Thoughts on Starlink

[Vishal Kasliwal]

I had a chance to use Starlink over 3 nights spent at IchthyoSTAR-2025 in the middle of the NV desert & here are my thoughts!

As much as I've hated Musk's Cockroaches-In-the-Sky in the past, the idea of disappearing into the Nevada desert for a prolonged period with no connectivity posed its fair share of problems. First of all, personal safety. My wife just wasn't comfortable with not knowing where I was. Of course, she knew where I was going, but given the 375-mile driving distance, she was acutely aware that a lot can go wrong before even getting there. Then there's the 3 nights and 2 days I'd be spending there - the NV desert is home to rattlesnakes and scorpions, to say nothing of sub-zero temperatures forecast for Saturday night. Suffice to say that she felt a lot more comfortable with my trip if I could have connectivity while I was there. A second consideration was my comfort level in leaving my family behind ast home by themselves. While we live in a safer part of San Jose, in one of the safest states in the country, as they say - shit happens - and I felt a lot better knowing that my wife was just a phone call away. Lastly there's the problem with taking time off work for a hobby. Although we all need our vacations, I'd argue that it's selfish to waste precious vacation time on a personal hobby as opposed to family trips. Lastly, there's the question of how to keep yourself entertained if the weather turns sour and astronomy is no longer viable - a problem that we sadly had to deal with on this trip. 

Starlink solves all of these problems!

I got the Standard kit with a Roam plan. The Standard kit features slightly larger HW than the Starlink Mini, but I think the extra BW is totally worth the larger size & extra weight. Emmanuelle & Patrick have the Mini, so perhaps they can share their experience with the Mini. I got the Starlink Standard Backpack, which is slightly pricey, but is really great at protecting the gear while making it easy to quickly set up. The Roam plan is fantastic - you can turn it on and off as required. It used to cost $50/month for 50 GB of data ($1/GB over 50 GB), but now there is a new $10/month option which offers 10 GB of data ($2/GB over 10 GB)that I think is even better suited for monthly trips for observing. There is an unlimited data option for $165 for power users.

Starlink just worked.... No dropouts, no loss-of-network, nothing.... My friends, Creighton & Grant, worked all day Monday using Starlink, BW was very healthy at over 200 Gbps and they were able to do multiple video calls while sharing multiple screens, all without issue. The only time that we had a snag was when I, stupidly, tried creating an extra guest network in the middle of a call which caused the router to take all networks down for about 2 minutes. Don't create new networks when someone has a critical use for the service & you should be fine. On Sunday, we realized that the weather wasn't going to permit astronomy & decided to watch a movie. Downloading a 3-hr movie from Amazon Prime at Best Quality worked without a snap! Any drawbacks? - The router is a very basic router that doesn't have features such as setting up BW or data limits on guest networks. I ran my unit off've a Jackery Explorer 1000v2 with 2 x Jackery SolarSaga 200W panels, and although I didn't keep the Starlink on 24-7, I could have.

Final thoughts - Starlink is a game changer for us, allowing us to comfortably be out in the field for multiple nights without sacrificing connectivity or work. It's the equivalent of going from diesel power to nuclear power for submarines - food and water are now the limiting factors!!!

[Alex]

Thank you for sharing, Vishal. Being WFH myself I can clearly see benefits of a good bandwidth AP readily available in the field for many important occasions. Even in less rural locations like nearby campgrounds where some 5G/4G connectivity is functional it gets saturated very quickly, causing hiccups for VC or project files pulling, which should not be a problem with the StarLink for at least a decade ahead. That's true for solo trips only though. If every one of us at the Berlin IchthyoSTAR would bring a sat dish we might hit the same bandwidth problem as the cell Internet. Thus, it's more viable to plan ahead and share one link for a larger area group over WiFi as we do for the GSSP camp (though with the directed antenna 5G link, iirc). For that you want a dedicated router box with good power for the coverage (for large houses) set up centrally in the camp, preferably on a high rise pole/mast probably with the dedicated PSU (similar to the GSSP setup). The added benefit is that we could utilize the router bandwidth for the local network sharing. E.g. organize simple peer-to-peer services like messages and content exchange (e.g. I had a 512GB SD card of movies/shows with me) without occupying the Sat link at all or only sparingly for some common tasks.

