We bought an after market power cable that is 14 gauge and 15ft long. Works perfectly on 12V. One of the reasons it uses less power is because of the throttled back upload speed. If you do a lo of Zoom type meetings it has a lag and therefore might not be the dish for some.
That interesting, I guess the upload must take some power. Interesting as well that you're getting enough voltage at the dish with 14 gauge cable. We are currently using the whole 50 foot of the supplied cable with where the dish is mounted though so I think the cable would have to be unfeasibly thick to deliver enough voltage at the dish!
The standard one like we have on our house and probably the same on your boat,has a built in heater for snow build up. We didn’t realize it until we got a snowing and it melted it all away. Love the vids. Happy holidays. Starlink also has out,antennas for cell phones now.
The standard one like we have on our house and probably the same on your boat,has a built in heater for snow build up. We didn’t realize it until we got a snowing and it melted it all away. Love the vids. Happy holidays.
Nicely timed, am looking to get one of these, only problem is that Im in S Africa and you cant get them. I heard terms of use etc are changing in the new year??. Stay safe out there.
Terms of use change all the time Barry! It’s certainly worth getting one though. The mini is small so if anyone’s coming out while your there get them to bring it in hand luggage, Judy brought ours from the UK
PS tell them to take it out of the box, a friend of ours had theirs taken at customs in SA, they wanted $500 in tax, not sure how they worked that one out! They got it back for a small fee but best to save the hassle.
The Starlink Mini requires 12-48 VDC at 60 watts. Trying to power it with a 3 amp 12-volt source isn't going to work. 60 watts equals 5 amps at 12 volts. 60 watts at 30 VDC lowered the amps needed down to 2, so you also gave yourself some headroom in that cable by not pulling so many amps. It was a smart move. 👍
Another useful tech video, thank you. In the context of running a big boat like Fair Isle, the initial equipment cost is not that significant even for the HP dish but the power usage is a big deal if it is powered on 24/7. For that reason it would be really interesting to know how long each style of dish takes to connect when it is powered up. If that process is quick and reliable, I would happily limit usage periods during times of power shortage to what’s necessary for the operation of the boat. With that, power usage would take a back seat to reliable connections when the weather turns gnarly.
In our experience on a flat anchorage the Starlink Standard and Mini both connect within a minute or two. When sailing and moving around it takes longer. On average with the Standard dish it was 10 miutes but it did take up to an hour in the middle of the Atlantic. We are not sure if that was down to the fact we had big seas and were rolling a lot of if it's because there are fewer satellites out there to pick from, but rolly seas definitely slow things down. So far the Mini seems the same. We haven't had the heavy seas we tested the standard with, but it's coping okay with normal sailing pitch and roll and connects in 10-15 mins. (it sometimes gets it and looses it straight away a couple of times before stabilizing)
That's a good point. I have the bigger dish and was thinking of switching to the mini because of the lower power consumption. On the other hand, if the big one connects so much more quickly, I can limit my power consumption by switching that on when I need it (and without the expense and hassle of buying a new unit).
@@oldmansailing Having used it for a few months now John I can say I much prefer the Mini. It may take slightly longer to connect on occasions but we find with the lower draw we turn it off much less. Mounted flat as we have it now we've had no issues and the router is great.
If you are looking for a more robust mounting solution, I have found that the upper portion of Starlink's "Mini Wall Mount" product fits perfectly into my fishing pole holder that I have mounted high on my boat's Bimini support tube. I can pivot the Mini easily in the pole holder. The shallow tube mounting adaptor that comes with the Mini doesn't have much depth for attachment to a pipe. The wall mount kit is more robust.
Yes I'm not loving the shallow hole they have on the Starlink clip in pole mount. I actually ordered a mount kit for the dish when we got it in the UK and the sent me one for the Standard not the Mini! I've managed to rig something that works though, I'll show it in the next episode.
3:36 Thanks for the video.. FYI… Voltage drop could be the problem… but insufficient Power (watts) is definitely the problem.. your power fitting had a 3amp rating.. … 3 amps at 12 v is 36 W… Mini in test needs 40 to 50 watts, probably because of some cable loss (ie to deliver 40w at device, needs 40+ watts at supply)… anyway its more than 40w… at start up for acquisition, and possibly 30ish at general status.. or 40w at full download
update… even with a 10A power outlet, from the Bluetti EB3A with the Starlink provided 15m power cable, the Mini wouldn’t work. The Bluetti indicated 25 - 50 watts was being drawn, but that was at 13.7 v, so the Amps were higher, and the cable warmed. I was unable to test the in-use voltage drop, because I was using a Bluetti at a local retailer 😂. I am getting some new DC5521 plugs and sockets and will do more testing after they arrive… I have also sourced a 12 to 24 volt DC to DC booster, which I am hoping will enable the standard Starlink power cable to work in my 12v powered systems..
As noted, the ever changing plans is getting annoying. I think the Global roam is gone and the $165 Roam is global, but limited via the 60 day thing. I’m going to the Bahamas from the States next winter and hope there is a viable plan for being there and offshore. Will be picking up the Mini as a spare to my flat mounted, DC powered, Gen2. Great content.
As mentioned previously Fabule is equipped with the marine version of the antenna array which is larger in surface. Larger surface means higher gain on the array and the array is quite insensitive to obstacles located in the far field of the radiating elements but still in the near field of the array so the blocage is minimal. The marine version consumes more power though as we drain about 70 to 120 W depending on the traffic. The connection to the satellites works remarkably well even at sea even with quite a bit of sea; we not often lose the connection and when we do, it is only until the boat gets back to a more level attitude. As well the marine version does not need any orienting, and is tilted to about 8 degrees from horizontal to drain rain water by gravity when the boat is level. I am glad that you found a solution for your Starlink problem. See you on the water.
Well I'm sure that's right and I'm sure if I had only used the marine version I would assume that because it is so much more powerful the smaller models would not cope with things the larger ones can. In reality though that just does not seem to play out. We used the standard model for 17 days across the Atlantic in severely rolly seas and the standard Starlink didn't drop out once, it took longer to acquire satellites after being turned off but that was all. Similarly I assumed that the mini being half the size and half the power would not perform nearly as well as the Standard version but that just hasn't been the case. I now have it mounted flat on the rear arch on the other side to the Standard model, I dont align in and it works perfectly without dropping out at anchor or at sea. We had two days off shore from Colombia to Panama and it didn't miss a beat, quite remarkable.
@ thank you for the information. I have friends that are looking to install starlink on their Boreal so this can be a more cost effective solution than the marine one which remains expensive, that’s sure.
There are ~$25, 12V-->24V converters 100-200W options. Not the full expense of an inverter. I think they're around 90% efficient. Sounds like 24V will be enough for the thin cable.
As example, a 100W model will be fed 8amp at 12V via proper ~12ga wire not too far from battery. The converter will output 24V, 4amp to the long thin wire. 4amp isn't too bad and maybe volts drop to 20-22ish with 4amp. Starlink is looking for minimum solid 12.5-14V, 4-5 amps so it works.
You should look into e-SIM cards, takes no time at all and no fluffing with physical sim cards. I started doing it because I still need my phone when being away from the boat but it's so practical that it makes me wonder why I have Starlink at all. I have one on my iPad as well, for when the voltage drops for Starlink.
But can you get an unlimited data contract? We haven’t found one and the rate are usually 2-3 pounds per GB. Starlink tells us we use around 500GB / month so that would be over a thousand bucks!
Interesting. We are in the process of getting this for our tour of Scotland. Our electrician (marine specialist) has been using it for offshore racing. They advise that it will definitely run off 12v. It is not waterproof so proposing to mount under the for peak hatch stuck to the plastic (there is a bracket for the purpose). £50 a month for 50gb (£90 unlimited)on roam upto 12nm off shore. More questions to ask 🙂
See the comment from Sue on here that they have it working off 12v with a 3rd party 14 gauge 15ft long cable. If you can manage to deliver above 12v to the dish then it should work, in practice that can be more difficult to do than you think so the extra voltage is definitely a plus. Also the plug that comes with the Starlink is well waterproofed, the unit is definitely completely waterproof using this plug. We have been having biblical rain out here in Panama and Colombia and it's fine.
