The irony for me is that it is available where I keep the boat, but not at my home address. The boat is in a covered shed, so it wouldn't do me much good there, unless I happen to be out and about.
Starlink
- Thread starter ocgrant
- Start date
Tom, seems like there is a lot of confusion. The mobile (RV) offering is so new that unexpected problems are cropping up. I don't think that already registered terrestrial users are getting bumped but their bandwidth might be degraded. I've also read that some number of RV unit sales are to buyers who are in waitlisted areas where new residential sales are on hold due to area saturation and that is causing some consternation.
Something to note for us soon-to-be Starlink users. The system does frequent firmware updates as would be expected. But, for what I have read are security reasons, the updates aren't incremental. Lots of reports from users who turned off service for a number of months and when they restarted, the dishy was bricked. Unclear if Starlink will replace the unit although they have in some. Anyway, the advice is if you turn off service, say over the winter, start the unit up at least once a month and let it perform any updates that are available (service doesn't have to be turned on for the unit to join the system and be updated).
- Dec 31, 2006
- 2,831
- Boat Info
- H2O Therapy
2006 Sundancer 48
Novurania 430DL
HighField 340-FCT
Yamaha EX-R
Raymarine
PADI DM
- Engines
- Cummins QSC 540's
Surprise… arrived early
- Dec 31, 2006
- 2,831
- Boat Info
- H2O Therapy
2006 Sundancer 48
Novurania 430DL
HighField 340-FCT
Yamaha EX-R
Raymarine
PADI DM
- Engines
- Cummins QSC 540's
Not bad at the dock…
- Dec 31, 2006
- 2,831
- Boat Info
- H2O Therapy
2006 Sundancer 48
Novurania 430DL
HighField 340-FCT
Yamaha EX-R
Raymarine
PADI DM
- Engines
- Cummins QSC 540's
Ok so mounted it and learned a lot.
1. I only thought it pitched front to back, wrong it rotates. Don’t know how I missed that one the dozens of videos I watched.
3. Super happy with the performance so far…. Need to finish this and run to the Bahamas.
1. I only thought it pitched front to back, wrong it rotates. Don’t know how I missed that one the dozens of videos I watched.
- This causes issues in this location for me because it will hit the open array radar when it rotates
- I was going to remove the dome but want to learn more about this thing before I pull the dome.
- Not ready yet to drill the access hole to unplug the motors, I want to have the motors function as designed for now until I see this think working flat. Right now it is tilting towards the north
- I am going to play with some more mounting ideas in this location first
- The cable connector is going to be a bit of a pain in the ass to run. Forget about pulling the router side first… huge. The dish side cable is manageable but still big.
3. Super happy with the performance so far…. Need to finish this and run to the Bahamas.
Mine came in this morning. Was able to quickly set it up on the back deck.
This is in an area with lots of trees providing a poor obstruction rating. We'll see how it does on the Chesapeake tomorrow.
One lesson learned. I couldn't see the the expected "STARLINK" SSID on my phone. After a little googling I found that Elon Musk changed the default SSID to "STINKY" a few weeks ago by tweet, no indication of that on the app. So, Orlando, be warned when you unbox yours this week.
This is in an area with lots of trees providing a poor obstruction rating. We'll see how it does on the Chesapeake tomorrow.
One lesson learned. I couldn't see the the expected "STARLINK" SSID on my phone. After a little googling I found that Elon Musk changed the default SSID to "STINKY" a few weeks ago by tweet, no indication of that on the app. So, Orlando, be warned when you unbox yours this week.
- Mar 25, 2008
- 5,539
- Boat Info
- 2006 Sea Ray 58 DB
- Engines
- MAN CRM V8-900s, Twin Disc Drives; Onan 21.5 Generator
I guess I don't understand how it works if you disable the motors - I thought they were necessary to point it towards the satellites...
Carter, it's actually a phased array (sort of like SPY-1 if you saw Aegis in the Navy) rather than a directional antenna. So, as long as the antenna is pointing skyward, it's able to read the satellites. The motors appear to be there to place the array in the most optimal position but the experience of users without motors is that it's not really necessary, in fact, the tweaking of direction may actually cause more outages than just leaving it stationary.
Skybolt
Well-Known Member
- Nov 11, 2014
- 6,533
- Boat Info
- Reel Nauti
460 EC
- Engines
- Detroit 6v92TA
(Low profile's)
Alison Gears
Westerbeke
12.5kw Genset
I had seen in a youtube that musk changes your SSID if you had "Starlink" in the name. So that doesn't surprise me. Thank you for pointing that out.
FootballFan
Well-Known Member
Thank you all for posting the details of your journey with StarLink. I am very interested in your experiences and what you are learning, so following each post.