Surely some etiquette for sharing the AP should be developed as well to make it all working smoothly (e.g. bandwidth is dedicated for work in the day time, entertainment in the evening, astronomy at night,... and so on). E.g. I knew we had some folks bringing SL to Ichtyo, but I didn't know whom exactly to ask if I would need to use one (I would write to this list and ask of course, as I had an OK 4G signal, but in general it would be better announcing any prerequisites/contacts upfront).

Just my 2c.

[Vishal Kasliwal]

I should have done my research on using the Starlink before leaving home, but alas, time is always at a premium. I was hoping to set the guest network up once I was at BISP, and set a BW limit,  but I didn't realize that the Standard Starlink Router does not support BW limits. The idea was for all Starlink owners in our group to use a common naming scheme for the guest network and the same password,  e.g. Network ID: IchthyoStar-Guest01 with Password: !chthy0s4ur$4r3C00l!!

In the future, when we organize another such trip,  perhaps Starlink owners can bring along a spare router for the guest network. It would make sense for us to set a naming scheme and publicize it on TAC - almost like a callsign on ham radio. We can set the password using a mix of the location and date.  That way,  you can go out in the field reasonably expecting connectivity and not even have to worry about what the password is,  etc....

Vishal

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[Akarsh Simha]

I have also been considering biting the bullet and getting starlink after I anneal into a routine with my job.

The startup cost is the high one.

For personal safety, an alternative is Garmin InReach. I’ve had one for over 4 years now and I always let my folks know where I am and what I’m up to, and they can message me back 

[Bill Haddon]

Before expressing unbridled enthusiasm for Starlink please read the following BBC report: 

Dr Bill Haddon, Taylor Observatory/ Norton Planetarium 

Sent from my iPhone

On Jun 26, 2025, at 6:46 PM, Akarsh Simha <akars...@gmail.com> wrote:



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[Vishal Kasliwal]

It's actually remarkably cheap for what it is. You only need the Standard Starlink kit which is $349. The backpack is optional at $199, which I agree is overpriced,  but at the end of the day,  it is very nice for keeping the whole kit safe, organized, and quick to setup. 

At $349 for the basic kit,  it's cheaper than most premium eyepieces. What do you think will let you see more things? A shiny new Delos ($407) used 1/month when you can get away from work,  or the Starlink which will let you spend days working remotely? The startup cost goes up once you factor in the cost of a decent-sized solar battery ($699 for a 1 kWHr EcoFlow Delta 3 Plus Portable Power Station + $360 for 2x BALDR 200W Solar Panels), but I still think the increase in how much time you can spend outside is worth the investment. 

The limiting factors become food and water, just like when subs transitioned from diesel to nuclear power. 

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[Vishal Kasliwal]

That's why I called them 'Cockroaches in the Sky'.

But the sad truth is that no one gives a rat's ass about destroying our view of the Universe. Like it or not,  Starlink is here to stay. What we can hope for,  is that with enough pressure and international cooperation, we can get the satellites to be less reflective, perhaps using something like Vanta Black paint.

Vishal

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[Peter Santangeli]

Interesting timing....

I picked up Starlink a few months ago and for the first time I'm at GSSP with it. I too REALLY struggled with giving one of Mr Musk's companies money. And as an imager I am still shocked at the number of starlink trails I get.  Unfortunately my job is one that I frequently need to be in touch. We had been happily using a 4G cell booster on the van, and still have it, but (spoiler alert) it may be getting removed.

I picked up a refurbished Starlink Mini from Starlink for $369 (I seem to recall). It's in perfect condition. The only difference I can see is the typical refurb plain brown box. I'm on the Roam 50 plan as well.

I have it mounted at the top, front of my Promaster based class B RV.  They sell a $25 removable mobile mounting kit that was fine (though the design is not what I would have done, it seems totally solid, and is easily detached/re-attached - which became needed 2 nights ago - more on that later). I'm powering it off the house batteries through a 20v buck converter (more than 12, less than 48v is recommended).

It connects quickly. And gives me 150+mbs down, 10+ up. Totally fine for just about anything. Even while driving. The app is well done and easy to use, giving me all the options I need. One note - setting the same SSID and PW as home on the access point was NOT enough for our devices to connect to it. Still haven't figured that out, as it is a trick I have used before. It caused some last minute network craziness with headless devices out in the field, but I got through it. 

