Starlink Mounting?

[SteveK]

I have done the flat dish mod (unplug motor) and that has worked well. Fascinated by the hacks being done to modify something that should have come delivered for 12V-48V supply.
I have plugged Starlink into a 300 watt inverter which also powers a laptop + other items and they all worked fine and bypassed any shore power interruptions or main inverter being shared. So far all good.

[Renilyab]

Finished my installation today.

I expect the dish won't work when the radar is on, but from what I understand, most don't get reception while underway with the mobile-RV dish. It also sounds link Starlink changed their plans this month, and no longer permits use while moving with the mobile plan. We really only need Starlink when at dock or anchor, in little coastal holes.

I still haven't been able to speed. The tin roof boat shed may be to blame .

I have Starlink plugged into my Peplink LTE modem now. When Starlink loses reception, the router will automatically switch over to cellular LTE. Seams to be working. I'm typing on it now.

Cheers,

What mount is that? Do you have a link? Very nice job!

[MacPhid]

The metal roof will definitely block the signal, but I'm curious if a bimini top canvas will prevent starlink from receiving a signal?

James

[MidnightSun]

The metal roof will definitely block the signal, but I'm curious if a bimini top canvas will prevent starlink from receiving a signal?

James

Pretty sure it will since even leaves from trees will affect signal. i think you need to look at the signal as being able to see something such as with your eyes.

[Destiny_4588]

There are sailboat installing dishy on the side of large hatch and claim it is working, my guess is reduces the quality as do the domes people are using.

[Cptmorgan]

What mount is that? Do you have a link? Very nice job!

Used a MRI-DENVER adapter mount. https://mri-denver.com/shop/ols/prod...ntenna-adapter

Screwed into a cheep low-profile Sea-dog antenna base.

I wanted the dish to be as short as possible (slightly below the radar). Stronger than the arch fibreglass it's screwed into.

[Destiny_4588]

Love our MRI Denver mount as well! like that it locks the pole in but easy to remove (we take it down and bring/use in our RV

[Renilyab]

The metal roof will definitely block the signal, but I'm curious if a bimini top canvas will prevent starlink from receiving a signal?

James

I mounted our Dishy under the flybridge canvas and even under a stainless steel support pole. It works wonderfully well in the few days since I installed it. Although, I am waiting to see if rain water on the flybridge top has an effect.

[MacPhid]

Thanks for testing that! It will make it much easier mounting under the flybridge canvas, I'm going to give it a try next month.

James

[jimbo88]

We used ours like this (dashboard of our 3988 under the enclosure) for about 3 weeks in various weather until I could get it mounted on the radar arch. It pretty much worked the same in both locations. Running the cable with the connector was the hardest part of the install.

Jim

[Destiny_4588]

You find times depending on your movement and which way you are facing that this might change....based on a dishy turning to align to north and what might be in the way...stainless steel stanchion I think will be issue or an antenna that might block it....our is on the hard top and overal has worked great there even with the antennas and radar such being near by but at the same level or slightly higher.

[Renilyab]

We spent a very windy night swinging in an anchorage the night before last. We had 3000 foot mountains on two sides and heavy rain at times. Looking at the statistics in the morning there were a number of dropouts throughout the night but only for a few seconds at a time. We will continue to monitor the performance in this location under the flybridge canvas, but so far so good!

I didn't note this in my previous post, but I have disabled Dishy's motors.

[MacPhid]

I'm assuming it sits in the flat position? Is the motor disable a hack or is it in the app?

James

[Renilyab]

James;

Yes it is very nearly flat. The motor disable is a hack. There are many videos on YouTube describing how to do it. Here is one:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kCOgG6daDVE

[Papa_Charlie]

We purchased one of the RV units. Unfortunately, our boat sits under heavy tin roofing. I needed it to be operational from our berth because we live aboard full time and I am working from the boat. Sadly, it cannot hold a signal very long, then has a dead time while it looks for another. Not acceptable.

Our boat faces West and slightly South. Even with the unit on the aft most of the fly bridge it has a difficult time retaining the signal. So sadly, after only one day, it is going back.

I knew this was a gamble. Will have to pay for the shipping and one months service, but that is the way it goes. At $700 for equipment and $150 per month, it has to work and work 99% of the time.
Having a clear view of the sky is critical. I have talked to some RV'ers and the say they have trouble if there are too many trees around. So should have expected the roof to be a problem. But the WiFi on the doc is so poor that it was worth a try.

As a last note, just because Starlink did not work in our situation, does not mean that it doesn't work well. I know many boaters that use it while cruising for work and find it very stable and reliable.

[SteveK]

Papa Charlie. what is keeping you from mounting outside on the roof of shed? Perhaps get the extra cable and another dishy so you can swap between boat and shed roof.

[MidnightSun]

I was thinking the same thing. Or, just put it outside on the ground like an RV would do away from the steel roof. Those dishes do go on sale every now and then. In fact just last month they were going for $350 CAD.

[SteveK]

Right now $199 for Canadian Rural for a complete system

[Woodsea]

Papa Charlie,
we have the same issue when we pull into our covered slip. I simply move dishy to the bait table on our swim step staple and pull the cable across the flybridge and drape it down to connect. Takes about 5 minutes each way. Works well. Our slip does face north but it looks like dishy usually points to the northwest. I’m planning on modifying dishy so it lays flat while cruising and can tilt when we are in our slip.