Starlink Mini Review: Can it be powered with a 12v battery?

[@EastTexasHomestead]

Here's what you need: amzn.to/3Mhy88l Thanks for considering using my affiliate links.

[@SandyRVUpgrades]

The Starlink Mini brick says 30v -2a so that means your power source needs to be 30v to accomadate the voltage drop over the 50ft of cable to have the necessary voltage and amperage supply to run the Starlink Mini panel. Your 48v house system would be able to run it with the 50ft cable. When you plug the 50ft cord into a 30v power supply, you see the Starlink Mini is using 20.2v at 47w on startup and the the power usage goes to under 25w at 20.3v once it stabilizes. So it really needs more than what a 12v battery can supply if you need to use the 50ft cable that comes with it. The shorter it's power cable the less voltage it requires.

[@eljeffe991]

You have too much voltage drop with that long cable run at 12V. You're not seeing the voltage drop when you measure it because it's not under load. Put a 4A load on it and you'll see how much it drops. You can either run higher voltage like 20V by using a USB-C PD trigger to 5521, use shorter cable, or use a much thicker gauge cable if you need a longer run. It's easier just to boost the voltage. There are plenty of car cigarette lighter chargers that can do USB-C PD 20V/3A.

[@EastTexasHomestead]

Thanks! I’ll play around with it.

[@eljeffe991]

Just saw the clip at the end. Looks like you have the right idea.

[@EastTexasHomestead]

@@eljeffe991 the crazy thing is, even putting out 20 V it still doesn’t work with the USB-C and the long gray cable. But it does when I connect directly to the USB-C / 5521 cable.

[@justinmorgan7851]

What happens when you look up the clips to a different 12V battery, e.g., your car battery?

[@markeh1971]

Hi, start by reading the spec on the power supply and match that. Plenty of dc to dc converters out there to give you the correct supply voltage and let you use the long grey cable. Take care M.

[@ScottJones67]

V=IR You add a bunch of resistance with that 50' wire. The voltage is approximately constant from the battery. So the current (I) goes down below the minimum for the device to operate and eventually the voltage sags, too. A simple USB-C PD solution that has higher voltage available will work better even with a smaller power source.

[@DaddyBusAdventures]

and using a DVM shows no voltage drop at the end of the 50ft cord because it applies no load which is what misleads many to think there is no issue. A buck converter might work that goes from 12V to 24V, still a transformation loss, but only once rather than twice if we you went DC -> AC -> DC

[@EastTexasHomestead]

Thanks for the detailed info y’all. I’ll have to play around with it. I’m starting to think the Adapter is made out of some junky material that is adding resistance. I’ve used a 20V usb-c cable that works until I add the long wire and adapter. I’ll keep playing with it

[@garychristison763]

Agreed and measuring the resistance is easy enough using an inexpensive DMM. The Starlink Mini is rated around 40 watts, or about 3 amps of current draw. One ohm of resistance will give a significant drop and calculating (I^2)R gives about 10 watts just heating up the wire negating the efficiency benefit gained by eliminating the inverter.

[@MikeHalsall]

@@EastTexasHomestead > "I’m starting to think the Adapter is made out of some junky material that is adding resistance." It's really just that for the 50' cable they're using thinner wires to make it manageable/portable/coilable. The thinner the wire, the greater the resistance. If you were to double the voltage (24v battery instead of 12), you halve the amperage, so could get away with the thinner wires.

[@3genac]

Until ETH has a chance to make his next vid, please list the steps and cables required to use USB-C PD. I have a 100W cig plug USB adapter -- source is solar charged 12 battery bank. How do I cable it to Mini so I can operate 50' from my van. Thanks!

[@MatthewYBarbo]

Really enjoyed seeing the 12V with the Starlink. I really like how it's waterproof to a certain extent as well. Great job breaking this down. Enjoyed the content as always!

[@EastTexasHomestead]

Thanks Matthew!

[@carlleon1604]

Pretty much what everyone has said below. Using 12 AWG wire, I can power my mini from a 12 volt source over 50 feet away. Using the same 12 volts source and the provided cable, it won't work (but does work through about 10 feet of cable). As to the USB-C-PD, I have run mine with a 5 foot and with a 15 foot USB C source cable, but not longer. I've also added a 12 to 24 volt step up buck converter, and it runs the Mini just fine over the length of the stock cable (the up-convert is at the battery, so am feeding the cable with 24 volts, not 12). Lots of options to solve the problem you were seeing.