I enjoyed your piece on the Star Link Mini as I am interested in one myself. However, the presentation confused me on power requirements. Looking at the Star Link web site did not provide clarity. One spec indicated 100 watts at 20V/5A, another indicated input power from 12-48 Volts 60 watts. It appears that the Eco Flow with a 12 volt 3 amp output would be marginal. It's likely that power output at any range from 12 to 48 volts that puts out 5 amps would provide the correct power. Star Link should clarify this.
Yes they should. The reason they dont is that they are targeting it largely to RV'ers who would want to power it off 12v. They have carefully made the unit be able to work with in 12-48v range so it looks like it can be powered by a 12v battery. Problem is you may have 12v ( or more you would hope with a fully charged battery) at the battery itself but you need a good thick, short cable to be able to deliver that to the dish. So unless you can fit it that we (we couldn't because its a long run up to the arch and we need the good view of the sky) then you will need more than 12v across your cable.
We’ve a new boat on order and are told that the favored position is to mount it inside the fore peak locker, fixed to the ceiling. Apparently works well even through the deck. If signal is still good it’s a nice solution for other reasons. Would be great to know if that works on yours.
@ yes ours is an outremer so deck will be thinner and cored so perhaps less to get in the way. But is apparently tkt working well there for other owners. Maybe within you doghouse ceiling would work better? Or is that super thick too.
We would have rather just had one that worked all the time without all the contract shenanigans! but it has the added advantage of redundancy I suppose and before we cross the next ocean I will work out a way of powering the Mini in the liferaft.
There will be follow ups in the episodes as always (in fact I film a bit for next weeks episode today) but I will also make a list of things in the description on the Starlink video for all the updates.
Any updates on your mini? Have you found success in changing between dishes every two months? Does it reset the clock for your roam account? We’re taking delivery of a new Boat in Thailand in August and may purchase 2 or 3 mini dishes here in Mexico where they are half the price and switch between them in Thailand if it works. Thanks so much!
Well by our calculation we had run out of our 60 days while we were in Panama but didn't get cut off. We are now in San Andres which is a Colombian Island even though it's a long way from their shores. We were on premium coming over off-shore but have now switch back to basic roam and it's working which is good as that puts us back on unlimited data. Hopefully it should also log us as being back in Colombia (our registered country) so hopefully the clock only starts ticking again when we leave here, if indeed they are bothering to count still. I'd be very happy to stay on the mini and not have to switch to the standard as it works just as well for half the power draw.
Are you not limited to 50gb per month on the mini? We have the gen 2 which is still unlimited data. We pay the global roaming, registered in US, $400/months which I think is expensive. Literally doubled this year🤯
No the mini can be on the standard Roam contract, ours is. The 50GB plan is a special thing for the mini if you just want occasional use for outings so it's cheaper. You just opt into what ever contract suits you.
It seems that the changing direction, either at anchor or on sail, would be a challenge. Do you just manually adjust the “aim” when needed? Do you just not use it when in a situation where boat direction changes regularly (tacking or jibing regularly)? Or do you simply use it intermittently and set aim while generally stationary? I’d like to know more about challenges you have from antenna misdirection.
This video is two weeks old as it was with the Patrons before going live so we have now used it off shore as well as sailing along the coast of Panama, I've written an update in the description so have a look at that, but upshot is with a good view of the sky up on our arch it seems fine mounted flat and doesn't drop out.
POE should work well as its 48V - and this is how the Starlink V2 is powered. Our Starlink v2 on a std (long) cable with a 12V conversion works well. If you get dropouts, this is due to voltage drop, possibly as starlink is syncing to another satellite. A 2200uF Capacitor solved this for me. Running V2 on a 12V also saves allot of power - mine draws around 36W consistently.
Thanks Steve for this really valuable insightful video. Quick question, you bought it in the UK and registered it in columbia, when you bought it do you not have to say what country it's in or are there 2 processes. Thanks.
It knows what country it’s in and it knows what country it’s from! Judy carried it on the plane from the UK, when I fired it up and went to register it it came up with a message saying the unit appears to be from another country or from a reseller so there would be a $150 charge that would be applied in 6 days time. That charge never materialised but it let me register no problem but as I said in the video you can’t now seem to just pick a country, I assume that’s because people were picking cheaper countries to register in. I tried Panama or the Cayman Islands as I figured that’s where we would be in 2 months time and that would reset the stupid 60 day rule. However I couldn’t seem to get it off registering in Colombia so I did it there.. not bad as it’s half the price of the US!
It depends on the length you need, we are using the whole of the long supplied cable and remember for the calculator thats double as its a wire return so if we were wanting to supply 12v then that cable would have to be 8 gauge to be within a 2% drop, 10 guage for 5%... use this calculator: www.wirebarn.com/Wire-Size-Calculator-_ep_41.html
The mini needs to be able to draw up to 60w, so that’s 5 amps at 12v but will usually be running on 20-40w. That’s power at the dish of course though, using the very long skinny cable supplied the voltage drop from an average house bank even if it’s fully charged and sitting at 13.2v or so, by the time it reaches the dish will be well down on that and not be able to run the unit well, or at all.
@@russelllang2910 you’re missing the point a bit though. Yes you can ramp up the amps to get enough power to make it work at the very low voltage you will end up with at the end of the cable if you’re only feeding it 12v at the start but try feeding it that way then holding the coiled cable as I did when we were testing. It was very warm! That’s a lot of power loss. Really the only efficient way of powering the unit is to supply it with at least 30v, that’s the way it way designed to work.
I'm heading to Panama in January to buy a boat and plan to purchase the mini there as I understand its on sale for $165 vs $600 in the US. My plan is to sail back to the Florida from Panama. If anyone knows any issues with activating service in Panama, let me know. Good video. Thanks
@@rosansteur I traded emails with an electronics retailer in Colon, who confirmed availability and pricing. The normal price in Panama is $200 and Starlink was offering a temporary sale price. I'm not sure how long the sale will last but it should only go back up to $200 after it's over.
we have an gen 1 starlink on our boat mounted straith up. (nothing do do with north or wen the boat moves or tips over etc. Works perfect even with galeforce wind and waves up to 4 mtr. I was thinking to change to a mini but now i am not sure. After 2 months you can chance your serviceadres did you try that ? ( they told me yu can chance that as often as you want) fairwinds,..
@@jgvv01 We now have the mini mounted straight up on the arch with a clear view of the sky and it’s actually working as well as our Gen 2 standard model was. I couldn’t change the registration for the standard model, I got a message that it couldn’t be changed within a 90 day period
yes thats exactly what we did before I did the final installation and mounted it on the back arch, works absolutely fine. I've now got it running off the Victron Phoenix inverter we bought to power the Standard Starlink, since we already had it it was an easier solution for us and I use the Ecoflow for many other things.
What a great video! Thank you for your time. Im looking to get a starlink but will mostly use it for gaming and for viewing streams/ zoom calls. Does anyone have any experience with this? Im on a sailboat that is almost always at anchor. Im trying to get some point of reference of what the experience would be like.
I have a gen 2 dish, but they have so many restrictions and loops holes it's getting ridiculous. If they got their act together they would open up to millions of customers.
Yes many boats are now going to a higher voltage, about time really, it was the automotive industry sticking at 12v for so long and all the manufacturers of third party electronics only doing 12v that held things back so long. lots of advantages to a higher voltage.
Well, it's getting there. My engine is only two years old... starter and alternator are 12v, most lights are still 12 volts, nav gear is 12v. The only 24v thing I have is the fridge which is 12/24 (fridges have been 12/24 for years). It's not worth switching to 24v and then using buck regulators for almost everything. Someone with deep pockets who will use many AC bits would be better with 48v to power their inverters. We may see a jump to 48v, hard to tell.
Where did you purchase the mini? When I purchased my gen 2 in Canada direct from starlink it was registered in Canada when I received it. I’m sailing from Canada to Europe via Greenland and Iceland summer 2025. So I assume I’ll have this issue sometime in Europe. Cheers
Are you sure it was already registered? thats a new thing. We got ours in the UK because they were out of stock in the US when we went to Annapolis. As with the first one it wasn't registered anywhere but it did know that it was a European unit and when I registered it in Aruba. I got a message that because I was registering it away from where it was from there would be a $150 charge which would be implemented 6 days after registration, it wasn't, so I don't know what happened there!
