What are you doing (ingame) now?

[thebs]

yesterday I had this view over 3k light years above Coloina
the highest star my heavy engineered DBS could take me.
also now a new Pioneer with all that data

Totally awesome!

Once you cash in the exploration data, and get your name to any new discoveries, please do share the name of this system, and last few stars you took en route to this one. I'd love to visit it once I get back out to Colonia in a few weeks.

Or should I say "Mobia"?

[Orochimaru]

yesterday I had this view over 3k light years above Coloina
the highest star my heavy engineered DBS could take me.
also now a new Pioneer with all that data

Brutally impressive!
Congrats for the journey.

Sent from my LON-L29 using Tapatalk

[Cometborne]

yesterday I had this view over 3k light years above Coloina
the highest star my heavy engineered DBS could take me.
also now a new Pioneer with all that data

Totally awesome!

Once you cash in the exploration data, and get your name to any new discoveries, please do share the name of this system, and last few stars you took en route to this one.

Not directly above Colonia, but one of the highest: Altum Sagittarii Prime

Note that you need to make six jumps without being able to refuel there at the end, you can cut that to four with enough range and jumponium. Quite a few people make it "up there" and are then unable to return; that's why this system is called the shipslayer.

[Pam Demonium]

If you don't like the Python I'm not sure you'll like the Dropship, it's only marginally smaller 74x53x22 (vs. 88x58x18) but weighs more (580t vs. 350t), is slower and less manoeuvrable, has weaker shields, carries less cargo, and has less fire-power.

There's a reason the Python costs three times as much.

Dont like either, staying with the AspX. running around looking for fragments for Palin.

[Cometborne]

If you don't like the Python I'm not sure you'll like the Dropship, it's only marginally smaller 74x53x22 (vs. 88x58x18) but weighs more (580t vs. 350t), is slower and less manoeuvrable, has weaker shields, carries less cargo, and has less fire-power.

There's a reason the Python costs three times as much.

Dont like either, staying with the AspX. running around looking for fragments for Palin.

Get an SRV, fly to HIP 17403, land on A 4 A at -34.98, -141.41. The alien wreck there contains 2 UF to collect directly. There also three UA you can shoot with the guns on the SRV, they will break up into one or two UF eacjh. That's at least five and at best eight drops, so 15-24 UF. Log out and log back in to cause a re-spawn, then go collect some more.

[thebs]

yesterday I had this view over 3k light years above Coloina
the highest star my heavy engineered DBS could take me.
also now a new Pioneer with all that data

Totally awesome!

Once you cash in the exploration data, and get your name to any new discoveries, please do share the name of this system, and last few stars you took en route to this one.

Not directly above Colonia, but one of the highest: Altum Sagittarii Prime

Note that you need to make six jumps without being able to refuel there at the end, you can cut that to four with enough range and jumponium. Quite a few people make it "up there" and are then unable to return; that's why this system is called the shipslayer.

Yeah, I'd bring along a +32t or even +64t fuel tank. Of course that would cut into my jump range. I can get nearly 60ly with my Anaconda, which has a God roll (+50.3%) on its FSD.

But I usually fly decently equipped with a 45ly jump range, or just under 40ly very well equipped (2,400MJ shields, lots of equipment, 272t cargo, although when filled, it knocks it down under 30ly).

If you don't like the Python I'm not sure you'll like the Dropship, it's only marginally smaller 74x53x22 (vs. 88x58x18) but weighs more (580t vs. 350t), is slower and less manoeuvrable, has weaker shields, carries less cargo, and has less fire-power.

There's a reason the Python costs three times as much.

Dont like either, staying with the AspX. running around looking for fragments for Palin.

The Federal Dropship (FDS) is really an 'acquired taste.' It's frustrating to fly ... which means it eventually becomes 'fun,' if you change how you look at it. It is damn tough though! Can take a lot of punishment!

