Starlink

[Fallon]

The idea isn't to be a magnetic sweeper. It is to attach to a piece of debris tightly enough to push it into deorbiting in a controlled manner. This is zero gs, so it might not take much, and, rather than magnetic attraction, eddy currents might do the job. I've seen proposals to use harpoons. TBD if any of these ideas work, as the deorbiting satellite has to run down the debris, attach, and have enough propellant left over to get the whole shebang out of orbit without hitting anything else.

Definitely in the "lesser of two evils" category to me as I can't imagine what the insurance looks like.

All the best,

Peter

It actually takes a lot of energy. As much as it did to put it into orbit. Most of the energy in a satellite launch isn't getting it up out of the atmosphere it's getting it sped up to orbital velocity. The satellites are going a couple miles per second, 10-20,000mph. Slowing one down hundreds of miles an hour changes its orbit very slightly, but doesn't make it fall out of the sky.

 

[cqaigy2]

It actually takes a lot of energy. As much as it did to put it into orbit. Most of the energy in a satellite launch isn't getting it up out of the atmosphere it's getting it sped up to orbital velocity. The satellites are going a couple miles per second, 10-20,000mph. Slowing one down hundreds of miles an hour changes its orbit very slightly, but doesn't make it fall out of the sky.

Good point. Near earth orbits can take advantage of atmospheric drag if the satellites are able to maneuver to lower orbit.

 

[Oaktree]

The starlink birds are in low earth orbit. Low enough there is a very little atmospheric drag. That drag will deorbit them after a few years if they don't periodically do maneuvers. Their operational lifespan is only 5-10 years or so. So unlike a lot of the geosynchronous or high altitude birds & boosters starlink is only a short term debris problem at worst.

Shorter term maybe, but SL alone will account for thousands of low orbiting satellites, presumably a lot more chance that one will come down in your backyard. What kind of liability do the owners of these birds have, and who picks up the tab for damage/controlled destruction if the entity that launched them is no longer in business?

 

[IXLR8]

Shorter term maybe, but SL alone will account for thousands of low orbiting satellites, presumably a lot more chance that one will come down in your backyard. What kind of liability do the owners of these birds have, and who picks up the tab for damage/controlled destruction if the entity that launched them is no longer in business?

The Starlink birds are small enough that they will burn up upon re-entry and no pieces will make it back to earth.

 

[shooterdon]

Got the kit today.

Took about an hour to temporarily set up. Wanted to see if it was worth keeping first.

Speed test was 140-180 compared to 6-10 with JetPack. Looks like it is worth keeping.

Now to do a permanent install.

 

[BigBlue1]

Congrats! You'll love it.

After it's been up a day or so check the debug data (via the app or http://192.168.100.1/ in a browser) under Support, Advanced, Debug Data and look for the two arrays of obstruction data. If they are not all zeros (0) you may experience some connection loss. Once you get the dish mounted with zero obstructions it will be very reliable. Maybe once or twice a week I get a momentary blip that disrupts an on-line meeting. Pretty rare.

Rob

 

[TheMan419]

Sadly not available at my address currently.

Is it possible to mount the dish on a pole? It looks like it is just placed on the ground or mounted on the roof.

 

[civilian]

Got the kit today.

Took about an hour to temporarily set up. Wanted to see if it was worth keeping first.

Speed test was 140-180 compared to 6-10 with JetPack. Looks like it is worth keeping.

Now to do a permanent install.

Those numbers make it enticing to me. It is either wait for Truestream by Great Lakes Energy to come to my area, or jump to Starlink. Wondering! Jon

 

[BigBlue1]

Sadly not available at my address currently.

Is it possible to mount the dish on a pole? It looks like it is just placed on the ground or mounted on the roof.

Many options available. A pole is fine if it is stable.

 

[bdhsfz6]

Anyone tried the Starlink smartphone app to check for signal obstructions?