Irie308
Well-Known Member
- May 28, 2013
- 2,607
- Boat Info
- 2004 420 DB, GHS Hydraulic Lift
Garmin 8600/Garmin 1222 plus
AB Mares 10 VSX with 30 hp Tohatsu
- Engines
- Cummins 450C 8.3 L Turbocharged
Read up on the phased array so very curious about the flat mount. Makes sense why performance would be better for mounting on a boat that constantly swings on anchor. Not ready to disable the motor yet but very interested in the flat mount kits out there. I'll bet SL will come out with a software update that allows you to disable from within the app.
Skybolt
Well-Known Member
- Nov 11, 2014
- 6,533
- Boat Info
- Reel Nauti
460 EC
- Engines
- Detroit 6v92TA
(Low profile's)
Alison Gears
Westerbeke
12.5kw Genset
So what's your plan to allow for the rotating panel that will interfere with your radar?
- Mar 25, 2008
- 5,539
- Boat Info
- 2006 Sea Ray 58 DB
- Engines
- MAN CRM V8-900s, Twin Disc Drives; Onan 21.5 Generator
Thanks Al. I didn't realize it was a phased array antenna.
Skybolt
Well-Known Member
- Nov 11, 2014
- 6,533
- Boat Info
- Reel Nauti
460 EC
- Engines
- Detroit 6v92TA
(Low profile's)
Alison Gears
Westerbeke
12.5kw Genset
@ocgrant This mount looks like a good possibility: https://antenna-accessories.com/products/low-profile-fixed-mount-kit-for-starlink™-antennas
Orlando, are you thinking of cutting the dish yourself?
Skybolt
Well-Known Member
- Nov 11, 2014
- 6,533
- Boat Info
- Reel Nauti
460 EC
- Engines
- Detroit 6v92TA
(Low profile's)
Alison Gears
Westerbeke
12.5kw Genset
Yes, but they also offer a service for that if needed. That kit comes with a marking tool that shows you where to cut. I also think a dremel with a shallow cut off wheel would work perfectly. Looks pretty straight forward.
- Dec 31, 2006
- 2,831
- Boat Info
- H2O Therapy
2006 Sundancer 48
Novurania 430DL
HighField 340-FCT
Yamaha EX-R
Raymarine
PADI DM
- Engines
- Cummins QSC 540's
So since this is all the "early" stage of this whole thing I am still pretty set on getting it running "stock" for now and seeing how all this plays out. My thoughts are I don't want to be drilling holes all over my boat since "change" is in the wind for sure over the next year for this whole thing I am thinking. So I am focused on using the standard "marine antenna" mount from the original TV mushroom. I know it is probably less than idea long term but I am convinced I can come up with a solution for me that will work. Since I did not take in account the "rotation" issue, I have ordered some pipe and fittings to get me the clearance I will need. Got some tube bending in my near future and some sort of support. Hope to make progress next weekend. Just want to get the clearance I need for now to run it stock. Who knows what the future brings. I do hope surface mount to the top is the future as it is the cleanest look.
Skybolt
Well-Known Member
- Nov 11, 2014
- 6,533
- Boat Info
- Reel Nauti
460 EC
- Engines
- Detroit 6v92TA
(Low profile's)
Alison Gears
Westerbeke
12.5kw Genset
Is there enough room for you to shorten dishy to fit under the radar?
Yeah I agree that things will definitely be changing a bit in the next year or so. And I definitely do not want to be drilling anymore holes in anything. My plan is to test with the mount it comes with for a short time then do the flat panel mount to where my DTV dome is currently mounted. I am planning on still keeping the peplink, but possibly only for wifi if I end up under a roof for some reason.
370Dancer
Well-Known Member
- Oct 2, 2006
- 2,491
- Boat Info
- 1998 370 Sundancer
- Engines
- 380hp MAG MPI Gen VI with V drives
My neighbor got a RV account and equipment
in May. She has been away and busy, so here it sits. Today, I took it to the back dock to do a setup on it (with her permission, and credentials). Too many obstructions, I guess when trying to scan the sky. I took it over to a local RV storage lot and put it in the middle of the lot. 0 obstructions, but it just couldn't get past being "offline" but searching. Then I got a message about degraded service in the area, and Starlink was "looking into it". So first impressions are:
Not ready for Prime Time, or I just got unlucky.
Will try again tomorrow evening, when the feels like isn't 104 degrees.
Nothing like trying to squint at an unreadable I-Phone while doing twirls in the parking lot in the August Florida sun. 3 shirt day. Even put a blanket over my head with the camera peeking out so I could get to 100%, and know that I did.
UGH. Come on, Cellular. Did I see 12 hours to resolve a no obstruction sky in that message?
If I had to go through this every time I moved it to a new location, it would be in a garage sale.
Not ready for Prime Time, or I just got unlucky.
Will try again tomorrow evening, when the feels like isn't 104 degrees.
Nothing like trying to squint at an unreadable I-Phone while doing twirls in the parking lot in the August Florida sun. 3 shirt day. Even put a blanket over my head with the camera peeking out so I could get to 100%, and know that I did.
UGH. Come on, Cellular. Did I see 12 hours to resolve a no obstruction sky in that message?
If I had to go through this every time I moved it to a new location, it would be in a garage sale.