When I moved from a FDS to a Python ... the first thing I learned was how less tough the Python was, and the second was the rebuy difference (never had to rebuy a FDS).

[Pam Demonium]

Doubt Ill do Red or Emp grind. Most likely will use a FDL for any negotiations that pop up, DBX for exploration, and AspX for mining.
All tight turning ships, the DBX being the middle of the road. The FDL Ill make into a missile boat, 4 pack hounds should be fun, and one big bug zapper, might even name it the "Caldari". It has about the best turn and burn frame out there.

But thats down the road, right now just looking for fragments

[Pertanga]

Parked up in North America Sector CQ-Y d66. Found a station near Sadr, mooched about, sold my exploration data. I'm in the process of thinking about heading back, but I keep being distracted by just one more jump.

[Pam Demonium]

Get an SRV, fly to HIP 17403, land on A 4 A at -34.98, -141.41. The alien wreck there contains 2 UF to collect directly. There also three UA you can shoot with the guns on the SRV, they will break up into one or two UF eacjh. That's at least five and at best eight drops, so 15-24 UF. Log out and log back in to cause a re-spawn, then go collect some more.

I went to Pleiades sector, AB-W b2-4, found the wreck, for two day hung around, used different modes, no fragments.
Ive spent the last two days 3-4 hours a day trying to find the wrecks on hip 17862 and 17402, could not find the wrecks.
Got pissed, threw down my joy stick, and gave up.

The mapping grid system is the worse Ive ever seen in any MMO. In super cruise you can travel ground, but t you can not stabilize the grid numbers to follow one number to the other. At space normal speeds it takes hours to traverse the ground.
I spent years in the military teaching map & terrain navigation. Yet cant find spit on these planets.
I did not land on a planet for 4-5 months when I started ED, it was a much funner game back then.

[Cometborne]

There are three alien wrecks so far. Pleiades sector AB-W b2-4 was the first, but there are no UA/UF around. The wrecks on HIP 17862 and HIP 17402 both have UA lying around, the main problem is finding a landing spot near the things, the terrain is rather rough.

And while I fully agree that finding targets on a planet is still a pain, things have improved a lot since the heading is finally displayed while in orbital cruise. The problem with using experience from military terrain navigation is that it assumes that you are effectively stationary while you figure out that you are at lat/long A/B, want to go to lat/long C/D, so you need to move in direction E degrees for F miles/kilometers. And that needs to be precise to avoid detours.

In E:D, the slowest possible supercruise speed is 30 km/sec, and if you need only 10 seconds to do your calculation at that speed, you are already 300 km off. However, you typical hit orbital cruise at a much higher speed, so your error is typically much higher.

There are three ways to deal with this:
a) Once you enter orbital cruise, get down as quick as you can. Ride the edge of the red zone at 60 degree downslope. When you enter glide, pull up immediately to abort the glide and go to throttle 0. Come to a stop, note your position, the location of your target, throw that into the standard rhumb line calculation, and you will the direction and distance to your target. Rotate your ship in place until you face into the right direction, then pull 45 degrees up and charge your FSD while still at throttle 0. When you get the throttle up message, boost to enter OC again at minimal speed. Got 75% throttle, keep climbing until your are clearly above the drop line, then level out. Once near the target, point downwards to re-enter glide and exit near your target.

b) Forget everything you learned about military neatness and zero error. Go throttle zero when you enter OC, look at the latitude only, decide north or south, and fly course 0 or 180 at 75% throttle. Use your height above ground to control speed, lower = slower. When you are roughly at the right latitude, check longitude, and fly course 90 or 270. Accept that your latitude will be off, you can always vary your course between 80-100 (or 260-280) for some fine tuning. Once your latitude is roughly okay and longitude is within 5 degrees or so, get down into glide, and use that to further refine. You should end up with +/- one degree of longitude and latitude of your target after some practice.

c) Ask on Discord if somebody is around willing to help out by flying ahead and then providing a wing beacon.