Thank you. Another very useful update. Much appreciated. One question: I can see the advantages of purchasing a new SIM Card. But how do you deal with retaining your phone number or do you simply accept a new one? I appreciate that you can obtain a PAC Code from your current provider via text in a short space of time should you wish to retain your number. However, is there a delay in registering the PAC with the new provider? Did you experience any problems re time delay and fluffing about? Or am I missing something?
The Sim cards we get are just for Data, we use Whats app to call people. Most do ask you however when you add the eSiM or prplace the actual SiM if you want the new number or to keep the old, we just keep the old. All this PAC code palava seems to have been bypassed now.
7:44 Roam contract has 60 days max per year away from ‘registered’ country… so it’s not a ‘few months’… so you many need to have 3, unless you stay in the newly registered country for 30 days… lucky here in Australia… one country island… almost 14,000 nm of coastline
Yes that’s right, but you can reregister after 3 months so there’s just the month gap, hence flip flopping between two units. And this is only if they strictly implement the rules, some people are saying you will only be cut off after 60 days if you are using in a country not selling Starlink when the 60 days runs out. Not sure if that’s true because we were in Aruba ( which doesn’t sell Starlink yet but it does work there ) and we got cut off, had we been in Columbia maybe we wouldn’t have been? The test for us will be if & when they cut off the mini now we have left our registered country of Columbia.
We have ours mounted on the rear arch now, just flat, and it actually does just fine. No drop outs even at sea so it seems a good view of the sky is enough even if its not pointing North.
We need to look into eSims more. We use them from time to time but they seem expensive (if you use a lot of data) Are there eSims you’ve found with unlimited data?
@@svfairisleI used a couple of unlimited eSIM last spring and in the fall from Holafly (other source could be Airalo) while sailing in Ireland/Scotland and France. It was about $60-70 and Worked well for me. Thanks for sharing your starlink mini experience !
eSim is just on-chip sim storage because mobile device makers are eliminating hardware sim slots. Gives mobile users more flexibility and reliability. Data is dependent on your plans bandwidth EULA.
I have a question, can I purchase the Starlink mini and activate the unlimited roaming subscription and use it in the middle of the ocean miles away from the coast or do I necessarily have to sign up for a global coverage subscription (the most expensive one so to speak)?
The cheapest option is what we do. Be on the standard Roam which is unlimited while you’re within 12nm of shore then toggle on priority when off shore and pay per Gb for the time you’re off shore. They keep threatening to cut the priority toggle switch but it work at the moment, we are using it right now sailing from Panama to Grand Cayman
@@svfairisle Thank you for your reply, I am a seafarer who works for MSC container carrier and as routes we travel from Europe to China passing under Africa, in a few days I will receive my Starlink Mini roaming at home (my family will have it delivered to me) I hope to be able to activate the option you suggested since the distance from the coast is in some points over 1000 nautical miles
@@svfairisle so if I understand correctly, I activate the economic option when I am near the coast or in port while the priority when I am offshore would be the most expensive, in my case around $300 or is there some option that I can activate only after 12nm and based on the Do I pay for my consumption? Can't wait to get it, I survive on 0.2mb/s with my current internet :(
@@svfairisle Anyway, have a good trip and have fun, we are one day away from the port of Valencia Spain, we come from Singapore (29 days of travel) in a few days I will have Starlink, my regards
Well if you spend most of your life on the sea then then the option you speak about might be best. If you look at the Starlink page now the categories are: residential, roam and boats. Most cruisers like us are using the Roam option because it’s the cheapest and at the moment still works at see ( with the priority toggle) that plan is around £150/month depending on where you register it. Ours is registered in Colombia because that’s where we first had the mini and cost us £60/month. We the toggle on priority off shore and pay $2 per Gb while on priority ( toggle it back off when near land) For you travelling all the time using the Boats option might be better as theoretically there are restrictions for how many days you can be offshore or away from the registered country on Roam which may be better on boats. It’s not really clear exactly what the rules are for these things and different people report different things. If I were you I would start in Roam, you will probably have to register it in Spain if that’s where you set it up. You used to be able to register anywhere but I think people were picking the cheaper countries so it looks like the e restricted that. Roam should be around €115/ month registered in Spain, if you have problems down the line you can always switch to the Boats contract which gives you 50Gb a month off shore unlimited at dock and I assume you pay the same $2 per Gb thereafter but it saves you having to switch back & forth on the priority toggle. Let me know how you get on.
I was told by starlink tec that stralink alone covers the cost of all the rocket launches. Thats why our pricing relates to what happens there. Failed launches many another price rise?
Yes exactly, we all want to have principals but I don't personally know anyone who gets by without electronics from China, clothes from the Far east sweat shops etc... & hell most Americans voted for Trump so morality seems to have gone out the window!
I saw an incredible dead straight line of 20 satellites in the night sky pass over me the other night..I was very worried, weirdest thing I've ever seen...turns out it was a string of Starlink satellites. They were travelling West to East...apparently there's nearly 7000 now in orbit...crazy
Two reasons, if they stick to cutting off Starlinks after 2 months away from the registered country and only allow you to reregister every 3 months then you need to flip flop between two! Also I wanted a mini anyway because it draw so much less and I can rig a battery so it could be used in an emergency in a lift raft. We only have one in operation at a time! you can pause the service.
I have the iridium go as backup because you never know what Elon does and for long passages I can download still grab files. That iridium go will go into grab bag for life raft.
A Starlink plan is continent based, is it not..? I.e., if you register in Columbia, you should be good for all of S. America... Did they change that..?!?
Starlink is not continent based any more. We got out first Starlink in Portugal and when we crossed the Atlantic we had to sell it to ourselves in Trindad, you don't have to do that any more. Starlink is now governed by the country it is registered in because on the Roam contract you cannot stay away from the country for more than 60 days without being cut off.
@@svfairisle Thank you for the reply... There is no Grandfather Clause..? I have not been reading the fine print as emails/updates come.. I am away from 'my' Starlink country and have been for more than 60 days... and will be for a long period of time.. in effect, forever. So now I am worried...
Yes it is a worry, we got cut off in Aruba without warning which was a bit harsh, other people had got emails before hand. It seems to be pretty arbitrary if and when they do cut you off though, we had been away from our registered country of Trinidad for over 3 months, but the 60 day rule wasn't in the contract when we registered there so it may have been 60 since the rule came in or it may just be they cut you off when they feel like it I don't really know!
Starlink's highly variable and inconsistent attitude to its users means it is only really of use to those with money and with the need for big bandwidths. The rest of use....data only SIM?
The power-over ethernet works just fine. International standards regulate it. In comparison, what can you expect from these cheaply supplied super flimsy Chinese cables, with minimum thickness of the wires? Good review, though. Cheers.
PoE uses 48V so even less current than at 30V. The original 15W PoE (802.3af) used one pair of wires for power. I'm pretty sure that the 65W version of PoE (802.3at or bt?) uses all four pairs. This is commonly used for powering 30+ watts to a Wi-Fi Access Point over 50-100m of cable, but this is the fixed cable not a patch cable.
What is annoying is dealing with communication companies in every new country.. some of which do not have a "Press 2 for English" on their CUS lines - horrible considering they sell SIMs to tourists ..and... E.N.G.L.I.S.H. ffs.. And, many SIM card companies offer "Unlimited" but it is NOT! They throttle you back at some point, and that is a HORRIBLY FRUSTRATING experience. And as he mentioned, finding a store, making the purchase, installing... etc... Also, many countries now require you to make a facetime call with a third party company to verify you are who you are and not a terrorist activating a burner phone... Extreme hassle. So you have to consider convenience.. For me, the price (the one I currently pay) is EASILY worth the convenience factor alone! I simply have internet. It (mine being Gen 2 mounted up high with no obstructions ever) just works. All.the.time. And comes with a cool app. :) And that is worth the price for me... at least the price I pay now ......... The contract (price) thing is real.. and a concern...
You are British, please pronounce it “rooter”. Just think if you were making a vehicle journey… how would you pronounce “route” ? It’s the same pronunciation!
