Starlink Install

[avanti]

Originally Posted by folivier

GPS and Dish, etc all use stationary satellites to communicate.

Dish, DirectTV and traditional sat internet use geostationary satellites, but GPS uses LEO sats, so they are not stationary. However, they are transmit only--no uplink.

Starlink's satellites aren't stationary and sweep across the sky. That's why you need a much larger open area, otherwise as one satellite goes out of view there will be a delay until the next one passes overhead.

This is true. However, the plan is for there to eventually be tens of thousands of satellites in the constellation. (There are around 2,000 now). The more sats there are, the smaller the "clear sky" patch has to be.

[hbn7hj]

Originally Posted by avanti

Dish, DirectTV and traditional sat internet use geostationary satellites, but GPS uses LEO sats, so they are not stationary. However, they are transmit only--no uplink.

Not that it is important here but GPS uses MEO, medium earth orbit. I think they are around 12,000 miles up, there are 24-32 of them. (31 at the moment.)

[avanti]

Originally Posted by hbn7hj

Not that it is important here but GPS uses MEO, medium earth orbit. I think they are around 12,000 miles up, there are 24-32 of them. (31 at the moment.)

Yes, that is true. I was being sloppily imprecise. The point is that they move in the sky.

BTW: This is necessary for them to work. The geosynchronous ("Clarke") orbit is a single arc in the sky, so there would be no way to do the necessary triangulation (at least I don't think there would).

[hbn7hj]

Posting through Starlink.

This is on a class C

Don’t know how to determine speeds but videos view well.

[hbn7hj]

Finally got Starlink’s speed app to work for me. Operator error. 150mps down is typical but it varies quite a bit.

[Davydd]

That's better than mine at home. I just checked with Speedtest on my iPhone 11. My WiFi cable network was 97 mbps and my LTE cellular was 51 mbps for downloading comparison.

[hbn7hj]

226 mps a few minutes ago. I think it is expected these speeds will reduce as more and more customers get online.

It does open up a lot more campsites to the off grid crowd. Trees are a problem.

The biggest problem I have is in sharing. You hate to cut your friends off of their late night movie viewing. Power draw is low enough we can run it all night and have a little longer generator run in the morning. I haven’t done power tests but others report 50-100 watts with the average being closer to 50.

So far so good. Trees are a problem as are narrow rocky canyons.

[avanti]

Originally Posted by hbn7hj

Trees are a problem as are narrow rocky canyons.

Could you say more about this? When there is less clear sky, does it degrade gracefully or just stop working? What percentage clear sky is necessary to get usable service (realizing that it is probably direction-dependent)?

[hbn7hj]

Originally Posted by avanti

Could you say more about this? When there is less clear sky, does it degrade gracefully or just stop working? What percentage clear sky is necessary to get usable service (realizing that it is probably direction-dependent)?

Dunno. I’ve only used it with 100% clear skies. Will have more info by the end of the summer.

The thought is the more satellites the less clear sky requirement. Right now there are approximately 2000 satelites out of a proposed 38,000 or so.

[hbn7hj]

This may answer some questions.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kdvpEwx7xos

[hbn7hj]

I have moved from my service address, activated their new portability feature, and all is well. Took a few minutes but it works at a different location.

It would not work without “portability.”

[Davydd]

I am hearing more positive things about Starlink but the Wendland’s solution was a telescoping 10 ft. Pole on a ladder. If that is the solution for wooded sites then it is a no go.

I have good success with a 4G iPhone with the hotspot feature. I will upgrade my new phone to 5G before I consider anything else.

[hbn7hj]

Originally Posted by Davydd

I am hearing more positive things about Starlink but the Wendland’s solution was a telescoping 10 ft. Pole on a ladder. If that is the solution for wooded sites then it is a no go.

I have good success with a 4G iPhone with the hotspot feature. I will upgrade my new phone to 5G before I consider anything else.

You will get there. It opens up a whole new world of overnight locations in the western USA. This assumes they don’t go bust. Hopefully they pencilled it out correctly.

This post made through Starlink and “portability.”

[Davydd]

I haven’t scheduled any trips west for at least another year.

[hbn7hj]

Starlink for RVs now available with the ability to pause service.

Immediate delivery.

Just an FYI

[Davydd]

I saw $125/month. I’ll wait. I’m on a 4,000 mile trip for a month and have had one night without cellular LTE coverage and then discovered I had it sitting on the driver’s side of the van outdoors in a campground.

[Rlum]

Originally Posted by Davydd

I saw $125/month. I’ll wait. I’m on a 4,000 mile trip for a month and have had one night without cellular LTE coverage and then discovered I had it sitting on the driver’s side of the van outdoors in a campground.

Just received an email from Startlink. Monthly is now 130. We can pause at anytime but still pay the entire month. For the way, I camp/travel, it will be a bit too expensive. I am holding off right now.

[Boxster1971]

For those who have or are considering Starlink you might want to check out this video about Starlink Deprioritized Portable Service.

https://youtu.be/yHOStttp8d4

[hbn7hj]

We are still waiting for the dedicated RV antenna that doesn’t have to be removed when you move. It does seem this RV account is preparing for it.

They promised an RV antenna but never promised a “when.”

Those that disabled the motors, removed the mounting pole and mounted it flat to the roof say it works well that way.

[InterBlog]

So, this is my rig-up right now, and it’s not cutting the mustard. I’m about 12 miles out into the wilderness from the nearest tower, which is not optimized for signal in this direction (because there’s nobody out here). Nevertheless, with the telescoping mast improvement, download is a meager but acceptable 2 to 4 Mbps. But upload speed is often 0.00 Mbps.

TL;DR from another thread - we built an off-grid trailer with a separate 600 watt solar and I forget how much lithium, but it’s a boatload of battery capacity (a poster on Airforums referred to our trailer as our Command and Service Module, or CSM, after the Apollo vehicle of analogous purpose). Plus we have the 300 watt solar and 300 AH lithium that was already on the van from our DIY conversion years ago. But I’m starving in the midst of plenty here. Plenty of energy, plus the ability to freeze enough food for several months off-grid, but no data upload capacity, which prevents me from working remotely and successfully doing my job during an extended off-grid stay, which is the goal.

I hate to pay for Starlink for occasional use only, but at this point, I’ve exhausted every other potential. I don’t think I can do it any other way. So, our Starlink (mis)adventure will commence after we return from this trip.