I appreciate how easy this is to follow and understand with little electrical/technical experience. Thorough and to the point - thanks for the breakdown!
I saw another RU-vidr getting a similar result with a direct 12V being only a few percent more efficient than with the OEM transformer via a mains inverter. Since the dish is 56V DC it will be 12V DC -> 120V/240V AC -> 56V DC or 12V DC to 56V DC. I would have expected a much better efficiency with the 12V DC -> 56V DC conversion. Maybe it is down to the electrical components used.
Awesome video and on the power supply. I’m gonna order the gen. 3 and was going to buy a 12 to 120vac inverter to power it (very inefficient) as we have two lithium ion batteries and 800 watts of solar on the roof. So glad I ( or should I say the you tube algorithm) found this. As soon as I get my generator three I’ll order one of those supplies. Yea.
Note that flatmounting is in violation of FCC regulations: Starlink is not allowed to beam in the direction of geostationary satellites to avoid interference, hence the angle.
I would be curious to see the documentation on this, being that if I park my van at a 15-20 degree counterangle, the starlink would be flat anyways. What is a violation of FCC regulation is operation while moving, which at no point in the video did I recommend or suggest doing. I only stated that it does work for those who are curious about functionality.
A word of caution when flat mounting any Dish. The clamshell style ring acts as a dam when it rains it holds water and Starlink will drop out until the water is cleared away. So mount it at a slight angle if possible. Don’t try what I did which was to VHB tape a plexiglass “lid” on the face of it. Even though it was ventilated on two sides the excessive heat killed the GPS unit in my Gen2. Replacement on the way though. Thanks for the info. Sub’d 😊
Great build! Maybe it's just a camera effect but the length of conductor exposed on those 12v converter leads seemed a tad short. Wago connectors have a visual indicator bar on their side showing how much to strip before clamping for a secure wire connection.
This is exactly the sort of helpful tip I’d hope the RU-vid community could help share in my comments section! I did my entire electrical system with those Wago connectors and never noticed that indicator bar, I always just stripped away ~1/4-3/8” and cut that one short under the pressure of doing things on camera 😅. I’m always trying to learn and hope the comment section of these videos can be as insightful as the videos themselves for everyone, thank you for sharing!
I think it's interesting that Starlink finally went with PoE, makes things super easy. Have you thought about using velcro ties for your cable management? I would be nervous about zip ties pinching or fraying the insulator on the cable. Have you had any water leaks from all the mounts on your roof? I will have to pay attention when you come back home so I can take you out to lunch! I love this series and can't wait to see what you do in Cali! -Ched
I’m psyched about the switch to PoE! The gen 2 cable was awful to deal with and was super fragile! I zip tied my solar cables to the side of my FVC roof rack, and haven’t had any issues with fraying yet, but a loop of electrical tape under the zip ties could also prevent that! And absolutely, sounds like a plan! I’ll be back east in late August!
While it is much more convenient to flat mount, it should be understood that flat mounting has a bunch of cons. I prioritize connectivity and parking in less than desirable starlink conditions, so I would love the convenience of zero setup every time I want starlink, but I've resisted flat mounting my dish. I use my setup for work, so I need the best connection as possible, and that's tough to get with a flat mount if you operate from the forest / mountains frequently. Either way, this is a great way explainer video.
Thank you and super well worded! I 100% agree. This is somewhat why my next video is taking a bit longer, I’m in Washington state now where starlink has been taking a much bigger hit performance wise than Colorado (one can likely guess why) - and I’d like to cover this accurately with real life scenarios for it.
I just put a small 12v switch in so I can turn it on or off, no inverter that I know of will do that automatically, but whichever option works best for your case! I just wanted to demonstrate that it could be done if desired
Ryan thank you for this video. Could you tell me where you got the 56v Jack that connects to the buck converter? I'm having trouble finding one online. I hope you're having great adventures. I can't wait to start mine.
You’re absolutely right, however one conversion 12v -> 56v is more efficient than two voltage conversions 12v-> 120v -> 56v, even if only by a small percentage
Peplink is a rad cellular router :) it takes sim cards for a high data only cell plan and lets you configure/combine different networks, tether in starlink to combine cellular and satellite for virtually unbreakable internet, etc. This will be my next video (the ultimate guide to van life internet) - I’ll go over what you really need as a weekend warrior, casual browser, full time worker (my case), or how to get the best internet possible (often better than home internet).
Totally! I showed the install around my roof rack setup (it’s a relatively popular roof rack), but trio flatmount makes magnetic (insanely strong) and suction cup (for glass roofs like Tesla) mounts too for folks with no roof rack!
What was the device you used to combine your cell and Starlink? I have a Netgear Nighthawk MR6110 I used along with a Weboost system and Starlink Gen 3. Currently I have to climb on my roof and setup the Starlink dish. It doesn't take long but becomes a hassle since you have to break the system down each time.
To anyone cutting power when solar is involved. Please cut solar array power first, followed by battery. Solar controllers are not designed to operate with the array power active, absent the battery power. This can damage your solar controller. The only situation this would not apply to is a controller designed to operate without a battery bank. Which isnt very common.
Great callout! In the video I describe that I did this in the reverse order. A miss on my part, my apologies! Cannot emphasize enough, correct order as stated above is solar disconnect then system disconnect!
~60w/h give or take 5w, I don’t have a voltmeter with me in the van, but my load increases by 5a and some fraction, which we can attribute to a small efficiency loss when working with voltage converters. It’s reasonable for a medium size battery bank but significant enough to warrant a switch to cut power when not in use.