True, I don't own a sailboat, but why every time you review Starlink you go on about the voltage? How can this be such an issue? Not sure if it is some Europe vs American voltage issue, but I can't find anyone else going on about that issue at all. Yes, it is electrical and voltage is required. Can you install the specified electrical systems on your sailboat as it must be listed in the materials or online? If you upgrade your power system I am pretty sure that your experience will greatly improve. I say this since there are many other sailing channels that use Starlink with no issues at all and I can't see why there is such a different experience. You have a large sailboat so you must have space for batteries somewhere? Well maybe one day when I do get a sailboat I too will also be complaining, but I sure hope not.
It's a big deal because you watch the power so closely on a boat, you need that power to run lights, instruments and even start the engine. The last dishy was a pain to get to run on 12v because it was a specialised 48v POE. You run it without the 240v power block because the power block itself wastes between 20-50w and the inverter to supply 240v wastes similar. Getting 48v is also a bit of a pain when you only have 12v. This new dishy says it runs on 12v, which may be true, but typically you only have 11.8 v on a cigarette stye plug after it has been through the various fuse panels, dodgy connectors and overnight discharges. So needing 12v exactly is a pain as well. I would run this on 48v POE as you would only need thin cables and I happen to have that, but for most boaters that is a bit of a luxury... typically all you have is an old 12v battery and some old corroded cable!
Most of the other success are probably using Vac to power the provided transformer and cable. His comment was that the 12V looking cable is not suitable to be powered by 12Vdc of more basic boats.
I have no idea what sailing channels you've been watching, seems like it might be ones that don't understand electronics? We have top of the range Lithium batteries on our boat, but batteries just store power they don't magically get it! To do that we need lots of solar and a good alternator which we have, but if it's raining a lot as it is now in Panama and you're not motoring ( we sail as much as possible so rarely motor) So power is always an issue for every cruiser unless you have a big generator and spend your life with it running which we certainly don't want to do.
Sorry but most sailboats running on old style lead acid (like AGMs) have 12.4v to 12.8v... under 12v means your batteries are near dead. There just isn't a voltage issue running Starlink on most boats. Why you were using a power bank (which can introduce power quality problems and severely limited power/current) is a mystwry to me... not what 98% of sailors would be doing. I have a few dozen friends successfully using Starlink powered by their regular 12v electrical system. @SailingAquamarine
@quancij I hate to say it, but nobody who knows what they are doing with lead acids would run AGM and the ideal world doesn’t exist on a boat. The 50% soc cell voltage on a flooded cell is 2.017v which gives you 12.01 v open circuit, at best, on a good day with nothing running. Once you allow for shunts, interconnects, fuse panels and long runs of cable to rubbish connectors and a few loads, then 12v is but a dream away in the middle of the night with no solar. You have to allow for the extremes on a boat, because that is when you need it most, I’ve seen 10.5v dips on circuits when a fridge kicks in and you really don’t want your Starlink restarting just because someone opens the lid on a fridge when making tea in the morning! I have couple of Starlinks (and fitted several more) if you want a reliable connection you use 48v, if you want slow unreliable connections you use 12v and hope your battery never gets low!
I have been thinking about how to word this comment. But I haven't reached an agreeable resolution. So I will only say this: Being from the US, I would not buy a single product or service that Musk controls. Having said that, I do enjoy your videos. I sit here at my computer & I can see books about sailing sitting on the shelf. Slocum, Hiscock, Newby, Pardey. I have to chuckle how complicated we have made things in the name of immediacy. Are you headed through the canal, or will you head east for Cape of Good Hope?
Yes sadly Starlink is too useful for us to veto at the moment. We are looping around this time to do a lap of the Caribbean and then complete an Atlantic circuit to spend some more time in Europe
The technology is amazing. The benefits for use during cruising are obvious. But Musk is basically a Russian asset and can GFHS. I'll never pay him a monthly recurring fee.
I understand why you TH-cam vloggers might have no qualms giving money to Musk, but for getting essential services at sea (weather sms etc) I’d rather give the money to a company that is not focused on disrupting world democracy. You do realise you are promoting a man who is disrupting the U.K. democratic processes don’t you?
It’s certainly no true to say we have no qualms about giving money to Musks companies, we would really rather not. However go down that line and you would be virtually devoid of electronics, protesting about Chinas human right record. The world shouldn’t be getting most of its clothes from Far East sweat shops or eating food from farm with the appalling practices they have nowadays, chemical fertilisers, hormones fed to animals etc etc. Pick your battles, do what you can, protect good journalism so questions are asked, but really it comes down to world leadership which is at an all time low right now.
The days of SSB are over. Most ocean going boats have ditched them. Never mind the time wasted futzing with the SSB to get a reliable connection that then disconnects often enough getting more then a 40k GRIB is too hard. I have 18 years using SSB and 12 years using Iridium to get GRIBs... all now obsolete by Starlink... especially for less technical folks that need weather info/help but will never learn to use GRIBs.
@@quancij Quite the contrary, with the correct set up a SSB radio works very well, it worked well in Patagonia and this past summer in Northern Labrador.
Starlink is currently a monopoly, hence the blatantly shameful marketing position of the company. And yes, cloudy weather with Starlink is frustrating. I hope that technical solutions will soon be found to minimize the negative impact of weather on satellite communication. I also hope for the quick appearance of competitors to Starlink, because without them, Elon Musk won't improve his attitude towards his service users. Right now, I've been a forced user of Starlink services for more than two years. During this time, there have been various issues. And there have been more than enough of these issues for me to switch to a competitor's services as soon as one appears.
Very good info. Lot's of it.Have to watch it again. I am sure the sailing community appreciates your efforts.
Thanks Steve, This is the clearest explanation of the Starlink system I've seen . David
Thank you, this was very informative! Happy sailing!
We bought an after market power cable that is 14 gauge and 15ft long. Works perfectly on 12V. One of the reasons it uses less power is because of the throttled back upload speed. If you do a lo of Zoom type meetings it has a lag and therefore might not be the dish for some.
That interesting, I guess the upload must take some power. Interesting as well that you're getting enough voltage at the dish with 14 gauge cable. We are currently using the whole 50 foot of the supplied cable with where the dish is mounted though so I think the cable would have to be unfeasibly thick to deliver enough voltage at the dish!
Could you please provide a link to the cable?
The standard one like we have on our house and probably the same on your boat,has a built in heater for snow build up. We didn’t realize it until we got a snowing and it melted it all away. Love the vids. Happy holidays. Starlink also has out,antennas for cell phones now.
The standard one like we have on our house and probably the same on your boat,has a built in heater for snow build up. We didn’t realize it until we got a snowing and it melted it all away. Love the vids. Happy holidays.
Thanks Steve, another useful TH-cam episode
Nicely timed, am looking to get one of these, only problem is that Im in S Africa and you cant get them. I heard terms of use etc are changing in the new year??. Stay safe out there.
Terms of use change all the time Barry! It’s certainly worth getting one though. The mini is small so if anyone’s coming out while your there get them to bring it in hand luggage, Judy brought ours from the UK
@@svfairisle I once flew to Hawaii with a 7W solar panel in my backpack. About the same size.
PS tell them to take it out of the box, a friend of ours had theirs taken at customs in SA, they wanted $500 in tax, not sure how they worked that one out! They got it back for a small fee but best to save the hassle.
THANK YOU
The Starlink Mini requires 12-48 VDC at 60 watts. Trying to power it with a 3 amp 12-volt source isn't going to work. 60 watts equals 5 amps at 12 volts. 60 watts at 30 VDC lowered the amps needed down to 2, so you also gave yourself some headroom in that cable by not pulling so many amps. It was a smart move. 👍
Another useful tech video, thank you. In the context of running a big boat like Fair Isle, the initial equipment cost is not that significant even for the HP dish but the power usage is a big deal if it is powered on 24/7. For that reason it would be really interesting to know how long each style of dish takes to connect when it is powered up. If that process is quick and reliable, I would happily limit usage periods during times of power shortage to what’s necessary for the operation of the boat. With that, power usage would take a back seat to reliable connections when the weather turns gnarly.
In our experience on a flat anchorage the Starlink Standard and Mini both connect within a minute or two. When sailing and moving around it takes longer. On average with the Standard dish it was 10 miutes but it did take up to an hour in the middle of the Atlantic. We are not sure if that was down to the fact we had big seas and were rolling a lot of if it's because there are fewer satellites out there to pick from, but rolly seas definitely slow things down. So far the Mini seems the same. We haven't had the heavy seas we tested the standard with, but it's coping okay with normal sailing pitch and roll and connects in 10-15 mins. (it sometimes gets it and looses it straight away a couple of times before stabilizing)
That's a good point. I have the bigger dish and was thinking of switching to the mini because of the lower power consumption. On the other hand, if the big one connects so much more quickly, I can limit my power consumption by switching that on when I need it (and without the expense and hassle of buying a new unit).
