Tried and failed to smuggle stolen cargo into a station ... help?

[Draven Darken]

I was trying to dock at a station with some black box canisters in my hold (first time I'd done anything "illicit" in the game, although like many others I do question why collecting abandoned stuff in space is a crime). Beforehand I practiced reducing my ship's thermal signature in case I needed to try to sneak in without getting scanned, but when I came out of SC at the station, the station itself was my only contact, so I figured I was home-free and didn't need to try to sneak in, because usually when I have approached stations in the past, if there were authorities around they were already in space and flying around as soon as I was within sensor range.

Well, not so much this time; as I approached the station, suddenly three federal fighters appeared "out of nowhere" to scan me and I immediately got socked with a huge fine almost before I could react. Okay, so I screwed up somehow and/or didn't react fast enough, and that's fine, but I'd like to understand why so that I can do better next time. Do stations launch these fighters sometimes when ships are incoming, or was I just unlucky enough for these guys to supercruise into the area right after I got there? I didn't see where they came from, so I can't answer these questions myself.

Essentially my question is whether or not I always ought to try to make a stealthy approach to a station anytime I am carrying contraband, even if I don't see any other ships on the sensors. Please pass along a bit of your accumulated wisdom to this neophyte smuggler!

 

[Danger Mouse]

As soon as Betty says "Scan detected", boost away from the station! Boost boost! You should be able to break the scan before they complete it. If your close enough to the gate you may want to gamble flying in at top speed when scan begins. Flying to the backend of the station should break the scan range. Don't try to boost your way inside the station, it will only end in a big splat.

 

[GiantCorn]

your best bet is to check in the system map and head to an orbital station/outpost rather than a big rotating full-on spaceport. They usually never have patrol craft! easy-peasy then.

 

[McBadger]

If you haven't already, This guy shows how it really is done, Silent running or going cold has changed since. But the idea is just the same.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KbaLJTGHkj8

A good starting point is to know where your black markets are, The worst thing to happen is you flying into a station without one and risk losing your illicit gains without even a chance to sell them in the first place.

With that knowledge of Black markets, Keying your approach even in SC is helpful, Line up while in supercruise between the planet and the station, You have a good chance you will spawn with the docking entrance infront of you.

Entering, Check your contacts, Lock the station. Check for any Vipers or system authority vessels in the area, Full range on sensors help a touch.
As soon as your 7500m from the station, Dock request, check contacts again and look at the station, Is it busy? Is it firing on other vessels (I have found that if they are busy dealing with one culprit you have an easier time sneaking in under the radar without needing to go cold.

Boost your way to the station, If your scanned, Quick think, Can you make it into the station before that scan finishes? If not. Can you abort and lose tail because once your in.. Your in. If no, Go cold. Hit silent running to lose tracking. Fly through letterbox, Boost if required. Once your through without smashing face first into the station or another ship, Hit the reverse thrusters and drop that landing gear to get that speed down. (I fly with FA off so this is MUCH more difficult, Especially in the higher ships such as the Cobra with its terrible de-acceleration)

Typically thats how I tend to go about my ways with smuggling.

Hope it helps or at least gave some insight!

Edit: Just to add. The adenaline kick you get when your scanned at the last second, Just as you enter the box is GODAWESOME. I miss the old announcer saying "Do you have permission to be in the docking bay" You know you got in undetected and fast should you get that!

 

[Draven Darken]

As soon as Betty says "Scan detected", boost away from the station! Boost boost! You should be able to break the scan before they complete it. If your close enough to the gate you may want to gamble flying in at top speed when scan begins. Flying to the backend of the station should break the scan range. Don't try to boost your way inside the station, it will only end in a big splat.

Hmm, thanks! It never occurred to me that boosting away from the station would have any chance of breaking a scan. Instead I fumbled around for a moment, stunned by the patrol ships' sudden appearance, and then tried to bolt into the airlock, but by then it was too late.

Would it be an option to go to silent running as soon as I see "Scan Detected"? Or is it already too late by then?

your best bet is to check in the system map and head to an orbital station/outpost rather than a big rotating full-on spaceport. They usually never have patrol craft! easy-peasy then.

