Starlink

[cpaharley2008]

Remember you chose to go camping to get away, not stay connected or "wired", they can always leave a message unless you have have a illness involved?

 

[sofmerc]

Remember you chose to go camping to get away, not stay connected or "wired", they can always leave a message unless you have have a illness involved?

The reality today is some people have to work remotely...or not go. They don't need to spend 8 hrs at a desk but need connectivity.. Running a biz or keeping tabs on family, elderly parents etc.... Not everyone who wanders is retired... Thats the beauty of tech...sometimes

 

[Ooshkaboo]

Has someone tried Starlink RV yet? I am in two minds - to jump right now or to wait until next year.

Arguments for jumping right now are-

• Have a 10 day trip at the end of June where having good quality internet would be very helpful. Not that I plan to work the whole time but it'd be good to have the option for when it is necessary.
• Equipment is a one-time cost. This will help us work the kinks out and work out what's possible for more use later on.

The arguments for delay to the next year are:

• Our prospects for camping after the June trip are quite small. Have a 4-day trip around the Labor day and that's it. My wife is in Europe for a month in July-August and teaches 4 days a week starting mid August.
• So, we will use it for two trips at most for a total of 12 days. And, the fees - $600 up front + $135 for trip 1 and $135 for trip 2 (if we activate for that) are fairly steep.
• Delaying to next year might allow us to get more information, possibly get new(er) equipment (in case there are improvements) and save / defer some of the expense. Just as importantly, the implications of the lowest priority associated with this usage might become clearer.

Overall, the cost seems steep for our type of usage - not sustained long term use. If I defer to next year, I'll probably have to by a Verizon MiFi device and a prepaid plan, etc. So, that's about $300 cost as well.

Hotspot works great, if you have signal. Cell signal was great in the middle of the Kentucky hills. Maybe your cell provider can let you know if you’d have coverage at your destination.

 

[kavm]

The reality today is some people have to work remotely...or not go. They don't need to spend 8 hrs at a desk but need connectivity.. Running a biz or keeping tabs on family, elderly parents etc.... Not everyone who wanders is retired... Thats the beauty of tech...sometimes

That captures our situation. The reason we will invest some dollars into it is that the lack of internet connectivity leads to fewer and shorter camper vacations. Of course, we would not sit in the camper working for 8 hours during the trip - but there are lot of scenarios short of that.

 

[KLRchickie]

The reality today is some people have to work remotely...or not go. They don't need to spend 8 hrs at a desk but need connectivity.. Running a biz or keeping tabs on family, elderly parents etc.... Not everyone who wanders is retired... Thats the beauty of tech...sometimes

That captures our situation. The reason we will invest some dollars into it is that the lack of internet connectivity leads to fewer and shorter camper vacations. Of course, we would not sit in the camper working for 8 hours during the trip - but there are lot of scenarios short of that.

Yup. Everyone’s reasons for being “camped out” are not the same!

We work 100% remotely. *Where* we are doesn’t matter - so long as we have connectivity to the internet.
We and two others are the entire company. We two are the entire customer support department! M-F we need to be reachable.

So long as we check in and respond several times a day (and get other work done for some hours a day) it is not a problem for us to take a couple hours off in the nice part of the day to ride our dirt bikes or mountain bikes.

With Starlink, we can camp out in our Escape for 10ish days at a time, and spend MORE time in the areas we love - which are far, far beyond the reaches of cell service - and spend LESS money than if we drove out every weekend.

<drat. I can’t make the picture attach in the correct rotation on my iPad!>

 

[richm]

Remember you chose to go camping to get away, not stay connected or "wired", they can always leave a message unless you have have a illness involved?

"remember you chose" seems a bit presumptious.

 

[sofmerc]

many people have side hustle businesses that allow them to be out camping....

 

[Ian and Sue]

"remember you chose" seems a bit presumptious.

Sometimes I choose to get away and unplug....sometimes I choose to do some work remotely so I can get away more often or for longer periods....

 

[Mike Lewis]

Starlink in Antarctica

https://www.theregister.com/2022/09/15/starlink_antarctica/


ML
at the Niagara Wine Escape

 

[kavm]

https://www.theregister.com/2022/09/15/starlink_antarctica/


ML
at the Niagara Wine Escape

Happy that they can enjoy more bandwidth but find the whole 'new research dimensions' schtick with anything to do with McMurdo a bit over the top. I bet most are happy to watch netflix in McMurdo - to add new research dimensions.

 

[Brian B-P]

https://www.theregister.com/2022/09/15/starlink_antarctica/

While service for Antarctica is interesting, the most interesting part to me is that Starlink can now provide this because they have enough satellites in the more polar orbit, as well as the laser-based inter-satellite communication capability (allowing the use of ground stations in other areas), which creates the possibility of serving all polar areas, south and north. There are far more people in the north beyond the original Starlink service area and any reasonable other service than there are in Antarctica.

 

[EscapeBoulder]

I just activated our mobile Starlink system today. And I can’t find an answer to the following:

How do I put the Starlink antenna into a storage position, with its tube pedestal in its closest position for storing in the box?

I found something on the web about going into “Settings” in the app, but apparently it was filmed with an earlier edition of the Starlink app, and I can’t find settings in my app. Maybe I’m just being blind here or something.

