Starlink

[PJHoffnet]

Anyone tried with the antenna under a bimini? That might be my interim placement until I figure out the real location.

Would metal 'frame/cross bars' be an issue - block signals?

 

[rslifkin]

Would metal 'frame/cross bars' be an issue - block signals?

It might be a little bit, but probably not a major issue. One of my slip neighbors has a Starlink dish mounted to the mizzen mast on a ketch. The dish has chosen at times to point almost directly at the mast (no more than a foot away) and yet it works just fine.

 

[Helmsman]

We picked up our new to us Helmsman 38e and have been on the docks at Waterline Boats in Lake Union for three days. Even though we have lots of obstructions, I set up the Stinky Dishy whatever we now call it and it got a solid signal (100 mbs) even though the antenna is pointing north right at a building. the router was unplugged for a spell and I had to set it up again, shifting to Stinky and then renaming it. Weird.

I installed four of these that cost pennies on Amazon (Erickson 01704 3" Roof Suction Cup) and then stuck the dish to the forward end of the pilot house roof. Ran the cable back to the flybridge where there is an AC outlet. Put the router in a cabinet under the helm to keep it dry.

We have been out on the water multiple days. The suction cups work great. Today we are taking the boat to its permanent home in Elliott Bay so I will be a chicken and take the dish down. It stows nicely in a cabinet beneath the helm. Takes less then five minutes which is nothing compared to all the other stuff you do.

All in all very pleased with this temporary set up.

Jeff

Thanks Jeff. Will approach it the same way when our Helmsman is delivered.

 

[SailorGreg]

Anyone tried with the antenna under a bimini? That might be my interim placement until I figure out the real location.

Mine worked fine under the Bimini. Hard to tell if I lost any bandwidth at all

 

[Larry M]

Here’s a a report from Richard Spindler.

“THE CURRENT STATUS OF STARLINK IN MEXICO AS OF SEPTEMBER 4, BASED ON OUR FIVE-DAY BASH FROM PUERTO VALLARTA TO SAN DIEGO.

Starlink worked everywhere along the coast of Baja as long as we were within about 12 miles of shore.

This might lead some people to think Starlink geofences the service further out. The problem with this theory is that Starlink worked for the first 170 miles of the rhumb line course from Punta Mita to Cabo. And that's way the hell offshore.

So we're just reporting our experience, not claiming to know why it works where.

And remember, it's a rapidly evolving system….But when it works, it's fabulous. We're very thankful for the weather updates we were able to get on Tropical Storm Javier. They allowed us not to worry about Javier…

Also rRemember that Starlink units cost 16 percent less in Mexico than in the States, and the monthly service is 50 percent less. Musk is trying to price the service based on what locals can afford.”

 

[Sababa]

I doubt they geofence. I expect instead that the offshore limit is a function of the current generation of satellites needing a direct connection to a ground station. It will be interesting to see if they allow RV and mobility customers to connect to interconnected satellites off-shore on a best-efforts basis or limit that connectivity to higher service tiers.

 

[dannc]

I doubt they geofence. I expect instead that the offshore limit is a function of the current generation of satellites needing a direct connection to a ground station. It will be interesting to see if they allow RV and mobility customers to connect to interconnected satellites off-shore on a best-efforts basis or limit that connectivity to higher service tiers.

Starlink does geofence, there have been plenty of people reporting that they took their system to a different location and it would not work since it was not at the registered location.

The ground area covered by the satellites is quite large and there are still only a few ground stations across the world. Some US states do not have a ground station.

The 12NM limit is has been reported but there seems to be people getting coverage outside of 12NM somehow. My guess is that the 12NM limit is more a regulatory issue than a technical one.

Here are some links that track Starlink Satellites and show ground stations and such. Unreal that this information is so easily seen. It is out of a Science Fiction novel....

https://satellitemap.space/?constellation=starlink#

https://starlink.sx/

Later,
Dan

 

[Retriever]

FWIW, Starlink worked reasonably well recently on a trip from Honolulu to Kauai and Niihau, which had us well beyond 12nm offshore. Reasonably well because we did have more signal drops in Hanalei Bay and around Niihau than typical, but those were also windy, rolly anchorages where Starlink had a pretty unstable platform.

Unfortunately, our Dishy seems to have died. It’s been in an endless boot loop for 24 hours and says it can’t get a GPS signal. I’ve done the troubleshooting I can. It’ll be interesting to see how contacting support goes.