[@3genac]

Great info. Gen3 standard dish supports POE, so indeed Mini is not the only model supporting straight DC. If requires some POE injection shenanigans and other moving part though; Mini is simpler. After startup power "spike", Gen3 draws ~40 W, about double the Mini. USB-C is the answer, will look for vid. Thx!

[@EastTexasHomestead]

I didn’t know that about the Gen 3. Thanks for sharing!

[@JoaoAmadoTV]

@@EastTexasHomestead , So a PoE injector closer to the SL-mini would also work ?

[@JoaoAmadoTV]

Great Video. Thank you. We are all very grateful! let us know how did the USB-C at 5v worked out ...

[@EastTexasHomestead]

I had to bump up the voltage. It worked great at 20v from USB-C. I put out a full video on it.

[@John_thetrader]

i would use a StepUpConverter 12 to 24volts (it can do a bit more thing 30v max) ... then it would be more stable... OR depending on the max voltage something to the highside. you have them from Victron Orion DC-DC cargers. ( the one with 2 black plastic sides) ... those have a Variable voltage ..Higher Voltage Lower Amps and would be ideal for a Longer Cable lengt ...

[@John_thetrader]

ill explain its 100$ for the Orion 12-24v DcDc... there is a small screw. to change the voltage output...so i would use that to find the voltage you want.

[@michaelbrown7881]

Hey brother we watched the first video which connected us to this video and we’re Americans in Europe and thanks for the info

[@EastTexasHomestead]

You bet! Have fun over there :)

[@RV2Cycle]

Nicely done; thanks for taking the time to put this together!!

[@EastTexasHomestead]

Thank you! You’re welcome ☺️

[@aquatrax123]

You need to put a load on the end of the wire while you test the output voltage. I would take a headlight or some something that draws around 3 amps at 12 volts and while you have the light connected test the voltage. The minimum voltage the mini can run on is 12 volts so perhaps you have a poor connection or you are close to the mini's dropout voltage. To further isolate what wire, positive or negative is causing the problem by testing the voltage between the positive cable by the battery and positive by the light bulb. You should have less than .2 volts. Do the same for the negative side.

[@seekerstan]

You need to measure the voltage while under the load. You can show full voltage with a really lousy conection if the is no load on the circuit besides the meter. Of course with sealed wires and conectors its hard to probe. You can build a probe adapter but that is also a failure point in the circuit.

[@douglasmontgomery6315]

Maybe the gauge of the Starlink wire is too small. I have a 20' 5521 extension cable that is 14 ga wire and it works.

[@tracker754]

Rough numbers here....The dish needs about 48 watts to start up. If you were using 48 volts that would be 1 amp. Since you are using 12v then it will draw 4 amps. But.... The more current and the more length a wire has then the greater the voltage drop. One fix is to shorten the cable, you found that on. Another would be to get a DC to DC converter and bump up the voltage off the battery.

[@garysacks6196]

Thanks for your great Vids! Here's my question that I need answered BEFORE I order the Mini... I live in So. Ca. We have an island 26 miles off the coast which I travel to via my boat...It is greater than 12 miles away...I would like the Roam program for intermittent use of $50/month. Will this plan work for me? Thank you!

[@EastTexasHomestead]

@@garysacks6196 my guess is that it would work. You can now use it in motion and 12 miles off the coast so that’s close enough in my book. You can always try it and return if it doesn’t work.

[@dustinbiu6346]

Starlink Mini users, help! The DC power cable in the Starlink spec sheet is listed as 5.5mm x 2.5mm. However, when I checked several online shops, they show it as 5.5mm x 2.1mm. This has really confused me. Could it be that the DC power cable has two different ends, with the end that connects to the dish being 5.5mm x 2.1mm and the end that connects to the power supply being 5.5mm x 2.5mm? I'm not sure if this is the case.

[@EpikDuck0]

Would it be possible to utilize the original water tight connector? Like cut off the end of the original cable then slice the cables to the 12v supply. Just curious. Maybe the cable was too long to make it work in your first setup.

[@EastTexasHomestead]

That would work for sure. I just don't like cutting into a perfectly good cable when there are other options.

[@zachariahdeaton8429]

Is it possible that the inputs have different ratings? USB input shows minimum of 30V, how overall input shows 12V-48V. Maybe the 5521 input only requires 12v?

