My Starlink Mini Mount

[swooshdave]

This is my take on the excellent design by @RHeinz https://www.bronco6g.com/forum/threads/starlink-mini-installed-for-remote-camping.106167/

I'm not sure if this will be my final design but I had all of the components sitting around. Don't ask why I have spare 1in wide steel in my inventory. But I definitely keep a supply of rivnuts.

The first step was a mount, I think some people use a camera tripod mount, so 1/4-20? but since I could print my own mount, I did.

I inserted a M8 rivnut in the mount and then a shorter M6 as a set screw.

Then for the strap/bar I just drilled one end for the M8 and the other end for a M8 rivnut. The rivnut was too long so I cut it down and that was just enough to clear the roof bracket perfectly. I found a short M8 but it was too long so I used a large nut as a spacer. I will find a proper length or print a better spacer. If I remember to.

I calculated out the bend at 19.5˚ and went over to a friend's to use his vice. Of all the tools I have that's the one thing I don't.

First pull was exactly 19.5˚ but since I didn't account for the weight of the antenna I had to lessen the bend and now it presses the antenna nicely against the roof.

This whole thing works so well I'm not sure if I can improve it. Although I may still print out a frame just to protect the edges. And maybe add some M8 thumbscrews like @RHeinz did.

I could also design a frame that uses the bar but allows the antenna to slide out. But we'll see how often I need to do that.

I got the antenna registered and will try it out for real tomorrow as I head to the coast. I didn't test the speeds yet as I think the saturation in the metro area is pretty tough.

For now I will just plug the AC adapter into the Ecoflow (which will be plugged into the Bronco). I'm printing out a cord reel to take up the slack. I will look into a shorter cable. Not sure if it will be USB-C or 12v.

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[Brian_B]

The USB C adapter cord should plug straight into your Ecoflow as well and is a lot more efficient. The dish doesn't draw a ton of power, but every little bit helps

Nice looking mount!

I find for streaming music and such it does great, even out on wooded trails. If you are trying to do real time, like a phone call - it's best to stop where you can get clear sky, otherwise it's just like going through a bad cell area.

I'm really tempted to drop to the new $5 Standby plan. Most of what I do are stream music, send texts, and update the occasional map - so it would probably be sufficient for that. I do think it's kind of a bummer you can't just stick it on the shelf for $0 any longer though.

 

[swooshdave]

Can you stream music on the $5 plan?

I’m not really worried about the music as I already have SirusXM.

But I do want to at least be able to text, check weather, wildfires, etc.

 

[Brian_B]

Can you stream music on the $5 plan?

I’m not really worried about the music as I already have SirusXM.

But I do want to at least be able to text, check weather, wildfires, etc.

Supposedly it’s unlimited data - just capped at 500kbps - which seems like it should be enough to stream music and possibly even phone calls and such. Just not video or large app/map downloads

 

[swooshdave]

Supposedly it’s unlimited data - just capped at 500kbps - which seems like it should be enough to stream music and possibly even phone calls and such. Just not video or large app/map downloads

Looks like something like Apple Music is 256k. Not sure how steady that will be.

 

[Brian_B]

Looks like something like Apple Music is 256k. Not sure how steady that will be.

I found even with the 50G plan if you don’t let the phone cache music on local storage you will blow through amazing amounts of data.

Apple Music is pretty good about handling that automatically. Spotify did it as well but wasn’t as good with variety unless you self-curated

And that goes back to how well the apps buffer with crappy connections. Spotify was better at handling it admittedly, but once Apple Music can build up its cache it does a better job without repeating a bunch of the same songs over and over

it took a good month before Apple got to the point where it caught up to what Spotify can do normally, but once it did I found I liked it much better than Spotify

now, how that relates to a 500kbps cap - I don’t know (yet)

 

[ferbm]

I had great luck with mine back in March in Moab. The wide open vistas are perfect for the platform. In the woods of northern Wisconsin, it is spotty at best. Overall, I'm a bit bummed by the performance. When it works, it's really fast and quite amazing. If you need to depend on it for your job, you better confirm it works in that general scenario first.

