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Page 7 of the linked FCC application says: > Power requirements: 30 V DC / 2 A via 100-240V AC/DC adaptor Presumably, when people talk about "running it from

Page 7 of the linked FCC application says: > Power requirements: 30 V DC / 2 A via 100-240V AC/DC adaptor Presumably, when people talk about "running it from DC power" they mean a standard 12V automotive power supply, which would require a 12V to 30V step-up converter to replace the supplied AC adapter.

stavros 2y ago
I wonder if that's what the adapter supplies, and the device can actually do 12-30V or whatnot.
- IshKebab 2y ago
  Not many devices that run off 30V will run off 12V too. It's too big of a difference. But 12V to 36V boost converters are readily available and very cheap.
  - stavros 2y ago
    I imagine most of those devices have a buck converter inside, no?
    - michaelt 2y ago
      If you're drawing 30V 2A (60W) through a connector rated for 2.5A, and you try to draw the same 60W at 12V i.e. 5A you're in trouble because the connector's not designed for 5A. And not every DC-DC converter is sized for a wide range of input voltages. A DC-DC converter with a "2:1 input voltage range" might accept anything from 18 to 36 volts, whereas a converter with a "4:1 input voltage range" might accept 9 to 36 volts. The wider input voltage range generally costs a bit more too.
  - cma 2y ago
    No sure about vans, but aren't lots of cars moving to 48V?
    - IshKebab 2y ago
      Yeah because higher voltage reduces the cost of wiring, and 48V is still under the 50V legal limit for "low voltage". Not sure what your point is though.
      - fragmede 2y ago
        if the are power electronics chip they use is rated to handle 12 VDC to 48 VDC, which 30 VDC happens to be in-between, then they could just use that chip and you could give it 12V or 48V, whichever you had handy. If all cars are moving to 48V, that makes that more likely.
        yencabulator 2y ago
        That's a very wide range and to build a gadget to take that range would cost more, and thus it's not done. Most "12 V" gadgets only accept the rough range of what a 12 V battery might give them, which is usually only up to 15.4 V while charging.
        fragmede 2y ago
        USB-C 3.1 PD does 240 watts by raising the voltage to 48V, so the chips to accept that already exist, even if they're expensive right now.
      - cma 2y ago
        > Not sure what your point is though. If it runs off 30V all you need is a cheap resistor to run it (with 40% loss), or I believe boost convertors are less efficient than buck convertors so it is a win there.
    - yencabulator 2y ago
      Some manufacturer RVs and DIY builds are 48VDC now with stepdown converters for the legacy stuff that expects 12V. The problem with that is that practically every RV gadget on the market assumes 12V. It's a chicken-and-egg problem.
nativeit 2y ago
It isn’t necessarily implied, but if this thing is pulling a nominal 30W-40W (assuming considering the 60W PSU) then I don’t know how much use this would be for a portable device, even for RVs. That’s a pretty significant load, even for an amplified antenna, I would have thought?
- ryukoposting 2y ago
  Did some quick research on a major American car parts retailer's website. The biggest batteries they sell are rated as high as 188Ah (though they use a weird industry-specific unit to say that). Many are closer to 25-50Ah. Definitely enough juice to power a terminal for several hours. This lines up with my personal experiences. I have personally used a car battery to keep a big gaming laptop charged for an entire weekend, and it was being used (if not under heavy load) for about 10 hours a day. Those big batteries are extremely heavy and very expensive, but we're talking about people who want broadband internet service on their boat. Money is not a concern here. I'm sure Starlink has different power modes for these things, but the average consumer is likely far more interested in optimizing for connection speed and latency.
  - SkyPuncher 2y ago
    You likely wouldnt be running this off a lead acid car battery. You’d have a lithium battery and an additional power source, like solar or generator, to top that battery off.
    - ryukoposting 2y ago
      I was operating under the assumption that the system would be wired into the boat/car's existing electrical system, which in most cases will use one or more lead-acid batteries. Edit: a vanlifer showed up and informed me that Lithium conversions are a thing. Turns out you can have your Lithium and eat it too. Cool stuff.
  - wyre 2y ago
    Needing to add an extra battery to an off grid power supply just to power a “portable” router designed to accept grid power and not 12V is a huge fail on starlinks part, regardless of the cost of the battery to power it. For reference 60w is similiar power draw to a Dometic fridge or a laptop. Also adding a huge heavy battery to a boat is a non-negligible consideration in a lot of cases.
inemesitaffia 2y ago
It's DC with support for USB

stavros 2y ago

I wonder if that's what the adapter supplies, and the device can actually do 12-30V or whatnot.