The biggest disadvantage I've seen (at least for the mini) is the wifi side of it. I'm not the only one online to notice, but the range of the wifi signal is.... terrible.  I have it mounted outside on the cab of a 20.5 ft van. My gear is probably 20 ft at most behind the van. So 35 or so unobstructed feet.   And terrible signal - not good enough for remote desktop. Enough that half way through the first night I was climbing a ladder up the van to take it down, and move it out amidst the telescopes.  Fine for sitting right by it (it's got no issues from the front seats of the van), but that's about it. 

Fortunately, I have my old router here. A very good G-Link unit with external antennas. I was able to configure that as a range extender and all was very good last night. Even the router/repeater though, which is inside the van at the back, does not get full bars. Enough, but not full.

With that in mind though, it is admittedly very impressive technology. So good that I no longer have excuses to miss ANY zoom calls with work... :-(

pete

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[Akarsh Simha]

I agree with Vishal. Nobody give’s a rat’s ass about astronomy, very unfortunately. Just like we are losing the battle against light pollution, we will lose this one too.

BTW to anyone that remote works on a metered connection, I recommend TripMode and n MacOS. You can install it from brew and it costs $18 after the trial expires. Prevents your IT departments tools from forcing updates and busting your bandwidth 

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[Vishal Kasliwal]

The Standard Router has ~ 100 ft of range as verified by us at BISP. We were able to get a workable signal at the toilet from the pergola at campsite #8. They do sell a standalone mini-router. 

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[Vishal Kasliwal]

Oh that's useful to know!!! Is there an equivalent for windows? I hate IT buggers - self-important SOBs...

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[Jeff Crilly]

>
> On Jun 26, 2025, at 3:46 PM, Akarsh Simha <akars...@gmail.com> wrote:
>
> 

> I have also been considering biting the bullet and getting starlink after I anneal into a routine with my job.
>
> The startup cost is the high one.

Consider getting a used SL. I bought the gen2 “used” for about half list price years ago (before the mini and standard landed.). Ppl with SL ant home are switching from SL to fixed wireless , which is going to be cheaper — just a matter of when they can get the alternative. The older gen2 works fine and seems to have really good WiFi. I feel like it’s a bit power hungry, tho it only showed about 45 watts draw. It’s also AC only (unless you do some hacking to get 48v / 150 watts into a custom POE injector.)
-jeff

[Ted Hauter]

A ray of sunshine in this (a bad use of words excuse me) is that Musk and the others keep sending this stuff up because it re enters at some point. Burn baby burn...

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[John Pierce]

On Fri, Jun 27, 2025 at 8:37 PM Ted Hauter <thgo...@gmail.com> wrote:

A ray of sunshine in this (a bad use of words excuse me) is that Musk and the others keep sending this stuff up because it re enters at some point. Burn baby burn...

except they are launching more faster than it reenters. 

[Akarsh Simha]

Starlink Mini units are on sale at $230. I wish I’d waited.

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[Alex]

I've just pulled the trigger for the Mini too. Though I got it from Starlink directly for $250, as all $230 offers do not include their 50GB data plan (+$50).
Immediately after that I've found out that Starlink is already in the process of negotiating with cellular providers worldwide about enabling Starlink on arbitrary smartphones (not like on flagships only with other sat providers) :) Surely that would take them some time to land, thus no regrets. Thank you for the push in the right direction!

[Aris Pope]

I did the same thing. I was sold on it when I used a friend's starlink at this past year's GSSP. With the mini on sale and the subscription packages it was tough to pass up. I also bought a Renogy 50a DC to DC charger and two 200w solar panels. We plan to do a lot of camping this year now that my youngest is older. 

Aris

On Tue, Dec 2, 2025, 11:09 AM Alex <alex.k...@gmail.com> wrote:

I've just pulled the trigger for the Mini too. Though I got it from Starlink directly for $250, as all $230 offers do not include their 50GB data plan (+$50).
Immediately after that I've found out that Starlink is already in the process of negotiating with cellular providers worldwide about enabling Starlink on arbitrary smartphones (not like on flagships only with other sat providers) :) Surely that would take them some time to land, thus no regrets. Thank you for the push in the right direction!

