Starlink?

[AMCarter3]

Has anyone installed Starlink on your PDQ? If you have done so or are planning to add it (like I am), I appreciate hearing how and where you plan to mount the flat rectangular antenna. My plan is to figure out a way to easily and temporarily mount the antenna and run the cable outside the mast down to the small locker on the flybridge next to the stairs. Any thoughts would be appreciated.

[PDQfan]

We have had Starlink for a year and are currently on the mobile plan. I used a fishing rod holder mounted up high on a crossbar on the mast. I just removed the Starlink base and the post fits nicely in the rod holder with a little gorilla tape wrapped around the pole to keep it snug. I drilled out the bottom of the rod holder for the cable. Easy.

[brian.webb]

Ditto, I've had it a year and am also on the RV plan. Like Bryan I mounted mine in a fishing pole holder. I also wedged it in there and added a hose clamp to tie it down, but I think what I did is complete overkill. I mounted mine on the port side aft flybridge handrail. I have heard that it works inside the flybridge lockers, facing up. I need to try that as it would be great to have it out of the way.

[dstrecker1]

Brian,
What type of hardware do you have? Is it the marine version or RV?

Dennis Hull 95

[AMCarter3]

Starlink has recently changed their product offering:

"The Starlink Standard Kit is available to: All customers within the United States & Australia. This kit is available to Residential, Roam, Business and Enterprise customers.
Note - the Starlink Standard Actuated is no longer available as an option for purchase in the Starlink Shop for customers in the United States & Australia. Replacements for Standard Actuated Kits will continue to be supported at this time."

This "Standard" kit includes the new Gen 3 "flat" antenna. And Starlink is now offering 4 plans: STANDARD ("Best for fixed locations - households), PRIORITY (best for business and high demand users), MOBILE (best for RV's, nomads, etc), and MOBILE PRIORITY (best for maritime ocean use and mobile businesses). For most boaters, it's the MOBILE plan with its portability and unlimited data). And the anecdotal evidence I seen/heard seems to support the idea that the new GEN 3 antenna (the flat one) is quite effective when pointing straight UP (like on a boat) and does not need the actuator motors to adjust its angle.

I'm still working on where and how to mount this flat Gen 3 antenna on our PDQ. At first, I was leaning toward a simple arrangement that would allow me to easily set the antenna and cable up and take it down when underway. I have one boating friend who is doing it that way. However, I learned that the vast majority of boaters in my area are doing some kind of permanent fixed mount for the antenna.

The other question I'm still confused about is AC power for the router. How did you guys who have Starlink sort that out? Where did you mount the router? How did you feed it AC power? I assume it is on a breaker.

[brian.webb]

Mine is the RV service, gen2 dish (dishy). It needs 48v, I'm not sure about the newer gen3. I bought a bunch of hardware that powers it on 12v. It's all been working really good for the last year. Here's a diagram.

First, I bought a 12v to 48v converter.
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0BMY ... le?ie=UTF8

Above powers a POE (power over ethernet) injector.
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0BX7 ... UTF8&psc=1

Then you plug the above into the dishy cable adapter.
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0BYJ ... UTF8&psc=1

Into the POE adapter you can also plug in a router that is powered by USB. This replaces the Starlink router (do a youtube search on how to replace it, it's a set of simple settings).

I also put a remote on/off switch before the 48v converter so that I can turn it off when I'm in bed, knowing that I'll have great dreams about not consuming energy. Haha!
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B093W ... UTF8&psc=1

Last thing to note, I also use Cat5e sheilded network cables. I did have a problem early on and swapped them all out but I"m not sure it actually solved the problem. It was before I knew how to check the outages in the mobile app (which you'll also want to do).

[brian.webb]

As far as power... I had James and Adam install a 12v power strip on the port side compartment on the interior of the 2006. All of the Starlink and networking stuff is up there. I plugged a few USB adapters in as well to power the routers. Since I access this compartment a bit I replaced the screws to get the cover off with magnets, those new strong ones.

[dstrecker1]

Unfortunately, the only Starlink kits available is the 3rd generation standard and the $2400 hi capacity model made for boats. The problem with the standard is that there are no good options for a permanent mount. So, I made a mount out of aluminum and attached it to the plastic back of the antenna. I glued blocks of wood to the back of the antenna using 3M 5200. The wood blocks have flange nuts recessed on their underside. While working on the aluminum bracket I realized I could have done the same with the wooden blocks and bought a standard bracket made for the more expensive marine model. This would have saved me a lot of work making the aluminum bracket. I will be using the standard 2 1/2" tube mount that was used for my Dish TV antenna which I removed. I cut the tube down so that the Starlink is just above the Bimini. With the aluminum mount removed the antenna still can be used with the kick stand.

[Nick]

We removed the old KVH dome and use a Seaview mount in the same location as the KVH used to be. We opted for the Seaview mount over rod holder because I like the positive "click in" that confirms the dish isn't going to move. Not sure about newer dishes, but with ours it's important to locate in a spot where the dish can fully rotate 360 degrees and articulate as necessary.

We use our starlink on our camper also so I only zip tie the cable and run it through the port window to the control box. I've put off buying an extra cable to more elegantly install the system on the boat, but when I do I'll put it up where Brian did. Plenty of room up there. SUPER good idea on the magnets!

[AMCarter3]

I completed our Gen 3 Starlink installation and thought some of you might want to how we did it. I did a lot of research, asked for advice from to several boating friends and we came with what I think is a effective solution.

1. I modified the stainless tubing structure of our AFT bimini so it would support a small reinforced starboard base (15"x38"x1/2"). I purchased and installed a "Trio Flat Mount" <t.ly/I3fYN> on that base and then attched the Starlink antenna to it.

2. I then added a vent hole at the top of the flybridge ladder and ran the 49' Starlink antenna cable into the small locker on the starboard side of the flybridge. The cable runs down a wire "chase" into the back of the Sub-Panel (above the window at the lower helm station. The cable can easily be fed into the "hidden" compartment in the ceiling behind the lower helm. (It's the space where you can see and access the bolts that attach the mast to the boat.)

3. I mounted the Starlink router inside that "hidden" compartment. I also mounted a DC-to-DC converter in that cabinet. That converter is connected to what was a "spare" 12v breaker on our Sub-Panel (with an inline 25amp fuse). The converter provides the "clean" 56v power needed by the Starlink antenna and router.

We are amazed and very happy with the result: a) only the Starlink antenna is visible; b) the router provides a very strong Wifi signal well beyond the walls of the boat; when ON, it only to consumes about 3 amps; and c) in our limited testing so far, we have had a very reliable high speed internet connection at 9 knots (250 Mbps DOWN & 22 Mbps UP).

[Nick]

Wow, very nice installation and thank you for detailed description. I’m curious how you handled the uniquely shaped plugs that go into both the dish and the base unit. The shape of those plugs seems to require a fairly large hole to enable feeding through into salon. I’ve read people have snipped off the plugs, fed the wire and then re-spliced the plugs. Did you need to do that? Perhaps newer generation units use different plugs.