 

[tpbrady]

Sam,

I suspect your “Dishy” may have succumbed to corrosion from salt air. I don’t think they are sealed very well so you can see where that leads. You could put it in a NAVPOD like used on a sailboat, but recalling the early problems with overheating, that may not be a solution unless cooling is considered. When you get your new one, do an autopsy and see what you find.

Tom

 

[Hydraulicjump]

More weird dishy stuff

Well, I want to add to the weird dishy actions. Today, we left Elliott Bay Marina and headed north up to Kingston. I just disconnected the power to the unit until I turned on the inverter just outside the marina. The dishy started to search and got stuck. All caps STARLINK MOTORS STUCK, then "Check for anything preventing your Starlink from moving"
I went out and gave it some physical movement and it did not break loose. But interestingly it is stuck in the horizontal. The benefit of this is that its download and upload speeds are very high. Others have disabled their motors up here to keep the dish pointed straight up. Our failed into the optimal orientation.



It may come back to life when I stow it and redeploy it, but this worked out well. Maybe it's a feature not a bug.



Jeff

 

[dannc]

FWIW, Starlink worked reasonably well recently on a trip from Honolulu to Kauai and Niihau, which had us well beyond 12nm offshore. Reasonably well because we did have more signal drops in Hanalei Bay and around Niihau than typical, but those were also windy, rolly anchorages where Starlink had a pretty unstable platform...

Do you have the RV Starlink service that allows roaming from one's home address?

I wonder if those who have working Starlink more than 12NMs offshore are using the RV service.

Or maybe in HI, Starlink considers the whole island chain as in service irregardless of the 12NM link? There is one ground station in Molokai if one of the previous links is correct.

Later,
Dan

 

[trawler nut]

Hi my friends. Got a ? The other nite on tv I saw an add for T Mobile. It's starting a pilot program in the fall for rural customers where they use a cell phone that does NOT use a cell tower. It's uses a satellite connection. Is this the same as starlink or maybe a competitor? Thanks for any info

 

[Helmsman]

Hi my friends. Got a ? The other nite on tv I saw an add for T Mobile. It's starting a pilot program in the fall for rural customers where they use a cell phone that does NOT use a cell tower. It's uses a satellite connection. Is this the same as starlink or maybe a competitor? Thanks for any info

https://www.theverge.com/2022/8/25/...-t-mobile-satellite-internet-mobile-messaging

Very limited service. Just text messages as I understand it.

 

[Retriever]

Sam,

I suspect your “Dishy” may have succumbed to corrosion from salt air. I don’t think they are sealed very well so you can see where that leads. You could put it in a NAVPOD like used on a sailboat, but recalling the early problems with overheating, that may not be a solution unless cooling is considered. When you get your new one, do an autopsy and see what you find.

Tom

Possibly but I doubt it. This dishy has lived its whole life about 30 feet up the mast of a trawler and has been inside a KVH dome. It looks clean and doesn’t show external evidence of salt exposure (nor did the 10-year-old KVH guts that I tore out). Oh well, we might just carry a spare in the future, the space is a bigger issue than cost.

 

[Retriever]

Do you have the RV Starlink service that allows roaming from one's home address?

I wonder if those who have working Starlink more than 12NMs offshore are using the RV service.

Or maybe in HI, Starlink considers the whole island chain as in service irregardless of the 12NM link? There is one ground station in Molokai if one of the previous links is correct.

Later,
Dan

This is an RV Starlink ordered right to the Waikiki Yacht Club with their address as the service address. I think Hawaii is a bit of a fringe case right now, since RV service is the only service available. I don’t think they’ve shipped to any Hawaiian residential customers yet.

 

[tpbrady]

Sam,

Thanks for the feedback. Starlink should have decals for repurposed domes.

Tom

 

[dannc]

This is an RV Starlink ordered right to the Waikiki Yacht Club with their address as the service address. I think Hawaii is a bit of a fringe case right now, since RV service is the only service available. I don’t think they’ve shipped to any Hawaiian residential customers yet.

Thank you, that is interesting.

Really interesting that Starlink has not sent units to HI for residential.

Later,
Dan

 

[ksanders]

Here’s a a report from Richard Spindler.

“THE CURRENT STATUS OF STARLINK IN MEXICO AS OF SEPTEMBER 4, BASED ON OUR FIVE-DAY BASH FROM PUERTO VALLARTA TO SAN DIEGO.

Starlink worked everywhere along the coast of Baja as long as we were within about 12 miles of shore.

This might lead some people to think Starlink geofences the service further out. The problem with this theory is that Starlink worked for the first 170 miles of the rhumb line course from Punta Mita to Cabo. And that's way the hell offshore.

