Starlink

[Hydraulicjump]

One earlier post suggested putting the dish on top of a five gallon bucket so the support post just hangs loose inside the bucket. Tried that today, but at its most acute angle between the dish and the post, the post pushes the dish so it does not lie flat. My naturally worrisome self decided that this had the potential for bad things to happen since the dish did not nestle well into the bucket when the support post was hitting the side. So I agree, the software update that is needed is to be able to not only stow the dish, but to lock it horizontal.



When I got back to the dock yesterday in Elliott Bay Seattle I set the dish up on the command bridge table (total five minutes) but pointed it south just to see what happens. It usually ends up pointing north. Its boot up cycle and satellite search moved the dish to dead horizontal where it found a link. Then some time later titled it toward the north. The horizontal link was slower--on both download and upload--than the northward tilt. But keep in mind, I have an RV account, so I am last in line on what must be a very crowded set of satellite links in Seattle.

 

[tpbrady]

I think I put this in an earlier post, but the typical fixed Starlink antenna when in operation is tilted to the north because it has access to more satellites when looking north. That logic holds until you get into central Canada where it seems the antennas point toward the south. By disabling the motor so the antenna points straight up you would reduce the opportunity to see satellites at a dock, but when moving at anchor pointing straight up would be better. When it comes to Alaska, pointing straight up in SE Alaska would reduce the opportunity to see satellites as you move further north as the Starlink constellation will only have 500-700 satellites in polar orbit next year vs the 2500 satellites below 53 degrees north latitude. I would expect Starlink at fixed sites in Alaska will retain its north tilt as more satellites will be north of any location as the orbital shells converge close to the north pole. If you want to look at an interesting graphic of Starlink satellites then go to starlink.sx.

Tom

 

[darkside]

Down under Starlink points more or less South on start up.
I read elsewhere that if the boat moves a lot the dish gives up and lies more or less flat.
That appeared to happen to ours this weekend.
Has anyone else noticed that?
I would prefer not to drill into a sealed unit.

Works quite well though.

 

[Seevee]

Question for you experts:


I have Starlink set up at home, and am setting up for the boat. I have a Goggle router that is connected to power and a printer.



To print, I have to switch networks from Starlink to the Google Router which is a pita.



Is there a router that can connect wirelessly to the Starlink or a way I can connect the Google router to the Starlink so I don't have to switch networks to print?


Thx

 

[Scottwb96]

You need to grab one of these. I believe you can get them from SL store for ~$25...

https://www.amazon.com/Generic-0156...efix=starlink+ethernet+adapter,aps,145&sr=8-3

 

[MYTraveler]

Is there a router that can connect wirelessly to the Starlink or a way I can connect the Google router to the Starlink so I don't have to switch networks to print?


Thx

You don't need to use the Starlink router, you can use your Google (or other) router instead. Generally, you don't want two routers, unless (usually for security purposes) you want separate subnets. The cable suggested above will allow you to connect your google (or other) router to starlink.

 

[Helmsman]

Question for you experts:


I have Starlink set up at home, and am setting up for the boat. I have a Goggle router that is connected to power and a printer.



To print, I have to switch networks from Starlink to the Google Router which is a pita.



Is there a router that can connect wirelessly to the Starlink or a way I can connect the Google router to the Starlink so I don't have to switch networks to print?


Thx

What you are talking about is bridging your router. I don’t know if the Google router you have can bridge. I use Eero routers and they can bridge to an existing router.

The issue is whether losing the “outside” Google network connection is ok with you. In other words, you will connect to the external internet via Starlink, not via the external internet connection you get from Google. I don’t know of a way to have two external connections to the internet other than a Pepwave router that uses a user hierarchy to set your connection.

 

[Helmsman]

Here is a link that explains setting up a Google router as a bridge.

https://blinqblinq.com/google-nest-wifi-bridge-mode-explained-2022/

Again, I don’t have a Google router so you might want to research further.

