Tutorial #3: Retrievulators
Retrievulators would have to be one of my favourite blocks in Tekkit Classic. They allow you to setup crafting and machine setups that can be controlled exactally how you want them to be. You can use them to create "On Demand" crafting setups that will only craft items as they are needed so your factories are not required to run 24/7 wasting valuable resources (EMC and server wise).
Step 1:
First thing you will need to do is setup some sort of Blutricity supply. There are only 2 options, solar panels or Thermopiles. They both have their advantages and disadvantages. I tend to go with solar panels as they are alot easier to setup, but can cost a bit more in materials. If you are setting up a large factory using lots of machines from Redpower you should place Battery Boxes near machines as Bluewire will lose power over long distances
Step 2:
Place down your source material chests. These can be normal chests, condensors, machines, crafting tables, etc. Anything that tubes can pull an item from. In this example I am using 3 condensors containing Nikolite, Copper and Tin. You could be pulling rubber from and extractor and copper from a furnace to automatically craft copper cables.
Step 3:
THIS STEP IS IMPORTANT!!! Place down your target block (In this example an auto crafting table). When placing the Retrievulator you need to position yourself facing the side of the target block you want your items to enter into and shift click to place it. This is a critical step as you cannot rotate Retrievulators after they have been placed. Placing them this way will have items flow from the face where you are standing and out the face on the other side.
Step 4:
There is also a bug with Retrievulators that causes them to look like they have rotated when the chunk they are in is unloaded. Ignore this, they will work as they are meant to if you have placed them correctly as in the step above.
You should now place a Retriever next to the Retrievulator from the same position you placed the Retrievulator. This is not as critical because they can be rotated with a screwdriver. These two blocks are designed to work together setup like this and only like this.
Step 5:
Hook up power to the Retriever and setup something to extract from the top of the Crafting Table. I have used a Filter in the example but you could use another Retrievulator setup connected to another machine or crafting contraption.
Step 6:
How the Retrievulator works. Its checks if the adjacent inventory has the items that are in the "T" side of the UI and if it doesn't it will place the corresponding slot on the "R" side into the Retriever and it will retrieve that amount of items. It will also send redstone pulses to the Retrievulator when it is under the threshold amount. Once the adjacent inventory has the required "T" amount, it will jam the Retriever until it dips below the amount again.
You will notice that I have all the items matching in to UI in the example, this is how you want it setup to retrieve items for a crafting setup but the do not necessarily need to match. For example, you could have a Retrievulator checking an Energy Condensor for a certain amount of Copper and when it dips below that amount it could automatically retrieve some Diamonds to top up the Copper in the Condensor. This could the be joining into and infinitely looped in a massive automatic setup.
In the next tutorial I will go over how I use this setup in my builds.
Enjoy.
If you have any questions, comments, tutorial requests or I have made any errors, please post a comment and I'll get on it.