So we're just reporting our experience, not claiming to know why it works where.

And remember, it's a rapidly evolving system….But when it works, it's fabulous. We're very thankful for the weather updates we were able to get on Tropical Storm Javier. They allowed us not to worry about Javier…

Also rRemember that Starlink units cost 16 percent less in Mexico than in the States, and the monthly service is 50 percent less. Musk is trying to price the service based on what locals can afford.”

My american RV starlink is currently in Ensenada Baja and is working fine. We'll see how it works going down the coast.

 

[Alaskan Sea-Duction]

From fb:

Well the day has unfortunately come, new firmware update just went out that won't allow the Res and RV starlink systems to connect and provide internet while underway.

The firmware with this update is With 79170122-8b62-4124-865e-05dbeaf764e9.uterm.release

 

[SteveK]

From fb:

Well the day has unfortunately come, new firmware update just went out that won't allow the Res and RV starlink systems to connect and provide internet while underway.

The firmware with this update is With 79170122-8b62-4124-865e-05dbeaf764e9.uterm.release

wonder how sensitive that will be for a boat at anchor. Rumor is that it cuts out within 10 seconds of movement and on again 10 seconds after movement stops.
There must be a geofence around the antenna, hell my boat moves around at the dock according to the gps.

 

[Tator]

Chuck'em. Farley! I'm out!

Tator

 

[jgwinks]

wonder how sensitive that will be for a boat at anchor. Rumor is that it cuts out within 10 seconds of movement and on again 10 seconds after movement stops.
There must be a geofence around the antenna, hell my boat moves around at the dock according to the gps.

Well that sucks... Guess I won't be getting one afterall. Didn't they just get FCC approval for use in motion?

 

[HTurner]

From the very beginning, Starlink has stated and continues to state that use while in motion is prohibited. It will void your user agreement. All who currently have Starlink on their boats and used them while in motion should be happy they just didn't terminate your contract for violating the user agreement.

 

[socalrider]

I don’t care about using while underway being cut off but if it doesn’t work while swinging at anchor it’s pretty useless for a cruiser.

 

[Simi 60]

That sucks if that's the way it's going.

Back to twirling knobs on portable SSB and seeing if I can get weatherfax to work on a tablet.

 

[psneeld]

Not sure if swinging at anchor is as bad as quicker rolling or pitching motion.

The standard Starlink has been reported to work just fine while moving even in a car going relatively fast. Maybe not 100%.... but usable. You might have to disable the positioning motor as that when trying to move may be what disrupts the system.

Think there are a few you tubes on it.

 

[rslifkin]

The only setup they officially allow for in-motion use is the $$$$ Maritime setup. I'm wondering if they're cutting off in-motion on the standard dishes because of an upcoming product announcement to fill that hole, or if it's causing issues (regulatory or otherwise).

 

[jgwinks]

Guess they need to define what "in motion" is on a boat. 20 feet, 50 feet ok but not 6 inches. That's fixable with a software upgrade. They sold a lot of RV systems to folks who put them on boats, they will be getting a lot of complaints & canellations.

 

[SteveK]

The Starlink website does not seem to have any changes since I first started looking. Like many things internet, suppose this could be a rumor started and perpetuated.
Waiting to hear from those that have had it working for any changes.

Also, the in motion ability was turned on to aid Ukraine. Maybe that need is winding down and it is going back to what it was. Let's face it most RV & boats may not need it going from A to B.

Does Starlink for RVs or Portability allow for in-motion use?
No. It is prohibited to use Starlink for RVs or Portability while in-motion.

Using the Starlink Kit in motion will void the limited warranty of your Kit. While our teams are actively working to make it possible to use Starlink on moving vehicles, Starlink is not yet configured to be safely used in this way.

Best Effort Service: Network resources are always de-prioritized for Starlink for RVs users compared to other Starlink services, resulting in degraded service and slower speeds in congested areas and during peak hours. Stated speeds and uninterrupted use of the service are not guaranteed. Service degradation will be most extreme in "Waitlist" areas on the Starlink Availability Map during peak hours. See Starlink Specification for expected performance here.

 

[slowgoesit]

If the above posts are true, then I guess we don't have the new firmware update yet.

We would find it handy for checking weather enroute, also for getting phone numbers or data on marinas prior to arrival. Also checking e-mail.

If it is still usable at anchor, we will keep it. If it is unusable at anchor, moving around the hook, we will regretfully cancel the service, and explore other options as it would be totally useless to us under those circumstances.