thanks @julian I’ve been hoping for a post like this.
re: AC, it’s true that switchers are efficient, but it’s also a 2-way process, going from battery to AC, then AC to DC starlink side. Whatever inefficiency is present doubles. Accounts for at least some of the losses.
Amazing. I wanted to hear your experiences the most with it since I know you’ve been using it the most probably!
This thread motivated me to finally pull the trigger.
Anyone have a case they like? Thinking about going with this one. It’s spendy but I really like that it has a built in mount and leaves everything connected. I’ve heard of people having issues with the connectors breaking on the cables that go to the dish.
I get that case has a mount, but I"m not sure it’s worth the extra $$ over the actual Starlink Travel Case, at least for my use cases.
I purchased the case a few months after getting my starlink. I like it well enough, and ist offers decent protection, but it has some odd things I don’t like - backpack straps that get in the way (I don’t really see the need for them) and an odd shape that is fairly large and causes me to do some tetris-packing at times.
I realize I could get this type of data elsewhere, but is anyone using starlink for zoom calls with video by multiple participants and sharing your screen? Any lag or quality issues with that type of use case?
@dfinn Dishy fits perfectly in the Pelican 1600 Case Case doubles as a step, box, seat, etc. I wouldn’t splurge for that “custom” case — I determined value wasn’t there after considering one myself.
I’d also recommend you permanently mount the router and wiring to expedite set up at camp. Takes my wife and I less than a minute to deploy ours at camp and maybe 2 minutes when I’m solo. I have a few photos of the setup on my build thread here.
To further simplify, I’ll even leave the dish mounted if next campsite is just up the same backroad and staying under 35mph (as I did as recently as this morning)
@cmc I’m in zoom calls basically all day — Just got out of one where I was presenting to a group of 20 peeps. No issues! Down in Baja the dish was routinely getting +100Mbps… in CAN/US speeds hover around 50mpbs which I know isn’t a “ton” in 2023 but more than enough for video calls, streaming, large photo/video dumps, etc. w/o lag. Both my wife and I have been on calls at the same time w/o issue, too.
You haven’t had any issues with the cable or connector that goes to the dish having issues from frequent plugging and unplugging? I’d hate to be on a trip somewhere like baja and relying on this to be able to work and not be able to because a connector failed.
Permanent mounting of router means I’m only ever exposing one end of the cable—which I have a 3D printed cap on when not in use (Found on Etsy). FWIW cable is quite sturdy IMO, not sure how folks are messing their connectors up, would have to really be a brute to damage.
@cmc I have Starlink in Albuquerque and it’s been rock solid on zoom/teams . Speeds are usually above 50mbps and get above 100mbps in the evenings. Latency is even low enough to play online multiplayer games.
@dfinn I haven’t had any issues with the cable other than an animal eating it. The dish end of my cable is on the roof in 110+ degree weather and really high winds. I’ve been pretty impressed with Starlink overall. Especially considering my next fastest internet option is 7mbps up and 2mbps down.
Your setup is soooo clean, I’ve been accumulating components to copy many parts of it.
Just doing a shake down but my god…I love it. I have a 500wh battery generator that I am using and just tapped into the 175w panel on the roof. Will invest in a 200w portable panel most likely but right now and after ~2.5hrs, I have only dropped from 92 to 85% on the box with most of that time being shaded. Legit the future.
Hey if anyone is looking for a case, I will sell you mine for cheap.
Case
I cut out for the Starlink. Works Great. I came up with a different way of transport.
@PeanutButterandBacon Im looking for a case! Im new to the Foum, what the best way for us to make it happen?
Got mine this week and doing the initial test now. Power draw for me is 40-50 watts (3.5 - 4 amps) and this is going through my inverter.
Speeds are awesome so far, 150 Mbps and 50ms ping times. I got this in my back yard in salt lake and the same out in the mountains a couple hours away. I’ll be taking this on a trip through BC in a few weeks to really test it but so far pretty impressed.
message sent
I love the starlink, but it sure is a power draw. working full time remote with meetings would be painful
I run starlink off my LiFePo4 batteries, and have the pivot mount on the peak of my GFC roof. It works great, I’ve never had any issues unless I’m in deep canyons with lots of obstructions. I’m usually in Utah and Idaho.
I have a 300W solar array on my roof and 1200Wh of battery capacity and have never had issues with the power draw. I chopped into the wiring harness on my tacoma inverter to power it from the house battery, so the starlink router cable comes out in the camper.
I just paused service because I’m going to be living in Texas for the next year, but I’m going to try re-mounting the dish like this guy: DIY Starlink Flat Mount RV Roof Adaptor Powered by 12 Volts - YouTube
Here’s a pic of the camper last week in Taos, NM, on my way to Austin, TX:
I’m considering revamping my whole electrical system (I’m an EE) with something small and custom made just for truck campers that can manage the solar, the alternator, battery charging, USB-C power delivery outputs to all the common, and take care of powering dishy from the battery without the inverter requirement. I’m just dreaming at this point, but I’ve been scheming about it for at least 2 months. I’ll add more details in another thread when I get around to formalizing my ideas.
Last note - there’s supposedly enough satellites in orbit now that the flat mount rectangular dishy (not the HP one) should work really well. There’s sites out there that will show you all the visible sats at a given location. It’s pretty nutty that there’s at least 5 or so even if you point the dish south. Most of the time in the US, the dish ends up pointing north (for orbital dynamics reasons that I don’t know much about)
This is good info. I was thinking about the trade-offs last night of flatmounting Starlink with solar. My Starlink at the house always points north so I was thinking you could either have good service (pointing the vehicle north) or good solar (pointing the vehicle south).
Edit on what I posted earlier…So I have been doing a lot of testing lately. I just got back from 7 days of working remotely 8-9 hours a day with it. It works well. I have two mounts, one on the roof, and one on a small tripod that is awesome too if I am camped under trees, etc.
With my 200w of solar for my Inergy Flex, I get never drop below 70% of battery draw on remotely sunny days.
Yea I was finding my renogy 175w flex panel was enough to keep my 500wh battery in the same spot/maybe gaining 1-2% of battery.
Going to be investing in a 200w portable panel though to help when I am not parked in the sun and need MORE juice.