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[Joshua Hutchins]

I've had the Mini for about a year now and am still on the $10/month for 10gb data.  I get good speeds and can do video calls on it without any problem.  I've used it camping several times and it's pretty nice, as long as you have a somewhat clear view of at least part of the sky- it doesn't work in campgrounds that are too heavily wooded.  It also works well to mount inside my car on the bottom of the sunroof and have continuous internet even if there is no cell connection- this has helped me go on several observing nights when I needed to stay within internet access for my job, as observing sites tend to have clear views of the sky.

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[Alex]

I've heard there is a hidden "standby" mode when you pay only $5 a month to just stay connected for emergencies. The guy demonstrated the totally OK Youtube video at 360p, occasionally sketchy picture video calls though with perfect audio, slow but working satellite imagery on gMaps. FB, Telegram, basic web browsing, etc are all totally acceptable. The only issue is that you will have the lowest priority. Thus if there are residential or high tier roaming Starlink clients closeby you will be slowed down even more. Thus, I would suggest negotiating who is taking the sat dish to the starparty of any size to avoid the bandwidth congestion if that's crucial for something like working remotely. Though, my goal is field emergencies and maybe local connectivity disruptions due to natural disasters/civil unrest. As all my astronomy needs are usually addressed beforehand thus conducted 100% offline when onsite.

[Peter Natscher]

Are all of these threads about StarLink Direct To Cell or the Starlink WiFi setup? I'm reading about the new StarLink Direct To Cell service.  I'm not sure what StarLink device(s) this requires but it looks appealing to me.  Sounds simpler.  Is anyone using StarLink's Direct To Cell service?

[Aris Pope]

That's the YouTube video is the one that sold me. 

Aris

On Tue, Dec 2, 2025, 1:02 PM Alex <alex.k...@gmail.com> wrote:

I've heard there is a hidden "standby" mode when you pay only $5 a month to just stay connected for emergencies. The guy demonstrated the totally OK Youtube video at 360p, occasionally sketchy picture video calls though with perfect audio, slow but working satellite imagery on gMaps. FB, Telegram, basic web browsing, etc are all totally acceptable. The only issue is that you will have the lowest priority. Thus if there are residential or high tier roaming Starlink clients closeby you will be slowed down even more. Thus, I would suggest negotiating who is taking the sat dish to the starparty of any size to avoid the bandwidth congestion if that's crucial for something like working remotely. Though, my goal is field emergencies and maybe local connectivity disruptions due to natural disasters/civil unrest. As all my astronomy needs are usually addressed beforehand thus conducted 100% offline when onsite.

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[Peter Santangeli]

I don't think it's hidden. It's really in place so that you can sign back up for full service at any time USING starlink. Perfect for remote locations, RV's, etc.

It's actually a very customer-centric feature in that way. As much as I am tempted to hate on all of Elon's companies, particularly one that screws up my photos, I've been impressed with Starlink. it is NOT as good as fiber or cable. I have had times (in the open desert) where I have not had consistent enough connectivity to do zoom calls without drops, so it's not perfect, but it's damn good. The only minor inconvenience is it runs best at 18-24v, not 12, so I needed a buck converter to wire it to the van. Beyond that the mini is very well designed.

It's been a welcome addition to my van, and quite cheap to maintain and just turn on for a month when needed, given the $5 sub.

pete

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[Arvind K]

Hi Peter, I only use 12v for my mini, and I have been using it for some time now and am happy with both reliability and speed (for work, and family needs). 

When you say it runs best on 18-24v, in what way? 

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[Peter Santangeli]

It will work at 12, but apparently won't perform well below that, so any voltage drop (i.e, cable length, as you might get when hard-wiring into a van) is a problem. From forum articles I've read, it's marginal at 12.  It's rated 12-48 or something (though don't quote me).

Probably enough starlink tech-talk for a visual astronomy list though :-) 

pete

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[Akarsh Simha]

I’m told it can take up to 36V, and the quality / speed of connection on 12V is low, so it makes sense to boost it.

