Exploration, how many hours to make 20 mill?

[Commandr Sam]

I have heard that the reputation with some engineers can be improved by handing in exploration data.

I figure this is a great chance to dust off the old Asp and start increasing my exploration rank.

If I were to head vertically down from the bubble into unchartered areas, roughly how long would it take me to scan enough systems to make the 20mil needed to get rank 5 with the engineers?

This will be my first step into exploring and i realise exploring is more about the journey than making money.

Also any quick help tips I need, I will look through the exploration guides but a top 5 tips for newbies would be very useful.

Thanks in advance.

 

[myrr mac]

about 30 hours I think.

edit: might be able to speed up with certain PP membership. That vaguely rings a bell to me, though I cant remember specifics.

I wouldnt bother with it for rank 4/5 unlocks.

 

[Andovar]

I have heard that the reputation with some engineers can be improved by handing in exploration data.

I figure this is a great chance to dust off the old Asp and start increasing my exploration rank.

If I were to head vertically down from the bubble into unchartered areas, roughly how long would it take me to scan enough systems to make the 20mil needed to get rank 5 with the engineers?

This will be my first step into exploring and i realise exploring is more about the journey than making money.

Also any quick help tips I need, I will look through the exploration guides but a top 5 tips for newbies would be very useful.

Thanks in advance.

It really depends on what you find. The most lucrative way I've found is to find a neutron star field, which usually also contains many black holes. Then detail scan as many of them as you can.
I really wouldn't have a clue as to how long it takes to get to 20 mil though.

BTW, i heard it only takes 5 mil to get to level 5 with the farseer.

 

[Conch]

we can also ban you from the bubble for a few months

 

[Commandr Sam]

It really depends on what you find. The most lucrative way I've found is to find a neutron star field, which usually also contains many black holes. Then detail scan as many of them as you can.
I really wouldn't have a clue as to how long it takes to get to 20 mil though.

BTW, i heard it only takes 5 mil to get to level 5 with the farseer.

I am also quite keen to find a black hole so that sounds like a good tip. Any good guides on neutron field locating?

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we can also ban you from the bubble for a few months

An open bounty on my head would do that ;p

 

[ForeverN00b]

about 30 hours I think.

edit: might be able to speed up with certain PP membership. That vaguely rings a bell to me, though I cant remember specifics.

I wouldnt bother with it for rank 4/5 unlocks.

The PP benefit requires level 5, with decay. It's a waste of time for 20 mil IMO.

I am also quite keen to find a black hole so that sounds like a good tip. Any good guides on neutron field locating?

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An open bounty on my head would do that ;p

The neutron fields are located about 1,000 Ly above or below the galactic plane, and start about 15,000 Ly towards the core on either side of the direct route to the core. There are threads that outline this in more detail, but that is the gist of it. Keep in mind, if you honk and jump simply TO a neutron field and back, you will make about 15-20 million in creds (depending on your jump range--the lower your range the more jumps you make, more jumps = more creds).

I average about 12,000 creds per system, that is approximately 75% systems simply scanned with ADS, and 25% of systems I scan what I think will be a high value body (terraformables, water worlds, Earth-like worlds and ammonia worlds, as well as black holes and neutron stars).

 

[deathcoy]

The PP benefit requires level 5, with decay. It's a waste of time for 20 mil IMO.



The neutron fields are located about 1,000 Ly above or below the galactic plane, and start about 15,000 Ly towards the core on either side of the direct route to the core. There are threads that outline this in more detail, but that is the gist of it. Keep in mind, if you honk and jump simply TO a neutron field and back, you will make about 15-20 million in creds (depending on your jump range--the lower your range the more jumps you make, more jumps = more creds).

I average about 12,000 creds per system, that is approximately 75% systems simply scanned with ADS, and 25% of systems I scan what I think will be a high value body (terraformables, water worlds, Earth-like worlds and ammonia worlds, as well as black holes and neutron stars).

Roughly how long does it take to make the 15-20 million credits?

 

[Andovar]

in addition to what forevernoob mentioned, you can use the star type filter on the galmap. Also, use the realistic mode once you've found a neutron dense area, makes it easy to find the black holes, just look for the little black spots.

 

[racer1]

Jonking averages just over 10k per system at 45 seconds per jump that is 800k cr / hour.

Neutron farming is more but it will take you a few hours to get there.

 

[ForeverN00b]

Jonking averages just over 10k per system at 45 seconds per jump that is 800k cr / hour.

Neutron farming is more but it will take you a few hours to get there.

What he said.

 

[Colonel Kenney]

about 30 hours I think.

edit: might be able to speed up with certain PP membership. That vaguely rings a bell to me, though I cant remember specifics.

I wouldnt bother with it for rank 4/5 unlocks.

30 hours of mining = 90 million for me.. about 80 mil res hunting (pre 2.1)

You think they'd get it... exploration has been the biggest most disappointing thing in the game to date all around.

Quick solution for the discrepancy in pay..

Make finding pristine rings worth A LOT of money.

 

[Commandr Sam]

Also is my exploration ship in my sig suitable for this sort of short trip, I have done everything to try and maximise range + have another 4% from engineering.

 

[Roadblock]

https://forums.frontier.co.uk/showthread.php?t=163816 - guide to find the neutron fields.

The answer to your question is "it depends".. and it depends on what ship you're flying. For this discussion, I'll assume you're in an exploration Asp, with a jump range somewhere around 33-34 LY, and a 6A fuel scoop.

You earn 55k for an undiscovered neutron star, and about 36k for one that's been discovered. Once you get to the 'fields', you'll find plenty of undiscovered ones.

