Beacons and Caravan/Comm Pack Brahmins - Where? (Update 5)

[Slb1]

I am having problems with making the beacon system work consistently (~25% success rate for Mk 1 and salvage beacon deployment). Every time I pass Oberland (has both caravan/comm plots), I saw 2 pack brahmins stuck about 200 yards north of Oberland, see image. At Hangman, before I placed a caravan or comm plot at that settlement, there was a pack brahmin at the feeding trough in a corner. Shot /disabled the critter to make room for a plot. So the question is - do caravan/communications plots need to have pack brahmin(s) on-site for the beacons to function properly and not show a busy message? Additionally, I have seen pack brahmin "stuck" with no NPC in other locations, but only gave it passing thought.

Thanks as always.

Summary: have caravan/comm plots at Sunshine, Starlight, Taffington, Oberland, Zimoja, County, and Hangman.
(1) Federal Ration - Mk 1 worked on the third attempt, after days in between
(2) College - Mk 1 has not worked (busy) after 3 attempts
(3) Fanuiel - Mk 1 and salvage have not worked (busy) after 1 attempt. Second attempt was apparently out of range see below.
(4) National Guard - Mk 1 and salvage have not worked (busy) after 2 attempts. Third attempt successful but caravan disappeared (?), see below
(5) West Everett - Mk 1 worked on first attempt
(6) Weston - Mk 1 and salvage worked on first attempt, see below
(7) Super Duper - Mk 1 worked on second attempt
(8) Revere - Mk 1 worked on first attempt, second attempt could call the caravan, but got stuck at site, see below
(9) Waltz - Mk 1 did not work on first attempt, second attempt could call the caravan, but got stuck at site,see below
(10) Transfer of Loot/Resources by Salvage - Red Rocket to Starlight, Red Rocket to Hangman, Starlight to County, plus 3 - 4 attempts throughout area did not work - busy message.

Update 1: Cleared Weston and both the scanner/Mk 1 and salvage worked as expected. Even though there are functional caravan/comm plots at Sunshine and Hangman, the Mk1 team came from Oberland and the salvage team came from Taffington.

Update 2:
(1) After 2 game days, the resources from Weston (#6 above) must have been hijacked by some mysterious force, because the Mk 1 and salvage beacon stuff have not shown up.
(2) The Starlight loot did show up, however, the Taffington caravaner has been stuck for at least 10 game hours at County, see images.
(3) Tried to move loot/resources from Hangman to County via salvage beacon and got the busy message.
(4) Tried National Guard Mk 1 beacon and received busy message.

 

[Slb1]

Update 3 - Fast traveled to all settlements (13) and refreshed all caravan and communications plots, and shot/disabled the two pack brahmin north of Oberland, and:
(1) after refreshing the Taffington caravan plot, Theresa and the brahamin were there, however after completing a counter clockwise circuit starting at County and returning to County, Theresa and her brahmin were back at County
(2) the Mk 1 beacon and the salvage beacon from Weston with there "stuff" have completely disappeared

Try again tomorrow

 

[magitsu]

I've tried about 10 times and never got Mk1 to work. Salvage has worked but I've used it only once or twice due to bad experiences with Mk1.
At least the scanner highlights the loot... i just currently pick it up and coc to a workbench overencumbered af. Guaranteed retrieval of the important items means more than clearing up everything with an unreliable mechanism.

 

[Tal]

I got Salvage Beacons to unlock during my first playthrough, but they are not unlocking during my current one.

I don't think I'm doing any of the Tech Tree right.

 

[Deleted member 10215]

I got Salvage Beacons to unlock during my first playthrough, but they are not unlocking during my current one.

I don't think I'm doing any of the Tech Tree right.

You're guaranteed to get them at the end of Jake's Questline, but if you don't do that I can't figure out what the other requirements are ("Story Unlocks" doesn't include them for some reason?)

 

[Tal]

I've definitely finished the Quest Line. I definitely can't make them.

 

[Slb1]

I've definitely finished the Quest Line. I definitely can't make them.

When I finished Chapter 1, I received the Mark 1 Beacon as a popup message plus I found the salvage beacon in a download on Jake's computer. For a wordy report, see https://simsettlements.com/site/index.php?threads/mk1-beacons.14437/page-2#post-101605

Suggest this: return to Jake's shop in Concord and access his computer on the first floor.

 

[Slb1]

UPDATE 4 - ahh! another day
(1) traveled to Taffington and assigned another settler to caravan plot and moved Theresa to County
(2) Theresa and her brahmin again showed up at County, so shot/disabled Theresa's pack brahmin, reassigned her at County and again verified Taffington caravan/comm plots were "manned"
(3) placed Mk1 at National and it worked, but the the caravan was coming from Taffington and not County hopefully it will arrive
(4) fast traveled to Weston and the caravaner/pack brahmin were stuck at the salvage beacon cache site, see image, and took out a sentry robot. There was no sign of the MK 1 beacon in Weston
(5) fast traveled to Waltz, scanned and placed a Mk 1, caravan coming from Starlight - not County, and hopefully it will arrive
(6) fast traveled to Revere, scanned and placed a Mk 1, caravan coming from Zimonja - not County, and hopefully it will arrive

 

[Slb1]

UPDATE 5 after 1+ game day, checked and:
(1) Fanuiel - got the message apparently out-of-range, see image
(2) National - checked the site inside/outside and no caravan
(3) Waltz - caravan stuck at door, see image
(4) Revere - caravan stuck at site, see image
(5) Drug Den - placed salvage beacon in nearby mailbox and it was delivered within a reasonable time frame with proper notification.
(6) Also pack brahmin stuck at bridge, north of Hangman, see image

Considering each was directed to deposit the loot at County, either the caravans move really really really slowly or there is a bug.

