Starlink power cable

[The Rookie]

Out of curiosity, has anyone mounted a Starlink Mini and ran the power cable into the RV through the OTA antenna hole? It seems like that would be a good place to follow the antenna cable and use the outlet in the cabinet that contains the AV switchbox.
I don’t need to redo my seals yet, but was considering this when I took the old sealant off.

 

[GTM41261]

It should work . Even better if it is a straight shot down into the cabinet. If it is not a straight shot. Tape a pull wire to the Antenna wire in the cabinet then pull them out from the roof. Add the power wire and pull everything back in.

 

[Chateau_Nomad]

I have a Mini. I'm always watching Starlink mod videos. Some of them are about Gen 1 through Gen 3, but aside from the separate router, cable size and power requirements they mostly all apply. In most cases I use a Harbor Freight flagpole attached to my ladder as a dish mount. My planned project is to run the cable underneath and into a rear storage compartment... then plug to a 120v outlet in the compartment. Eventually I want to power from 12v. But... I'm finding best practice is to use a boost converter when doing that due to voltage drop over the roughly 50' cable.

This guy does some pretty cool mods. He used a custom printed frame/mount for a mini in another video. Check out his channel for ideas...

 

[PS89]

Out of curiosity, has anyone mounted a Starlink Mini and ran the power cable into the RV through the OTA antenna hole? It seems like that would be a good place to follow the antenna cable and use the outlet in the cabinet that contains the AV switchbox.
I don’t need to redo my seals yet, but was considering this when I took the old sealant off.

On your MH, that hole for the antenna cable feeds down into the space between the left interior wall of the cabinet over the dinette and the outer sidewall of the cabinet. You have to pull that interior panel to access the space (that's where your coaxial splitter happens to live).

I bought a Mini back in early December when it was still on their Black Friday pricing. Bought it through Home Depot and scored an extra 10% military discount. Tossed the unit in its unopened box under the bed for our two month trip down to Florida, "just in case" we needed it. Got by without it using an AT&T hotspot only. At least I'll have it for our future trip to Alaska where cell service will be somewhere between zero and spotty outside of the towns. I plan on just putting it on the dash in front of the window unless I find a spot where I need to move it outside to get a good enough view of the sky. Half tempted to see if I can put it inside the forward roof vent and just string the cable across the ceiling to the "AV cabinet".

 

[Chateau_Nomad]

On your MH, that hole for the antenna cable feeds down into the space between the left interior wall of the cabinet over the dinette and the outer sidewall of the cabinet. You have to pull that interior panel to access the space (that's where your coaxial splitter happens to live).

I bought a Mini back in early December when it was still on their Black Friday pricing. Bought it through Home Depot and scored an extra 10% military discount. Tossed the unit in its unopened box under the bed for our two month trip down to Florida, "just in case" we needed it. Got by without it using an AT&T hotspot only. At least I'll have it for our future trip to Alaska where cell service will be somewhere between zero and spotty outside of the towns. I plan on just putting it on the dash in front of the window unless I find a spot where I need to move it outside to get a good enough view of the sky. Half tempted to see if I can put it inside the forward roof vent and just string the cable across the ceiling to the "AV cabinet".

Great idea for the front roof vent! Have you measured to check fit? If it will fit just remove the fan and associated aluminum cross members. Fashion some screw clips to hold the dish. Then a little cable management and done!

 

[The Rookie]

These are all great thanks!

 

[Chuck and Mary Ann]

Great idea for the front roof vent! Have you measured to check fit? If it will fit just remove the fan and associated aluminum cross members. Fashion some screw clips to hold the dish. Then a little cable management and done!

How do you align to the Satellites with it mounted in the vent enclosure?

 

[16ACE27]

How do you align to the Satellites with it mounted in the vent enclosure?

It is my understanding the antenna electronically aligns - no moving parts.

 

[Chateau_Nomad]

Used to be that majority of satellites were only in northern sky. As more satellites were put into orbit, there's much greater sky coverage. The satellites aren't stationary. They are moving across the sky, so there's hand-offs as a closer satellite approaches.

Now pretty much all you do is point the dish at the clear sky and Starlink does the rest... no aiming needed. So mounting the dish on your roof or skylight should work if it has a clear sky view.

 

[Chuck and Mary Ann]

How do you align to the Satellites with it mounted in the vent enclosure?

Interesting, I always see the people lining them up with an app or with a mere on the receiver showing on the TV. good to know.

 

[PS89]

Interesting, I always see the people lining them up with an app or with a mere on the receiver showing on the TV. good to know.

Those would be the earlier models.

 

[Chateau_Nomad]

Interesting, I always see the people lining them up with an app or with a mere on the receiver showing on the TV. good to know.

I have the Mini. Although the app has an alignment feature, it doesn't seem to have much purpose anymore. I've tried both random alignment (just pointing upward) and aligning using the app. After a good connection is established there's really no difference in data speed or connection reliability using either method. Bottom line... point it to the sky and you're done!