 

[Seevee]

You need to grab one of these. I believe you can get them from SL store for ~$25...

https://www.amazon.com/Generic-0156...efix=starlink+ethernet+adapter,aps,145&sr=8-3

Won't work, need wireless. Can't connect vis ethernet, but thx.

 

[Helmsman]

Won't work, need wireless. Can't connect vis ethernet, but thx.

You might need to set the Bridge up via a temporarily wired connection that you then remove. The wireless connection should work fine.

 

[Alaskan Sea-Duction]

Info

Saw this on fb. They have a dedicated group called Starlink on Boats.

Hello all,
As I got so much information from this group, I thought I would give back to the community by sharing a fairly unique experiment I'm currently doing.
I'm testing over the next two months a setup where I have two starlink on a boat while crossing the Caribbean.

Startlink 1: no motor modification (firmware: 4ef2069d-5c1c-4011-9400-7cca5765052a.uterm.release)

Startlink 2: motor disabled (firmware: 2a2e1faf-c874-430c-b4a7-b7ce5990af05.uterm.release)

Both are working at the same time and are combined using a Peplink Transit Duo (one over 5ghz wifi and the other over ethernet wan through small netgear switch...). Both starlinks are not in bypassed mode.
Both Starlinks cannot have any obstructions, there is no mast on the boat and they are at the top of the roof above the radar and solar panels.

My experience so far:

1. When stationary or at anchor with the boat staying in one direction (with a bit of wind), having the motor disabled is a bad idea as the signal/latency are much better with antenna properly facing north.

2. When turning around a buoy, having the motor disabled is much better. See the second picture where over a period of 3 hours, the starlink with motor disabled had 'only' 1m45 of signal lost vs 14min for the dishy with normal setup...

3. Using Peplink wan smoothing between two Starlinks setup in this way, it's a mixed experience... because if you are in a location where the boat doesn't turn much: most WAN lost happen at the same time on both antennas, Pepvpn takes a bit of time to re-establish.. so your outage is actually longer than if you were direct on the antenna wifior through Peplink without Fusion bonding... On the other hand when in a location where the boat changes orientation often, outages are 'smoothed out between both antennas which is amazing...'

Below is what I got out of Peplink Incontrol2 and also from the starlink app a few hours after my Incontrol2 screenshots.

I guess the best would be for Starlink to upgrade the firmware to automatically move to flat when the boat changes orientations often and face north when orientation is stable....

Maybe it's in one of the newest firmware but I haven't seen it yet.

 

[Helmsman]

Saw this on fb. They have a dedicated group called Starlink on Boats.

Hello all,
As I got so much information from this group, I thought I would give back to the community by sharing a fairly unique experiment I'm currently doing.
I'm testing over the next two months a setup where I have two starlink on a boat while crossing the Caribbean.

Startlink 1: no motor modification (firmware: 4ef2069d-5c1c-4011-9400-7cca5765052a.uterm.release)

Startlink 2: motor disabled (firmware: 2a2e1faf-c874-430c-b4a7-b7ce5990af05.uterm.release)

Both are working at the same time and are combined using a Peplink Transit Duo (one over 5ghz wifi and the other over ethernet wan through small netgear switch...). Both starlinks are not in bypassed mode.
Both Starlinks cannot have any obstructions, there is no mast on the boat and they are at the top of the roof above the radar and solar panels.

My experience so far:

1. When stationary or at anchor with the boat staying in one direction (with a bit of wind), having the motor disabled is a bad idea as the signal/latency are much better with antenna properly facing north.

2. When turning around a buoy, having the motor disabled is much better. See the second picture where over a period of 3 hours, the starlink with motor disabled had 'only' 1m45 of signal lost vs 14min for the dishy with normal setup...

3. Using Peplink wan smoothing between two Starlinks setup in this way, it's a mixed experience... because if you are in a location where the boat doesn't turn much: most WAN lost happen at the same time on both antennas, Pepvpn takes a bit of time to re-establish.. so your outage is actually longer than if you were direct on the antenna wifior through Peplink without Fusion bonding... On the other hand when in a location where the boat changes orientation often, outages are 'smoothed out between both antennas which is amazing...'