I've made two trips out there to them, but it's been a while, but here's what I recall:

I think it is about 13,000 LY before you start to hit the 'edge' of an area that will start to have a fairly high number of neutron stars. If you start there and work your way towards the more dense parts (which will really be about 18,000 LY out).

So, if you go all out jump/honking to get there, it should take you approximately 400 jumps to cover the 13,000 LY.


So, some napkin math: 400 jumps * 10,000 average per jump mentioned above is 4M credits * 2 (for the trip back) is 8 Million. So you'll need 12 million worth of neutron stars.
Assuming you find nothing but undiscovered ones (won't happen ): that's only around 220 neutron stars. I forget how long it would take me to jump into a system, detail scan the neutron and jump out, but lets say it takes a couple of minutes.

So, 800 jumps for the trip * 45 seconds each = about 10 hours travel time.
220 neutron stars * 2 minutes each(roughly) = about 7.3 hours spent neutron scanning.

So I'd put you in the ballpark of 17-20 hours to be able to do it. (obviously if you stop to scan interesting planets, which can also pay really well, it will add up). Earth likes, ammonia worlds and water worlds all pay well and can usually be spotted easily from the system map.

Good luck, Commander!

 

[Commandr Sam]

https://forums.frontier.co.uk/showthread.php?t=163816 - guide to find the neutron fields.

The answer to your question is "it depends".. and it depends on what ship you're flying. For this discussion, I'll assume you're in an exploration Asp, with a jump range somewhere around 33-34 LY, and a 6A fuel scoop.

You earn 55k for an undiscovered neutron star, and about 36k for one that's been discovered. Once you get to the 'fields', you'll find plenty of undiscovered ones.

I've made two trips out there to them, but it's been a while, but here's what I recall:

I think it is about 13,000 LY before you start to hit the 'edge' of an area that will start to have a fairly high number of neutron stars. If you start there and work your way towards the more dense parts (which will really be about 18,000 LY out).

So, if you go all out jump/honking to get there, it should take you approximately 400 jumps to cover the 13,000 LY.


So, some napkin math: 400 jumps * 10,000 average per jump mentioned above is 4M credits * 2 (for the trip back) is 8 Million. So you'll need 12 million worth of neutron stars.
Assuming you find nothing but undiscovered ones (won't happen ): that's only around 220 neutron stars. I forget how long it would take me to jump into a system, detail scan the neutron and jump out, but lets say it takes a couple of minutes.

So, 800 jumps for the trip * 45 seconds each = about 10 hours travel time.
220 neutron stars * 2 minutes each(roughly) = about 7.3 hours spent neutron scanning.

So I'd put you in the ballpark of 17-20 hours to be able to do it. (obviously if you stop to scan interesting planets, which can also pay really well, it will add up). Earth likes, ammonia worlds and water worlds all pay well and can usually be spotted easily from the system map.

Good luck, Commander!

Thanks, excellent advice and calcs, I guess I will have to see if the exploration bug bites to see how long the trip lasts, as this is my first run out into the black.

 

[myrr mac]

2 mins after reaching a system to find, reach, and scan a neutron star? That seems ... optimistic. Dont you have to be very close to scan? That means some travel time.

 

[fennster]

2 mins after reaching a system to find, reach, and scan a neutron star? That seems ... optimistic. Dont you have to be very close to scan? That means some travel time.

In a neutron field, the main star is the neutron star. So you jump and scan the main star from where you enter. If I've understood you right.

You don't want to get any closer than where you get spat out.

 

[Roadblock]

2 mins after reaching a system to find, reach, and scan a neutron star? That seems ... optimistic. Dont you have to be very close to scan? That means some travel time.

Normally when you drop out of hyperspace in a neutron system, where the neutron is the primary, you are already in scan range. In fact, you need to throttle to zero immediately or you'll 'crash' into it.

To put it in perspective, I scanned somewhere around 2700 neutron stars on my way to Elite in Exploration. There were some systems that had neutrons elsewhere in the system, but since you'll be using the map, you will largely be just jumping into systems with neutron primaries (or black holes).

To the OP: Always zero your throttle as you jump once you know you're jumping into a neutron system. It will get to be a habit eventually, but save yourself some canopy cracks and practice it now . My first trip out was cut short because I made a few too many mistakes, and my canopy was in pretty bad shape. My second trip out was a lot smoother, but I attribute it to having had a lot of practice. It may not be as hard now that I think repair units can fix the canopy.

 

[myrr mac]

ah, thanks you 2

 

[Commandr Sam]

Also guys I saw recently a secondary program I could run to collect and share data do any of you have details of this off hand?

 

[Bacalao]

2 mins after reaching a system to find, reach, and scan a neutron star? That seems ... optimistic. Dont you have to be very close to scan? That means some travel time.

When I ran through the neutron fields it was nowhere near 2 mins per system more like 55-65 seconds per system.
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Procedure as follows: jump in with throttle at 0 (you'll only be ~0.22Ls from the star) and immediately target the neutron star, open gal map, wait ~5 seconds for the scan to finish (you'll get a feel for the timing after the first 100 or so), hit plot route, exit gal map, begin to turn away and charge your FSD, center on your next destination by the time your FSD is charged and you're off. If you're doing it right you'll hit around 85-95% heat (in an Asp, the DBX/S are kings of neutron farming because they run colder) by the time you start to cool down but you'll never actually overheat or take any module damage. The detailed scan finishes about the time your FSD cooldown is done so it's nearly as fast as just jumping system to system, but you are getting ~60k per jump.