[@REVNUMANEWBERN]

Confusing, so figure out HOW to use the factory LONG cord to hook to the battery, THAT is what I need

[@EastTexasHomestead]

It looks like the best option is to go with a USB-C adapter and boost the voltage to 20V or more. I put out a video on that here: kzbin.info/www/bejne/b5XWl2hqec9ljpI Hope this helps.

[@dcd6115]

What about going to a standard car utility port (cig lighter) instead of clamps? Would that be possible?

[@5thGenNativeTexan]

Yes, there are a few videos showing this. The issue is the length of the power cable. Too long and there's too much power loss.

[@EastTexasHomestead]

I’m about to put out a video showing usb-c powering the Mini and cover the cig lighter as an option. Thanks for asking.

[@roberttouro]

Can this be plugged into a standard home outlet as well?

[@EastTexasHomestead]

Yes

[@GK49245]

V=I^2R. The supplied DC cable conductors are too small.

[@kamakaziozzie3038]

Blue light on mini? That’s new for me. I’ve had it for several weeks and haven’t seen a blue light on the mini dish

[@EastTexasHomestead]

I hadn't noticed it myself until my oldest son pointed it out while helping with the video.

[@peterwaterson5898]

This video did not properly address the real useable time that the demonstrated power source would give. If the battery you are using is rated at 100Ah, you do not have 100Ah of useful battery capacity. A Lithium Battery should not be discharged below 20% and even then, discharging it to that level reduces the number of charge/discharge cycles that the battery will support before being replaced. Discharging to 30% is really what is recommended for good battery life, so you really only have 70Ah of useful battery capacity.

[@BruceComer]

Voltage drop when the load is applied with the long cord

[@EastTexasHomestead]

👍

[@jgnleckos]

try it with a 24v battery and it will work

[@primetimemain]

Do they have a global plan for the mini

[@EastTexasHomestead]

They do now :)

[@primetimemain]

Global all over or just in certain areas

[@michealplater9007]

People not understanding voltage drop and load. As per the comments below.

[@jaredwhite489]

Using a goal zero power bank is probably safer then a car battery

[@EastTexasHomestead]

👍

[@ericwilliams952]

I am pointing towards your cheesy barrel connector. get spare cable cut the connector off battery side and wala

[@MikeGentry]

I'm betting that's it. I'd try a straight up 5.5 x2.1 extension cable with male and female ends. I use these types of plugs on my telescope rigs and it's crazy what does and doesn't work for no apparent reason.

[@kamakaziozzie3038]

Voila’

[@michealplater9007]

No voltage drop

[@bhbaker220]

How does it do in rain?

[@EastTexasHomestead]

I’m not sure. My larger dish does ok as long as it’s not storming. Haven’t tried the mini in the rain.

[@rodneyhunt]

I have the same battery testing for review lol

[@rodneyhunt]

And the app will tell you the time remaining to discharge or charge.

[@EastTexasHomestead]

Nice! I was actually wondering if the app would show, but I didn't check. I guess I should have.

[@mortimersnerd801]

.... a 50ah 13.2V battery (only 11lbs) and some low I/R loss #16 wire/cable....ideal... It wouldn't be hard to waterproof that connector... add in a 100 watt 12V (16-18V open circuit voltage) solar panel...the BMS in the battery itself should prevent overcharging...you shouldn't even need a seperate charge controller. I would also put proper eye terminals, and solder them on to the ends of the wires, remember, the battery has bolts, and it's not hard to bring a little crescent wrench or spanner with you.... ditch those big clamps, they tend to be crimped lossy affairs. Biggest problem? That pathetic 50gb cap...Sorry...no FB cat videos for you....meow.

[@EastTexasHomestead]

That would be a nice setup. :) They offer unlimited plans now BTW.

[@setpowerusa]

Waiting for your email reply!

[@paulfarrell1976]

The adapter is 30v output. The Battery = 12v ergo voltage drop

[@amenng.3850]

You talked too much...Less TALK...Go direct to ACTION....

[@kamakaziozzie3038]

Thank you for saying it. I got halfway through the video and was thinking ..”so what’s the answer? Will it work or not?” I finally came to comment section and within 10 seconds found out it didn’t

[@EastTexasHomestead]

But it does. So you found out the wrong answer by not waiting til the end. 🤔