Sender: DSM)M.Templar2000
Recipient: Dan Gunsmith
Subject: Mining Report
This will be a combination of three mining reports. The first report I had made some solo runs before being joined by DSM)-T.Executive for two of the 5 total mining trips. During this time various matters of business were discussed including heaps of praise for my diligent efforts. I was also given the go ahead by Mr. Gunsmith to try using the Hegemon class mining vessel.
Total mined: 5x560 plus 2x3750 silver ore
The second part of the report starts with me being escorted to Pittsburgh by Cabot to purchase and outfit a Hegemon class miner, then returning to the Sonora Fields for additional mining. Progress was slow at first as the new ship had a variety of quirks that required learning and adjusting to. While it is very maneuverable in the sense that it can change it's orientation faster than any ship of it's size I've seen, nearly as a small freighter, it carries an extreme amount of inertia. While you might turn the ship around in a hurry, it will take quite a while to slow down and start moving in the direction you are now heading. Also even though the turret coverage is very good, when mining the small asteroids of fields like the Sonora the turret cameras don't allow for the small asteroids to be seen making this feature impossible to use.
Total mined: 1x2500 tons silver ore
The third time I went out I was able to formulate a strategy to use it more effectively taking into account it's strengths and weaknesses. Parking near the big asteroid miners stationed there I only used the main navigation camera and not the turret cameras, I also did not activate the main engines at all. Once the various small rocks that came across my field of view were mined, I immediately changed the ships orientation while remaining stationary. Doing it this way yielded some surprising results, I was able to fill my hold entirely in just 20 minutes including travel times to and from the base. Given that the Hegemon's hold has 4.9 times the capacity of a Rhino's, that is a noticeable improvement. Doing some calculations I mined 137.5 tons per minute with the Hegemon on this run as opposed to my previous runs with the Rhino in the last filed report which got approximately 112 tons per minute, there is a time benefit to not needing to return to HQ as often.
My view of the Hegemon is that it is more efficient to use it when solo mining, but it has not been tested being paired with transports so I am hesitant to provide any views on that application. It's not for everyone, because of it's quirks it requires a lot of patience and adapting from the pilot to use it effectively. The Hegemon is not optimized for small rock mining fields like the Sonora and it shows. Should we ever acquire a field with large mineable asteroids the Hegemon would be a must have, it also would be extremely useful when paired with transports if we were mining in systems we had no bases in because of it's very large cargo capacity, the time savings over the Rhino would be substantial. I will continue to use it for the time being.
It also occurs to me that theoretically if properly outfitted with extra armor and weapons turrets it could make for a useful armored transport. I would look forward to testing it's combat effectiveness in virtual simulations.