Yep, that is actually what my first choice would have been (thanks for confirming its wisdom). Unfortunately it doesn't seem like any of the outpost stations in my neck of the galactic woods have a black market, which is why I was trying my luck at a spaceport.

Still hoping for an answer to my original question: is it typical for patrol ships to pop up on the scanner from out of nowhere when you are on your final approach to a station?

 

[Scourge]

Deploying chaff should interrupt any scanning attempts.

 

[McBadger]

Still hoping for an answer to my original question: is it typical for patrol ships to pop up on the scanner from out of nowhere when you are on your final approach to a station?

I think you may be having a somewhat unlucky streak with authority vessels, However a good way to think about it is. The longer you hang around, The more chance they have to catch you and the more of an open window for them to appear. As of my own knowledge however, I don't believe a station will just send out a party to meet you. At least I have never seen it during any of my own encounters while smuggling.

 

[Danger Mouse]

Still hoping for an answer to my original question: is it typical for patrol ships to pop up on the scanner from out of nowhere when you are on your final approach to a station?

Yes. A squad of police is the first thing that appears if you are the only player at the station. If you arrive and see anything else, it means another player is already there.

 

[Draven Darken]

I think you may be having a somewhat unlucky streak with authority vessels, However a good way to think about it is. The longer you hang around, The more chance they have to catch you and the more of an open window for them to appear. As of my own knowledge however, I don't believe a station will just send out a party to meet you. At least I have never seen it during any of my own encounters while smuggling.

Well, that's good to know. I may well still play it safe(r) the next time, as the penalty for getting caught is so high.

Thanks for that YouTube video link also … just watched it, and that guy does some pretty impressive stuff! May I ask in what way silent running has changed since then, so that I don't try to emulate something he did that is no longer applicable? (I only got started with ED this last weekend.)

 

[adflet]

Well, that's good to know. I may well still play it safe(r) the next time, as the penalty for getting caught is so high.

Thanks for that YouTube video link also … just watched it, and that guy does some pretty impressive stuff! May I ask in what way silent running has changed since then, so that I don't try to emulate something he did that is no longer applicable? (I only got started with ED this last weekend.)

I doubt many people are bothering with silent running much any more, it's been hamstrung considerably since then.

I think the biggest change is this: In that video with flight assist off and low levels of thrust you could still keep your temperatures very low. This is no longer the case and any time your thrusters are on you'll generate enough heat to be seen as a flickering contact on scanners, and if they get close enough they'll still be able to scan you. I think currently the only way to be completely stealthy is to be dead in the water. (Don't take this as gospel, I haven't used silent running for awhile.)

The trick to docking when smuggling these days is speed. 9 times out of 10 you'll SC into a station's location and it will take awhile for the NPC ships to load in. If you're quick enough they won't get close to you.

 

[Johnny Bravo]

Deploying chaff should interrupt any scanning attempts.

so you can keep popping chaff and enter into a station with no issues?

 

[Scourge]

so you can keep popping chaff and enter into a station with no issues?

Short answer: Yes!

Although some judicious timing with your chaff might be better employed, as NPC scan timers seem very short.

 

[Nauht]

Also watch the patrols - when they leave the front of the station you can sneak your way in then.

 

[McBadger]

I doubt many people are bothering with silent running much any more, it's been hamstrung considerably since then.

I think the biggest change is this: In that video with flight assist off and low levels of thrust you could still keep your temperatures very low. This is no longer the case and any time your thrusters are on you'll generate enough heat to be seen as a flickering contact on scanners, and if they get close enough they'll still be able to scan you. I think currently the only way to be completely stealthy is to be dead in the water. (Don't take this as gospel, I haven't used silent running for awhile.)

The trick to docking when smuggling these days is speed. 9 times out of 10 you'll SC into a station's location and it will take awhile for the NPC ships to load in. If you're quick enough they won't get close to you.

I'm somewhat inclined to disagree with you there. Silent running still does have its uses. Just its usability has been somewhat.. compromised?

Silent running closes off your vents. Thus your heat signature to other ships is dropped and you become a harder target to actually detect. Close ships ~200m (rough estimate) away can still target you. The downside to silent running is exactly that the vents are shut off. The heat builds MUCH more rapidly within your ship. Heat damage will eventually occur and eventually you will have to disable silent running to let your engines cool down, Which... brightens you up like the night sky.

