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First look at the upcoming Starlink Mini

starlinkhardware.com

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Re: First look at the upcoming Starlink Mini

#51

Post by adolph »

panick21_ wrote: post #19
paulgerhardt wrote: post #11

Feels like this is a direct response to the Amazon / Project Kuiper 7” terminal announced last year: https://www.aboutamazon.com/news/innovation-at-amazon/heres-...

This much more likely to be something that had been in the long term plan for many years. Amazon is announcing stuff because they are spending 10e of billions and have nothing to show for it, and wont have anything for years. They need to show progress to the quarter to quarter investor. Frankly the idea that Starlink is passivly reacting to Amazon annoucments is a bit silly. The difficult part is to actually produce…

They have at least three Kuiper launches booked in mid-2025, that’s not far off! It’s awesome that they have the flexibility to choose different launch partners and can use the most reliable and flight proven technology.

https://www.aboutamazon.com/news/innovation-at-amazon/amazon...

Re: First look at the upcoming Starlink Mini

#52

Post by iknowstuff »

teruakohatu wrote: post #45
devit wrote: post #41

Is there a way to make a Starlink dish that is viable for backpacking (i.e. 5kg at most, but preferably 0.5-2kg, including the solar panel and battery needed to power it) or is the satellite LTE service the only possibility?

If they made it possible to disable the heating element (ie. require a human to wipe snow off it) then it would be a lot more viable for hiking. The large version draws 45-70w so a airplane carry-on legal USB-C powerbank could power it for 1-2 hours.

Fairly sure the heat is just a byproduct of the phased array antenna no?

Re: First look at the upcoming Starlink Mini

#53

Post by teruakohatu »

iknowstuff wrote: post #52
teruakohatu wrote: post #45

Earlier quoted context omitted.

If they made it possible to disable the heating element (ie. require a human to wipe snow off it) then it would be a lot more viable for hiking. The large version draws 45-70w so a airplane carry-on legal USB-C powerbank could power it for 1-2 hours.

Fairly sure the heat is just a byproduct of the phased array antenna no?

I think you may be right, I read a HN comment a long time ago saying that they had a heater but it seems they do not.

Re: First look at the upcoming Starlink Mini

#56

Post by lazide »

teruakohatu wrote: post #53
iknowstuff wrote: post #52

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Fairly sure the heat is just a byproduct of the phased array antenna no?

I think you may be right, I read a HN comment a long time ago saying that they had a heater but it seems they do not.

They do have a heater in some versions - uses another 30-50 watts and is for melting snow.

Re: First look at the upcoming Starlink Mini

#57

Post by lazide »

adolph wrote: post #51
panick21_ wrote: post #19

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This much more likely to be something that had been in the long term plan for many years. Amazon is announcing stuff because they are spending 10e of billions and have nothing to show for it, and wont have anything for years. They need to show progress to the quarter to quarter investor. Frankly the idea that Starlink is passivly reacting to Amazon annoucments is a bit silly. The difficult part is to actually produce…

They have at least three Kuiper launches booked in mid-2025, that’s not far off! It’s awesome that they have the flexibility to choose different launch partners and can use the most reliable and flight proven technology. https://www.aboutamazon.com/news/innovation-at-amazon/amazon...

A year away might as well be a decade in vaporware terms.

Re: First look at the upcoming Starlink Mini

#58

Post by lazide »

poorman wrote: post #2

The lack of DC power is rough for boats, vans, and RVs. If someone wants to put this in a backpack they really need to get a DC power supply version. There are solutions out there at this point for the standard dishy but the flat high performance has a crazy power supply with it.

There are poe injectors that also fit the weird plug on the dishy and work well (48v). That said, you’re still talking 50-80 watts which is significant on a battery. It takes awhile for the signal to stabilize too, so it’s not the type of thing that does well turning it on for 15 minutes of usage.

Re: First look at the upcoming Starlink Mini

#60

Post by lazide »

grecy wrote: post #25
pen2l wrote: post #14

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The other disappointing thing (correct me if I'm wrong) is that it's not quite portable in a true sense; if I take the Starlink equipment I bought in United States to.. say, Argentina or Germany, it won't work there. I wish it could work like that, without a lot of hassle, but it doesn't appear to be the case.

It works perfectly fine crossing any borders. it even (currently) works in all the countries in Africa where the governments have requested for it to stop working. It is unknown if SpaceX will disable it in those specific countries.

With Elon’s general attitude towards rules, hopefully they’d only do it if someone was silly enough to put an address within the country in the account and ignore the physical location hah.
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