How to redesign a SpaceX STARLINK satellite dish for mobile use on a boat! [MV FREEDOM] 

Starlink needs to hire you as a maritime consultant Shawn - awesome - actually it’s incredible - 👍

Elizabeth & Shawn Another interesting project for sure ! Shawn is always very methodical in his approach to any and all projects on board MV Freedom. I have always been amazed that no matter the project, he determines how he wants to do the project and then gets it done in fine style !! Bravo Shawn as you have endured all things such as cold, heat and snow to complete your projects and Elizabeth is always there assisting with a smile on her face. Can't wait to see the install of Starlink in the upcoming video. Enjoy your weekend and be safe !

First comment, woohoo. Staying up late in Australia to watch the Spanish F1 race but getting an MV Freedom video is a nice bonus

In a past life I was a TV repairman, telephone exchange techie, electronic cryptographic systems repairman, electronics tech working on spy satellites, field tech for early modems, a field tech for Tektronix, and a creative for Apple. Oh and I own and operate a 65’ Fleming on the east coast from the Bahamas to Canada. That said you are a tech God. Tearing the Starlink apart, testing, engineering a new waterproof mount, replacing the KVH antenna and getting this all to work puts you in a class with Wil Proust the RU-vid God of electrical power. Kudos. You are truly a gift to one another. You are one of the few that I would trust with my life at sea. I have a Starlink on Joy our Fleming65. Currently mounted to our aft rail when we are at anchor. Works great. I can foresee replacing the KVH domes and ditching DirecTV altogether. We now get weather, news and entertainment just like being at home. All of our gear is connected. Russound for video and music, AppleTVs, iPads and iPhones, Furuno chartplotters all on line. Placing an order for a second Starlink for our home in Utah. Thanks for the video.

Great modification !! Look good and we’ll done!! Fair winds ⛵️

Starlink is a game changer for remote areas. We get 210M in the middle of nowhere Texas. How do you think I'm watching this episode? Lol

Man I love this. Thinking outside the square. Just so good to see someone work it out, design and build a solution. Well done sir!!

That took a fair amount of guts to cut that open. Well done! As always, thanks for taking us along on the journey.

Pro tip - Starlink is designed for a min elevation angle of 25 degrees. By defeating the phased array’s gimbal mechanism, you’re limiting your field of view to satellites passing 25 to 155 degrees overhead. The impact is that your terminal will see fewer satellites (reducing connection opportunities) and reduce the average duration of your connection.

Shawn's plane flight was awesome!....looked like it was going backwards lol

Awesome video! Yes, part two, please.

Great job. Very impressive conversion. Cant wait to get your test results.

Beauty is in the eye of the beholder, as an engineer, I definitely would not permanently mount this antenna. The ability to remove it while traveling and when the boat is unoccupied seems like a plus and avoids exposure to elements and thieves.

Awesome ! Paving the way for a boat version of starlink !

Sweet! You have been addressing my wants and needs these last couple of weeks. If it works for you the it will be installed on my soon to be new to me boat. Cool. Thank you. Be safe.

its a gamechanger !! We put one on our boat using the roam feature they just launched. we bought a pole mount for the antenna that made it look better. we now can work and surf from anywhere. we love ours !

So awesome to see the Captain Shawn in his professional environment!!!

Yes. Part two please. Im confident that you did your homework and all worked as planned. But, lets wait and see.

On your starlink account page click outside your service area it's an extra $25 a month. Works great on our boat in SF Bay area

Kudos for cutting in Four Christmases lol - that is a must watch for me over the holidays!

Lol... If aesthetics are so important you would think that all of the other equipment up there would be held to the same standards. Not to mention that the boat has more of a tug boat vibe than a super yacht. But it's interesting to see the results of this experiment. 👍🏻

Another good one Shawn. I do enjoy the technical shows as much or more than the pure scenic episodes, all are great though, have not missed one.

I was in the middle of thinking about this myself! Ha great minds!

Great episode this week. 👍

Heya so happy you are now having stable and reliable internet connection!

Amazing ingenuity!

If Elon Musk sees this video, he's going to fire half of the design department for producing an antenna with unnecessary costly elements. The new design proposed by Shawn reduces the production cost of the antenna by at least 30%.

