Hacker News Board Hacker News, browsed like a classic message board
Live data from Hacker News

Starlink dishes go into “thermal shutdown” once they hit 122° Fahrenheit

arstechnica.com

Post reply on HN
Print view View original

111–120 of 516 posts

Re: Starlink dishes go into “thermal shutdown” once they hit 122° Fahrenheit

#111

Post by myth_drannon »

MattGaiser wrote: post #77
andrewmcwatters wrote: post #6

I’m always surprised how poor engineering gets exposed in products I purchase being an Arizona resident. No, failing at 122F is not acceptable. If your hardware is exposed to outside conditions, it should operate easily below 32F, and well above 140F. Considering that phones can operate below 0F and near 122F, that’s embarrassingly bad. Same thing in vehicles. If you’re driving consistently at interstate speeds, you…

122F is 50C. How much of the world actually gets that hot? AZ is currently the hottest place in the world at the moment. Not the upper range. The hottest place. https://www.wx-now.com/Weather/WxExtremes?hottest=true

In the desert sun it will be higher than 50 degrees.

Re: Starlink dishes go into “thermal shutdown” once they hit 122° Fahrenheit

#112

Post by cartoonworld »

newsclues wrote: post #73
andrewmcwatters wrote: post #6

I’m always surprised how poor engineering gets exposed in products I purchase being an Arizona resident. No, failing at 122F is not acceptable. If your hardware is exposed to outside conditions, it should operate easily below 32F, and well above 140F. Considering that phones can operate below 0F and near 122F, that’s embarrassingly bad. Same thing in vehicles. If you’re driving consistently at interstate speeds, you…

It’s not a safety issue like car regulation, engineering choices have costs. Just because it doesn’t work in your environment doesn’t mean that it’s not suitable elsewhere and the burden of spec changes for your climate may make the cost go up for people elsewhere who don’t have the same requirements

* This product is not intended for sale in AZ, NV, NM, TX, Parts of Utah, California, Idaho and the Dakotas in the summer, direct sunlight, and most roofs.

Re: Starlink dishes go into “thermal shutdown” once they hit 122° Fahrenheit

#113

Post by goodcanadian »

andrewmcwatters wrote: post #6

I’m always surprised how poor engineering gets exposed in products I purchase being an Arizona resident. No, failing at 122F is not acceptable. If your hardware is exposed to outside conditions, it should operate easily below 32F, and well above 140F. Considering that phones can operate below 0F and near 122F, that’s embarrassingly bad. Same thing in vehicles. If you’re driving consistently at interstate speeds, you…

As a Canadian, 32F seems like an oddly high lower limit to me. Things should operate down to at least -40.

Re: Starlink dishes go into “thermal shutdown” once they hit 122° Fahrenheit

#114

Post by andrewmcwatters »

adamcstephens wrote: post #108
andrewmcwatters wrote: post #84

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I also live in the fifth most populous city in the United States. So, yeah, it is. If anything, you should fully expect, at this point, that how we deal with extreme conditions in Phoenix is a harbinger of what is to come for other parts of the nation.

Just because lots of people made the same decision doesn’t make it smart or reasonable.

I just don't understand comments like this. 7 million people didn't decide to move here this year. Conditions in Arizona have dramatically changed over the lifetime of the state.

It doesn't make sense to live where you can freeze to death or don't have access to water, either, does it? Except those two scenarios include most Americans. Without modern infrastructure, it hardly makes sense to live anywhere.

Re: Starlink dishes go into “thermal shutdown” once they hit 122° Fahrenheit

#115

Post by dylan604 »

neals wrote: post #49
j-pb wrote: post #24

I have a starlink beta, and we're currenty experiencing a really bad hearwave here in germany ( I measured 35C in the shade ). Mine works like a charm regardless.

German hearwaves sound cool though.

Sounds like something pioneered by Kraftwerk

Re: Starlink dishes go into “thermal shutdown” once they hit 122° Fahrenheit

#116

Post by jayd16 »

andrewmcwatters wrote: post #110
jayd16 wrote: post #104

Earlier quoted context omitted.

>I also live in the fifth most populous city in the United States. So, yeah, it is. But that's still less than half a percent of the US population.

I guess we should also avoid rust proofing metals since most people don't live by the ocean, too.

I mean, I don't expect California cars to get undercoated, for example.

Re: Starlink dishes go into “thermal shutdown” once they hit 122° Fahrenheit

#117

Post by newsclues »

edoceo wrote: post #82
newsclues wrote: post #73

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It’s not a safety issue like car regulation, engineering choices have costs. Just because it doesn’t work in your environment doesn’t mean that it’s not suitable elsewhere and the burden of spec changes for your climate may make the cost go up for people elsewhere who don’t have the same requirements

Why build a product for everyone you're marketing to when you can cheaply build a product that works for some but still sell to all. Caveat Emptor after all. Hit my OKRs for the quarter, I'm going to the pub.

Because the cost would go up, and marketing becomes harder which makes it harder to get data and revenue to continue engineering.

Re: Starlink dishes go into “thermal shutdown” once they hit 122° Fahrenheit

#118

Post by adamcstephens »

dylan604 wrote: post #106
newacct583 wrote: post #22

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Per the article, it's already been tested and works. Just throw a sprinkler on the thing. Clearly, though, the tolerances weren't chosen correctly when they designed the thing. 122F isn't actually that hot for a device designed to sit stationary in the sun all day.

> Just throw a sprinkler on the thing. Yeah, that's a brilliant plan for a part of the world that is severely restricted on water usage and is routinely in drought conditions.

Given the size of Phoenix, people don’t give a fuck about their resource use.

Re: Starlink dishes go into “thermal shutdown” once they hit 122° Fahrenheit

#119

Post by cartoonworld »

adamcstephens wrote: post #108
andrewmcwatters wrote: post #84

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I also live in the fifth most populous city in the United States. So, yeah, it is. If anything, you should fully expect, at this point, that how we deal with extreme conditions in Phoenix is a harbinger of what is to come for other parts of the nation.

Just because lots of people made the same decision doesn’t make it smart or reasonable.

Please. The whole point of Starlink is that it's suitable for places where there is poor existing infrastructure. The desert tops the list! They also have service area restrictions for sign up.

Just say Tesla dropped the ball on this engineering prototype and V2 will work on the sun.

Re: Starlink dishes go into “thermal shutdown” once they hit 122° Fahrenheit

#120

Post by andrewmcwatters »

goodcanadian wrote: post #113
andrewmcwatters wrote: post #6

I’m always surprised how poor engineering gets exposed in products I purchase being an Arizona resident. No, failing at 122F is not acceptable. If your hardware is exposed to outside conditions, it should operate easily below 32F, and well above 140F. Considering that phones can operate below 0F and near 122F, that’s embarrassingly bad. Same thing in vehicles. If you’re driving consistently at interstate speeds, you…

As a Canadian, 32F seems like an oddly high lower limit to me. Things should operate down to at least -40.

Great point. I think this highlights the importance of what we consider acceptable tolerances.
Post reply on HN