[Starlink] starlink at sea

[David Lang]

On Wed, 13 Jul 2022, Dave Taht via Starlink wrote:

> 2) They show 6 starlink terminals on one side of the ship, and 6 on
> the other side (unless it's a reversed image). While I can imagine
> that the downlink can manage that many terminals close by (but how?),
> I find it hard to conceive that the uplinks can co-exist emitting that
> much energy so few feet apart. Are modern phased arrays that good? Has
> anyone experimented with how closely placed two terminals can be?

I would assume that the uplinks are multiplexed under the control of the 
satellites (possibly time-based slots, but other options are possible). In some 
cases it may be possible to reprogram one dish to use a larger share of 
available airtime, but it is much simpler to have multiple standard devices than 
modifying some to use a larger share (not to mention the potential duty cycle 
limits)

In the scale of satellite communication, the satellite can't really tell the 
difference between a few feet apart and a few hundred feet apart, the angle to 
the satellite is too small to resolve the difference.

David Lang