Like, I suspect, a great many players, I've been taking advantage of the new per-item storage in 3.0 to stockpile mats, especially top grade mats.
At first I found no particular difficulty in acquiring Abnormal Compact Emission Data: while looking for other G5 mats in High Grade Emissions USSs I checked Encoded Emissions USSs as well, and obtained several ACED drops from scanning the data beacons these often contain. ACEDs weren't common, but they were there. (They also showed up occasionally in random ship scans.)
Since 3.0.3, however, Encoded Emissions USSs no longer drop me any ACEDs. Plus, since 3.0.3 I've had only one drop from random ship scanning.
Based on the number of "Where are the ACEDs?" threads I've seen, I've not been alone in finding them MIA.
I tried ship scanning in HazRESs and CZs, but in 6 hrs 9 mins of scanning 1083 ships in these sources (three sessions in 3.0.3, one in 3.0.4) I obtained precisely one drop (three items) of ACED. Not the most productive use of my time.
There is, of course, one other famous source of ACEDs: the Convoy Beacon at Isinor. So I obtained the permit you need to go to Isinor, and took myself to the Convoy Beacon (by this time we were at 3.0.5).
For those who don't know, the Convoy Beacon (a permanent POI) at the planet Maodun in Isinor system contains two Anacondas and a T-9. This is especially handy since ACEDs are said only to drop from ship scans when scanning Anacondas.
The drill is to scan all three ships (the T-9s also drop mats, though not ACEDs), then either relog or else supercruise out of the instance and immediately drop back in (my preferred method).
Here's some data from my visit to Isinor:
Total time spent: 71 min
Total Convoy Beacon instances entered: 73
Encoded materials dropped:
Wake Scans, Encrypted Files, Encoded Firmware: none.
Emission Data:
1 No Grade 1-4 Emissions Data
2
3
4
5 Abnormal Compact Emission Data 15
Shield Data:
1 Distorted Shield Cycle Recordings 60
2 Inconsistent Shield Soak Analysis 33
3 Untypical Shield Scans 39
4
5 No grade 4 or 5 shield data.
Data Archives
1 No Grade 1-3 Data Archives
2
3
4 Divergent Scan Data 21
5 Classified Scan Fragments 24
Conclusions:
In 71 minutes I obtained 39 Grade 5 items - 13 drops. That's 11 drops/hr, which isn't bad for Grade 5.
However, ACEDs drop at less than 5 drops/hr. The ratio between ACED drops and CSF drops is roughly 2:3. By I suspect no great coincidence, CSF drops from all three ships, whereas ACED drops only from the two Anacondas.
So is the drop rate for ACEDs acceptable? You'll have to make up your own mind on that.
For comparison, Datamined Wake Exceptions in Famine Distribution Centres have in my experience always dropped at about 5 drops/hr, and that's generally been regarded as the preferred option for obtaining those Grade 5 mats. On the other hand, I've scored as many as 21 drops/hr gathering Grade 5 mats in HGE USSs.
However, at Isinor ACEDs are at least obtainable, if not abundant.
Fair warning: this is easily the most mind-numbing thing I've ever done in ED. I came away thinking that I'd been through more than 90 instances and had spent the thick end of two hours doing it. It was only when I totted things up in EDDiscovey afterwards that the true figures emerged.
At first I found no particular difficulty in acquiring Abnormal Compact Emission Data: while looking for other G5 mats in High Grade Emissions USSs I checked Encoded Emissions USSs as well, and obtained several ACED drops from scanning the data beacons these often contain. ACEDs weren't common, but they were there. (They also showed up occasionally in random ship scans.)
Since 3.0.3, however, Encoded Emissions USSs no longer drop me any ACEDs. Plus, since 3.0.3 I've had only one drop from random ship scanning.
Based on the number of "Where are the ACEDs?" threads I've seen, I've not been alone in finding them MIA.
I tried ship scanning in HazRESs and CZs, but in 6 hrs 9 mins of scanning 1083 ships in these sources (three sessions in 3.0.3, one in 3.0.4) I obtained precisely one drop (three items) of ACED. Not the most productive use of my time.
There is, of course, one other famous source of ACEDs: the Convoy Beacon at Isinor. So I obtained the permit you need to go to Isinor, and took myself to the Convoy Beacon (by this time we were at 3.0.5).
For those who don't know, the Convoy Beacon (a permanent POI) at the planet Maodun in Isinor system contains two Anacondas and a T-9. This is especially handy since ACEDs are said only to drop from ship scans when scanning Anacondas.
The drill is to scan all three ships (the T-9s also drop mats, though not ACEDs), then either relog or else supercruise out of the instance and immediately drop back in (my preferred method).
Here's some data from my visit to Isinor:
Total time spent: 71 min
Total Convoy Beacon instances entered: 73
Encoded materials dropped:
Wake Scans, Encrypted Files, Encoded Firmware: none.
Emission Data:
1 No Grade 1-4 Emissions Data
2
3
4
5 Abnormal Compact Emission Data 15
Shield Data:
1 Distorted Shield Cycle Recordings 60
2 Inconsistent Shield Soak Analysis 33
3 Untypical Shield Scans 39
4
5 No grade 4 or 5 shield data.
Data Archives
1 No Grade 1-3 Data Archives
2
3
4 Divergent Scan Data 21
5 Classified Scan Fragments 24
Conclusions:
In 71 minutes I obtained 39 Grade 5 items - 13 drops. That's 11 drops/hr, which isn't bad for Grade 5.
However, ACEDs drop at less than 5 drops/hr. The ratio between ACED drops and CSF drops is roughly 2:3. By I suspect no great coincidence, CSF drops from all three ships, whereas ACED drops only from the two Anacondas.
So is the drop rate for ACEDs acceptable? You'll have to make up your own mind on that.
For comparison, Datamined Wake Exceptions in Famine Distribution Centres have in my experience always dropped at about 5 drops/hr, and that's generally been regarded as the preferred option for obtaining those Grade 5 mats. On the other hand, I've scored as many as 21 drops/hr gathering Grade 5 mats in HGE USSs.
However, at Isinor ACEDs are at least obtainable, if not abundant.
Fair warning: this is easily the most mind-numbing thing I've ever done in ED. I came away thinking that I'd been through more than 90 instances and had spent the thick end of two hours doing it. It was only when I totted things up in EDDiscovey afterwards that the true figures emerged.
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