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From: Starlink [mailto:starlink-bounces@lists.bufferbloat.net] On Behalf Of Mike Puchol via Starlink
Sent: Wednesday, August 31, 2022 2:59 AM
To: starlink@lists.bufferbloat.net
Subject: Re: [Starlink] Starlink "beam spread"

On this particular one, the gateway beams are extremely narrow, around 1.5º to 2.5º. SpaceX is working on “mega-gateways” where 32 antennas will co-exist. They are also deploying a new gateway design with a larger antenna, and thus narrower beamwidth and more gain, allowing for a considerable reduction in TX power.

[RR] there is a much better way to do this! I sure hope starlink is considering it. Large antennas with narrow beam widths are a sledgehammer to kill a fly.

J

Best,

Mike

On Aug 31, 2022, 09:33 +0200, David Lang via Starlink <starlink@lists.bufferbloat.net>, wrote:

On Wed, 31 Aug 2022, Ulrich Speidel via Starlink wrote:

This combines with the uncomfortable truth
that an RF "beam" from a satellite isn't as selective as a laser beam,
so the options for frequency re-use from orbit aren't anywhere near as
good as from a mobile base station across the road: Any beam pointed at
you can be heard for many miles around and therefore no other user can
re-use that frequency (with the same burst slot etc.).

not quite, you are forgetting that the antennas on the ground are also steerable
arrays and so they can focus their 'receiving beam' at different satellites.
This is less efficient than a transmitting beam as the satellites you aren't
'pointed' at will increase your noise floor, but it does allow the same
frequency to be used for multiple satellites into the same area at the same
time.

David Lang
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