Starlink satellite internet
- Thread starter Jessie.slimer
- Start date
IReallyLikePizza2
Known around here
Looks pretty beat up, send it to me I guess, I’ll dispose of it for you
sebastiantombs
Known around here
180 watts, yikes! A small space heater. As this system gets refined I can see the possibility of it replacing cell towers. On the other hand, that would greatly impair the capability of the government, google and apple (possibly one organization in reality) from tracking users with high precision, and they'd be against it. Either way, we're watching another chapter of interesting history in the making.
IReallyLikePizza2
Known around here
From reviews I read, it pulls around 90w all the time
Yeah it is a pretty incredible amount of power draw which makes it a lot less appealing to those who are mobile or off-grid. Apparently it is enough to melt snow, but icicles have a tendency to form along an edge and can potentially "glue" the dish to the ground/roof or whatever, preventing the dish from moving and requiring physical intervention. I've seen pics where that happened to at least one person.
IReallyLikePizza2
Known around here
I was clueless that it moved. I was assuming with the zillions of satellites a stationary dish would work.
It is mostly stationary. As I understand it, it only moves at startup in order to position itself at the most optimal angle. I don't think it ever moves again unless it loses power or is rebooted for another reason.
I think it moves constantly as it tracks the low orbiting satellites. It then hops to another one as signal drops off when the satellite nears the horizon. High orbit satellites like satellite TV are geostationary and very high altitude, so their orbit speed matches the rotation of the earth precisely. Their aim never needs adjustment.
At least that's my guess. Hopefully will find out tomorrow.
They went low orbit to cut down on the latency.
At least that's my guess. Hopefully will find out tomorrow.
They went low orbit to cut down on the latency.
In a few days I fully expect to see a selfie video of you on the roof, clinging to the chimney, watching the dish like a hawk, to confirm or deny that the dish moves periodically.....OK?
Ssayer
BIT Beta Team
Once it has found optimal position (at startup), it never moves. There are a whole lot of chips in the "dish" and they point in slightly different directions so that it can pick up the optimal satellite at any given time. This tech is nothing like Dish or DirecTv.
The reason for the high price of the "dishy" is that it uses "phased array" antenna technology which requires a LOT of circuitry and can aim electronically with no physical motion.