This is an amazing idea, really hope it works.

I don't understand how this is any uglier than the rest of the stuff on top of the pilothouse.

Aarrgghhhh. now I have to wait for part two dammit. Smashing vid thank you.

Jeebus! Those are better DL/UL speeds than I’ve EVER had at either of my homes on CA and OR! I’m hella jealous. 🤪

Must have nerves of steel, great job.

Let’s go summer!

Well....007 is also MacGyver too. LOL. Shawn's skills never cease to amaze me. Congrats on a Pro Install. I'll be interested to see how it works in a cove with hills or mountains on three sides. I know for a fact that the Starlink does not like trees. Nice work Captain.

i had no idea that you knew your way around a milling machine

This is super dope! Waiting for part 2. I am in the process of purchasing a Nordic Tug 44’ and was going to try to devise a dome solution for Dishy. It will be interesting to see how well the top of Dishy will hold up to the UV rays mixed with ocean conditions.

My new favorite channel!!!

Excellent adaptation...very cool well done!

Brilliant

Another Awesome video, true engineering genius. at least if it works it will. Not sure how it will like not being about to move it's motors.

I am curious as to how well it will work in Desolation Sound and inlets along coastal BC. I'm not sure if my memory is working but I seem to recall you were going to do a North to Alaska type trip before you sailed away to warmer climes in your future. StarLink should get a good work out there.

The key here is your location. The first gen Starlink Sats that were launched must communicate directly with a land relay station (due to their LEO orbit they have a limited range). The newest sats that are being launched can relay between themselves to reach the closest land relay. This means that this should work as long as you are within range of the relay (say along the coast). If you go out say crossing the pacific this wont work (yet). The good news is that most of the Bahamas and Caribbean should be covered by end of 2023.

Nice project. Surprised that Starlink didn't already have a solution

Nice video! Pretty interesting! Stay safe Freedom crew! 👍👍

The Starlink unit works in Alaska. I think it might rain a lot up there. Snow falls on these units, freezes and then melts. Maybe not good on a submarine. I use the unit on the hardtop on my 45' sport fisher in storms and still get reception in a non-prime coverage location.

waiting for part II... looks good so far. one of the operation screens displays the dynamic RSSI number... it'd be interesting to see the rssi with/without the dome on top the antenna as a comparison. i know you're not planning on using it but there are some looking in that direction for their existing domes. tks.

If Elon were smart, he'd get his team designing a marine purpose satellite dish. Of course, Shawn should get a portion of the sales profits :)

I'm curious about how much bandwidth is lost by the lack of tipping ability, and whether rocking and heeling from waves causes the antenna issues.

Considering all of the equipment on the boat's overhead, the Starling looks slick: shower, thinner, smaller, ...

Honestly I didn't think it looked that bad on the roof with all the other things already up there. Hope it works out for you in the long term after all the effort.

nice job waiting for part 2

interesting video thank you Shawn and Elizabeth

Fantastic work on the modification. A PA Starlink appreciates it.

Sweet job.

10:22 Love the milling part where the safety squint sign is over Sean's shoulder the whole time. Intentional I am sure.

Ugly in this case is definitely in the eye of the beholder. To me that area of the boat is for communication and sensor antenna’s and the Starlink is smaller than the big simrad antenna that rotates when in use. But everyone is different only an issue if Starlink enforces its terms of use policy and shuts you off based on unauthorized modifications to the dish. I haven’t heard of them doing this though

Ok, so I've always been impressed with Shawn's skills, but this takes it to a whole new level. I think I'm developing a man crush. (Not that there's anything wrong with that. 😂) So since most of us aren't at Shawn's level nor have that kind of equipment at our disposal I'm assuming if this works you will be selling conversion kits? I want to be at the top of the list. I won't be able to sleep at night if you have something on Freedom that I don't have on Edonismo. Oh wait, you have Elizabeth. I lose again. 🤦🏻‍♂

I am so waiting to see how this turns out for you!!!!

Did starlink technical support provide any advice? I was surprised that your test of horizontal mounting worked, thinking that if so why do they even have an aiming motor. So I’m going to be wondering all week to see your next show to see if this works. PS: Thank you for three “technical” shows in a row. Music and video very well done.