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[Joshua Hutchins]

I tried using 12V with the power cable that came with the Mini and had problems.  My theory was that the cable was long enough and saw voltage drop so the Starlink saw <12V- it would start up but I think it would reset when it tried to start the radio.  As Peter did, I used a step-up converter and the problems went away.  The provided AC adapter is 30V so the voltage drop on the cable isn't going to cause issues if you use the provided AC adapter.  I don't think it's not a quality/speed of connection, it just seems to do a low-voltage reset during the startup process and never really works (I don't have any logs that say this, but it's my best theory)

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[Aris Pope]

I used my 12 volt jackery to power my friend's mini with no issues up at GSSP last year. I was able to video chat with my wife and kids no problem. Fwiw

Aris

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[Bill Haddon]

Re enthusiasm for Starlink:  you folks do realize that communication, arguably a good thing, may wipe out our astronomy activities “

Sent from my iPhone

On Dec 2, 2025, at 6:30 PM, Joshua Hutchins <jdhu...@gmail.com> wrote:



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[Bill Haddon]

Yes, satellites significantly affect night sky views by reflecting sunlight, creating a form of light pollution that can be seen by the naked eye and interferes with astronomical observations. This effect, known as satellite flare, makes the sky appear brighter and can obscure faint stars and the Milky Way. The increased number of satellites in orbit, especially those in low-Earth orbit, means this phenomenon is becoming more widespread and a growing concern for stargazing and professional astronomy. 

Sent from my iPhone

On Dec 2, 2025, at 8:17 PM, Bill Haddon <haddo...@gmail.com> wrote:

Re enthusiasm for Starlink:  you folks do realize that communication, arguably a good thing, may wipe out our astronomy activities “

[Francesco Meschia]

I was starting to wonder if it was just me... 

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[Akarsh Simha]

On Tue, Dec 2, 2025 at 17:17 Bill Haddon <haddo...@gmail.com> wrote:

Yes, satellites significantly affect night sky views by reflecting sunlight, creating a form of light pollution that can be seen by the naked eye and interferes with astronomical observations. This effect, known as satellite flare, makes the sky appear brighter and can obscure faint stars and the Milky Way. The increased number of satellites in orbit, especially those in low-Earth orbit, means this phenomenon is becoming more widespread and a growing concern for stargazing and professional astronomy. 

Sent from my iPhone

Yes, absolutely aware. The thread I think started out with saying “well, this stuff is here to stay at least for the foreseeable future, might as well use it”. Astronomers are going to be a minority in the customer base.

Unfortunately we are losing the night sky at an alarming rate to both ground-based and sky-based sources of light pollution. This should not detract from our efforts to mitigate the pollution.

Starlink for one has actively taken steps (and continues) to work on reducing the albedo of their satellites. Other constellations will hopefully follow suit. I would rather have ground based cellular, so this is definitely a devil’s bargain.

Regards

Akarsh

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[Aris Pope]

I like Vishal's reference "Musk's Cockroaches-In-the-Sky. There's really nothing we can do about it away from hoping for the runaway Kessler syndrome. But that wouldn't be too safe lol. We had a young lady give a talk for TVS several months ago talking about the future affects of satellites in astronomy.  I certainly can tell the difference over the last 5 years.

On Thu, Jun 26, 2025, 2:31 PM Vishal Kasliwal <vishal....@gmail.com> wrote:

I had a chance to use Starlink over 3 nights spent at IchthyoSTAR-2025 in the middle of the NV desert & here are my thoughts!

As much as I've hated Musk's Cockroaches-In-the-Sky in the past, the idea of disappearing into the Nevada desert for a prolonged period with no connectivity posed its fair share of problems. First of all, personal safety. My wife just wasn't comfortable with not knowing where I was. Of course, she knew where I was going, but given the 375-mile driving distance, she was acutely aware that a lot can go wrong before even getting there. Then there's the 3 nights and 2 days I'd be spending there - the NV desert is home to rattlesnakes and scorpions, to say nothing of sub-zero temperatures forecast for Saturday night. Suffice to say that she felt a lot more comfortable with my trip if I could have connectivity while I was there. A second consideration was my comfort level in leaving my family behind ast home by themselves. While we live in a safer part of San Jose, in one of the safest states in the country, as they say - shit happens - and I felt a lot better knowing that my wife was just a phone call away. Lastly there's the problem with taking time off work for a hobby. Although we all need our vacations, I'd argue that it's selfish to waste precious vacation time on a personal hobby as opposed to family trips. Lastly, there's the question of how to keep yourself entertained if the weather turns sour and astronomy is no longer viable - a problem that we sadly had to deal with on this trip. 

Starlink solves all of these problems!