@@oldmansailing Having used it for a few months now John I can say I much prefer the Mini. It may take slightly longer to connect on occasions but we find with the lower draw we turn it off much less. Mounted flat as we have it now we've had no issues and the router is great.
Great review. Thanks!
If you are looking for a more robust mounting solution, I have found that the upper portion of Starlink's "Mini Wall Mount" product fits perfectly into my fishing pole holder that I have mounted high on my boat's Bimini support tube. I can pivot the Mini easily in the pole holder. The shallow tube mounting adaptor that comes with the Mini doesn't have much depth for attachment to a pipe. The wall mount kit is more robust.
Yes I'm not loving the shallow hole they have on the Starlink clip in pole mount. I actually ordered a mount kit for the dish when we got it in the UK and the sent me one for the Standard not the Mini! I've managed to rig something that works though, I'll show it in the next episode.
Steve, thnx for the good info 👍🏻
3:36 Thanks for the video.. FYI… Voltage drop could be the problem… but insufficient Power (watts) is definitely the problem.. your power fitting had a 3amp rating.. … 3 amps at 12 v is 36 W… Mini in test needs 40 to 50 watts, probably because of some cable loss (ie to deliver 40w at device, needs 40+ watts at supply)… anyway its more than 40w… at start up for acquisition, and possibly 30ish at general status.. or 40w at full download
update… even with a 10A power outlet, from the Bluetti EB3A with the Starlink provided 15m power cable, the Mini wouldn’t work. The Bluetti indicated 25 - 50 watts was being drawn, but that was at 13.7 v, so the Amps were higher, and the cable warmed. I was unable to test the in-use voltage drop, because I was using a Bluetti at a local retailer 😂. I am getting some new DC5521 plugs and sockets and will do more testing after they arrive… I have also sourced a 12 to 24 volt DC to DC booster, which I am hoping will enable the standard Starlink power cable to work in my 12v powered systems..
Nice topic. Again.
As noted, the ever changing plans is getting annoying. I think the Global roam is gone and the $165 Roam is global, but limited via the 60 day thing. I’m going to the Bahamas from the States next winter and hope there is a viable plan for being there and offshore. Will be picking up the Mini as a spare to my flat mounted, DC powered, Gen2. Great content.
As mentioned previously Fabule is equipped with the marine version of the antenna array which is larger in surface.
Larger surface means higher gain on the array and the array is quite insensitive to obstacles located in the far field of the radiating elements but still in the near field of the array so the blocage is minimal.
The marine version consumes more power though as we drain about 70 to 120 W depending on the traffic.
The connection to the satellites works remarkably well even at sea even with quite a bit of sea; we not often lose the connection and when we do, it is only until the boat gets back to a more level attitude.
As well the marine version does not need any orienting, and is tilted to about 8 degrees from horizontal to drain rain water by gravity when the boat is level.
I am glad that you found a solution for your Starlink problem.
See you on the water.
Well I'm sure that's right and I'm sure if I had only used the marine version I would assume that because it is so much more powerful the smaller models would not cope with things the larger ones can. In reality though that just does not seem to play out. We used the standard model for 17 days across the Atlantic in severely rolly seas and the standard Starlink didn't drop out once, it took longer to acquire satellites after being turned off but that was all. Similarly I assumed that the mini being half the size and half the power would not perform nearly as well as the Standard version but that just hasn't been the case. I now have it mounted flat on the rear arch on the other side to the Standard model, I dont align in and it works perfectly without dropping out at anchor or at sea. We had two days off shore from Colombia to Panama and it didn't miss a beat, quite remarkable.
@ thank you for the information. I have friends that are looking to install starlink on their Boreal so this can be a more cost effective solution than the marine one which remains expensive, that’s sure.
There are ~$25, 12V-->24V converters 100-200W options. Not the full expense of an inverter. I think they're around 90% efficient. Sounds like 24V will be enough for the thin cable.
As example, a 100W model will be fed 8amp at 12V via proper ~12ga wire not too far from battery. The converter will output 24V, 4amp to the long thin wire. 4amp isn't too bad and maybe volts drop to 20-22ish with 4amp. Starlink is looking for minimum solid 12.5-14V, 4-5 amps so it works.
tnx for the review. Bummer to know it is not really 12V :(
You should look into e-SIM cards, takes no time at all and no fluffing with physical sim cards. I started doing it because I still need my phone when being away from the boat but it's so practical that it makes me wonder why I have Starlink at all. I have one on my iPad as well, for when the voltage drops for Starlink.
But can you get an unlimited data contract? We haven’t found one and the rate are usually 2-3 pounds per GB. Starlink tells us we use around 500GB / month so that would be over a thousand bucks!
Interesting. We are in the process of getting this for our tour of Scotland. Our electrician (marine specialist) has been using it for offshore racing. They advise that it will definitely run off 12v. It is not waterproof so proposing to mount under the for peak hatch stuck to the plastic (there is a bracket for the purpose). £50 a month for 50gb (£90 unlimited)on roam upto 12nm off shore. More questions to ask 🙂
See the comment from Sue on here that they have it working off 12v with a 3rd party 14 gauge 15ft long cable. If you can manage to deliver above 12v to the dish then it should work, in practice that can be more difficult to do than you think so the extra voltage is definitely a plus. Also the plug that comes with the Starlink is well waterproofed, the unit is definitely completely waterproof using this plug. We have been having biblical rain out here in Panama and Colombia and it's fine.
I enjoyed your piece on the Star Link Mini as I am interested in one myself. However, the presentation confused me on power requirements. Looking at the Star Link web site did not provide clarity. One spec indicated 100 watts at 20V/5A, another indicated input power from 12-48 Volts 60 watts. It appears that the Eco Flow with a 12 volt 3 amp output would be marginal. It's likely that power output at any range from 12 to 48 volts that puts out 5 amps would provide the correct power. Star Link should clarify this.
Yes they should. The reason they dont is that they are targeting it largely to RV'ers who would want to power it off 12v. They have carefully made the unit be able to work with in 12-48v range so it looks like it can be powered by a 12v battery. Problem is you may have 12v ( or more you would hope with a fully charged battery) at the battery itself but you need a good thick, short cable to be able to deliver that to the dish. So unless you can fit it that we (we couldn't because its a long run up to the arch and we need the good view of the sky) then you will need more than 12v across your cable.
We’ve a new boat on order and are told that the favored position is to mount it inside the fore peak locker, fixed to the ceiling. Apparently works well even through the deck. If signal is still good it’s a nice solution for other reasons. Would be great to know if that works on yours.
It didnt work well through our deck, not at all in some places, but our deck it very thick fiberglass with 22mm teak on top of that.
@ yes ours is an outremer so deck will be thinner and cored so perhaps less to get in the way. But is apparently tkt working well there for other owners. Maybe within you doghouse ceiling would work better? Or is that super thick too.
O52?
yes, buying two starlinks is a great idea.
thanks)
We would have rather just had one that worked all the time without all the contract shenanigans! but it has the added advantage of redundancy I suppose and before we cross the next ocean I will work out a way of powering the Mini in the liferaft.
@@svfairisle the change in tariffs hit everyone (
Great info.
So if I understand, follow-ups will only be with this video then?
There will be follow ups in the episodes as always (in fact I film a bit for next weeks episode today) but I will also make a list of things in the description on the Starlink video for all the updates.
Our mini seems to run just fine on the 12volt cigarette lighter adapter.
If it's a good think cable and not too long it should do.
Any updates on your mini? Have you found success in changing between dishes every two months? Does it reset the clock for your roam account? We’re taking delivery of a new Boat in Thailand in August and may purchase 2 or 3 mini dishes here in Mexico where they are half the price and switch between them in Thailand if it works. Thanks so much!
