Rockin' the New Cobra Mk. IV
26 Dec 2015Tuts
*** Corngari system, Tedin Station, StarDate 23.12.3301 ***In a Sentence: I'm nearly creditless after buying my new ship, so I'm trying out mining to raise quick funds.
Admittedly spending a year trapped on that jerkwater planet came with a silver lining - there is lots of new tech available these days, and wonder of wonders I can even afford some of it! Take for example, the brand-new Cobra Mark IV I just dropped most of my dimes on. I do mean brand new, it has only been available for less than a month, meaning I don't have to wonder what sweaty star captain used to live in this tin can before I bought it. I loved my Mark III, and I haven't decided yet if the four is truly better; but there's no question that she's more versatile. I now have a luxurious variety of options for upgrades (EIGHT internal compartments!?) but of course fitting them out is going to take way more credits than I have left.
This system has major ore reserves, a smallish gas giant with metallic rings, and a station with decent metal & ore prices just 3 light seconds (!) away in local orbit. It's probably as good an opportunity to dig up some credits as I'll find for 30 LY in any direction. So I've decided to do some mining.
With the recent advances in limpet controller tech, mining has become a helluva lot less tedious than the last time I was desperate enough to try it. First of all, I can send 1,2, or even 3 limpets out to grab chunks of ore and bring it back to the ship's cargo hatch with the collector limpet controller installed. I quickly upgraded to a 2-limpet controller and it's the bomb! I was dubious at first because the limpets take up a lot of cargo room, and they don't function for long (a few minutes, depending on the controller you're using) - but they're super cheap, and it speeds up the process so much it's well worth it. And maybe even better is the prospector limpet controller - not only can you tell which rocks have the ores you want most, but the better controller versions actually increase your mining yields. Totally worth the investment.
Now all this new mining equipment takes up 3 compartments, so I'm glad to have the Cobra Mk. IV because she can handle it. To be sure, there's a hefty penalty (agility and speed are much reduced) but worth it, at least so far.