Mining problem.

[Stealthie]

Not if you want maximum earnings rate and mine in a Haz RES or double hotspot, where there's plenty of platinum all around. Just move to the next rock and laser up another 30T. Anybody can mine how they want. You don't need to do it in an optimal way. Some people like variety. My goal is always to optimise. Plus, it's easier to watch films/TV/YouTube while your mining when you only use lasers.

Totally agree.

For me, the fun IS in designing a ship that can do it's job in the most efficient way.
Build something, figure out what problems it has, modify it and go back out and see if it's better.
That's why I gave up on the T10.
I was quite happy to be flying a big, lumbering slug of a ship because it was as good as it could be... except that it kept killing prospectors and there was nothing I could do to resolve that issue.

Also, I have an X56 HOTAS and I've got the fire button mapped to the trigger and mapped to an on/off slider control so when I'm mining I can just flip the slider and my lasers fire continuously.
As well as helping with QoL (youtube videos on my tablet) it's genuinely useful 'cos it means I can twiddle my HUDs, to flush refinery bins, check cargo or look at contacts etc, without having to keep my finger on the trigger.

 

[Neilski]

The higher the grade of prospector the larger the quantity of pieces released from the asteroid, I do not think it affects the amount of sub surface or core parts.

Yeah I did a spot of googling and didn't find what I'd call definitive information but the consensus seems to be that core yields are unaffected by the prospector rating.

Now, there's some doubt in my mind because I often didn't use prospectors at all for most cores when I was core mining. I just looked for the fissures. Did I miss out? Can anybody confirm that?

...However, I did find a video and discussion on Reddit which addresses the concept of core mining without prospectors - something I've not tried, at least not that I can remember.
It notes two problems: firstly you can't judge the fissure strength (to tune the charge strength) and secondly you can't target your charges in the Contacts panel. The latter problem means that you can neither detonate the rock when you're ready nor disable charges if you overdo it.
So yeah, I'd recommend trying core mining with a prospector and comparing the experience. Should be significantly quicker overall with better yields on average, I'd imagine.

 

[K Olley]

I'd recommend trying core mining with a prospector and comparing the experience. Should be significantly quicker overall with better yields on average, I'd imagine.

I have not tried core mining without using a prospector.

An other thing that needs to also be taken into consideration is where the mining is taking place ie: inside or outside a populated area and what sort of backup the miner has such as owning or being supported by a carrier.

 

[[VR] Mad Mike]

well after some comments in this thread I have modified my T10.
I am not saying it's the best miner out there and I can definitely tweak with some engineering and some of the bits were what were on hand at the system I am in and it's limited outfitting..... but it is by far the best laser miner I have ever had.

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if I have all my collectors at the ready with 4 pipps to lasers my 3 class 2 miners can get an asteroid to 50% then by the time I get the no targets message I can then strip the rest of the asteroid . doing it this way keeps the chunks from floating too far away but my collectors are never hanging around

as I said maybe not the best but it's good enough for for me. bear in mind I started mining before there were limpets manually scooping pieces into my adder .

I have a sub surface launcher and abrasion blaster but I probably won't use them. I think I will build a dedicated tritium / void opal mining ship which can do this after I get a fleet carrier.

compared to my T9 the T10 feels positively agile. I reckon with some dirty drive engineering it will be better still.

 

[Stealthie]

So yeah, I'd recommend trying core mining with a prospector and comparing the experience. Should be significantly quicker overall with better yields on average, I'd imagine.

Thing is, there's a MASSIVE difference in yield when you overcharge a seismic blast, compared to an optimal blast.

Not really sure how you'd go about DC mining without using a prospector, tbh.
Do people just eyeball a 'roid, assume every fissure needs a charge and then just place, perhaps, medium charges in every fissure they can see?

If you nail a seismic blast you end up with more than a dozen clusters that can be abrasion-blasted.
If you overcharge the seismic blast you can end up with only 3 or 4 clusters.

Personally, I finnd that the best way to blow up 'roids is to place a couple of high yield charges and then a final one that might be low or medium to get the optimal result.
Do it that way and you leave yourself with as many unused fissures as possible, in case you need to disable one of your charges and replace it with a different one.

For example, if you place 2 high charges and a medium one and the explodey-meter goes into the red, you can then disable the medium charge, target another fissure and launch a low charge.
Conversely, if you place 2 high charges and a low one and the explodey-meter goes into the red, you can disable one of the high charges, target another fissure and launch a medium charge.

All of which is another reason why you should be using an agile ship to DC-mine.
Something like a KM2 can dance around a 'roid like a ballerina. It feels like you've got all the time in the world to set charges, disable one and launch a replacement if necessary.
Try doing it in a T10 (or any other big ship) and just orbiting the 'roid and getting all the charges launched before the countdown ends will have you sweating.

 

[Hugh Jardon]

Yeah I did a spot of googling and didn't find what I'd call definitive information but the consensus seems to be that core yields are unaffected by the prospector rating.

...However, I did find a video and discussion on Reddit which addresses the concept of core mining without prospectors - something I've not tried, at least not that I can remember.
It notes two problems: firstly you can't judge the fissure strength (to tune the charge strength) and secondly you can't target your charges in the Contacts panel. The latter problem means that you can neither detonate the rock when you're ready nor disable charges if you overdo it.
So yeah, I'd recommend trying core mining with a prospector and comparing the experience. Should be significantly quicker overall with better yields on average, I'd imagine.