Well by our calculation we had run out of our 60 days while we were in Panama but didn't get cut off. We are now in San Andres which is a Colombian Island even though it's a long way from their shores. We were on premium coming over off-shore but have now switch back to basic roam and it's working which is good as that puts us back on unlimited data. Hopefully it should also log us as being back in Colombia (our registered country) so hopefully the clock only starts ticking again when we leave here, if indeed they are bothering to count still. I'd be very happy to stay on the mini and not have to switch to the standard as it works just as well for half the power draw.
Just watching the technical corner on the small starlink, have you looked at the new e-sim programs?
Not for a while but when we did they seemed expensive for large data usage, have you found one with unlimited data? We couldn’t when we last looked
Are you not limited to 50gb per month on the mini? We have the gen 2 which is still unlimited data. We pay the global roaming, registered in US, $400/months which I think is expensive. Literally doubled this year🤯
No the mini can be on the standard Roam contract, ours is. The 50GB plan is a special thing for the mini if you just want occasional use for outings so it's cheaper. You just opt into what ever contract suits you.
It seems that the changing direction, either at anchor or on sail, would be a challenge. Do you just manually adjust the “aim” when needed? Do you just not use it when in a situation where boat direction changes regularly (tacking or jibing regularly)? Or do you simply use it intermittently and set aim while generally stationary? I’d like to know more about challenges you have from antenna misdirection.
This video is two weeks old as it was with the Patrons before going live so we have now used it off shore as well as sailing along the coast of Panama, I've written an update in the description so have a look at that, but upshot is with a good view of the sky up on our arch it seems fine mounted flat and doesn't drop out.
POE should work well as its 48V - and this is how the Starlink V2 is powered. Our Starlink v2 on a std (long) cable with a 12V conversion works well. If you get dropouts, this is due to voltage drop, possibly as starlink is syncing to another satellite. A 2200uF Capacitor solved this for me.
Running V2 on a 12V also saves allot of power - mine draws around 36W consistently.
Thanks Steve for this really valuable insightful video. Quick question, you bought it in the UK and registered it in columbia, when you bought it do you not have to say what country it's in or are there 2 processes. Thanks.
It knows what country it’s in and it knows what country it’s from! Judy carried it on the plane from the UK, when I fired it up and went to register it it came up with a message saying the unit appears to be from another country or from a reseller so there would be a $150 charge that would be applied in 6 days time. That charge never materialised but it let me register no problem but as I said in the video you can’t now seem to just pick a country, I assume that’s because people were picking cheaper countries to register in. I tried Panama or the Cayman Islands as I figured that’s where we would be in 2 months time and that would reset the stupid 60 day rule. However I couldn’t seem to get it off registering in Colombia so I did it there.. not bad as it’s half the price of the US!
Thanks
I am using a 12 Volt system with a proper diameter of the cable and it works just fine. The cable delivered with the dish is just to thin.
Could you please post a link to the cable that you are using? Thanks
@@michaelzotzky4378 15AWG or 17AWG with a dioameter of 3 or 4 mm should be very sufficient
It depends on the length you need, we are using the whole of the long supplied cable and remember for the calculator thats double as its a wire return so if we were wanting to supply 12v then that cable would have to be 8 gauge to be within a 2% drop, 10 guage for 5%... use this calculator: www.wirebarn.com/Wire-Size-Calculator-_ep_41.html
So, what IS the defined power requirement quoted on the back of the dish?
The mini needs to be able to draw up to 60w, so that’s 5 amps at 12v but will usually be running on 20-40w. That’s power at the dish of course though, using the very long skinny cable supplied the voltage drop from an average house bank even if it’s fully charged and sitting at 13.2v or so, by the time it reaches the dish will be well down on that and not be able to run the unit well, or at all.
Tilt is only useful for draining water off. Its actually cheaper to just buy new devices every 60 days as you travel from one region to the next.
The problem is with the EcoFlow.
If it can only supply 3A, this is not enough current. The 12V house system will not have this limitation.
It does, we tried it! At least with the long cable
Or use the 12V aux outlet (cigarette lighter socket) which can supply 10A on the Ecoflow. The other DC option is USB-C power delivery.
@@russelllang2910 you’re missing the point a bit though. Yes you can ramp up the amps to get enough power to make it work at the very low voltage you will end up with at the end of the cable if you’re only feeding it 12v at the start but try feeding it that way then holding the coiled cable as I did when we were testing. It was very warm! That’s a lot of power loss. Really the only efficient way of powering the unit is to supply it with at least 30v, that’s the way it way designed to work.
Unfortunately Starlink Mini does not support PoE natively, but there are some third-party companies offer PoE conversion kits, from what I understand.
I'm heading to Panama in January to buy a boat and plan to purchase the mini there as I understand its on sale for $165 vs $600 in the US. My plan is to sail back to the Florida from Panama. If anyone knows any issues with activating service in Panama, let me know. Good video. Thanks
Hi, where is the mini for sale for $165? Do you know that?
@@rosansteur I traded emails with an electronics retailer in Colon, who confirmed availability and pricing. The normal price in Panama is $200 and Starlink was offering a temporary sale price. I'm not sure how long the sale will last but it should only go back up to $200 after it's over.
@26N80W That sounds great, thanks!
we have an gen 1 starlink on our boat mounted straith up. (nothing do do with north or wen the boat moves or tips over etc. Works perfect even with galeforce wind and waves up to 4 mtr.
I was thinking to change to a mini but now i am not sure.
After 2 months you can chance your serviceadres did you try that ? ( they told me yu can chance that as often as you want)
fairwinds,..
@@jgvv01 We now have the mini mounted straight up on the arch with a clear view of the sky and it’s actually working as well as our Gen 2 standard model was. I couldn’t change the registration for the standard model, I got a message that it couldn’t be changed within a 90 day period
hi great info thanks, We have 12 V on board and plan to by an ecoflo can I plug into the 240 outlet and convert to 30V ?
yes thats exactly what we did before I did the final installation and mounted it on the back arch, works absolutely fine. I've now got it running off the Victron Phoenix inverter we bought to power the Standard Starlink, since we already had it it was an easier solution for us and I use the Ecoflow for many other things.
What a great video! Thank you for your time. Im looking to get a starlink but will mostly use it for gaming and for viewing streams/ zoom calls. Does anyone have any experience with this? Im on a sailboat that is almost always at anchor. Im trying to get some point of reference of what the experience would be like.
I have a gen 2 dish, but they have so many restrictions and loops holes it's getting ridiculous. If they got their act together they would open up to millions of customers.
Todays 12 v is the 6 v of 1956. 24 or 48 is the new standard.
Yes many boats are now going to a higher voltage, about time really, it was the automotive industry sticking at 12v for so long and all the manufacturers of third party electronics only doing 12v that held things back so long. lots of advantages to a higher voltage.
Well, it's getting there. My engine is only two years old... starter and alternator are 12v, most lights are still 12 volts, nav gear is 12v. The only 24v thing I have is the fridge which is 12/24 (fridges have been 12/24 for years). It's not worth switching to 24v and then using buck regulators for almost everything. Someone with deep pockets who will use many AC bits would be better with 48v to power their inverters. We may see a jump to 48v, hard to tell.
Where did you purchase the mini? When I purchased my gen 2 in Canada direct from starlink it was registered in Canada when I received it. I’m sailing from Canada to Europe via Greenland and Iceland summer 2025. So I assume I’ll have this issue sometime in Europe. Cheers
Are you sure it was already registered? thats a new thing. We got ours in the UK because they were out of stock in the US when we went to Annapolis. As with the first one it wasn't registered anywhere but it did know that it was a European unit and when I registered it in Aruba. I got a message that because I was registering it away from where it was from there would be a $150 charge which would be implemented 6 days after registration, it wasn't, so I don't know what happened there!
Starlink is out of my range, SIMs for the win. However, I don't have an Inet business to run.
i need a mount for pullpit...any ideas, links?
Thank you. Another very useful update. Much appreciated. One question: I can see the advantages of purchasing a new SIM Card.
But how do you deal with retaining your phone number or do you simply accept a new one? I appreciate that you can obtain a PAC Code from your current provider via text in a short space of time should you wish to retain your number. However, is there a delay in registering the PAC with the new provider? Did you experience any problems re time delay and fluffing about? Or am I missing something?
The Sim cards we get are just for Data, we use Whats app to call people. Most do ask you however when you add the eSiM or prplace the actual SiM if you want the new number or to keep the old, we just keep the old. All this PAC code palava seems to have been bypassed now.