I got the Standard kit with a Roam plan. The Standard kit features slightly larger HW than the Starlink Mini, but I think the extra BW is totally worth the larger size & extra weight. Emmanuelle & Patrick have the Mini, so perhaps they can share their experience with the Mini. I got the Starlink Standard Backpack, which is slightly pricey, but is really great at protecting the gear while making it easy to quickly set up. The Roam plan is fantastic - you can turn it on and off as required. It used to cost $50/month for 50 GB of data ($1/GB over 50 GB), but now there is a new $10/month option which offers 10 GB of data ($2/GB over 10 GB)that I think is even better suited for monthly trips for observing. There is an unlimited data option for $165 for power users.

Starlink just worked.... No dropouts, no loss-of-network, nothing.... My friends, Creighton & Grant, worked all day Monday using Starlink, BW was very healthy at over 200 Gbps and they were able to do multiple video calls while sharing multiple screens, all without issue. The only time that we had a snag was when I, stupidly, tried creating an extra guest network in the middle of a call which caused the router to take all networks down for about 2 minutes. Don't create new networks when someone has a critical use for the service & you should be fine. On Sunday, we realized that the weather wasn't going to permit astronomy & decided to watch a movie. Downloading a 3-hr movie from Amazon Prime at Best Quality worked without a snap! Any drawbacks? - The router is a very basic router that doesn't have features such as setting up BW or data limits on guest networks. I ran my unit off've a Jackery Explorer 1000v2 with 2 x Jackery SolarSaga 200W panels, and although I didn't keep the Starlink on 24-7, I could have.

Final thoughts - Starlink is a game changer for us, allowing us to comfortably be out in the field for multiple nights without sacrificing connectivity or work. It's the equivalent of going from diesel power to nuclear power for submarines - food and water are now the limiting factors!!!

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[Alex]

Hey Aris. We are chatting on google resources. I'm not surprised we could see the same videos delivered from them to feed our clearly expressed interest personally :) I admit that video gave me the final kick too.

Light pollution? By the time we get the real Dyson Swarm problem we should have affordable personal property on the Moon. We just need to make sure criminal syndicates like the one led by Putin in Russia are impossible.

[KG]

Actually it can even run on 48v, connected in my CT. 

GK

Sent from my iPhone -made in China😴

On Dec 2, 2025, at 3:27 PM, Akarsh Simha <akars...@gmail.com> wrote:



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[Jeff Crilly]

>
> On Dec 2, 2025, at 11:09 AM, Alex <alex.k...@gmail.com> wrote:
>
> I've just pulled the trigger for the Mini too.

Same. From Home Depot. Couple weeks ago. It is still in the box tho. I’ll probably activate it and go on standby mode.

My plan is to power the Mini with 100watt USB-C, which is directly supported by the mini. One of my powerbanks (bluetti) has a 100 watt port, the other (goal zero) does not.

Fwiw I have a Gen 2 (on the $10 plan) in a plastic bin in the garage. Given the mini, I dunno what to do with Gen 2. I think it’s going to need to go — resale value probably sucks with the recent price drops on Gen 3 gear.

[Alex]

When a digital electronic device is powered over the max voltage stated in the manual and not fried immediately its voltage regulation components will consistently overheat. In the best case (good engineering design) that would just significantly shorten the device lifespan. In the worst case that could start degrading the device performance even sooner.

[Mark Wagner]

This Starlink thing seems quite a popular object. What is the RA and Dec please?  I'd like to see it.

[Akarsh Simha]

On Wed, Dec 3, 2025 at 10:39 Mark Wagner <itsmar...@gmail.com> wrote:

This Starlink thing seems quite a popular object. What is the RA and Dec please?  I'd like to see it.

You’re thinking of Chainlink Nebula, at least that’s what the German atlas calls it

14:22:27

-44:09:04

On Wednesday, December 3, 2025 at 9:15:24 AM UTC-8 alex.k...@gmail.com wrote:

When a digital electronic device is powered over the max voltage stated in the manual and not fried immediately its voltage regulation components will consistently overheat. In the best case (good engineering design) that would just significantly shorten the device lifespan. In the worst case that could start degrading the device performance even sooner.

On Tue, Dec 2, 2025 at 9:28 PM KG <kgee...@gmail.com> wrote:

Actually it can even run on 48v, connected in my CT. 