The title brought here. "We're going to fabricate a new mount' got my undecided attention. Then the 3 axis milling machine showed up - Subscribed! That algorithm might know me too well.

Very good stuff!!!!!!

How can you be bothered about cosmetics when your roof is covered in antennas? Some folk are never happy

Hello, you guys are great. Love watching your show. I just don't understand why you guys don't get more subscribers or views. I hope for the best in the future. Can't wait till you guys retire and head for the Wide Open Seas. I wish you guys all the luck in the world, the world at sea.

NEAT! 14:00 for watching multiple times

Nice to be a Machinist! I do lots of brackets and such for my toy hauler. Great job! We sure enjoy your videos!

I'm surprised that Starlink doesn't offer a marine solution already.

Get a patent! This is terrific…

Sean, this will be your #1 video for views in no time. You know EVERYONE will want your flat mount, you should think about selling them?? All the Best TK

Amazing.

I like the video a lot ! I am a elect / mech engineer and this is good work. Thanks for sharing.

How did you remove the pipe to expose the wire like that?

Nice

It's ugly? The FLIR, the radar and every other antenna is ugly. O-f'ing-well IMO. Doesn't look out of place even on it's original pole.

FWIW, it looked like you made the new mounting plate from HDPE (like King Starboard). 5200 doesn't really bond with that well. Not much does other than a few purpose made adhesives however some cyanoacrylates (superglue) and epoxies do. Will be watching closely to see how this works for you as I know plenty of people in the Bay area who would like to try it even if only for stationary(ish) use and not underway.

Yup, I'm hoping starlink will release something very similar... if not I shall be out with the dremel and 3d printer for the back housing as well!

Love this video! I hope that antenna rotation isn't used for cross-polarization commissioning during unit startup. If you have bad crosspol isolation you can cause interference on the network, and your transmit might be remotely inhibited by Starlink (aka banned). Subjectively I'd guess starlink is a circular polarized system and this shouldn't be a problem at all. I'm most interested in how the phased array keeps up with vessel motion even while you are at anchor.

Nice Work Shawn, really well done ! 👍 Starlink does make a lot of sense, and I was planning to go that route when I got a motor yacht (thinking managing another Sailboat due to disability was now out of the question), but now I've found a Sailboat I can easily ma age single handed, plus can get it with twin keels, so it an dry out safely - this ability can massively reduce the costs for de sliming the bottom, changing Anodes, checking the bow thruster properly, plus keeping a close eye on the protective finish on the Volvo Saildrive, enabling rapid and easy touch up if necessary. It's a Deck Saloon, so a bit like a Trawler inside, but much better hand holds etc, for safe moving around inside.My disability is a bit like having a wooden leg, without the firm support of a wooden leg. Arrr Jim Lad Lol. A worry though, being a Sailboat, is if a suitable dish becomes available, will the extra electric load ended, be manageable. Solar and Wind should produce useful amounts, but the Space for a House Battery Bank appears limited, so I'm following your Lithium Battery Bank experience going forward with great interest. tbh, I don't like Lithium, apart from the difficulty with recycling them, there are potential issues from rapid charging, plus phone ones, at the end of their service life pretty much dissolve into a destructive liquid that takes out the circuitry inside the phone or tablet, such that batteries should be changed between 4 and 5 years old Maximum, if they have beenbtreated right, with no fast charging - it's actually why Apple put such h low amperage Chargers with their phones, to maximise their service lives (Samsung fast chargers are similarly low power) . Thankfully Lithium Battery Technology is improving, so fingers crossed, but as I plan on traveling to far away exotic places with my boat, I'm hoping to get away with enough Carbon AGM batteries, so that if I get a failure in the middle of nowhere, getting AGM replacements should be available to tide me over, and be an easy, though heavy drop in. There are many benefits that come with having a Nordhavn, and having enough electrical power, and the space for decent sized Battery Banks, are among them. Happy Wakes to you both, and fuss to both dogs. Keep up the great work, and Best Wishes. Bob. Maybe see you out there somewhere in a couple of years. 👍🙂

Great job as always. Ty for sharing:)

I was trying to figure out how you managed to get that plane wing to fly backwards at 05:30. Perhaps some editing issues there. Good to see you flew 'back' (forwards) later!!! 🤣🤣🤣

How did you fabricate the replacement cover? That would have been interesting to see. Thanks for the videos.