@@svfairisle Ah, that makes sense. Thank you for a swift reply. All the best and safe sailing.
That’s why solars panels are the best
7:44 Roam contract has 60 days max per year away from ‘registered’ country… so it’s not a ‘few months’… so you many need to have 3, unless you stay in the newly registered country for 30 days… lucky here in Australia… one country island… almost 14,000 nm of coastline
Yes that’s right, but you can reregister after 3 months so there’s just the month gap, hence flip flopping between two units. And this is only if they strictly implement the rules, some people are saying you will only be cut off after 60 days if you are using in a country not selling Starlink when the 60 days runs out. Not sure if that’s true because we were in Aruba ( which doesn’t sell Starlink yet but it does work there ) and we got cut off, had we been in Columbia maybe we wouldn’t have been? The test for us will be if & when they cut off the mini now we have left our registered country of Columbia.
A gimbal mount that is "magnetically" directed towards North is in order. lol could be a good product to sell.
We have ours mounted on the rear arch now, just flat, and it actually does just fine. No drop outs even at sea so it seems a good view of the sky is enough even if its not pointing North.
@@svfairisle Thanks for that info. I hope it doesn't affect your solar electricity production.
@@naveenjayapal2331 No it's just outboard of the panels and level with the top of them
No I haven’t found one with large data, but haven’t looked that hard. I just see other You Tubers talking about them.
Why not eSIM rather than SIM card?
We need to look into eSims more. We use them from time to time but they seem expensive (if you use a lot of data) Are there eSims you’ve found with unlimited data?
@@svfairisleI used a couple of unlimited eSIM last spring and in the fall from Holafly (other source could be Airalo) while sailing in Ireland/Scotland and France. It was about $60-70 and Worked well for me. Thanks for sharing your starlink mini experience !
eSim is just on-chip sim storage because mobile device makers are eliminating hardware sim slots. Gives mobile users more flexibility and reliability. Data is dependent on your plans bandwidth EULA.
What about gen3 how does that compare to the mini in open ocean?
From what I hear the Gen 3 is very similar to the Gen 2 in performance, but maybe with a better router. They all seem to work well though
I have a question, can I purchase the Starlink mini and activate the unlimited roaming subscription and use it in the middle of the ocean miles away from the coast or do I necessarily have to sign up for a global coverage subscription (the most expensive one so to speak)?
The cheapest option is what we do. Be on the standard Roam which is unlimited while you’re within 12nm of shore then toggle on priority when off shore and pay per Gb for the time you’re off shore. They keep threatening to cut the priority toggle switch but it work at the moment, we are using it right now sailing from Panama to Grand Cayman
@@svfairisle Thank you for your reply, I am a seafarer who works for MSC container carrier and as routes we travel from Europe to China passing under Africa, in a few days I will receive my Starlink Mini roaming at home (my family will have it delivered to me) I hope to be able to activate the option you suggested since the distance from the coast is in some points over 1000 nautical miles
@@svfairisle so if I understand correctly, I activate the economic option when I am near the coast or in port while the priority when I am offshore would be the most expensive, in my case around $300 or is there some option that I can activate only after 12nm and based on the Do I pay for my consumption? Can't wait to get it, I survive on 0.2mb/s with my current internet :(
@@svfairisle Anyway, have a good trip and have fun, we are one day away from the port of Valencia Spain, we come from Singapore (29 days of travel) in a few days I will have Starlink, my regards
Well if you spend most of your life on the sea then then the option you speak about might be best. If you look at the Starlink page now the categories are: residential, roam and boats. Most cruisers like us are using the Roam option because it’s the cheapest and at the moment still works at see ( with the priority toggle) that plan is around £150/month depending on where you register it. Ours is registered in Colombia because that’s where we first had the mini and cost us £60/month. We the toggle on priority off shore and pay $2 per Gb while on priority ( toggle it back off when near land) For you travelling all the time using the Boats option might be better as theoretically there are restrictions for how many days you can be offshore or away from the registered country on Roam which may be better on boats. It’s not really clear exactly what the rules are for these things and different people report different things. If I were you I would start in Roam, you will probably have to register it in Spain if that’s where you set it up. You used to be able to register anywhere but I think people were picking the cheaper countries so it looks like the e restricted that. Roam should be around €115/ month registered in Spain, if you have problems down the line you can always switch to the Boats contract which gives you 50Gb a month off shore unlimited at dock and I assume you pay the same $2 per Gb thereafter but it saves you having to switch back & forth on the priority toggle. Let me know how you get on.
I was told by starlink tec that stralink alone covers the cost of all the rocket launches. Thats why our pricing relates to what happens there. Failed launches many another price rise?
Useful video. Thank you. Unfortunately the virtue signalling in the comments section is predictable and a little pathetic
Yes exactly, we all want to have principals but I don't personally know anyone who gets by without electronics from China, clothes from the Far east sweat shops etc... & hell most Americans voted for Trump so morality seems to have gone out the window!
Gen 2 with 12v to 48v dc/dc converter and poe injector,(mtors and heater disabled) teltonica 4g router uses also about 30w so no real power saving
That’s a good router then power wise. Can you still use the Starlink app properly to toggle priority etc though?
That's similar to my setup using a Mofi router.
Yes starlink app still works, only limitation is download speed which is about 40mbps due to router wan port is 100mb not a gigabit
I saw an incredible dead straight line of 20 satellites in the night sky pass over me the other night..I was very worried, weirdest thing I've ever seen...turns out it was a string of Starlink satellites. They were travelling West to East...apparently there's nearly 7000 now in orbit...crazy
Yes the 'string of pearls' I've been hoping to see one for years but no luck yet
@@svfairisleI heard it's most frequent after a launch.
I think I will stick to my SSB until they get this system figured out . Its free. Unless I use sailmail and thats 275 a year
Hardly comparable!! 🤦♂️
@@maxflight777 depends on what you need it for .
Why did you buy a 2nd starlink?
Two reasons, if they stick to cutting off Starlinks after 2 months away from the registered country and only allow you to reregister every 3 months then you need to flip flop between two! Also I wanted a mini anyway because it draw so much less and I can rig a battery so it could be used in an emergency in a lift raft. We only have one in operation at a time! you can pause the service.
@@svfairislewas thinking doing that too because of the reason you mentioned.
I have the iridium go as backup because you never know what Elon does and for long passages I can download still grab files. That iridium go will go into grab bag for life raft.
Esim is the way forward
At some point Steve you're going to have to stop buying stuff, or do you just keep repainting the waterline? 😉
Stuff does leave the boat as well! And we have 26 tonnes to play with….😂
A Starlink plan is continent based, is it not..? I.e., if you register in Columbia, you should be good for all of S. America... Did they change that..?!?
Starlink is not continent based any more. We got out first Starlink in Portugal and when we crossed the Atlantic we had to sell it to ourselves in Trindad, you don't have to do that any more. Starlink is now governed by the country it is registered in because on the Roam contract you cannot stay away from the country for more than 60 days without being cut off.
@@svfairisle Thank you for the reply... There is no Grandfather Clause..? I have not been reading the fine print as emails/updates come.. I am away from 'my' Starlink country and have been for more than 60 days... and will be for a long period of time.. in effect, forever. So now I am worried...
Yes it is a worry, we got cut off in Aruba without warning which was a bit harsh, other people had got emails before hand. It seems to be pretty arbitrary if and when they do cut you off though, we had been away from our registered country of Trinidad for over 3 months, but the 60 day rule wasn't in the contract when we registered there so it may have been 60 since the rule came in or it may just be they cut you off when they feel like it I don't really know!
@@svfairisle Thank you... Really disappointing, and not good business practice. I mostly defend Elon and his ventures, but this is another wart...
Starlink's highly variable and inconsistent attitude to its users means it is only really of use to those with money and with the need for big bandwidths. The rest of use....data only SIM?
Colombia 🇨🇴
The power-over ethernet works just fine. International standards regulate it. In comparison, what can you expect from these cheaply supplied super flimsy Chinese cables, with minimum thickness of the wires? Good review, though. Cheers.