Below is what I got out of Peplink Incontrol2 and also from the starlink app a few hours after my Incontrol2 screenshots.

I guess the best would be for Starlink to upgrade the firmware to automatically move to flat when the boat changes orientations often and face north when orientation is stable....

Maybe it's in one of the newest firmware but I haven't seen it yet.

Interesting finding. A software upgrade to do that would be the best on both worlds. I think the Starlink engineers are probably reviewing these web sites to help with development, so maybe they will see this person’s post.

 

[barlowd]

Stinky problem with Starlink installation

I just installed Starlink RV on Dream Catcher last week. Working great now, but I had one major issue with the installation procedure. Hopefully this post will help out someone else who hits the same snag.

I got as far as the step where you are instructed to connect your mobile device to the Starlink WiFi. Problem was that there was no "Starlink" WiFi found to connect to.

After much hair pulling, restarts and searching through troubleshooting tips I finally found one tip that instructed me to connect to the Starlink or "Stinky" WiFi. Very odd, but I checked and sure enough there was a Stinky WiFi option found. I connected to it and all was right with the world again!

 

[Helmsman]

I just installed Starlink RV on Dream Catcher last week. Working great now, but I had one major issue with the installation procedure. Hopefully this post will help out someone else who hits the same snag.

I got as far as the step where you are instructed to connect your mobile device to the Starlink WiFi. Problem was that there was no "Starlink" WiFi found to connect to.

After much hair pulling, restarts and searching through troubleshooting tips I finally found one tip that instructed me to connect to the Starlink or "Stinky" WiFi. Very odd, but I checked and sure enough there was a Stinky WiFi option found. I connected to it and all was right with the world again!

Glad you got it figured out. There was a press release or article a couple of months ago about the new name! Where did you decide to install the dish?

 

[barlowd]

Somehow, I missed that news release about the new WiFi name. Who came up with "Stinky"?

The dish (now a rectangular panel) is temporarily positioned on the flybridge. I've ordered a pole adaptor for a better, but still temporary solution, until I get the new hardtop installed. Then I can give it a proper home.

 

[Helmsman]

Somehow, I missed that news release about the new WiFi name. Who came up with "Stinky"?

The dish (now a rectangular panel) is temporarily positioned on the flybridge. I've ordered a pole adaptor for a better, but still temporary solution, until I get the new hardtop installed. Then I can give it a proper home.

Thanks. My understanding is that Starlink does not play well with the radar, so I am probably going to place mine on the back of the flybridge under the beam of the radar.

 

[bowball]

Thanks. My understanding is that Starlink does not play well with the radar, so I am probably going to place mine on the back of the flybridge under the beam of the radar.

Mine is on the fly bridge rail mounted with the Furuno radar above on the radar mast with no issues. Not a Helmsman if that configuration matters.

 

[Hydraulicjump]

We have been hearing about Starlink not playing well with radar. In the short term this will not matter for us since we will do a set up and take down when on the hook or at the dock (I installed four robust suction cups on the feet of the stand…no scratches and works great). But long term the dishy (now to be named “Stinky” after this thread) has to be mounted somewhere. And several really good locations might get swept by radar. Can anyone point to something more than “does not play well”? Obviously the best we can hope for is anecdotal, maybe even an onboard experiment or two, but would like to read about this issue more before I start drilling holes in our new to us boat.

 

[BCRyan]

Can anyone point to something more than “does not play well”?

The best I can offer is that you need to imagine the beam your radar is transmitting and keep the SL antenna either above or below that beam. Your radar documentation will likely state the angles at which your radar emits radiation (up/down). It's likely something like +/- 10 degrees or so.

For me, installing the dish about 12" above the center of the radar allows both to operate simultaneously.

