Starlink on a Helmsman

[hollywood8118]

So to those that have starlink, what is the size of hole the connector will fit through?.
HOLLYWOOD

[Hydraulicjump]

There’s a skinny and a fat end. The skinny end can probably be fished through a 1/2” hole.

[Mac2]

Just watched a youtube video of a guy cutting a hole in the back of his antenna to unplug the motor that orients the satellite. Not necessary for the dock, but a must for when your anchored out apparently, or the dish keeps trying to point north. Worth doing, or is this a bad idea?

[Helmsman]

Originally Posted by Mac2

Just watched a youtube video of a guy cutting a hole in the back of his antenna to unplug the motor that orients the satellite. Not necessary for the dock, but a must for when your anchored out apparently, or the dish keeps trying to point north. Worth doing, or is this a bad idea?

It would void the warranty.

I suppose you could hook the motor back up if you needed it. Looking into the future, I am wondering if Starlink will “spread” total activity on particular satellites via updates to the dish, so that the amount of dishes pointed to each maximizes the total bandwidth available. As the number of dishes grow, it would seem prudent to do that.

[Alaskan Sea-Duction]

Originally Posted by Ross Macdonald

I have a question as to whether the Starlink Dishy can fit and operate inside of an empty KVH M7 Dome. One of the 2 domes on my arch is empty and just there for a symmetrical look. The TV dish is 24 inches in diameter so it would seem the Dishy would fit inside the empty dome. I have no idea if it would work in there, but one would think since the TV dish can follow a satellite the Dishy should be able to "see" their satellites. Anybody tried this? Any thoughts? It would sure be a clean install that way.

Sucky me. Last year I trashed an old M7 dome.....

[bowball]

While not on a helmsman, I had my starlink rectangular model easily converted to 12v, discarding their router using poE injector to power it and running the Ethernet into my existing router as a WAN input.

Advantages
1. 12v powered
2. Removal of existing starlink router box
3 use my existing 12v router (peplink)
4. Use my existing access points in the boat already. (Just one access point didn’t adequately cover boat)

By having my router under a radar dome it allowed me to just run Ethernet into the boat.
I wanted the router under the dome because I wanted very short antenna cables from my cellular antennas, as those cables are large and their is significant signal loss with distance. Now I’m not sure I’ll use the cellular!

[bowball]

Also, I’m getting 140mbs down and 4mbs up near Sidney BC.

[socalrider]

Originally Posted by bowball

While not on a helmsman, I had my starlink rectangular model easily converted to 12v, discarding their router using poE injector to power it and running the Ethernet into my existing router as a WAN input.

Advantages
1. 12v powered
2. Removal of existing starlink router box
3 use my existing 12v router (peplink)
4. Use my existing access points in the boat already. (Just one access point didn’t adequately cover boat)

By having my router under a radar dome it allowed me to just run Ethernet into the boat.
I wanted the router under the dome because I wanted very short antenna cables from my cellular antennas, as those cables are large and their is significant signal loss with distance. Now I’m not sure I’ll use the cellular!

Very cool. Can you share how you did the 12V conversion? The info I'd seen on that looked like it was a pretty tricky process & required maintaining the starlink router box.

Have you measured the power draw?

[FWT]

https://www.cnbc.com/2022/08/10/fcc-...-starlink.html

Hopefully this won't impact pricing.

[bowball]

Originally Posted by socalrider

Very cool. Can you share how you did the 12V conversion? The info I'd seen on that looked like it was a pretty tricky process & required maintaining the starlink router box.

Have you measured the power draw?

I haven’t measured consumption.

Here’s the instructions which we followed (it was actually done by the person that installed all my nav gear).

The advantage is getting rid of their box.

https://svrenaissance.com/musings-ab...c-power-source

Also, you can disable the motor but we didn’t do that.

[Norseman 38E]

Out with the old and in with the new. Swapped the Intellian i3 for a Starlink HP dish.


Needed to replace the mast for the anchor light, as the old one did not extend far enough aft to clear the Starlink dish. Other than that, it was a pretty straightforward install.

Chris

[Helmsman]

Originally Posted by Norseman 38E

Out with the old and in with the new. Swapped the Intellian i3 for a Starlink HP dish.
Attachment 137131

Needed to replace the mast for the anchor light, as the old one did not extend far enough aft to clear the Starlink dish. Other than that, it was a pretty straightforward install.

Chris

That is a good solution for a mast. I am still considering where to place my flat panel. The immediate thought is on the arch. I have the clearance to place it below the radar beam. I have the Helmsman supplied light standard and a custom Seaview 7.5” radar mount to get the radar beam above the Bimini, but below the steaming light. So, I can’t mount it above the radar, but it will keep it under the radar if I “flat mount” it.

The issue, as always with these decisions, is how to mount it with the least impact to the arch, if I place it there. An antenna mount on the side of the arch, or a short one on the top, may be the way to go. Either will be out of the radar beam. There is also a flat mount being sold that allows you to quick release it and “take it with you”.

Incidentally, we had the Starlink placed temporarily up top for a 140 mile trip up the Tennessee and always had service. I didn’t measure the MBpS reception, but it was sufficient for all activities, including work. Nice to have.