Starlink Flat Mount Modification for Vans, Boats and Cars

[@Nemix9]

I love how much faith you have in that pergo laminate floor, that you'll cut directly on it.

[@AdventureVanExpo]

Great process John. I'm sure a lot of other van owners have been wondering if this is possible. Thanks for being the guinea pig.

[@bleedulus]

I love the improvisation!!

[@andrewpopoff3453]

For anyone doing this I would recommend lapping the cut out with coarse sandpaper on a flat surface

[@andrewpopoff3453]

I would also recommend making the piece of plastic that you glued to the back bigger than the dash so you can drill and screw through it for mounting, if you lap the surface and use urethane windshield adhesive you should not have any issues of it falling apart. And leave as much of the pigtail wire inside the dish as possible, that way if can get pulled out a fair bit before putting strain on the connector on the board.

[@TeachAManToAngle]

In motion use now approved. I just got the Starlink email last week!

[@eupeixoto]

with regular Gen2 dish or with the HP dish only?

[@kamikazekunze]

Interesting to watch for sure, but I’ll pop for the In Motion unit. 😊

[@debraconlon8865]

Brandon Walsh is a guy in the USA making flat mounts/holders for Star Link "Star Mount Systems" from what i've seen you buy the mount and it comes with all the info you need to cut down the dish what wiring you need to keep and how to mount it

[@mattkeysme]

Really fun, I've been holding off on getting starlink as I feel like a new antenna specifically for RV/mobile applications must be somewhere in the design process at starlink already. But if it doesn't come around I'll be looking to DIY as well.

[@mattkeysme]

Just finished the video, so clean/lean. Really love it. Thanks for sharing some pure DIY creation stuff that isn't even a product (yet anyways :) ).

[@prolix21]

holding off for the same reasons - but lots of great DIY mounts/etc being figured out

[@mattkeysme]

​@@prolix21 This DIY antenna is looking better and better now that Starlink announced their new antenna for mobile applications. $2,500 and still uses AC power and high wattage while in use. I wasn't expecting that price hike and was really hoping for a DC power option.

[@prolix21]

@@mattkeysme 100% agree - the price and then still AC only? someone at starlink needs to spend a couple hours on youtube researching the market

[@PeterJames143]

awesome thank you. you might want to get the wire protected under the roof rack in case when you're loading luggage you dump some heavy thing on it. very cool thank you.

[@JRao]

Great idea - maybe if you let Starlink know, they might be able to build it like yours. Curious what happens over the long term - especially with varying weather conditions. Presumably snow accumulation will stop it from working (not sure if there is a fix for that). It would be interesting to know what happens when the aluminum heats up the dish.

[@peterlee2622]

My only worry is those angle tabs holding dishy into the aluminium frame. It will be small, but the phased antennas near those tabs will be affected by the proximity of those pieces of meta. Probably better to glue the dish into the frame or at least cut down the tabs so they minimally intrude across the antenna surface.

[@pacificmeister]

Very cool John! Total deja vue watching this, I just finished the same project and posted a video last week. Welcome to the flat starlink sprinter club 🎉

[@gmurillo5765]

You are one bad dude! In flip flops to no shoes 😂 nice work!! 🙏🏽

[@nickperspective]

great idea and video. You could have used a thinner plastic sheet and then fibreglassed it, fibreglassing some brackets to the back which could then be used to bolt it to a roof frame of some sort.

[@liveworkplayvans]

in motion is now available using a higher performance unit mounted to top of van.I just bought one. Included is a wedge mount and antenna is built differently as well.

[@Trekking_America]

sure but $2500 option

[@liveworkplayvans]

@@Trekking_America If you don’t need it but if you do what are your options? ZERO I got $700 rebate. No knowledge about current pricing.

[@super.zdravko]

This was really lower profile, nice job. For a cleaner look you could have made the length of the new plastic backing 21" so that the new backing is 1" beyond the dish on the length sides. Then you could have screwed through the plastic to secure it. No aluminum frame needed. My plan has always been to drill a hole to be able to disconnect the motor and then just cut the mast down/off. Should be able to get it down to 4" height. But I like your design and might have to try this lower profile design.

[@JohnnyAirtimeJensen]

But... if he had done that, the plastic would need to be the strong hold in winds, vibration, etc. This way, the plastic is just to weatherproof the backside and the alum frame is the strong hold. ... The alum frame is the way to go (IMO)

[@Maik1968]

Hy, greetings from Germany and a big compliment to this change of the dishy. I would never dare to do what you did but again: crazy idea but an amazing result 👍👍👍✌️🍀🌞

[@jorjimaco5331]

Nice work. I’ve got a wind up tv Ariel that I converted. No cutting necessary and moves around. 🍻🌮

[@Adam-yv5pq]

24:55 I see about 100 B2 bike carriers and I’m on week 7 of waiting for mine! 😉 LEGGO!

