Starlink Mini Skylight Mount Inside a Motorhome

[Heli_av8tor]

Finished the design and printing of a PETG frame to hold my StarLink Mini antenna inside my motorhome. It’s mounted in the skylight above the shower. The sliding cover, with light, still will close under the antenna.
I can still easily remove it for outdoor use if parked under a heavy tree cover. And it works great going down the road.
Tom

 

[montenido]

Wow! Nice design!

 

[garyb1st]

Please explain. Does your skylight open or are you saying reception is OK through all that plastic. If that works, I'll need to order one of your new frames.

 

[rcflyer-XRD]

I can not address if Starlink will work with the frame but I have a Mini mounted inside of my Jeep Wrangler and it works very good mounted inside and gets a good signal through the fiberglass roof.

 

[garyb1st]

I can not address if Starlink will work with the frame but I have a Mini mounted inside of my Jeep Wrangler and it works very good mounted inside and gets a good signal through the fiberglass roof.

Haven't tried that. Is it possible the signal is actually coming through the window?

 

[rcflyer-XRD]

Haven't tried that. Is it possible the signal is actually coming through the window?

I would say no as the antenna is mounted up flush with the roof. Also note it is going through about two inches of foam that I have not trimmed to size yet.

 

[Heli_av8tor]

The two layers of plexiglass doesn’t seen to reduce the signal strength enough to matter.

 

[Larry N.]

The two layers of plexiglass doesn’t seen to reduce the signal strength enough to matter.

Not surprising, since they're just radio waves, although high enough frequency to travel straight line. Glass, wood and plastics are pretty much transparent to radio waves, whether low freq or microwave. Radar domes are often made of fiberglass, BTW.

 

[garyb1st]

That's quite interesting considering StarLink claims to need a clear path to the sky.

 

[Larry N.]

...StarLink claims to need a clear path to the sky.

Clear of trees, leaves, stuff that actually obstructs the signal...

 

[Wasillaguy]

My 1st job at Emerson Electric they had me testing radomes (fiberglass covers) for the B-52 tail gun radar (30mm Gatlin gun, holy terror).
We tested for phase angle distortion in horizontal and vertical, as well as transmission loss.
Fiberglass is pretty forgiving, with less than 5% power loss and less than 2% phase shift. I don't remember the frequencies now, but suffice it to say you can usually get by with a lot of different non-metallic materials as long as the thickness/contour is not varying greatly.
Also, the phased array antenna in Starlink can adapt to varying attenuation much better than conventional RF antennas.

 

[garyb1st]

That would probably include some of the tape that covers the hole in my inner plexiglass cover.

 

[bthomforde-iRV2]

How do you get power to it when its in the shower sky light?

 

[NY_Dutch]

How do you get power to it when its in the shower sky light?

The Mini comes with a 50 ft power cable, more than enough to reach an outlet to plug the wall wart into. The Mini runs on 20 volts DC and the power plug seals into the power port, so moisture isn't an issue.

 

[Heli_av8tor]

And that’s what I do. I routed the included cord and AC wall wart over the top of the shower door to the outlet above the vanity sink. Nothing elegant (yet).

 

[Jsfrancis]

I would say no as the antenna is mounted up flush with the roof. Also note it is going through about two inches of foam that I have not trimmed to size yet.


View attachment 2436109

Interesting arrangement, what or who's bracket did you use? It looks like you attached the bracket to the roll bar and/or a bracket held in place by the window. From my picture I can not tell which. Also, did you power it via hot 12v plug in Jeep?

 

[rcflyer-XRD]

The speaker module on the jeep is mounted to the roll cage by two bolts. I made two spacers and used longer bolts to mount a piece of angle iron that my antenna mounts to.

Here are the items I used to go from the angle iron to the Mini and power supply that is connected to the ignition accessory. The run to the fuse box under the hood is fairly long so I used the voltage booster.

Amazon.com

Amazon.com

Amazon.com

Amazon.com

 

[DonTom]

That's quite interesting considering StarLink claims to need a clear path to the sky.

They just want to be sure you have the strongest signal possible. That doesn't mean it is always necessary.

If it works, it works.

-Don- Auburn, CA