Can Starlink Mini Survive Alaska’s Most Remote Lake? I tried it!

[@TheTexasPsyclone]

Love that little pacer so much

[@AdventureAK]

lol, Phil is great plane. There are a lot of times that I complain about the speed, but it's been such a great plane for me. I can load it with fuel, fly for hours, and land pretty much any lake I really want to go into... then have enough fuel to get home. All pacers have their quirks, and they sure are a handful on wheels, but they're great little planes.

[@NSResponder]

We are living in the future. It is now ROUTINE to land ROCKETS. Satellite internet is no longer crazy expensive. Starlink has 130 birds that can do direct cell phone calls, and it won't be long before the whole fleet does it. The pace of progress at SpaceX is nothing short of revolutionary.

[@AdventureAK]

100% agree. It's wild that just a couple years ago the only way to connect with anyone while I was in the middle of nowhere was with a satellite phone at $1.00/minute.. or via archaic text based service through inreach. The amount of times I've had to remotely solve a problem on an aircraft, or help someone remotely solve a problem on their aircraft via text based services is shocking. I think a lot of people will see these advancements as less than ideal because now there is truly nowhere remote anymore. I see them as a huge safety net. Tons of my friends are commercial helicopter operators. Helicopters constantly need maintenance (ask me how I know lol) and if one breaks in the field, maintenance crews can now facetime with the pilots to help diagnose situations. Pilots can download charts, diagrams, and maintenance manuals. It makes remote flying so much safer and easier.

[@lvm6475]

Saw that little Pacer before ah ;-), Hi from one of the N8 pilots. Thanks for the insights !

[@AdventureAK]

Hey!! Stop by and say hi sometime! I'm at the plane a LOT! If you see me there, swing over and say hello! Thanks for watching!

[@youtubechannels9205]

You made my day, I have 4 acres of oceanfront in Chugatch.

[@AdventureAK]

Glad I could help!

[@radicalrick9587]

*You can hook it up on the top of your plane and you'd have Starlink as you're flying. There are a couple of rally guys that do the Baja 500 and so broadcasting it their racing live as they are flying really fast and jumping and bouncing around and the Starlink is working beautifully.* *Yes, with Starlink you can move around, you have to set up the roaming and you're good to go.*

[@AdventureAK]

On experimental aircraft you can mount it anywhere you want. All of my aircraft are certified, so I'm more restricted with what I can do legally. That said, I have run it in the "bubble" of the helicopter and it performed perfectly at about 110kts. I'm about to start the build of an experimental supercub for my wife, and I will be permanently mounting starlink in the cub.

[@aksaudaya]

What happen if you put on your seaplane dashboard while cruising? Will it work with windhield obsruction ???

[@AdventureAK]

Technically yes, but it's slower. It would likely do better in a skylight. I've tried it on the dash of the planes and I've tried it in the bubble of the helicopter. Helicopter was a bit better with the speed test I believe due to the greater visibility of the dish.

[@aksaudaya]

@@AdventureAKThank you for the quick response. Actually i just found the answer in another comment hahaha. Thanks again. I wonder if they work in Jet Aircraft windshield

[@radicalrick9587]

​@@AdventureAK *I believe you have to have the right set up for it. Because a couple airlines have Starlink and offer up to 350Mbps internet connection to all their passengers.* *It's set up on top of the plane.*

[@EpikDuck0]

Very impressive speed given by less satellite coverage at the high latitude area.

[@AdventureAK]

It's actually gotten even better. They did another satellite launch a couple months ago that really focused on the higher latitude areas like Alaska. It's been a total game changer.

[@dannyeugenewaits9486]

And not many moons ago here in the Bighorn Mountains in Wyoming was a place to get away from society 😅.... welp here I am watching KZbin in my rooftop tent with the starlink mini waiting out the rain! Damn it!