It would be relatively the same, you’d just need a 48v-56v converter instead of a 12v-56v. I imagine that will be very efficient as it’s near native voltage, definitely share your findings!
Great video! When using alligator clamps, make sure to have the wire ends not tinned. They are made for loose wires to maximize the contact surface and better grip. Tinned wires will only have two small contact points and are bad for higher amps.
Thank you! You absolutely can use the starlink and peplink individually. Starlink has much faster ping and higher speeds, but I wanted to show how you can connect the starlink into the peplink for a reliable satellite + cellular internet connection (useful for folks in areas with lots of trees or around other starlinks where satellite isn’t as reliable). I’ll expand upon this in my next video on all things van internet going live on Monday!
@@ryan_lecours ah, no that's not what i meant. I was asking if you can not use the peplink & starlink together without using the starlink router. Connecting Starlink directly to the Peplink router?
@@ytluckynuts I'm hoping to use a POE injector and not use the Starlink router at all, but I'm unsure if the set up and app will work? Not sure when my Gen3 will get delivered, I just ordered yesterday? I guess I'll see....
@ytluckynuts ah my misunderstanding! I’m not sure if you can bypass the starlink router, the app connects to the starlink router before the dish is connected, and otherwise I’d be lost on how they’d verify your starlink account to provide you internet.
I used a POE injector and bypassed the Statlink Router for the first time yesterday. I didn't enable bypass mode in the app as first as I thought I might need to, I simply unplugged the standard ethernet cable from the router and plugged it into the POE port my POE injector, plugged an ethernet cable into the LAN port on the POE injector into a Netgear router and it just works. Starlink app works just fine with my phone connected the Netgear router's Wifi, but the "Network" options menu selection is greyed out and has "Router unreachable" under it. But the rest of the app, Statistics, Obstruction mapping, Alignment tool, all work perfectly.
Excellent video. Thanks. Watched it about 5 times. For the 12vold dc hookup… did you run it directly to your battery? Did you fuse it? What amp fuse? Thanks very much
I connected the 12v side to a 12v line run from my 12v lithium battery bank (unrelated to my van battery). The line only had ~2a of load on it from some lights and a usb charger. I knew I might need more 12v sources, so I added this load to that line (I use 12awg wire) and going to a 15a fuse would suffice. Per Trio’s site: If connecting to a 12V fuse block, please use a 15A fuse for use with snow melt function or 10A without snow melt (We recommend not lengthening the included 12V power supply cable length, but if needing to please size appropriately based on cable length and fuse size. Seek professional electrical assistance if required). If connecting to a 24V fuse block, please use a 10A fuse
I have 824ah of 12v lithium batteries from SOK batteries and 540w of solar (which I’ve found is a great electrical setup for full time van life, albeit a bit expensive for those on a budget) - I’m filming a video now for a few different use cases for electrical systems for van builds (weekend warrior, budget full timer, full time job with van life, gamer etc). The gen 3 starlink on 12v does make me more conscious of electrical draw even with 824ah of battery… might not recommend for systems less than 200ah where the user is working a full time job over internet.
Hey Ryan video, question. How is the Starlink app on your phone connected to the dish for setup? Is it via wifi with the Starlink router? If so how would it work if I plan to disable the wifi on the router and use only the two ethernet connection?
The startup time for Gen 3 is ~3 minutes compared to 15 mins for Gen 2 which I feel can be attributed to a better dish. As far as working in trees, I haven’t tested it in heavily wooded areas yet as I typically leverage solar power to offset the 5amps starlink consumes on 12v. I’ll create an update video as I move into more wooded areas up in Washington State this spring!
Great video, thanks so much for posting. I've watched it like 3 times. I still get nervous when I drill holes in my van. I'm using a similar cable gland and I'm wondering if you could you tell me what size drill bit you used to drill the hole in the rubber gland? I appreciate your help.
I get nervous still too! I don’t think I’ll ever shake the nervous 😅 but you can really use any drill bit as the rubber grommet covers something like a 2”x4” oval hole, there’s wiggle room for imperfections not to worry!
You absolutely could! As long as the fuse size for that cigarette lighter is ~7.5a or bigger, which is should be. I’ve seen a few people run this setup off cigarette lighter power supplies, however it does pull 5a which is significant enough
Yes! It was one of the first things I did after filming this, threw in a little 12v switch before the voltage converter and it makes a huge difference on saving power!
While it is optimal to do so, it’s also annoying to have to get outside, climb up onto your roof and do so, particularly in the winter. I have noticed little to no performance degradation with this setup. I can be on starlink with the flip of a switch, and no setup or takedown time.
I thought I would, but so far I’ve had perfect continuous connectivity from Colorado to California and back up to Nevada since I filmed this video! Have not touched the dish since I mounted it! I’d wager orienting it directionally just optimizes performance, but I’ve seen 200+mbps speeds everywhere.
Unfortunately this video is specifically for the gen 3 dish, largely to avoid having to cut open and splice wires for the gen 2 dish (required for Gen 2)
The big issue is finding something that secures the starlink dish without damaging/modifying it and not blocking the front face of it. Where this mount solves all of those issues, is lightweight, study and designed to last, I think it’s perfectly worth the price. If you can find a better alternative for cheaper without compromising quality, do share!
$300.00? Yikes...hope its not made from PLA! A few min of time in fusion or even tinkercad, I could spit that mount out on my X1 Carbon printer in ASA filament for about $5.00 worth of fillament + $5.00 for some SS hardware. Nice setup though.
