Help in fitting an Exploration ASP

[Skipp]

So... I was thinking of doing a 1k Ly exploration run just for fun and a change of scenery... My options are buying an ASP or the Diamondback explorer but the ASP's cockpit is just made for looking at shiny stuff outside - so ASP it is

Since I've done zero exploration so far, I basically have no idea what modules are needed and what modules are absolutely useless at that point. So, any help is appreciated.

So far I managed to scrape up something like this, but like I said - any input is more than welcomed.

Are repair units useful at all? Is 1 enough or should I take more? What about utility stuff? Weapons?

[Feldspar]

If you are only going 1k LY then you'll want your advanced discovery scanner, your detailed surface scanner and a fuel scoop, the bigger, the better, anything else is luxury.

The only utility hardpoint items worth considering are heat sinks, I personally think they are a waste of time but others swear by them.

Repair units can be useful if you have a habit of colliding with stuff, I'm considering adding one, but I went 60,000 LY without needing to use one, at least they don't weigh anything.

I take a small shield, but don't think I used it last time, although it has saved my bacon in the past. Weapons are a waste, just run away.

Looking at your build there are a number of things I would do, first replace your power plant with a lower class A rated unit, you should be fine on an 3A, possible manage a 2A, this gets you more range and A rating is better for heat, so you can scoop better. Consider dropping sizes on your thrusters and power distributor, for range purposes. Loose the extra fuel tank, I can go 600 LY on economical jumps, or 5 max range jumps on the standard fuel tank, if you can't find a scoopable star in this range you are either somewhere very scary or just not doing something right; you're just adding huge amounts of weight with it.

Over all, it really depends on you, going 1000 LY can be done in pretty much any ship and you don't need to min/max to any extreme. Take your ship out and see if you want more (or less), range isn't everything unless you are going places with few stars or want to cross distance as quick as possible.

[Flip]

Here's mine: http://coriolis.io/outfit/asp/05A5D5A4A ... xploration

[Huntemdown]

This is my current build http://coriolis.io/outfit/asp/03A4D5A4D4D5D5C------02---3f-400j0j2i2f.AwRj4zOUSA==.Aw18WQ==.

Fuel scoop could be better rated, less time scooping means less heat; A rated power plant as it has best heat management

The AFMU remains off until needed; you only need these if you are going deep space but never hurts to carry 1 as they weigh nothing at the moment. They cant repair canopy, power plant , or the hull. If you do need to use it remember to drop into 'normal ' space, ie out of supercruise or you will sustain further damage while repairing some modules.

To use:-
Turn on the AFMU
Turn off the module you wish to repair
Repairable modules have three stages: on (solid square inside the brackets), off for repairs (diagonal line inside the brackets) and disabled (empty brackets)

Heat Sink Launcher for when you get to close to a sun and need to use the 'emergency vector' to get away.

The shield generator is just insurance to give you time when inside the civilized bubble to get the FSD up to speed, nothing worse than coming home with all that data and getting shot up or run into something that hurts.

Also look at this page on the Frontier forums https://forums.frontier.co.uk/showthread.php?t=139049 for lots of additional help

[Gorf]

I'm out exploring at the moment - the second time I've headed out since December 16th.

You might want to ditch the cargo rack for a fuel tank. Having said that, I've barely used more than 20% at worst from my total fuel on this trip, so I don't think extra fuel is an absolute necessity.

I'm not carrying any maintenance units, I think they might have been more useful than the extra fuel tanks. Having two means that you can repaire each with the other when they become damaged.

Other than that you need to use a 1D power distibutor and 4D thrusters and 4D power plant. The weight saving gives you an extra 1.3ly per jump, which doesn't sound like a lot, but it definitely gives you better routing options.

[Skipp]

thnx guys. i'll check it out in a few hours. if i run into nice shiny stuff i might even push on after 1k Ly

[Casey Casem]

For deep space exploration you can't go wrong with an Asp. My first several forays into the deep was with an unarmed Asp.

However I'm a combateer at heart. I feel 'wrong' without shields and weapons. Combat fitted DBE is my current explorer of choice. Exploration without fear (with exception of certain binary systems)

[Gorf]

I'm only looking for a black hole to put my name on. Then I'm coming back.

I'm not sure what to expect, and the idea of being near one is nicely scary.

[Etherin Nor]

get the biggest and best fuel scoop, in the biggest and best slot available... get the best FSD it can hold, surface scanner and advanced discovery scanner.... everything else D class to reduce weight and lengthen your jumps.

[Skipp]

Thnx again everyone. I took the best jumpdrive (obviously), a big fuelscoop (takes like less than a minute to fill it all) and just mixed-and-matched the rest of the modules to make the ship lightweight. My jumprage is 33.x-36.x Ly which sounds good enough. I got 400Ly away from Kamadhenu last night in just 14-15 jumps. Surfing around a nebula at the moment

I'm gonna see how far will I get before getting bored of scanning and jumping and scanning and jumping. Unfortunately almost every system i jumped into so far had all the planets 100k+ Ls away from the star. I reeeeally hope that's not the "default" state of the far away systems. I can't imagine supercruising 100-200-300 Ls in a straight line just to get a scan.

So far, I got a few water worlds, one black hole, a few white stars and tons of rocks... tons... and tons... of...rocks xD