[@owloffroad]

We are trying hard to keep up, you all love the B2 :)

[@Adam-yv5pq]

@@owloffroad thank you! Can’t wait! 😎

[@Nemix9]

Your employees gonna be laughing at your aluminum welding skills. 😁

[@ryanKeenN]

I thought it was hard to stomach drilling a 3/8 hole on top of a brand new Thule for a solar panel.... this is something else

[@EarthRoamingAdventures]

Did you add any circuit board supports like the original case had?

[@fooblahblah]

I just got a Starlink RV setup. I'm wondering if a heat gun would work to separate the back from the front surface with the board attached? Then it'd be easier and less risky cutting the back panel and removing the motor setup.

[@StefenTjung]

Lets goo, love your video😍😍

[@mustafanuckullz7842]

I believe there is an easier way turning off the motor by logging into the modem GUI and disabling the motor from the settings, better than gutting your dish open.

[@JohnnyAirtimeJensen]

Negative.

[@Hexrocks]

Fascinating video! Great job 👍

[@brandiniadventures]

Great job bro👍🏽

[@grilablitznet3574]

Yes but will the antenna pickup a signal if your van is parked next to tall trees?

[@LittleGreenMan11]

Have you been using it while driving? Have you had a warning from Starlink to stop this?

[@kbs7340]

Amazing! 💖

[@807800]

When your van has more advanced satellite connection than a military vehicle.

[@gerryv6]

does this work while the vehicle is in motion? i see that you have the HP on your newer Vid. btw, im watching your vid then the commercial still John:)

[@wincrasher2007]

they sell a roof mounted in-motion antenna.

[@NovaSupernova]

channel locks would work good.

[@salaheddinekhiat4544]

i don't think it will run after that because the dish programed to be moving

[@obijuan-]

Nice job.

[@stephenkramme7063]

Great hands on video which have many applications. Perhaps I don't completely understand Starlink but I was under the impression that the antenna needs to physically align itself to achieve connection to satellites. Wouldn't mounting it horizontally counter this and therefore limit its effectiveness?

[@lavenderlime9017]

He addressed that early in the video - - it lowers the throughput by approx. 10%, but that's fine for his purposes.

[@stephenkramme7063]

@@lavenderlime9017 You are correct. Amazing what you can hear if you listen!

[@majkel21freak]

hello guys! Nice work! How it is working after time? Are you satisfied?

[@johnwillenborg]

Yes, it works well!

[@kenjikenji2003]

Thanks for sharing your experience. What is the brand/model of the roof deck? Who installed it?

[@spencervidal3168]

Star link now has a flat mount system

[@eyeow]

Exquisite solution…now please add roof starlink install as another new addition to your product line 😂…

[@jrbloggins]

Youre crazy for not doing the 12V mod while you're at it!

[@jasonhowe1697]

this may turn into a inexpensive install because to cover 4 point of the compass 4 dishes would be service need of a requirement and modification to support to support standard POE may be a standard requirement of service so dishes can be served by a poe switch, noting that with other variants of xg service that can also interface with POE powering the poe switch may have to serve as a wan gateway of sorts and be used as a login service every additional service you might use as a communications hub for the outside world especially if considering a 24-48vdc powering option for poe powering options Noting that if if you have rely within VAC powering solutions for POE hardware 12 vdc may not a feasible power solution ..

[@stephenl621]

Is Owl working on a different solution that keeps the core functionality?

[@donb.puryearjr.8699]

Great post!!!!

[@overlandvan8833]

Thats awesome!!! I want one!!!

[@hugoruas]

Perfect.

[@tranquilitybase6417]

I don’t have the nerve. I just place my dishy where it gets best reception. I don’t need it while driving - yet

[@acamilop]

Same- love the idea of it being flat on my roof. The video was cool, but I don’t have the balls to cut my dish up. Hopefully spaced will release an extra flat flaty face.

[@borys2767]

You should use a hatchet next time to get the back off.

[@leandroschumer3165]

valeu mister

[@BarryKuefler]

After its was mounted - how is the reception ??

[@owloffroad]

Good, no issues

[@johngrant1337]

Great work thank

[@voyageursapleintemps2819]

Hello, Does your antenna still work after the modification? I made this modification and mine worked for 4 days then went offline. I contacted Starlink because my regional mobile subscription was in red. They told me that the antenna motors or the antenna were blocked. Have you changed the Starlink settings so that it can work without the motors? Thank you for your reply, which may help me get my Starlink working again.