 

[Helmsman]

We have been hearing about Starlink not playing well with radar. In the short term this will not matter for us since we will do a set up and take down when on the hook or at the dock (I installed four robust suction cups on the feet of the stand…no scratches and works great). But long term the dishy (now to be named “Stinky” after this thread) has to be mounted somewhere. And several really good locations might get swept by radar. Can anyone point to something more than “does not play well”? Obviously the best we can hope for is anecdotal, maybe even an onboard experiment or two, but would like to read about this issue more before I start drilling holes in our new to us boat.

Hydraulic, with you picking up a Helmsman, here are some thoughts. I measured from the back hand rail of the Helmsman 38e on the flybridge to the radar on the arch. With a 12.5 degree beam, it appears that the Starlink would work there and be just under the beam. Of course, if you plan to keep your dinghy there it wouldn’t work. I believe the 2020 being sold does have a flybridge Davit.

The next spot would probably be along the starboard side hand rail closer to the arch. The compromise is how close you can get to the arch without creating interference, versus mounting further back and having the dinghy swing into it on its way up.

Another alternative is the Pilot House roof.

If height isn’t an issue, just use a pole taller than your radar and where the bottom lip of the dish doesn’t fall within the radar beam. To ensure that, measure from the center of the radar dome, to the anticipated location of the Starlink, then input 12.5 degrees (whatever the radar manual states) and 90 degrees, along with the length measured, into an online triangle calculator, to determine the vertical height needed to clear the beam.

One other consideration is the blanking capability some radars come with. You can blank an area where the radar doesn’t transmit, which might work.

 

[Helmsman]

We have been hearing about Starlink not playing well with radar. In the short term this will not matter for us since we will do a set up and take down when on the hook or at the dock (I installed four robust suction cups on the feet of the stand…no scratches and works great). But long term the dishy (now to be named “Stinky” after this thread) has to be mounted somewhere. And several really good locations might get swept by radar. Can anyone point to something more than “does not play well”? Obviously the best we can hope for is anecdotal, maybe even an onboard experiment or two, but would like to read about this issue more before I start drilling holes in our new to us boat.

By the way, where did you get the suctions cups and what type are they?

 

[Helmsman]

Somehow, I missed that news release about the new WiFi name. Who came up with "Stinky"?

The dish (now a rectangular panel) is temporarily positioned on the flybridge. I've ordered a pole adaptor for a better, but still temporary solution, until I get the new hardtop installed. Then I can give it a proper home.

This article references the new naming convention.

https://www.rvmobileinternet.com/did-your-starlink-just-become-stinky/

 

[Alaskan Sea-Duction]

Cruise ships


https://gcaptain.com/royal-caribbea...139820873&mc_cid=fcc5a9ef8a&mc_eid=5b70bcca05

 

[psneeld]

Cruise ships


https://gcaptain.com/royal-caribbea...139820873&mc_cid=fcc5a9ef8a&mc_eid=5b70bcca05

Wonder what the impact will be when cruise ships cluster?

4-5 in one spot with 3-5000 crew/pax would be pretty dense if the system isn't set up for that (yet).

 

[PJHoffnet]

Port Canaveral is a good example.

Wonder what the impact will be when cruise ships cluster?

4-5 in one spot with 3-5000 crew/pax would be pretty dense if the system isn't set up for that (yet).

On 'cruise ship days' (usual four or five a week) we'll have between three and six cruise ships in for the majority of the day.

I'd guess that the SOP might be to only have StarLink available when underway?

 

[SeaDogAK]

There are plenty of places in SE Alaska (Glacier Bay or Tracy Arm, for example) where cruise ships cluster while under way. Even when in port, if they’re using Starlink for internet, they’ll certainly still have to provide internet to their passengers.

 

[OldDan1943]

Alas, no porn on a cruise ship when under way or tied to the dock.
No reason to stay in the cabin.

 

[Northern Spy]

On 'cruise ship days' (usual four or five a week) we'll have between three and six cruise ships in for the majority of the day.



I'd guess that the SOP might be to only have StarLink available when underway?

I looked out my kitchen window and saw four of them underway last night lined up waiting to transit Seymour Narrows.

 

[danderer]

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

 

[Hydraulicjump]

Suction cups

By the way, where did you get the suctions cups and what type are they?

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