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Let’s Talk STARLINK

Discussion in 'General Yachting Discussion' started by DOCKMASTER, Jun 19, 2022.

  1. Ken Bracewell

    Ken Bracewell Senior Member

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    We are now in the Azores, and had a solid and fast signal all the way from Florida.
  2. Pascal

    Pascal Senior Member

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    this is the post I was questioning. You said you had cell the whole way which is impossible.

    are you saying that you were using SL and were able to make phone calls using Wi-Fi calling? That indeed works great with SL.
  3. motoryachtlover

    motoryachtlover Senior Member

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    Yes I that is what I did. I turned the cellular data off on the phone and used wifi.
    Soulstice likes this.
  4. DOCKMASTER

    DOCKMASTER Senior Member

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    What UPS are you guys using to cover switch over from Shore to Gen or back? I'm thinking to go this route vs powering it from an inverter as I have it now. I would prefer to reduce the DC loads I have. Only issue I see is if the dang UPS is going to beep/alarm when I shut down Gen when anchoring at night? I'll want to put the UPS in the console where my Starlink router is and don't want to get in there to shut the thing up when there is no ac power going to it. I'm not trying to power the Starlink when the gen is off.
  5. Pascal

    Pascal Senior Member

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    We have UPS pretty much everywhere on the boat for every TV system to avoid the 15 minutes directTV receiver reboots as well as for some electronics components like router, network drive etc. I used a dedicated one for SL. I think most have a mute mode but I think they will alarm once the battery get low
  6. DOCKMASTER

    DOCKMASTER Senior Member

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    I’m not too concerned about a low battery alarm as I’ll turn the STARLINK off so it won’t draw on the battery. Most UPS units I’ve seen go into alarm when they lose ac power. That’s the alarm I’m worried about
  7. timvail

    timvail Senior Member

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    Is it possible on your unit to turn the alarm volume down or off if you're unable to turn the alarm off altogether?
  8. DOCKMASTER

    DOCKMASTER Senior Member

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    I haven’t purchased a UPS yet. I was hoping to find one without an alarm or one that can be turned off. No luck so far. I have seen talk where some folks remove the little sound emitter.
  9. MBevins

    MBevins Senior Member

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    That's my suggestion as well, just make sure the UPS is not a sealed unit before you buy it.
  10. timvail

    timvail Senior Member

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    We had a ups system in our old building that you were able to disable the alarm and volume if you wanted to. Maybe this feature is not available in smaller units??
  11. DOCKMASTER

    DOCKMASTER Senior Member

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  12. Capt Ralph

    Capt Ralph Senior Member

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    Thru my years working on computers, ATMs and network junk, I came home home with some small and large UPS units from time to time.

    Thru my years living on our Bertram, I have learned that UPS units do not like inverters, even the supposed pure sine wave.
    UPS units do not like many gen-sets.

    A better UPS unit is always watching the ACv signal and when in any doubt, Switches to its batteries.
    And when they don't like the signal from the above, stay on batteries till they die.
    UPS units require near perfect ACv signals.

    Just install the better marine inverter that switches quickly (as most) and sleep well.
    Better inverters are not so finicky on poor gen-set signals and still do switch quickly.

    Now that were back on land, I pulled out a few APC units, installed fresh batteries and love them. Cable modem, TVs, Routers and computers in the house are always up 24/7.
    Just like the Bert, less than 100' away on her big inverter.
    When the lights in the hood do go down (very rarely), We never notice. That rain storm that comes by every other after noon that blinks the lights, We still never notice.
    On the boat or in da house.
    f3504x4ps likes this.
  13. sdonx

    sdonx New Member

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    [QUOTE="
    Just install the better marine inverter that switches quickly (as most) and sleep well.
    .[/QUOTE]

    Any suggestions for an inverter?
  14. Capt Ralph

    Capt Ralph Senior Member

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    Anything that fits your needs and budget.
    I do NOT recommend anything from Xantrex.
  15. Pascal

    Pascal Senior Member

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    Magnums are pretty good and last time I checked made in the USA no by the chicoms like xantrex

    while having a good inverter is helpful, they can also restrict the amount of power you can get on board in pass thru mode. So if using one make sure the pass thru capacity is 50 amp
  16. MBevins

    MBevins Senior Member

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    Victron is becoming a marine industry standard.
  17. DOCKMASTER

    DOCKMASTER Senior Member

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    First time using my SL underway a few days ago. At 30 knot cruise I was still getting download speeds just under 200 mbps. Tried it with radar transmitting and it definitely had an impact. Didn’t knock me offline but slowed download speeds down to around 30 mbps. Still fine for me and I don’t use radar all that often anyway. I thought we got the antenna up high enough to be out of radar plane but obviously not.
  18. rtrafford

    rtrafford Senior Member

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    Had similar issue but was close enough that it knocked me out. Elevated another 3 feet. No issues at all.

    I have both 12kw open and 2kw Doppler. Similar planes. The open did the damage. Cruised with Doppler until I could elevate.
  19. Ken Bracewell

    Ken Bracewell Senior Member

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    Front View.jpeg
    We mounted our SL panels in the two domes just below the radars, and haven't seen any difference between radars on/off. Installed in October 2022, and have run nearly 10,000nm since.
  20. rtrafford

    rtrafford Senior Member

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    I believe the installation challenge for radar impacting the starling is when the radar beam is passing through the SL antenna. I don't think the starling beam passing through the radar or radar beam is an issue...but the radar beam will mess up the ability of the SL antenna to function. Ive proven that....