[@TheAllSeeingAye]

Sounds like they're troubleshooting it as a connection issue and one could be the motor not working and therefore could be pointed incorrectly, but since you flat mounted it, that shouldn't be an issue. If its pointed flat to clear skies, then maybe it's malfunctioning, lost connection or something? Cable connectors loose maybe. If they disabled the antenna cause of a missing motor hopefully more people will chime in and confirm, but so far that hasn't happened, likely not the case.

[@voyageursapleintemps2819]

@@TheAllSeeingAye Thanks for your answer, she was flat mounted and worked well 3 days and after she was off line and as the problem persisted it no longer worked so I bought a new antenna and I use it without modification.

[@TheAllSeeingAye]

@@voyageursapleintemps2819 Did you take it apart and inspect the inside to try and find anything apparently wrong? Wondering if moisture got in there or something. If there are LED's that should turn on, not turning on to indicate power, etc.

[@RodriguezProduction]

Any update after using it

[@lorenworthington8739]

Perhaps an alternative would be flag holder style receiver tube on the side of a latter?

[@leowalker07]

That's the setup that I have now, but the pole of Starlink is only rated for winds up to 45 mph, so you can't use the Starlink when you're driving on the highway or on really bumpy/jerky roads. The flat setup allows you to use it all the time.

[@lorenworthington8739]

@@leowalker07 it still makes more sense to me than to have it permanently mounted up on the roof because I have a tendency to park in the shade open (I live in Arizona) and carry a extension cable that would allow me to set it out where there is better reception

[@monti409]

A $ 600.00 tinker awesome !

[@kenderkatz3255]

I like how agile offroad decided to copy you today....

[@owloffroad]

It’s not the first time…

[@Cabinlab]

No dog in the fight, but I wouldn't call their design a copy.

[@chesterschendel343]

Agile didn’t design it, they just sell it.

[@JohnnyAirtimeJensen]

Did you ever remove any of the alum angle at/near the vertical edge by the GPS receiver??? Or... how's it working?

[@rd4660]

I would have used an oscillating cut off tool. That disk cutter with no guard is sketchy.

[@JoelSilvaBR319]

Hello😊

[@easternsuneasternsun171]

Why not just buy the RV system without the motor ?

[@Samuel10463]

And not even testing how it works after all this? Why not?

[@LepszyNizWczoraj]

because it probably works like shit :D

[@spearfish]

But does it work?

[@owloffroad]

Yes, watch the video, it shows it working

[@owloffroad]

At about 17:50 it is set up and working

[@scp8412]

@@owloffroad any speed difference ?

[@owloffroad]

Small but worth it in my eyes

[@richardcampbell9225]

It is not Starlink that prohibits use while moving; it is the FCC. However, I think the FCC recently granted the ability to use in motion so I suspect a new antenna will be coming soon.

[@owloffroad]

Starlink was approved for in motion and it was working but then Starlink sent an update that stopped it. The suspicion is that it is due to them launching a new mobile unit in the future.

[@JohnnyAirtimeJensen]

Negative. Starlink "MARITIME" was approved for in motion via FCC. NOT the residential/RV versions.

[@JoaoAmadoTV]

23:37 what RTV did you use?

[@johnwillenborg]

Just an off-the-shelf RTV. I was not the high temp.

[@willbillyheaven]

Vacuum cleaner

[@manny-perez]

You are absolutely nuts to destroy that nice satellite, you can use a cell booster while driving and then install the satellite when you are stationary! 🥶 😤

[@owloffroad]

But we didn't destroy it, it works well and no need to set up anymore!

[@onomatopejaB]

@@owloffroad this is phase shifting satelite antena (so scanning sky in some small angle without Mechanic movement) but it need mechanical movement to find base angle first. IMO it is limitting performance in signisfint way ;) Did you test it before and after?

[@owloffroad]

@@onomatopejaB Yes, it will not get as good as speed as movable but it worked very well. Really good speeds in our testing.

[@Mzgu]

@@owloffroad With going such deep into the unit you could also change the plug on the other side for typical RJ45 which then will enable you to power the dishy with DC/DC adapter instead of using your inverter to power it up. What is more, for mounting it in place you could think of making this back lid bigger and then mount it down with the bolts to the angle,

[@douglasmullins2099]

No need for this now as they has RV option now.

[@Cabinlab]

RV version has a bigger footprint that won't fit all applications, and also costs > 5x more. "Need" is such a fuzz word.

[@roteldorel]

men you real crezy you brock starlink to show you beter den antena alalalalalala aa ok nice motorhome you have :))

[@JoaoAmadoTV]

24:00 what aflexio did you use?

[@Cabinlab]

FlexSeal. You can see the can in the background on some of the shots

[@JoaoAmadoTV]

@@Cabinlab , yes, 21:14 , thank you