Starlink Antenna Vehicle Mount/Mast?

[erstwild]

I thought this would be a good location to inquire about this item, since I am sure that between cellphone signal booster users, HAM radio enthusiasts, and current satellite internet customers there must already be some good options for this.

I am signed up for the Starlink satellite internet beta and looking forward to getting my “UFO on a stick” in the next couple months ideally. I am hoping to find a good place to mount this:



Antenna is the size of a pizza box for scale.

I’m trying to find the best option for mounting on my rig:

The Grand Terrainer: 2017+ Ford F-250 and SpaceKap Diablo 8'

This is a long overdue rig project posting of a 2017+ F250/SpaceKap Diablo 8’ camper conversion! The genesis of the project was the desire to build a full-time luxury overland vehicle...on a reasonable budget and timeline! I previously owned a Jeep Patriot Trail Rated with Autohome Columbus...

expeditionportal.com

I think I would like it on some kind of 2” hitch mounted extendable mast offset to rear right side to be able to modestly extend above the vehicle and most importantly lower below the roof height to protect from trees, etc. when driving.

Any ideas welcome!

 

[hg1027]

Is the plan for it to live outside while offroading? I think it has small motors to maintain orientation, and whatever other sensitive internals come with a satellite receiver, I would be concerned about traveling with it outside.

Maybe it would clamp to the shell as well when down?

Mast would also have to be very rigid, since (based on 3 minutes of googling) it looks like it will be moving constantly to keep aligned to satellites. Will dish be able to handle people moving around in the truck?

How much power will all this movement draw? I haven't read your whole build thread, maybe you have lots of power.

Looks like fun!

 

[AMBOT]

I read the power consumption is around 150w.

 

[erstwild]

Is the plan for it to live outside while offroading? I think it has small motors to maintain orientation, and whatever other sensitive internals come with a satellite receiver, I would be concerned about traveling with it outside.

Maybe it would clamp to the shell as well when down?

Mast would also have to be very rigid, since (based on 3 minutes of googling) it looks like it will be moving constantly to keep aligned to satellites. Will dish be able to handle people moving around in the truck?

How much power will all this movement draw? I haven't read your whole build thread, maybe you have lots of power.

Looks like fun!

If I mount externally on retractable mast on the rear, I would store it below the roof line when driving around offroad or not. Still might just manually deploy it outside on a tripod but would be more worried about it getting jacked. It is phased array antenna, so it just needs to generally orient and then be largely stationary with small adjustments, so I am not too worried about small movements causing connection issues or power draw from it moving.

I read the power consumption is around 150w.

I have yet to find what its continuous power consumption will be but that could be ballpark. I am hoping for less, haha.

 

[DaveInDenver]

You might be careful advertising what you're doing since the terms of use on the public beta state you must use the terminals in a fixed location, the address you list on your order. It states this in several places.


They probably need to know where each is because several parts are not FCC approved yet for general use. You won't own any of it and SpaceX might need to modify, test or recall the devices.

 

[socceronly]

I don't think his pics/intentions will matter.

They will know exactly where it is and if it is moving. If they want/need to cut it off they will.

But that will be an unhappy thing to find out after the fact.

I hope this gets sorted because my time in the city will go down by about 99.999999 %

 

[erstwild]

You might be careful advertising what you're doing since the terms of use on the public beta state you must use the terminals in a fixed location, the address you list on your order. It states this in several places.


They probably need to know where each is because several parts are not FCC approved yet for general use. You won't own any of it and SpaceX might need to modify, test or recall the devices.

Definitely, I had seen this beta requirement as well. I am not in the beta yet (photos a beta user posted) and would be using it only at my home base initially until they lift the stationary requirement. I am hoping that they also roll out a mobile optimized antenna by the time they fully open up the service.

 

[DaveInDenver]

Definitely, I had seen this beta requirement as well. I am not in the beta yet (photos a beta user posted) and would be using it only at my home base initially until they lift the stationary requirement. I am hoping that they also roll out a mobile optimized antenna by the time they fully open up the service.

It's a taller technical order for an antenna you can use while actually mobile and still fit on a vehicle. SpaceX has started I believe experimenting with in-flight terminals on aircraft but the antenna they're using is a Ball Aerospace design and not the pizza box they're using for stationary ground terminals.

Sounds like they've have some success up to 600 Mbps in fact. I'd guess the antenna and terminal they're using in-flight to be in the 80 to 100 lbs weight, perhaps 2 feet x 3 feet and consume a couple to a few hundred watts of power to achieve it.