I installed my Starlink antenna in an unused dome on my boat. My 65’ Fleming has a pair of domes. One holds the KVH/DirecTV antenna and the second is empty and is basically a radar reflector. After testing and using the antenna mounted to the aft flybridge rail I relocated it to the dome. Cannot be seen. Prior to moving the antenna I was able to get terrific speeds off shore from Florida to Nova Scotia. I run off shore from 10 to 30 miles. Initial testing excluded the Bahamas as BT had not signed the partnering agreement w/Starlink. The only place we were without a good connection was in the Gulf of Maine during transits from Cape Cod to Cape Sable. When we were about 30 miles off the Nova Scotia coast we lost connection. Regained when approached Cape Cod at about another 30 miles. My understanding is that this dead zone will be covered once the satellites are able to send data via another satellite.

There is a reason it it has the ability to adjust it's angle - likely to get a more direct path to the available satellites. Making it fixed will likely degrade its performance.

I looked forward to this all week, and am certainly looking forward to the next episode. Have you had to subscribed to Starlinks Portability Program or just using roaming? I note starlink make it clear its not for use while mobile - I wonder if they can tell. They do say if out of yoru service area then you make get slower service since priority is given to users in their service area. Loved your skills on the Mill - would have loved to seen more footage of you making the new back. Now we wait for 7 more days

Would the antenna fit into a 24 inch empty dome? The flat roof mount was a great idea though!

Shawn, do you have a CAD model or CNC file you'd want to share for the base plate?

stumbled upon this - youtube algorithm right. fantastic machining, 'dishy' looks cleaner after you removed the base then before. i was dubious in regards to how this would go speed wise considering it cannot steer itself, shy of the phazed array, but i watched your install and it looks like good download speeds still. Are you able to download something largeish and graph the speed over time, i'd be curious to know when a starlink sat moves in and out of the observable sky how much effect it has considering it cant move. the only reason i say this, is considering the high speeds you got, why would they add the remote base, its just a wearable part that adds cost and complexity, why not install all dishes directly up,. either which way, nice work. very clean

Just because you can do something and you enjoy experimenting; doesn't mean you do it. Your pilothouse "roof" is festooned with antenni and the addition of a fully functional Starlink antenna would not be ugly or distracting. Most people use a short pole mount.

As a marine professional I gotta Telya 4200 fast cure would’ve been a better product.I hope you never need to take it apart with that 5200.

There is a 8' pole accessory. I would caution about not disabling the servos it's how it finds satellites. Takes 12 hours for it to try different configurations to optimize. Currently it's not designed to be working while you're moving starlink is aware of this and is working on it for a future update.

Hi great video, couple of questions probably had this for a few weeks now have you had any interfearance from you Radar degrading your upload and downloads. Obviously you will not use the radar along side but was intrested if it did have any affect

It will be interesting to see how it performs when the majority of satellites aren't directly overhead, which is when it's motor trackers come into play

What did you make the base from? What adhesive did you use? Thanks for sharing

I appreciate a person willing to adventure a bit outside the box if you were. Rules only apply for those who live by the rules and obviously that's not your thing and that's impressive. I have only one question is the Bridgeport onboard? Nicely done, a slitting saw might have cut with less tool pressure but that's not ment as criticism it's just a thought.

Interesting idea but highly likely that the alignment and self test software will issue error codes. But we will soon find out.

Ahhh, ELON I have a slight warranty question!!!

Just subscribed. We just bought a 51 foot cruiser. We’ve been enjoying your videos for awhile. How did you fabricate that backplate?

Good video 😀 there is also an extra 25.00 for roaming and I would never change the way it was intended you must be good with electrical hope it works it's not supposed to work while under way 🤔

Superb tópic! Chapeax!! Thx. If you Male ist to Cartagena in Colombia Let us know! Fans of your Channel. We have a Small German brewery in Bogotá and you Are always welcomed!

hey man! nice project you have here! i have a question, how did you take off the stick from the dish?

Great work