Understanding the Basics of using this Mod:

Below are some pointers, and how to customize the default settings for how the mod works in the game:

Sorting and working with TIM: Taleden's Inventory Manager does not currently recognize anything in the inventory of a Nanite Control Factory. Hopefully, that will change at some point. Meanwhile, using a sorter on a *separate* conveyor line that is whitelisted for only ore will move any mined materials into the main feed so that TIM can feed it to your Refineries/Oxygen Generators. IOW, one conveyor line for importing components into the NCF, and one for *exporting* ore that the nanites have mined. You MUST set the sorter on the export line to "Drain All" in the control panel. Sorters still don't work properly (Keen SWH issue), so you may see the sorter trying to pull ore back into the nanite factory. It's irritating, but doesn't really matter. The NCF will still pull and keep the components it needs to build or repair blocks that are part of the same grid, or grids that have been marked with a Repair Beacon.

Mining: The NUHOL does not need to be embedded inside the ground/asteroid. However, it DOES need to be attached to a grid that IS embedded. What I do is embed a block into the ground and set the NUHOL on top of it. I then set another block attached to the first and place a small reactor onto it. In some cases, I will also place 2 additional blocks and a Large Grid Antenna set to 50 km broadcast distance. You can then control your nanite mining operations from low orbit, if you like.

Beacons: I always set a beacon on top of the reactor and let the nanites build the NUHOL grid. You don't need to complete the repair/construction beacon. The NCF will do that automatically as part of building the NUHOL grid. In point of fact, you don't need to complete ANY beacon. Repair/Construction, Deconstruction, and Projection beacons will all be completed by the NCF. The mod recognizes the uncompleted beacons as if they were completed. Very nifty. And ALWAYS remember that setting a Deconstruction beacon on ANY grid automatically marks every block in that grid for deconstruction. There is, IIRC, something like a 30 second delay before the NCF will mark the grid that you've set the beacon on. If you destroy the Deconstruction beacon before that delay ends, no problem. Otherwise, you can't prevent it. You can turn the NCF off completely, but it will resume deconstruction as soon as you power it back on.

Projections: The current version of the nanite mod does not play well with blueprint construction. It's so bad that I can, without reservation, state that you DON'T EVER want to use the NCF to build a blueprint. The only sure way to use blueprints is to get individual blocks "started" manually and let the NCF finish them all up.

Ranges: Default NCF mining ranges are as follows: Max 300 meters from NCF to NUHOL. Max 50 meters (spherical) from NUHOL to ore deposit. Nanites will mine ONLY the ore inside that 50 meter sphere.

Upgrades: The NCF starts out with a limited number of nanites in place. These nanites will perform all functions checked in the control panel of the NCF. They won't do them very fast, but they WILL do them. Upgrades are designed to add additional nanites to the NCF. *That is all they do*. There are 2 exceptions. One is the Speed upgrade. This upgrade increases the speed at which your nanites move about their assigned tasks. The other is the Power Reduction upgrade. This reduces the overall power usage of all nanite streams, lowering the value from, IIRC, 26 MW/stream to 24 MW/stream.

Power: The NCF has a base power usage. This is the power required when the nanites are idle (no active targets). If you set a NUHOL with no mining upgrades on the NCF, the power required is increased by 26 MW (default). Each *stream* of nanites requires 26 MW of power when active. The NCF starts with one "stream" of nanites and splits all tasks between the nanites of that stream. If you are mining with no mining upgrades installed, you're using 26 MW of power + the base power to run the factory. If you install a mining upgrade, this adds 1 *additional* stream of nanites dedicated to mining. Your power usage is increased by another 26 MW.

Customization: Almost every default setting of the Nanite Control Factory can be customized to your liking. The settings file is in *.xml format and can be edited very easily using Notepad or Wordpad. I use Notepad. The file is located in

C:\Users\<username>\AppData\Roaming\SpaceEngineers\Storage\<#########>.sbm_NaniteConstructionSystem\Settings.xml

where "#########" will differ from user to user. ***CAUTION***: BACK UP THIS FILE BEFORE MAKING ANY CHANGES!! I have mine set to mine any NUHOL within 2000 meters. The only other setting I have changed is to reduce the power usage per nanite stream from the default 26 MW to 4 MW. This makes a significant difference and could be considered a cheat. However, the original mod author has pointed users to this file, which I consider "permission" of a sort. This power reduction change will seem extreme to many, but it's how I prefer it. /shrug

At any rate, I hope this was useful. I will possibly make a tutorial video on You Tube covering all of the above. I'm not sure when I will find the time, but I might. If so, I will come back and link it in this thread.