[@AdventureAK]

Sometimes getting stuck waiting out the weather is an opportune time to relax and watch some youtube :)

[@andpieri]

we want to see the mini while in the air

[@AdventureAK]

There are 2 things that hold me back from posting that kind of content. First, I fly certified aircraft, and legally I'm not allowed to be running a starlink into the aircraft power or mounting it to the plane. Second is safety. Flying here in Alaska requires a lot of attention out of the windows. We've got eagles that seem to really love being right in the same place as aircraft, drones from careless operators, and and other pilots flying planes around us pretty much everywhere we go. When I'm flying, I'm always scanning out the windows looking for birds, planes, and -superman- a safe place to land if I needed one. Ultimately, I use this Starlink mini as a way to reach home if I need it in an emergency, or if I get stuck somewhere and need to figure out something maintenance wise. I fly to get away from technology and enjoy the adventure.

[@WarrenKimpel]

another nice interesting video

[@AdventureAK]

Thanks! Trying to keep it fresh :)

[@orendattebayo439]

Wow Cool 😎

[@AdventureAK]

Thanks! It was fun to try that out!

[@mickeystateler8754]

Have you tried the starlink in the front window in level flight? I considerer buying on the pre 4th offer, but let that window pass. I figured there were other guys that would try this out first. Lemme know. Thx for the video

[@AdventureAK]

Yes I have. A skylight would give better speeds. It worked in the windscreen, but at my latitude here in Alaska, the speed wan't as good due to the obstructions caused by aircraft parts. It worked very well on the dash of my helicopter... but having in-flight Wifi in a helicopter is pretty useless because both hands are being used to fly ;)

[@billbell3737]

I'm more amazed on how you filmed your plane flying. Do you have another plane flying by you?

[@AdventureAK]

Thanks! That's actually the Insta360 X3 on a boom pole sticking off my wing. If you re-watch the video, look in the drone clip and you can see where it's mounted.

[@patrickferguson5928]

@@AdventureAKyeah, I’d second that comment. Like the new footage!

[@AdventureAK]

Thanks! I'm trying to keep improving so you guys feel like you're there with me

[@markwardlaw9307]

Can you explain how the remote power system operates for the Starlink mini and any other portable remote power options that you weren’t using?

[@AdventureAK]

There is no official starlink power pack. I was using a Jackery portable power station in the video. The Jackery has an onboard 110v outlet, so I plugged the starlink 110v power plug into that. Other than the Jackery, I've run it off a "barrel to USB-C cable" and have plugged it into several different USB-C power banks. I've also plugged it directly into the USB-C power port on my helicopter.

[@3genac]

DC power is not plug and play from a typical solar-charged 12V battery bank for van life. The petty thug can develop this unworldly technology, but cannot deliver a 15m USB cable that's not subject to voltage drops; we'll see how fat and expensive it is once they do. Presently, you can use the supplied "AC" cable connected via a barrel connector to something USB-terminated, possibly needing a voltage stepup converter depending on your source and accessory quality. Easier than a Gen3 for sure, but by no means plug and play as advertised. Note with the all-you-can-eat Mobile Regional plan you cannot (by TOS) use in-motion, but strictly "portable", an Orwellian abuse of the language and unsurprising from an unconscionably irresponsible corporate citizen.

[@usmcshepherdE9]

Just found your channel….never been to Alaska other than to land in Fairbanks on the way to Afghanistan a couple of times. Would love to come up there to experience that beautiful and remote county especially in a float plane…and you’re right the Starlink Mini is a game changer for remote comms (especially with its low power draw). Completely separate question…how long does it take to learn to fly well enough to be able to fly a float plane?

[@AdventureAK]

First and foremost. Thank you for your service! Alaska is magical and float planes open up areas of beauty that just can't be accessed otherwise. As far as what it takes to fly a float plane, I think everyone is a bit different. I've seen people that just got their pilot certificate go immediately and get their float plane rating. I had several thousand hours of land plane time, and several thousand hours of helicopter time before I first jumped into a float plane. There are tons of flight schools up here that do float ratings, sounds to me like you should come check one out. :)

[@chrisluehmann3094]

i wish it was possible to buy just the mini dish without having to own a big one already

[@AdventureAK]

I think that is something they're working on.