Keeps KG and the gang busy Thanks as always to their hard work.

 

[Tal]

Suggest this: return to Jake's shop in Concord and access his computer on the first floor.

Winner. Thank you!

 

[Kaldusar]

So I was using salvage beacons with success. But recently i hawing problem. Always it same All caravan services in communication range are busy. Is there some level necessity for communication and caravan plot? Or its just bugy? I was in Medford Memorial Hospital drped salvage beacon to crate and bam busy... And i have communication and caravan service in Tafington...

 

[fiicus]

I haven't been able to get a single Mk I to work no matter how close to a settlement I am. I tried dropping one at the rations stockpile with a fully upgraded caravan in Sunshine Tidings and it tells me there's not a team within range. I can't tell if it's because I'm using a mix of SS2 plots and IDEK's logistics plots or some other mistake I've made but it just simply will not work for me.

Also I truly can't believe Jake sends you out with a beacon THREE times and you don't get that scrap. Mind boggling.

 

[Deleted member 10215]

Also I truly can't believe Jake sends you out with a beacon THREE times and you don't get that scrap. Mind boggling.

I cant help but notice that his robot isnt back to Concord yet after all three... multiple of those sites Jake sends you to were military related... and it was established earlier in the questline that the robot picks up the wrong things. If that doesnt turn out to be important early in Chapter 2, I dont know what will.

 

[Kaldusar]

I haven't been able to get a single Mk I to work no matter how close to a settlement I am. I tried dropping one at the rations stockpile with a fully upgraded caravan in Sunshine Tidings and it tells me there's not a team within range. I can't tell if it's because I'm using a mix of SS2 plots and IDEK's logistics plots or some other mistake I've made but it just simply will not work for me.

Also I truly can't believe Jake sends you out with a beacon THREE times and you don't get that scrap. Mind boggling.

Well you need communication service too... Form me M1 worked fine I just don't using it because mine cities have big surplus of materials anyway... Salvage beacons work(iš) but it seams that have it own quirks...
And IDEK's logistics plots are for SS1 is they not? You really shouldn't be using submods for SS1...

 

[fiicus]

I cant help but notice that his robot isnt back to Concord yet after all three... multiple of those sites Jake sends you to were military related... and it was established earlier in the questline that the robot picks up the wrong things. If that doesnt turn out to be important early in Chapter 2, I dont know what will.

Very good point! I wasn’t thinking like that.

 

[fiicus]

Well you need communication service too... Form me M1 worked fine I just don't using it because mine cities have big surplus of materials anyway... Salvage beacons work(iš) but it seams that have it own quirks...
And IDEK's logistics plots are for SS1 is they not? You really shouldn't be using submods for SS1...

I guess I missed that you need the comms plot too. I just saw that it would attract more settlers and I wasn’t ready for that. As far as the logistics station goes, it’s been ported over to SS2: https://www.nexusmods.com/fallout4/mods/48389

 

[Kaldusar]

I guess I missed that you need the comms plot too. I just saw that it would attract more settlers and I wasn’t ready for that. As far as the logistics station goes, it’s been ported over to SS2: https://www.nexusmods.com/fallout4/mods/48389

Hmm well There your problem without comms plot it will not work... And to properly beacons work you need SS2 caravan plots I think.

 

[fiicus]

Hmm well There your problem without comms plot it will not work... And to properly beacons work you need SS2 caravan plots I think.

The mod author says it’s compatible with SS2 caravan features. I think my problem was the comms plot. Thanks for the help! It’s so easy to overlook all of the information in SS2

 

[magitsu]

Had fun following Mark 1 beacon run to Medford Medical Hospital. I set Taffington as the destination and a caravan was launched from Tenpines. I coc'd there and sure enough it had started to move. The guy dispatched a few radroaches and bloodbugs on the way, with the Brahmin each time retreating further back until the coast was clear. Then it arrived to Medford. Synth patrol, to which I was friendly but apparently not he and the brahmin. He gunned them down easily. Then he went in and I followed. He wandered around a bit with the brahmin getting stuck as predictable. I rested and advanced for 1 hr and they always had teleported to different sides of the hospital. Then after maybe four repeats they had exited which I noticed from the Mark 1 beacon having vanished. The guy and his brahmin were now halfway between Medford and Taffington. I ran past and waited. Then I got this screen. Success. What I didn't expect was the amount of stuff... crikey! Brahmin is the MVP of 2020.

Interestingly the screen says Salvage dropped at Tenpines. But he travelled to Taffington, which I selected.

 

[Deleted member 10215]

Then I got this screen. Success. What I didn't expect was the amount of stuff... crikey! Brahmin is the MVP of 2020.

Interestingly the screen says Salvage dropped at Tenpines. But he travelled to Taffington, which I selected.

View attachment 10894

I would fight an entire army of super mutants with only a pipe pistol for that much Ceramic. Pity its "virtual" scrap