Dedicated Starlink and mobile 4/5G thread

VerMonsterRV

Gotta Be Nuts
Not sure if you have all seen this Starlink for Overlanders - Tucks' Travels in a Truck (tuckstruck.net)

We met up with Marcus and Julie here in Alaska. And yes, Marcus has some skills when it comes to technical topics. Even down to designing a new controller for his 4x4 system in his Iveco. Including designing and have manufactured a custom circuit board and integrating it with the rest of the Iveco system. Not to mention the 5 networked Arduino computers that are wired to the Iveco CAN bus so he can monitor various components on a custom touch screen on his dash. So I trust his info :) .

We will wait on a Starlink until they have a bit more coverage (not available in Alaska and south of Mexico last I chatted with Marcus).
 

palebluewanders

Active member
RIP to all the camper boat folks who were waiting for Starlink maritime. $10k setup and $5k/month. ☠

Really hope Starlink for RVs in motion are not gonna go that route...
 

Geo.Lander

Well-known member
RIP to all the camper boat folks who were waiting for Starlink maritime. $10k setup and $5k/month. ☠

Really hope Starlink for RVs in motion are not gonna go that route...

I think that's aimed more at commercial vessels. Will be interesting to see when they start geofencing their RV and residential offerings thou...
 

clydeps

Member
While this is certainly not the most remote place in Australia, it still reasonably qualifies as the "middle of nowhere". In Queensland's Channel Country, from this spot the nearest town is 4 hours drive - and it has a population of just 100 people. While driving to this spot today we saw only one other vehicle. Needless to say there aren't a lot of options for communication out here - unless you have Starlink! Full high speed broadband in the middle of nowhere - amazing.

 

clydeps

Member
I wrote up my fixed () dish installation and 12V POE power with router delete in a Github repository.

It includes full details on wiring a POE injector to replace the Starlink power supply/router.

Circuit.jpg


The system has worked almost flawlessly on the current trip, including the parts outside the official service area (which expanded during that time!) The only issue has been standing water on the dish when parked dead level in rain, which I will address with a hydrophobic coating and a bit of angle on the mount. Otherwise we've had full service both on the move and in camp, including WiFi calling and some video-conferencing.

Screenshot_20220722-164042_Firefox.jpg
 
I wrote up my fixed () dish installation and 12V POE power with router delete in a Github repository.

It includes full details on wiring a POE injector to replace the Starlink power supply/router.

View attachment 733076


The system has worked almost flawlessly on the current trip, including the parts outside the official service area (which expanded during that time!) The only issue has been standing water on the dish when parked dead level in rain, which I will address with a hydrophobic coating and a bit of angle on the mount. Otherwise we've had full service both on the move and in camp, including WiFi calling and some video-conferencing.

View attachment 733075
@clydeps Thank you, super helpful and super detailed.
 

LanceMagnum

Member
hey, it seems that powering dishy in native 48v will become a reality pretty soon, I expect more projects like this one before not too long!
View attachment 728311

I'm planning a starlink install and yes, the power budget is tough for a small vehicle. Dishypowa seems to have the best solution for my use case (I already have a router/wifi setup)

Version shown above is shipping now, they have a V2 that should be ready in 2-3 months that has an integrated power supply and can be connected directly to 12v.
 

Hegear

Active member
Has anybody got one of the mobile Starlinks yet? I hear they use a lot more power and curious if anyone had any idea how many watts they use.
 
I’m hoping Southern Africa is covered by the end of the year. If so I will get the flat receiver installed on an open area of the roof of my camper.
 

VerMonsterRV

Gotta Be Nuts
This is a bit of a drift off of this topic but since it is offered on the Starlink website I thought I would ask about it. Over the last couple of years I have been looking for some form of a tracker for the truck. I really didn't like the cellular based ones as they need a nearby cell tower to work and some form of global sim. Just thought it would be less than ideal, so I looked for a satellite based service. What I found seemed to be a bit pricey and targeted businesses with multiple vehicles. Then I just stumbled on the IoT menu item on the Starlink website (we are considering getting a Starlink once we get south of the border). Seems the Swam asset tracker might just be what I have been looking for, $100 for the device and $5 a month with global coverage. Has anyone looked into this?
 

VerMonsterRV

Gotta Be Nuts
This is a bit of a drift off of this topic but since it is offered on the Starlink website I thought I would ask about it. Over the last couple of years I have been looking for some form of a tracker for the truck. I really didn't like the cellular based ones as they need a nearby cell tower to work and some form of global sim. Just thought it would be less than ideal, so I looked for a satellite based service. What I found seemed to be a bit pricey and targeted businesses with multiple vehicles. Then I just stumbled on the IoT menu item on the Starlink website (we are considering getting a Starlink once we get south of the border). Seems the Swam asset tracker might just be what I have been looking for, $100 for the device and $5 a month with global coverage. Has anyone looked into this?
Oh, I contacted Swarm. Even though they say the have 100% world wide satellite coverage it is only legal to use in a few countries. Sort of defeats the idea of world wide coverage I would say.
 

palebluewanders

Active member
Oh, I contacted Swarm. Even though they say the have 100% world wide satellite coverage it is only legal to use in a few countries. Sort of defeats the idea of world wide coverage I would say.

Thanks for the info on Swarm, I hadn't heard of it before. How/why would it be illegal in other countries? And who would enforce that?
 

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