There are a couple of ways to circumvent the heat problem and to stay cold for longer periods of time.

- Shutting off all non essential ship operation - Keeping on only thrusters will reduce most ships normal temperature to about 31% Its a small drop however it can provide you with an extra few seconds with your vents closed to sneak in.

- Use of Heat sinks - Heat sinks are incredible, They dump all of your heat signature out into the void, Doing this will instantly turn your ship cold and your cockpit to freeze over, Running cold will now extend its duration, However the fact you have sinked your heat will show up on all scanners and contact lists. You might not be target able, But that sink is, and it shows your whereabouts (Although I have never seen NPCs think like this before)

The use of the two and knowing your ship, Such as how far you can push it when going cold, to its maximum heat threshold before taking damage can evade most situations. The use of Chaffs also does seem to help out. Although I suspiciously think they were used mainly as a knockout for Missile fire. I could be wrong though, I personally, Haven't used them to evade scans.

 

[mnemon]

Short answer: Yes!

Although some judicious timing with your chaff might be better employed, as NPC scan timers seem very short.

This is not true, chaff doesn't break locks it just prevents gimbals and turrets from tracking ... tested it a few times and also fought with npc's that use it.

Only way to break locks is with low heat and enough distance.

- - - - - Additional Content Posted / Auto Merge - - - - -

As for the OP, if you wait for a while at 8km+ you'll see when the patrol crafts leave the vicinity of the entrance, then you can easily fly in without getting scanned as long as you're fast enough.

the cops usually fly rounds around the base but when you enter a new island/instance they spawn close to the entrance and hang around it for a little while.

 

[Draven Darken]

As for the OP, if you wait for a while at 8km+ you'll see when the patrol crafts leave the vicinity of the entrance, then you can easily fly in without getting scanned as long as you're fast enough.

the cops usually fly rounds around the base but when you enter a new island/instance they spawn close to the entrance and hang around it for a little while.

That does make sense of what happened to me during my abortive attempt at smuggling - I'll watch for that behavior in the future. Thanks!

 

[Scourge]

This is not true, chaff doesn't break locks...

Lolwut?, I know that chaff doesn't break locks, I never said it did. Nobody said it did, where did you get that from? Chaff interrupts scans.

 

[mnemon]

Lolwut?, I know that chaff doesn't break locks, I never said it did. Nobody said it did, where did you get that from? Chaff interrupts scans.

Ah ok, some other people were saying this in some other threads, thought you meant the same thing sorry about that ...

Anyways, in practice it doesn't seem to do anything to scans(unless they've changed it now), I think the last time I tested was in 3.9 and the scans went through normally even though I was firing chaff.

 

[Tyr07]

Silent running is the magic. You're carrying illegal cargo, smuggling.

Ideally, you are not in combat, as if it's the station, you're dead.

So power down every non essential system. Basically, life support, thrusters, power plant, sensors should be all that's on. If you REALLY want to push silent running, you line up with the stations entrance.
You turn off flight assist, request docking, once approved, thrust forward at a reasonable speed.

Then shut off your thrusters, as you start to get close, enable silent running.

Just glide in. Plenty of silent running time, you sneak in well. Can do it with thrusters but it will increase your heat generation, but I never had a problem docking before it got too hot.
As you are smuggling, this should be standard practice. Problem solved.

P.S As soon as you undock, engage silent running again, shouldn't have a problem getting away from the station before you have to go active again. After you can power on all your systems again mid flight, and just turn them off again as you get close to your next station in supercruise.

 

[Scourge]

Haven't tested it myself recently either, good positioning and speed usually does the trick 9 times out of 10 anyway.

As I mentioned though, the NPC scan timer seems quite quick, It's all about timing your chaff right. Wait until you hear that you are being scanned give it the count of three and chaff out. On the other end this gives the effect of a reset scan timer, if you do it too soon you gain no real time from it. Depending how close or far to the station you are at this point should inform your decision to either gtho or go for the home run asap, some quick turns may pay off too. It's all about giving yourself just enough time to land.