others in the system were claimed. It looked to me like someone had just not wanted to fly all the way to that last one.

Suddenly the universe seemed a lot smaller.

 

[Aussiedroid]

Another thing to consider is spending 1-2k lys straight travelling out. No scanning just jump out as fast to get to more stuff not already taken. If you are moving you should get close to 1k lys per hour so shouldn't take too long to get out there. Past where most people will dare to travel

Once you hit around this distance I found most if not all systems were not scanned.

Take the road less travelled as others have recommended, up, down, diagonal, anything not in a straight line to a nebula should generally yield results.

Good luck CMDR!

 

[thorn-]

Another thing to consider is spending 1-2k lys straight travelling out. No scanning just jump out as fast to get to more stuff not already taken.

That's a nice tip.

 

[daygobah]

Well i've just retired my cargo ship resting in a Hanger, going to smash the Exploration but everything has all ready bean discovered, is it worth still detail scanning system when they have all ready bean discovered? I really want to Explore undiscovered areas.. I have not cashed in any Data yet i just don't want to waist my time scanning planets if there is no real money in it.

Whats the best advice from Experienced Explorers? Do i still scan discovered areas or try to find my own undiscovered areas.

Diamond Back Explorer is my ride.

Someone told me to do this for exploring. Its simple. See those nebula go the other direction away from them. Also dont think the galaxy is a 2d plane its 3d travel up or down and away from known space. Usually you got to travel about 600 - 800 ly from known space to start getting into unscanned systems. I did a short 1600 ly run and found tons of unscanned locations.

I used to stay on the 2d plane and went to nebula and was getting angry everything was discovered already. I was told this advice and went up and away from the nebula and bingo unexplored space. Even found some neutron stars some blackholes. Planets with life on them. Gas giant with life on it.

Hope that helps

 

[gooddoc]

Im on my return journey from the core. My route towards the core went like this....to start with i went off towards the side, if i found that i made two or three consecutive jumps to systems that had been tagged already then i moved up, down, in, out, left, or right by about 100LYs (4 jumps in fastest route mode), i just picked a direction at random.
I did this all the way to the core. Yes you'll find that a lot of the main star in the systems have been scanned, but quite a lot of 'honk & go' has been going on & other objects in the systems remain untouched.
I found 2 ELWs & 1 WW untagged in a system where the main Neutron Star had been tagged.

btw, find yourself a Neutron Star/Black Hole field & you'll be stuck for days scanning these...i was!!

But the further you move from inhabited space the greater your chances are of discovering unexplored systems.

On my route back from the core, iv taken a direct line along the plane & yesterday was the first time in 19k LYs that i entered a system & found a body that had been tagged.

You've got to get away from the worn paths & be patient

Fly safe!

 

[Jexter]

What's this repair kit business? I admittedly only went about 1200 Ly out and back but during that time none of my modules took any damage at all. Or is it only if you take heat damage or are attacked the repair modules become useful?