 

[kernwig]

In the latest version (which just changed), there is still "Settings" on the main menu screen, but you might have to scroll down (or rather drag up) to see it.

From Settings screen, it starts with "ROUTER" options. Touch "STARLINK" next to it. Then below (you might need to scroll again), slide below where it says "STOW STARLINK".

* Instructions for Android. Hopefully iOS is the same, if you have that.

 

[EscapeBoulder]

Finally found how to stow the antenna’s pedestal. It’s just buried in the app, not very friendly to find.

Amazing technology, tho’. And finding the stow function was by far the hardest, least friendly thing about this otherwise apparently very user friendly technology.

 

[EscapeBoulder]

First Trip Starlink Review:

We’ve been using our 1,500 watt Escape installed inverter to power Starlink’s 120v system on this trip. No shore power. I’ve been happily relieved to discover Starlink only pulls about 3 to 4 amps thru the inverter. Very acceptable with our original Escape installed flooded, lead acid batteries. In addition to our Escape installed 170w roof mount solar panels, we have a portable, 100w, ground mounted Jackery panels which I move around to follow the sun. We’ve been camping in an open forest, so the roof solar panels have been periodically in shade, but with our typical Colorado clear skies the two solar panels have create plenty of solar gain keeping up with Starlink and our furnace‘s relatively high current needs. Historically, we haven’t tended to use as much electricity in the evenings, but found our batteries down only to a 92% capacity reading on our Victron battery managment system in the morning. No problem recharging during the morning. Ilse’s been super happy watching the French open tennis tournament, and me the evening TV news & some YouTube videos. (She’s a tennis junkie, me a news junkie.)

I put a 3” external hatch under the passenger side bench in our 19’er to run the cable out to the antenna, coil the cable up in the bench when not needed and just set the router on our Escape’s table. We leave the Starlink plugged in and just turn on the inverter when needed. Easy, peasy.

Of course the internet speeds are incredible for camping.

All in all we’re super happy with Starlink. I can’t think of better, more convenient solution for internet while camping.

And, of course, I’m uploading this comment thru… Starlink!

 

[EscapeBoulder]

Oh… And I just saw on the internet that there’s now an after market DC to DC 12v to (I believe) 48v to run Starlink, if you don’t have an inverter aboard.

 

[TTMartin]

First Trip Starlink Review:

We’ve been using our 1,500 watt Escape installed inverter to power Starlink’s 120v system on this trip. No shore power. I’ve been happily relieved to discover Starlink only pulls about 3 to 4 amps thru the inverter. Very acceptable with our original Escape installed flooded, lead acid batteries. In addition to our Escape installed 170w roof mount solar panels, we have a portable, 100w, ground mounted Jackery panels which I move around to follow the sun. We’ve been camping in an open forest, so the roof solar panels have been periodically in shade, but with our typical Colorado clear skies the two solar panels have create plenty of solar gain keeping up with Starlink and our furnace‘s relatively high current needs. Historically, we haven’t tended to use as much electricity in the evenings, but found our batteries down only to a 92% capacity reading on our Victron battery managment system in the morning. No problem recharging during the morning. Ilse’s been super happy watching the French open tennis tournament, and me the evening TV news & some YouTube videos. (She’s a tennis junkie, me a news junkie.)

I put a 3” external hatch under the passenger side bench in our 19’er to run the cable out to the antenna, coil the cable up in the bench when not needed and just set the router on our Escape’s table. We leave the Starlink plugged in and just turn on the inverter when needed. Easy, peasy.

Of course the internet speeds are incredible for camping.

All in all we’re super happy with Starlink. I can’t think of better, more convenient solution for internet while camping.

And, of course, I’m uploading this comment thru… Starlink!

Oh… And I just saw on the internet that there’s now an after market DC to DC 12v to (I believe) 48v to run Starlink, if you don’t have an inverter aboard.

Thanks for the update on the power usage. All good news!

 

[SteveSgt]

I put a 3” external hatch under the passenger side bench in our 19’er to run the cable out to the antenna, coil the cable up in the bench when not needed and just set the router on our Escape’s table. We leave the Starlink plugged in and just turn on the inverter when needed.

And...

I just saw on the internet that there’s now an after market DC to DC 12v to (I believe) 48v to run Starlink.

My question is whether there's any way around using their proprietary cable to go between the dish and the indoor router? And do you have to use their router or can you use the WAN port of a router already installed?

 

[John in Santa Cruz]

First Trip Starlink Review:

We’ve been using our 1,500 watt Escape installed inverter to power Starlink’s 120v system on this trip. No shore power. I’ve been happily relieved to discover Starlink only pulls about 3 to 4 amps thru the inverter. ...

3-4 amps at 120VAC (inverter output) is 360-480 watts. a few hours of that would flatten most any battery.

now, if you meant 3-4 amps at 12vDC (inverter input), then thats only 36-48 watts. my dual lithium 206AH batts would probably run that for 100 hours or more.

 

[Ron in BC]

Thanks for the first trip report. We're travelling right now and doing our usual hot spot routine but it's still disappointing to find so many dead spots.

I've been researching Starlink and it looks like Canadians can now get a half price deal on the hardware.

If that's still the deal when we get home then that's the way we'll go.

Being sent from Writing on Stone Park where there's not supposed to be a cell signal. You just never know.

Ron