[@DanFrederiksen]

Nice to have near global coverage. How much is it per month and is it a roaming subscription? or have they relaxed the limitations. If it's a canvas plane you might be able to permanently install it in the ceiling. Might even have connection when you fly

[@AdventureAK]

The polar prioritization of starlink launches has been really, really nice. Having consistent service all across the state is a huge improvement. Right now, the mini is $30/month added to your normal starlink account. There is a rumor that you'll be able to use it on a normal roam plan in the future, which should be unlimited. For now, the mini is being treated as an "occasional use" platform, so it's limited at 50GB a month. My understanding is that after the "official rollout" they will be allowing people to use it in place of the roam. As much as I would love to hard mount it in the plane, I have the plane in this video, 2 other planes and a helicopter. I keep it in my backpack and it goes between the aircraft with me ;)

[@DanFrederiksen]

@@AdventureAK ok so it's a supplementary subscription, not too bad. can it be turned on and off if it's only used for vacation and such?

[@AdventureAK]

From what I can tell you can "pause" your subscription whenever you want.

[@dvsur]

Starlink Airplane

[@damolaajayi3807]

Any idea when this is coming to africa Nigeria ?

[@AdventureAK]

It looks like the non-roam version is already available. So I would imagine that it would be coming in the near future for the mini. Here's the availability map. www.starlink.com/map

[@reggiebannister1080]

what no ones doing is when its cloudy out or sunny or partial.. ik wanna see those numbers

[@AdventureAK]

That's because it doesn't really impact it. The only time I've had an issue is when we got 3 feet of snow overnight and the heater on the Gen 2 couldn't keep up. I've been using starlink as my sole source of internet for 2 years and have had a total of 3 interruptions or significant slowdowns. All of them were snow related... I live in Alaska...we get a lot of snow.

[@3genac]

There is little consensus on this point. The nature of the technology is indeed it's performance suffers while used in severe weather, and notoriously in the face of modest obstruction.

[@New2Me170B]

Do you have to use the router with it?

[@AdventureAK]

You do not. The Mini has an internal router. There is just one power cord and that's all.

[@3genac]

The supplied internal router is WiFI-5. For rare portable applications this may be restrictive, but generally the simplicity benefit outweighs any downside, especially over the ridiculously huge external Gen3 router.

[@alkempton1512]

You can run but ya can’t hide,,,for emergencies ok

[@AdventureAK]

I would much rather get called out on frequency by friends than land with my water rudders down. Controllers are there to have our backs, and we are there to have theirs. We're all one big team to keep aviation safe for everyone.

[@alkempton1512]

@@AdventureAK lol I meant the internet,I totally agree with life saving advice and things being pointed out

[@AdventureAK]

Haha! Very true!

[@3genac]

What's that mean

[@alkempton1512]

@@3genac from emails and stuff like that,

[@jaredwhite489]

These kinda videos make no sense. Yes it willl work in remote areas..it’s the point. It’s satellite.

[@AdventureAK]

It makes more sense than you think, but you have to understand the concept behind how a higher latitude impacts the angle required for the dish. Starlink initially struggled to provide coverage in Alaska due to limited satellite orbits that lacked sufficient polar coverage, fewer ground stations in remote regions, and technical challenges posed by Alaska's high latitude. These factors affected the ability to maintain stable connections and strong signals. Over time, the expansion of Starlink's satellite constellation to include more polar orbits but we were still lacking the ground stations. I've been using the GEN 2 on my house since the very beginning and it was spotty at best. Over the last year Starlink prioritized polar constellations and as such service got better, but at the same time, the dish on my house has an extreme angle on it (facing south.) The reason the mini is so exciting is because the relative angle to the sky and ease of setup for Alaskans. It's kinda one of those "if you don't live here, you don't get it" kind of things...