IshKebab 2y ago
Not many devices that run off 30V will run off 12V too. It's too big of a difference. But 12V to 36V boost converters are readily available and very cheap.
- stavros 2y ago
  I imagine most of those devices have a buck converter inside, no?
  - michaelt 2y ago
    If you're drawing 30V 2A (60W) through a connector rated for 2.5A, and you try to draw the same 60W at 12V i.e. 5A you're in trouble because the connector's not designed for 5A. And not every DC-DC converter is sized for a wide range of input voltages. A DC-DC converter with a "2:1 input voltage range" might accept anything from 18 to 36 volts, whereas a converter with a "4:1 input voltage range" might accept 9 to 36 volts. The wider input voltage range generally costs a bit more too.
- cma 2y ago
  No sure about vans, but aren't lots of cars moving to 48V?
  - IshKebab 2y ago
    Yeah because higher voltage reduces the cost of wiring, and 48V is still under the 50V legal limit for "low voltage". Not sure what your point is though.
    - fragmede 2y ago
      if the are power electronics chip they use is rated to handle 12 VDC to 48 VDC, which 30 VDC happens to be in-between, then they could just use that chip and you could give it 12V or 48V, whichever you had handy. If all cars are moving to 48V, that makes that more likely.
      - yencabulator 2y ago
        That's a very wide range and to build a gadget to take that range would cost more, and thus it's not done. Most "12 V" gadgets only accept the rough range of what a 12 V battery might give them, which is usually only up to 15.4 V while charging.
        fragmede 2y ago
        USB-C 3.1 PD does 240 watts by raising the voltage to 48V, so the chips to accept that already exist, even if they're expensive right now.
    - cma 2y ago
      > Not sure what your point is though. If it runs off 30V all you need is a cheap resistor to run it (with 40% loss), or I believe boost convertors are less efficient than buck convertors so it is a win there.
  - yencabulator 2y ago
    Some manufacturer RVs and DIY builds are 48VDC now with stepdown converters for the legacy stuff that expects 12V. The problem with that is that practically every RV gadget on the market assumes 12V. It's a chicken-and-egg problem.

nativeit 2y ago

It isn’t necessarily implied, but if this thing is pulling a nominal 30W-40W (assuming considering the 60W PSU) then I don’t know how much use this would be for a portable device, even for RVs. That’s a pretty significant load, even for an amplified antenna, I would have thought?

ryukoposting 2y ago
Did some quick research on a major American car parts retailer's website. The biggest batteries they sell are rated as high as 188Ah (though they use a weird industry-specific unit to say that). Many are closer to 25-50Ah. Definitely enough juice to power a terminal for several hours. This lines up with my personal experiences. I have personally used a car battery to keep a big gaming laptop charged for an entire weekend, and it was being used (if not under heavy load) for about 10 hours a day. Those big batteries are extremely heavy and very expensive, but we're talking about people who want broadband internet service on their boat. Money is not a concern here. I'm sure Starlink has different power modes for these things, but the average consumer is likely far more interested in optimizing for connection speed and latency.
- SkyPuncher 2y ago
  You likely wouldnt be running this off a lead acid car battery. You’d have a lithium battery and an additional power source, like solar or generator, to top that battery off.
  - ryukoposting 2y ago
    I was operating under the assumption that the system would be wired into the boat/car's existing electrical system, which in most cases will use one or more lead-acid batteries. Edit: a vanlifer showed up and informed me that Lithium conversions are a thing. Turns out you can have your Lithium and eat it too. Cool stuff.
- wyre 2y ago
  Needing to add an extra battery to an off grid power supply just to power a “portable” router designed to accept grid power and not 12V is a huge fail on starlinks part, regardless of the cost of the battery to power it. For reference 60w is similiar power draw to a Dometic fridge or a laptop. Also adding a huge heavy battery to a boat is a non-negligible consideration in a lot of cases.

inemesitaffia 2y ago

It's DC with support for USB