From mboxrd@z Thu Jan 1 00:00:00 1970 Return-Path: Received: from mail.lang.hm (unknown [66.167.227.145]) (using TLSv1.2 with cipher ADH-AES256-GCM-SHA384 (256/256 bits)) (No client certificate requested) by lists.bufferbloat.net (Postfix) with ESMTPS id 70B963B2A4 for ; Thu, 16 Feb 2023 18:23:34 -0500 (EST) Received: from dlang-mobile (unknown [10.2.2.69]) by mail.lang.hm (Postfix) with ESMTP id 49F65174ADF; Thu, 16 Feb 2023 15:23:33 -0800 (PST) Date: Thu, 16 Feb 2023 15:23:33 -0800 (PST) From: David Lang To: Ulrich Speidel cc: "starlink@lists.bufferbloat.net" In-Reply-To: Message-ID: <5spp6212-p5s4-n902-1n5o-70nnss65s1q7@ynat.uz> References: MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: multipart/mixed; BOUNDARY="===============0725334609229317891==" Subject: Re: [Starlink] Starlink power use & satellite tracking X-BeenThere: starlink@lists.bufferbloat.net X-Mailman-Version: 2.1.20 Precedence: list List-Id: "Starlink has bufferbloat. Bad." List-Unsubscribe: , List-Archive: List-Post: List-Help: List-Subscribe: , X-List-Received-Date: Thu, 16 Feb 2023 23:23:34 -0000 This message is in MIME format. The first part should be readable text, while the remaining parts are likely unreadable without MIME-aware tools. --===============0725334609229317891== Content-Type: text/plain; format=flowed; charset=ISO-8859-15 Content-Transfer-Encoding: 8BIT I've also seen people shorten the dishy cord and replace the inverter and internal power supply with a 12v -> 48v converted and had the dish power draw drop significantly. (search youtube for starlink on 12v, I'll try to find the link and send it to you later) they have a snow melting function that draws a lot of power, the app lets you completely disable that. David Lang On Fri, 17 Feb 2023, Ulrich Speidel via Starlink wrote: > Date: Fri, 17 Feb 2023 12:08:02 +1300 > From: Ulrich Speidel via Starlink > Reply-To: Ulrich Speidel > To: "starlink@lists.bufferbloat.net" > Subject: [Starlink] Starlink power use & satellite tracking > > In the aftermath of our cyclone here, I got dragged out for a bit of media > comment and, downstream, a few questions came up on dishy power use. Here's > what I know and can glean - comments welcome: > > * Starlink's own specs say 50-75 W "Average Power Usage": > https://www.starlink.com/specifications. But that's average, not > peak, and peak is what matters when people start recommending that > Starlink could be run out of a small inverter and a car battery in a > disaster. > * Small inverters usually come with cigarette lighter cables, and > cigarette lighter sockets are typically fused with 8 or 10 A fuses. > That puts maximum safe power outputs in the 96W to 130-something W > range depending on battery voltage. > * Our lab's "RV" subscription rectangular dishy & router regularly > clocks in at around 80-100 W, and I've seen it go as high as 108 W > on one occasion. I've also seen it go as low as 30 W for the first > time last night. > * I have a user report from an older round dishy owner having seen up > to 200 W on occasion. > * Assuming conservatively 90% inverter efficiency, that could mean up > to ~120W and maybe more for the rectangular version and over 220 W > for the circular one. > * If dishy goes over cigarette lighter fuse capacity, people may lose > their ability to charge phones from their car - also a critical > capability in a disaster. > o Not everyone takes kindly to the suggestion that advising > inverter + car battery use could potentially be counterproductive. > * So, what's the peak power use you have seen on your version of dishy? > * It appears that the current mode of operation here is that dishy > uses several satellites in parallel if these can all see a gateway > and have capacity to carry traffic. > o So for us in urban Auckland with few Starlink users in the cell > and three gateways in the vicinity, our dishy is spoiled for > choice and usually gets to use maybe three or more satellites at > once. That takes a corresponding amount of power but also means > great data rates a lot of the time. > o For a rural user with more Starlink users in the cell and > further away from gateways, the satellites that the cell can see > and that  can also see a gateway may be fewer in number. This > means dishy only gets to talk to maybe one or two birds at a > time and so uses a lot less power, and you get more average data > rates there. > * If this is so, then it begs a question: > o If Starlink could cap the number of satellites dishy can use in > an emergency area, they would be able to keep your fuse intact. > Should they aim for that, even if it means that you might see > lower data rates in a situation when many people depend on one unit? > > Starlink is currently being touted as THE comms solution for emergencies as > large swathes of NZ's northern and eastern North Island remain without > terrestrial or mobile Internet coverage after cyclone Gabrielle. This is the > outage map of one of the larger mobile phone providers just for these areas: > > Most of these are due to power outages to sites, but there are quite a few > backhaul cable issues as well. > > One of the biggest problems is that electronic payment systems don't work > without Internet. In our largely cashless society, this is leading to > situations where emergency services can't refuel their vehicles because their > fuel cards won't work, supermarkets and other stores can't sell anything > because customers have no means of paying, and the air force is flying in > hard cash in order to help the locals buy food. > > --===============0725334609229317891== Content-Type: text/plain; CHARSET=utf-8 Content-Transfer-Encoding: BASE64 Content-ID: <19r9076s-o39p-1574-93o8-q6n555750po4@ynat.uz> Content-Description: Content-Disposition: INLINE X19fX19fX19fX19fX19fX19fX19fX19fX19fX19fX19fX19fX19fX19fX19fX18KU3Rhcmxpbmsg bWFpbGluZyBsaXN0ClN0YXJsaW5rQGxpc3RzLmJ1ZmZlcmJsb2F0Lm5ldApodHRwczovL2xpc3Rz LmJ1ZmZlcmJsb2F0Lm5ldC9saXN0aW5mby9zdGFybGluawo= --===============0725334609229317891==--