GK

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[Bill Haddon]

Here’s an article on communication satellites and how they have been affected by CME’s.   

https://www.space.com/satellites-falling-off-sky-solar-weather

Also

https://agupubs.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1029/2022SW003330

Much of the cost of satellite internet is to prepare the LEO satellites against CME damage . A re-occurrence of the 1859 Carrington storm (highly unlikely) might cost a trillion $’s -  >$30,000 per customer, raising internet rates by $200 per month, assuming a 20 million plus customer base versus ~6-8 million currently).  (At our new VA home the internet cost is under $30/mo for 135 Mbps with Xfinity. In Lake County, $67/mo with a local company)

Bill

Sent from my iPhone

On Dec 2, 2025, at 10:34 PM, Alex <alex.k...@gmail.com> wrote:



Hey Aris. We are chatting on google resources. I'm not surprised we could see the same videos delivered from them to feed our clearly expressed interest personally :) I admit that video gave me the final kick too.

Light pollution? By the time we get the real Dyson Swarm problem we should have affordable personal property on the Moon. We just need to make sure criminal syndicates like the one led by Putin in Russia are impossible.

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[Akarsh Simha]

I’m certain satellite internet prices will go up once they get people habituated to it. Starlink already raised prices effectively by forcing a 50GB tier and made it harder to stop service instead opting for the $5 emergency mode.

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[Alex]

Oh, that's easy, Mark. Get the starlink dish first. Load its app to your phone and use the code on its side to register. Then it will show you the direction of the nearest Starlink. Convert that to Alt/Az and use simple spherical trigonometry to figure it's Ra/Dec (given you know your geolocation and the local time). If the personalized data is not crucial, you can search for Planetarium-like apps for your computing platform (e.g. Android) which would show you all of them in real time on the clickable chart. Tip: you might need a very fast GoTo telescope mount with advanced guiding software to actually see Starlink targets as these coordinates might change really fast. Otherwise I would recommend to stick with the advice from Akash above for visual observations of Chainlink nebula, it consists of multiple of these beautiful objects (up to 200 individual observations in one night, try that with your regular DSOs!). However you would need to look-up the news for the nebula coordinates' announcements in your area.
;)

[John Pierce]

or just go here...

https://starlink.sx/

On Wed, Dec 3, 2025 at 1:20 PM Alex <alex.k...@gmail.com> wrote:

Oh, that's easy, Mark. Get the starlink dish first. Load its app to your phone and use the code on its side to register. Then it will show you the direction of the nearest Starlink. Convert that to Alt/Az and use simple spherical trigonometry to figure it's Ra/Dec (given you know your geolocation and the local time). If the personalized data is not crucial, you can search for Planetarium-like apps for your computing platform (e.g. Android) which would show you all of them in real time on the clickable chart. Tip: you might need a very fast GoTo telescope mount with advanced guiding software to actually see Starlink targets as these coordinates might change really fast. Otherwise I would recommend to stick with the advice from Akash above for visual observations of Chainlink nebula, it consists of multiple of these beautiful objects (up to 200 individual observations in one night, try that with your regular DSOs!). However you would need to look-up the news for the nebula coordinates' announcements in your area.
;)

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[Richard Navarrete]

I think Mark’s post was made in jest cause this thread is very long, and while part of a mobile astronomers kit, Starlink doesn’t have much to do with visual amateur astronomy , which is supposedly the main focus of TAC.

Richard

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[Alex]

Thank you Richard. Though I think everybody figured the intent. And I'll be honest: I don't like this highly arguable "on subject" policing practice on public hobby resources very much. A Starlink dish is no different from, let's say, a refractor tripod. Or how about a camping chair? Forbidden too? That's so silly...

[Akarsh Simha]

I do think Starlink is part of observing equipment discussions. I have made my choices of which unit to buy, how to wire it up, and the ethical qualms of contributing to the problem, all in consultation with other amateur astronomers. In that way TAC, and another group in Portland, have been very useful resources for such questions. I would love to see the list continue to welcome these sorts of discussions in addition to observing reports, deep-sky object discussions, observing intents, and (God forbid) even Astrophotos!

On Wed, Dec 3, 2025 at 16:10 Alex <alex.k...@gmail.com> wrote:

Thank you Richard. Though I think everybody figured the intent. And I'll be honest: I don't like this highly arguable "on subject" policing practice on public hobby resources very much. A Starlink dish is no different from, let's say, a refractor tripod. Or how about a camping chair? Forbidden too? That's so silly...