Thanks for that. You've reminded me now. I used to identify the cores by eyeball, then fire a prospector to get the targets. It's a while since I've done it - ever since they nerfed void opals, LTDs or whatever we used to get from the cores for huge money. Since lasering platinum became the meta for money and materials from mining, that's all I do.

 

[Stealthie]

Thanks for that. You've reminded me now. I used to identify the cores by eyeball, then fire a prospector to get the targets. It's a while since I've done it - ever since they nerfed void opals, LTDs or whatever we used to get from the cores for huge money. Since lasering platinum became the meta for money and materials from mining, that's all I do.

The best one was, just after nu-mining appeared, when every abrasion blaster would generate it's own chunks of ore.
Lordy! I spent the entire xmas holiday mining in an FGS because it has a heap of hardpoints so I could fit a seismic launcher and 6x abrasion blasters to generate mountains of ore.
Think I earned something like Cr6bn in a week!

Happy days.

 

[Kzak]

My Python, for core mining. Triple frag cannons make short work of any nosy pirates, too.

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[Neilski]

For example, if you place 2 high charges and a medium one and the explodey-meter goes into the red, you can then disable the medium charge, target another fissure and launch a low charge.

Check out the video in the reddit post I linked; you do still get the meter without a prospector, but you have to do without the info about the strength of each fissure.

 

[Neilski]

My Python, for core mining. Triple frag cannons make short work of any nosy pirates, too.

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No SCL?

 

[aRJay]

How do you stop a Cutter without a shield?

Start stopping it further from the destination, or at least don’t have it moving towards anything solid.

 

[Hugh Jardon]

Triple frag cannons make short work of any nosy pirates, too.

I never fight them. Instead, I take their names, then later on, I go and get my Corvette, fly it to their stomping grounds and knock the sheet out of them an all their mates.

It reminds of when I used to gank gankers with my Sidewinder. I had two accounts. I put the Sidewinder in the station at one of the noob hotspots, then I'd have a basic DBX or something like that with a few tons of cargo from my test account. I'd fly that around until some ganker interdicted it and blew it up, then I brought out the Sidewinder and kept interdicting them until they cried. I used to get comments like, "What did I ever do to you? Why don't you leave me alone?".

 

[Kzak]

No SCL?

I have that included, yes. The first link I posted had a sub-surface extraction missile, but I changed that swiftly to a seismic charge launcher.

 

[BL1P]

Also, I have an X56 HOTAS and I've got the fire button mapped to the trigger and mapped to an on/off slider control so when I'm mining I can just flip the slider and my lasers fire continuously.
As well as helping with QoL (youtube videos on my tablet) it's genuinely useful 'cos it means I can twiddle my HUDs, to flush refinery bins, check cargo or look at contacts etc, without having to keep my finger on the trigger.

Brilliant tip m8 thank you !!
I now have Primary and Secondary alt bound to the two sliders on my dual sticks, I can pulse wave or laser mine with out keeping finger in place ! awesome !

 

[CMDR MERANGO]

Hello OP. Yesterday, like you, I was out core mining and experiencing the same thing. Today, it is absolute bliss. The difference is the Cargo hatch. Leave it open! When you fire off a prospector, slow down slightly. I have had only one limpet fail out of hundreds today. o7

 

[Hugh Jardon]

The best "do-everything" mining ship is simply a DC-mining ship with mining lasers bolted to it and, ideally, a couple of extra collectors squeezed in.
I bought a T8 with the intention of building a do-everything mining ship but I haven't got around to it yet so currently a Krait Mk2 is still my ship of choice.
KM2 miner: https://s.orbis.zone/qJVE

In case it helps, you could change your 3A collector to a 3B multi-limpet controller to get 2 more collectors that would keep up with the three mining lasers better. Maybe you already did that but forgot to update the build. Personally, I prefer the Python for its 64 more cargo and slightly better agility.

 

[Stealthie]

In case it helps, you could change your 3A collector to a 3B multi-limpet controller to get 2 more collectors that would keep up with the three mining lasers better. Maybe you already did that but forgot to update the build. Personally, I prefer the Python for its 64 more cargo and slightly better agility.

TBH, I just never use the new limpet controllers. They just never do what I expect.
I built the Krait before they arrived and, honestly, I've just never thought it was worth changing it.
That build is wrong, though. It should (obviously) have a seismic launcher in one of the slots instead of an SSD launcher (which I just don't bother with), but it only has two mining lasers.

Most of the parts for my KM2 were stripped from a Python build that was almost identical except for the extra 6E cargo rack.
Not sure how they compare in terms of agility. I know the KM2 is a bit faster (and it has the crazy-cheap boost) and pitch/roll/yaw are pretty similar.
I suspect KM2 has better lateral/vertical thrust than the Python, though.
The KM2 always feels like it's moving how I want it to whereas I always feel like I'm waiting for the Python to start moving (like a miniature Cutter).
I might be biased, though, because I've always just liked the way the KM2 flies. It just feels very "neutral" and never needs a lot of correcting.

As with laser-mining, instead of fitting the biggest cargo hold possible, I prefer to just size it to suit my patience/attention span.
In the Python I always got that "Lordy, how much longer???!!!" feeling long before I collected 192t of stuff so dropping to 128t wasn't a concern.