Are they using multiple wires in the PoE cables then? Difficult to see how they can supply the power even at a 48v
PoE uses 48V so even less current than at 30V. The original 15W PoE (802.3af) used one pair of wires for power. I'm pretty sure that the 65W version of PoE (802.3at or bt?) uses all four pairs. This is commonly used for powering 30+ watts to a Wi-Fi Access Point over 50-100m of cable, but this is the fixed cable not a patch cable.
Rowter...Rooter? Lets call the whole thing off
When I start calling the Caribbean the Ca-RIB-ean it'll be time to go home!
Thanks Steve, really useful video, but I wish the personal opinions on Elon Musk would be kept out of comments!
I can’t get past giving Musk more lolly. 🤑
This would annoy me. Sim cards seem better option
What is annoying is dealing with communication companies in every new country.. some of which do not have a "Press 2 for English" on their CUS lines - horrible considering they sell SIMs to tourists ..and... E.N.G.L.I.S.H. ffs.. And, many SIM card companies offer "Unlimited" but it is NOT! They throttle you back at some point, and that is a HORRIBLY FRUSTRATING experience. And as he mentioned, finding a store, making the purchase, installing... etc... Also, many countries now require you to make a facetime call with a third party company to verify you are who you are and not a terrorist activating a burner phone... Extreme hassle. So you have to consider convenience.. For me, the price (the one I currently pay) is EASILY worth the convenience factor alone! I simply have internet. It (mine being Gen 2 mounted up high with no obstructions ever) just works. All.the.time. And comes with a cool app. :) And that is worth the price for me... at least the price I pay now ......... The contract (price) thing is real.. and a concern...
You are British, please pronounce it “rooter”.
Just think if you were making a vehicle journey… how would you pronounce “route” ?
It’s the same pronunciation!
I think he speaks perfect, “proper” English! Thankfully, that means he calls a battery “battery” and not Baaadery…
True, I don't own a sailboat, but why every time you review Starlink you go on about the voltage? How can this be such an issue? Not sure if it is some Europe vs American voltage issue, but I can't find anyone else going on about that issue at all. Yes, it is electrical and voltage is required. Can you install the specified electrical systems on your sailboat as it must be listed in the materials or online? If you upgrade your power system I am pretty sure that your experience will greatly improve. I say this since there are many other sailing channels that use Starlink with no issues at all and I can't see why there is such a different experience. You have a large sailboat so you must have space for batteries somewhere? Well maybe one day when I do get a sailboat I too will also be complaining, but I sure hope not.
It's a big deal because you watch the power so closely on a boat, you need that power to run lights, instruments and even start the engine.
The last dishy was a pain to get to run on 12v because it was a specialised 48v POE. You run it without the 240v power block because the power block itself wastes between 20-50w and the inverter to supply 240v wastes similar. Getting 48v is also a bit of a pain when you only have 12v.
This new dishy says it runs on 12v, which may be true, but typically you only have 11.8 v on a cigarette stye plug after it has been through the various fuse panels, dodgy connectors and overnight discharges. So needing 12v exactly is a pain as well.
I would run this on 48v POE as you would only need thin cables and I happen to have that, but for most boaters that is a bit of a luxury... typically all you have is an old 12v battery and some old corroded cable!
Most of the other success are probably using Vac to power the provided transformer and cable. His comment was that the 12V looking cable is not suitable to be powered by 12Vdc of more basic boats.
I have no idea what sailing channels you've been watching, seems like it might be ones that don't understand electronics? We have top of the range Lithium batteries on our boat, but batteries just store power they don't magically get it! To do that we need lots of solar and a good alternator which we have, but if it's raining a lot as it is now in Panama and you're not motoring ( we sail as much as possible so rarely motor) So power is always an issue for every cruiser unless you have a big generator and spend your life with it running which we certainly don't want to do.
Sorry but most sailboats running on old style lead acid (like AGMs) have 12.4v to 12.8v... under 12v means your batteries are near dead. There just isn't a voltage issue running Starlink on most boats. Why you were using a power bank (which can introduce power quality problems and severely limited power/current) is a mystwry to me... not what 98% of sailors would be doing. I have a few dozen friends successfully using Starlink powered by their regular 12v electrical system. @SailingAquamarine
@quancij I hate to say it, but nobody who knows what they are doing with lead acids would run AGM and the ideal world doesn’t exist on a boat.
The 50% soc cell voltage on a flooded cell is 2.017v which gives you 12.01 v open circuit, at best, on a good day with nothing running. Once you allow for shunts, interconnects, fuse panels and long runs of cable to rubbish connectors and a few loads, then 12v is but a dream away in the middle of the night with no solar.
You have to allow for the extremes on a boat, because that is when you need it most, I’ve seen 10.5v dips on circuits when a fridge kicks in and you really don’t want your Starlink restarting just because someone opens the lid on a fridge when making tea in the morning!
I have couple of Starlinks (and fitted several more) if you want a reliable connection you use 48v, if you want slow unreliable connections you use 12v and hope your battery never gets low!
I have been thinking about how to word this comment. But I haven't reached an agreeable resolution. So I will only say this: Being from the US, I would not buy a single product or service that Musk controls.
Having said that, I do enjoy your videos. I sit here at my computer & I can see books about sailing sitting on the shelf. Slocum, Hiscock, Newby, Pardey. I have to chuckle how complicated we have made things in the name of immediacy.
Are you headed through the canal, or will you head east for Cape of Good Hope?
Yes sadly Starlink is too useful for us to veto at the moment. We are looping around this time to do a lap of the Caribbean and then complete an Atlantic circuit to spend some more time in Europe
Nothing that has the name Musk on it is worth to use
The technology is amazing. The benefits for use during cruising are obvious. But Musk is basically a Russian asset and can GFHS. I'll never pay him a monthly recurring fee.
Yes of course you're right about Musk, I'd be happy to switch to any other service once one is there that can compete.
@@svfairisleamazon. Coming next
Feel free to disagree with his politics and vote with your wallet, but The US DoD uses starlink.
DoD uses a separate system, not civilian Starlink.
Bollocks
I bet that “stung” ! You two paying Elon every month !
You hate Elon and his politics don’t you ?
Elon’s a dick but you can’t deny he makes good gear
Let that sink in!
@@svfairisle You feel that way ?
Imagine my surprise
@@svfairisleHe’s the most consequential man in the world.
@@svfairisleThanks for replying though !! I thought you’d ignore my post !!
Best wishes.
Thanks for the review but no thanks. I won't do business of any sort with Musk.
I understand why you TH-cam vloggers might have no qualms giving money to Musk, but for getting essential services at sea (weather sms etc) I’d rather give the money to a company that is not focused on disrupting world democracy. You do realise you are promoting a man who is disrupting the U.K. democratic processes don’t you?
Is the petition to throw out the socialism you're defending up to a few million yet?
It’s certainly no true to say we have no qualms about giving money to Musks companies, we would really rather not. However go down that line and you would be virtually devoid of electronics, protesting about Chinas human right record. The world shouldn’t be getting most of its clothes from Far East sweat shops or eating food from farm with the appalling practices they have nowadays, chemical fertilisers, hormones fed to animals etc etc. Pick your battles, do what you can, protect good journalism so questions are asked, but really it comes down to world leadership which is at an all time low right now.
Why would you support Elon Musk? There is nothing wrong with a SSB radio and grib files.
I did think about doing the YT channel by semaphore but I'm not sure the algorithm would cope!
@@svfairisle Morse code would be better.
The days of SSB are over. Most ocean going boats have ditched them. Never mind the time wasted futzing with the SSB to get a reliable connection that then disconnects often enough getting more then a 40k GRIB is too hard. I have 18 years using SSB and 12 years using Iridium to get GRIBs... all now obsolete by Starlink... especially for less technical folks that need weather info/help but will never learn to use GRIBs.
@@quancij Quite the contrary, with the correct set up a SSB radio works very well, it worked well in Patagonia and this past summer in Northern Labrador.
😅
Starlink is currently a monopoly, hence the blatantly shameful marketing position of the company. And yes, cloudy weather with Starlink is frustrating. I hope that technical solutions will soon be found to minimize the negative impact of weather on satellite communication. I also hope for the quick appearance of competitors to Starlink, because without them, Elon Musk won't improve his attitude towards his service users. Right now, I've been a forced user of Starlink services for more than two years. During this time, there have been various issues. And there have been more than enough of these issues for me to switch to a competitor's services as soon as one appears.