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[Mark Wagner]

I'd like to talk about buffalo wings.  I love those when I go observing.  No prob, right?  Anyone else?  Spicy or honey?

[Richard Navarrete]

How do you feel about batteries? 😆

Richard

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[Alex]

Mark. We always have the clear "Subject" line in every message. Not interested in a subject? Just don't open its thread. Genuinely annoyed by it popping up 512 times a day? Invest your annoyance into adding the email filter to delete messages with that subject line, or mark them read, or move to spam, etc. Interested in particular subjects only? Add a filter to collect them separately. Our subject line even has the advanced tagging system ([TAC], OI: and OR:) for that. Want to discuss the benefits of spicy buffalo wings eating between EP approaches to keep your mind sharp at 3am? You are welcome. Just create a unique and potentially interesting to our specific crowd Subject line. One would ignore it, another might find it useful, or even add their own bits of wisdom to it. Nobody? No drama! No need to suffer in the digital edge over the simple digital data source. EMail robots have been employed since the 80s to make peace exactly about that. :)

[Mark Wagner]

Thanks for the lesson on "public forums, Alex   being "new" around here I found this from TACs home page intet, essentially what it's about and for.  Here's the link and pertinent paragraph:

"TAC’s goal is to bring together active observational amateur astronomers, bay area wide, via the Internet where ideas can more easily be exchanged and new friendships made."

https://observers.org/

Mark (newbie)

[Arvind K]

On Tue, Dec 2, 2025 at 4:50 PM Aris Pope <arispo...@gmail.com> wrote:

I used my 12 volt jackery to power my friend's mini with no issues up at GSSP last year. I was able to video chat with my wife and kids no problem. Fwiw

Aris

Same.  I do this at least once a month on my weekend trips (nearby and far). Allows me to catch up on work and family when enjoying astronomy.. I consider this part of my astro gear :-)

[Aris Pope]

Hey Mark this actually pertains to observational astronomy. As many people go out into the field without cell coverage sometimes for days at a time. I will put this under the safety aspect

Aris

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[Jamie Dillon, DDK]

Here's the listowner about to do some policing. Enough, please. We've progressed to a thread discussing whether this thread is on topic. Begging the question.

I'm with Wagner and Navarrete. Also Bill Haddon. And Francesco, when you said, "I was starting to wonder if it was just me... " it's not just you.

[Jeff Crilly]

>
> On Dec 3, 2025, at 4:25 PM, Mark Wagner <itsmar...@gmail.com> wrote:
>
> I'd like to talk about buffalo wings. I love those when I go observing. No prob, right? Anyone else? Spicy or honey?

I like the spicy kind… but not when I’m out observing. The spicy kind make me drink way too much beer to mitigate the spice… and not only does that affect my dark adaption but also raises the risk of me tripping over the Starlink dish and falling on my face!

Plus then I have to pee a lot from drinking all that beer.

Anyone got a suggestion for a portable potty (with its own tent) for this situation?

Ps.. don’t suggest switching to the honey kind. I’m watching my carbs and the honey ones are a sugar bomb.

[Aris Pope]

Jeff looks like you have a lot of options other threads to start. 

Aris

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[Aris Pope]

Alex, I feel that this post certainly "brought together active observational amateur astronomers". Much more than any previous post about rain dancing or chairs

On Wed, Dec 3, 2025, 8:03 PM Alex <alex.k...@gmail.com> wrote:

Mark. We always have the clear "Subject" line in every message. Not interested in a subject? Just don't open its thread. Genuinely annoyed by it popping up 512 times a day? Invest your annoyance into adding the email filter to delete messages with that subject line, or mark them read, or move to spam, etc. Interested in particular subjects only? Add a filter to collect them separately. Our subject line even has the advanced tagging system ([TAC], OI: and OR:) for that. Want to discuss the benefits of spicy buffalo wings eating between EP approaches to keep your mind sharp at 3am? You are welcome. Just create a unique and potentially interesting to our specific crowd Subject line. One would ignore it, another might find it useful, or even add their own bits of wisdom to it. Nobody? No drama! No need to suffer in the digital edge over the simple digital data source. EMail robots have been employed since the 80s to make peace exactly about that. :)

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Aris