Exploring.. For fun (definately not for Profit!) Trifid Nebula and back..
- Thread starter _Dastardly_
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well, if you can't wait to have over 10 million to max out asp for exploring, take hauler. fully maxed out for exploration and with ads(1,6 million) and dss(250k) has 28,5ly jump range and is worth 2,5-2,6 million, so it is awesome beginner explorer. i'm currently in same hauler, 2500ly from eravate and on my way to seagull nebula.
Harbinger
Volunteer Moderator
The Cobra is a pretty nice exploration vessel as long as you don't get into the bad habit of just upgrading everything to Class A as I did with my final Cobra expedition (since switched to an Asp). If you're staying close to explored space then shields and weapons may be a necessity but if you're heading into deep space then there are no NPCs once you get a few hundred LY out so it's pointless taking weapons, shields or anything else that will add unnecessary mass (Class D items are the most mass efficient).
Once you start heading out into the great unknown you'll be past the interdiction danger zone before you know it and will only regret bringing that extra mass.
Something like this is more than adequate as a long range exploration geared cobra. Text Output (courtesy of Elite Shipyard) of this loadout below:
Code:
[Cobra Mk III]
BH: 1I Lightweight Alloy
RB: 4D Power Plant
TM: 4D Thrusters
FH: 4A Frame Shift Drive
EC: 3D Life Support
PC: 3D Power Distributor
SS: 3D Sensors
FS: 4C Fuel Tank (Capacity: 16)
4: 4C Fuel Scoop
2: 1C Detailed Surface Scanner
2: 1C Advanced Discovery ScannerUnder 4m credits all in and it'll go 25.9 LY - 27.5 LY per jump depending on the amount of fuel in the tank. Perhaps add an Auto Field Maintenance Unit for those accidental Icarus moments when you get too close to the star during scooping and you're good to go pretty much anywhere in the galaxy.
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I went with the 4C fuel scoop on my Cobra, scooping time matters over long distance 245 kg/s vs 75 for the A2 and it's actually cheaper!
Harbinger
Volunteer Moderator
Good tip, definitely worthwhile going for the larger sized fuel scoop, brings the overall cost under 4m too. I've updated my previous post above to change the loadout.
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OP - Great post and thanks for the pics.
This is why I think it sucks that you can't choose a different ship to control for the session like a character screen. So if you need to take a break from exploring you can just "login" to your trader or bounty hunter ship far away and go to work. If you want to go back to interesting exploring you can start a session in that ship. This may be by design knowing they want to eventually go to 3rd person and you are just 1 person, but let me be a character per ship that shares the wealth, a la, character/ship selection screen.
This is why I think it sucks that you can't choose a different ship to control for the session like a character screen. So if you need to take a break from exploring you can just "login" to your trader or bounty hunter ship far away and go to work. If you want to go back to interesting exploring you can start a session in that ship. This may be by design knowing they want to eventually go to 3rd person and you are just 1 person, but let me be a character per ship that shares the wealth, a la, character/ship selection screen.
I just looked for them in the galaxy map, although I spotted NGC 7822 from 1800 LY away, and figured if I can see it from there it must be pretty good. I'll start a thread and post some pics when I've explored it
I'm looking forward to seeing how much paint is left on my cobra, wear and tear is a badge of honour for the long distance explorer
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Made it, 3 Black Holes in the first system
I'm gonna exit now and explore it tomorrow. It's been a bit of a marathon to get here, and a bit frustrating trying to cross the void
I've have to say I have a lot of admiration for the patience and determination it must take to spend hours just blasting out into the unknown. Credit to all explorers, especially the OP for starting a fascinating post.
How do you spot something 1800LY away, is it possible to identify bodies whilst flying around if you know what you're looking for, rather than just using the galaxy map?
Well that's just why I noticed it, it's so bright it sticks out like a sore thumb even from 1800LY. took me a while zooming the galaxy map around to work out what it was
Heres a screenshot from not long after i first noticed it, it's the bright line of dots in the centre of the screen
Note I've only lost 3% hull in 1800LY
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Harbinger
Volunteer Moderator
O type stars are very large and can be seen from a long way off, especially when they're clustered together as in the case of those within NGC 7822.
In my case, when I was heading out to the North America & Pelican Nebulae I could physically see a bright line of stars to the left of the nebulae from a long way off (Chevy66's screenshot above illustrates this perfectly). The line of stars got continually brighter the closer I got to my intended destination. It was then a case of looking on the Galaxy map in the same approximate direction to find the source of the lights, if you have it display stars in realistic mode it becomes pretty obvious as you can see the sizes of the stars and the long line on the galaxy map.
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As part of this thread is about the lack of profit in exploring, here're my top value systems for my (short?) trip to Bernard's Loop and surrounding areas:
Altogether I noted down 17 systems that I visited that individually paid out more than 50,000 cr.
Incidentally the highest value systems are often the most interesting!
-- Pete.
1) 68,768 cr : PARENAGO 1662
2) 72,707 cr : SPIROGRAPH SECTOR BQ-Y d15
3) 82,206 cr : BD-12 1172
4) 82,730 cr : 2MASS J05350148-0511041
5) 95,296 cr : COL 70 SECTOR SY-Q d5-14
2) 72,707 cr : SPIROGRAPH SECTOR BQ-Y d15
3) 82,206 cr : BD-12 1172
4) 82,730 cr : 2MASS J05350148-0511041
5) 95,296 cr : COL 70 SECTOR SY-Q d5-14
Altogether I noted down 17 systems that I visited that individually paid out more than 50,000 cr.
Incidentally the highest value systems are often the most interesting!
-- Pete.
Maybe I'm missing something, but wouldn't a 3D or even 2D power plant work just as well?
You may as well get a 4A Fuel Scoop (Or 5A...) (unless you're trying to save on power usage), as they don't have weight.
-- Pete.
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Either that or some form of fast travel so that you could commit to a several week exploration trip but jump back to do some bounty hunting in your fighter when the mood took you. Then, when your blood lust is temporarily sated you could jump back to the explorer ship and continue your trek.
I know it wouldn't be remotely realistic and very probably immersion breaking but it would encourage more people to go out and see what's out there
Harbinger
Volunteer Moderator
Yes, you could get away with a 3D/2D power plant to get a marginal mass saving (and by extension an increased jump range) as power requirements for this setup are only 59% of the 4D power plant. You do however need to bear in mind that you cannot repair your power plant in deep space so it's probably a good idea to have more power than you need.
This ship loadout was in response to eachann wanting to know if he could build a Cobra geared entirely for exploration on a budget. You could of course substitute a better fuel scoop if your personal budget extends to that although 4A would be the absolute best scoop you could fit because there are no size 5 internal compartments on a Cobra. The 4C will refill your tank fast enough though as it only takes 1m, 5s from empty and you very rarely refill from empty. Typically you're only topping up whenever you get the opportunity so you'll likely only need a few seconds at best. Spending an extra 2.7m credits to go to a 4A wouldn't really have any noticeable impact on these partial refills as it only saves 19s from empty. You'd maybe shave 1-2s off a partial refill so the only real impact would be to your credit balance.
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Me neither.
This ancient thread needed to be revived just for "this"?
This ancient thread needed to be revived just for "this"?
Considering a couple thousand are on there way there together right now, and many have independently gone there, I'm gonna say that number is off.
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