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cargo beam

May 09, 2006 TRS link
Cargo Beam (Large port and small port)
Range: 100m
Weight: 5000kg
Energy: 9 energy units per second.

The cargo beam's look and feel is similar to that of a mining beam.

standby/off mode is toggled by activating a beam while having no target selected. No energy is used in these modes. In standby mode, the next cargo dropped will be locked into the beam and revert the beam to place mode.

Fetch mode is selected by activating a cargo beam while targeting a cargo container. The cargo will be accelerated towards the ships center of mass and be suspended there.

place/fetch mode is toggled by activating a beam that currently has cargo in fetch/place mode, while targeting that cargo. Place mode will accelerate the cargo to 100m directly in front of the ship, and suspended it there until the beam is turned off. Move and rotate your ship until the cargo is placed at the desired drop point.

Transfer mode is selected by activating a beam while another ship in range is targeted. The targeting ship will attempt to fly in formation with the targeted ship by, a) maintaining distance of 60m, and b) duplicating the targets orientation, acceleration, and flight path. This situation will remain until the target exceeds the maximum range, or the beam is turned off. Any cargo held in fetch mode by that beam, and/or dropped by the targeting ship, will be accelerated towards the target ship and deposited into it's hold. Any cargo dropped by the target ship, or that will not fit in a ships hold will revert the beam to fetch mode, and lock the beam onto that cargo. In the case of conflicting beams, the ship dropping the cargo sets all precedence in order of a) current valid target b) it's own beams c)random, with large beams counting as two small beams, and multiple beams from a single source being counted separately. To load cargo held in fetch mode into your own hold, target your self before activating the beam. If all cargo is deposited into your own hold, the beam will revert to off.

Suspended cargo can not be affected by other ships or cargo beams, and counts towards a ships total mass. Suspended cargo will remain in suspension during a jump.

There are numerous reports of cargo beam failures in ion storms.