I also scabbed together a mount for about 60$ purely from Amazon parts, zero fabrication. I can't attest to the durability off-road, but it works fantastic for highway use, and I imagine it would do just fine.

 

[swooshdave]

I had great luck with mine back in March in Moab. The wide open vistas are perfect for the platform. In the woods of northern Wisconsin, it is spotty at best. Overall, I'm a bit bummed by the performance. When it works, it's really fast and quite amazing. If you need to depend on it for your job, you better confirm it works in that general scenario first.

I also scabbed together a mount for about 60$ purely from Amazon parts, zero fabrication. I can't attest to the durability off-road, but it works fantastic for highway use, and I imagine it would do just fine.

Guys n my team have definitely used them for working really remotely. But stationary.

I mounted it more for convenience than to use it while moving. But with the option of occasionally use while mobile.

 

[HighVelocity]

I don't understand the obsession with "mounts" for this stupid thing.

I prop mine up with scrap piece of 2x4 and get enough bandwidth to stream pornhub and "work from home", in even the most ridiculous places in Montana.

 

[JC-]

I don't understand the obsession with "mounts" for this stupid thing.

I prop mine up with scrap piece of 2x4 and get enough bandwidth to stream pornhub and "work from home", in even the most ridiculous places in Montana.

Bungee Cord works quite well, no problem staying online while driving either.

 

[Roger123]

I don't understand the obsession with "mounts" for this stupid thing.

I prop mine up with scrap piece of 2x4 and get enough bandwidth to stream pornhub and "work from home", in even the most ridiculous places in Montana.

Sometimes it's fun just to have a project. Keeps the mind and body working, especially for us old retired folks with too much time on our hands.

 

[swooshdave]

I don't understand the obsession with "mounts" for this stupid thing.

I prop mine up with scrap piece of 2x4 and get enough bandwidth to stream pornhub and "work from home", in even the most ridiculous places in Montana.

Yeah, but are you streaming porn WHILE driving? Amateur.

 

[swooshdave]

Surfing the internet while staring at the surf.

 

[Kesker]

This is my take on the excellent design by @RHeinz https://www.bronco6g.com/forum/threads/starlink-mini-installed-for-remote-camping.106167/

I'm not sure if this will be my final design but I had all of the components sitting around. Don't ask why I have spare 1in wide steel in my inventory. But I definitely keep a supply of rivnuts.

The first step was a mount, I think some people use a camera tripod mount, so 1/4-20? but since I could print my own mount, I did.

I inserted a M8 rivnut in the mount and then a shorter M6 as a set screw.

Then for the strap/bar I just drilled one end for the M8 and the other end for a M8 rivnut. The rivnut was too long so I cut it down and that was just enough to clear the roof bracket perfectly. I found a short M8 but it was too long so I used a large nut as a spacer. I will find a proper length or print a better spacer. If I remember to.

I calculated out the bend at 19.5˚ and went over to a friend's to use his vice. Of all the tools I have that's the one thing I don't.

First pull was exactly 19.5˚ but since I didn't account for the weight of the antenna I had to lessen the bend and now it presses the antenna nicely against the roof.

This whole thing works so well I'm not sure if I can improve it. Although I may still print out a frame just to protect the edges. And maybe add some M8 thumbscrews like @RHeinz did.

I could also design a frame that uses the bar but allows the antenna to slide out. But we'll see how often I need to do that.

I got the antenna registered and will try it out for real tomorrow as I head to the coast. I didn't test the speeds yet as I think the saturation in the metro area is pretty tough.

For now I will just plug the AC adapter into the Ecoflow (which will be plugged into the Bronco). I'm printing out a cord reel to take up the slack. I will look into a shorter cable. Not sure if it will be USB-C or 12v.

You should sell this solution Very cool!

 

[swooshdave]

You should sell this solution Very cool!

Yeah, that's a no. But if someone wants the STL file they just have to ask. I'll have a complete parts list at some point.

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