 

[The Rookie]

I have the Mini. Although the app has an alignment feature, it doesn't seem to have much purpose anymore. I've tried both random alignment (just pointing upward) and aligning using the app. After a good connection is established there's really no difference in data speed or connection reliability using either method. Bottom line... point it to the sky and you're done!

I use the same mini for the house and the RV and that’s all I do when I setup each location.

 

[Wiley1]

Have you guys seen the video where somebody mounted the flat panel on the ceiling INSIDE the coach? Unless you have an Airstream, the ceiling is probably made of cardboard, rubber, and styrofoam, so there won't be much signal loss.

 

[The Rookie]

Have you guys seen the video where somebody mounted the flat panel on the ceiling INSIDE the coach? Unless you have an Airstream, the ceiling is probably made of cardboard, rubber, and styrofoam, so there won't be much signal loss.

That’s interesting. I may have to experiment with that in the near future

 

[mdntblu]

So I have a question and maybe someone can answer. Thor Hurricane 34J. In my cabinet above the couch there is this Wineguard plate and all it has is a power button. When I remove the button I find this little circuit board with 12v running to it and 3 coax cables. My assumption is 1 of the Coax cables runs to the roof antenna. I don't use that roof antenna ever. So I'm wondering a few things. I saw someone use a coax cable to do some PoE or Ethernet thing but I also saw this video with a PoE splitter thing. Can I use the 12v power here in this area to power the Starlink mini and use the Coax to get the data? I have a Dual WAN router in my RV with an access point which I have Verizon modem that I use. But if I could figure out how to power the Starlink mini and get ethernet cable from it to my router that would be the best scenario. I am going to remove that antenna on the roof and probably just mount the Starlink Mini in that location. Any ideas?

 

[16ACE27]

No, wrong voltage
No, need twisted pair CAT6

What you have in your hand is a combination 12 volt power injector for the OTA amplifier in the antenna,
Output signal splitter to the TVs
Signal switch between cable in and OTA to the outputs.
There is no ethernet, therefore there is no POE.

 

[Chateau_Nomad]

No, wrong voltage
No, need twisted pair CAT6

What you have in your hand is a combination 12 volt power injector for the OTA amplifier in the antenna,
Output signal splitter to the TVs
Signal switch between cable in and OTA to the outputs.
There is no ethernet, therefore there is no POE.

Starlink Mini doesn't support POE. It does have an Ethernet port, but for power the dish itself has a 2.1mm barrel jack. Also note that using 12v over the supplied power cable is NOT sufficient... the dish is rated for 30 volts.

So ... what to do? Since the router is built into the Mini dish, you can use an Ethernet cable ran between the dish and an external router, BUT you still need to use the power cable. So you're running two cables... power and Ethernet.

I installed one of these 12v to 30v "up-converter"... basically the size of a "cigarette lighter", or now referred to as a 12v power port. It works excellent.

Amazon.com

IF you could figure how to pull an Ethernet and the power cable up through, you could install this converter in that area, and inject 30v to the dish. IMO, it's very possible you won't even need a separate router... the router in the Mini give surprisingly great coverage.

 

[mdntblu]

Starlink Mini doesn't support POE. It does have an Ethernet port, but for power the dish itself has a 2.1mm barrel jack. Also note that using 12v over the supplied power cable is NOT sufficient... the dish is rated for 30 volts.

So ... what to do? Since the router is built into the Mini dish, you can use an Ethernet cable ran between the dish and an external router, BUT you still need to use the power cable. So you're running two cables... power and Ethernet.

I installed one of these 12v to 30v "up-converter"... basically the size of a "cigarette lighter", or now referred to as a 12v power port. It works excellent.

Amazon.com

IF you could figure how to pull an Ethernet and the power cable up through, you could install this converter in that area, and inject 30v to the dish. IMO, it's very possible you won't even need a separate router... the router in the Mini give surprisingly great coverage.

Ok yes I did see some PoE over Coax adapters and that’s what I was thinking. But yes they need to be separate as you need the barrel connector.
I believe I can pull the coax out and pull in Ethernet and power through the channel. If not then I might have to drill up. Either way I’ll figure it out. Good to know about the 12v to 30v up-converter.
The reason I don’t want to just use the wifi is because we have several hard wired devices that I plug in. So having the dual wan also is nice to not always have to use the Starlink especially if on 50gb plan.

 

[Chateau_Nomad]

Ok yes I did see some PoE over Coax adapters and that’s what I was thinking. But yes they need to be separate as you need the barrel connector.
I believe I can pull the coax out and pull in Ethernet and power through the channel. If not then I might have to drill up. Either way I’ll figure it out. Good to know about the 12v to 30v up-converter.
The reason I don’t want to just use the wifi is because we have several hard wired devices that I plug in. So having the dual wan also is nice to not always have to use the Starlink especially if on 50gb plan.

Makes sense. I'm considering packing a router and a length of Ethernet cable. I'd like to try Ethernet instead of Wi-Fi with the laptop and see if speed increases appreciably. Please post results your final set-up!