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To clarify something about Starlink-- it aligns itself. The satellites it tracks are constantly on the move and the dish moves to follow it. Sometimes it goes out with heavy rain/clouds and will keep trying to lock on to the target but fail. In this case, you have to use the Starlink app to tell the dish to "stow" for several minutes and then Unstow it. Sometimes you have to use the app to reboot the modem as well. This usually fixes connection problems, but not always. It's not really difficult to set it up, but the stands the dish comes with are not meant to be mounted to a roof or anything and they aren't very strong. We had to pole-mount our dish and that required buying an adapter. We also had to buy a longer cord for it. The connections for it are proprietary, there are no lights to indicate if it is on. It is wifi only unless you pay extra for an ethernet adapter that fits in to the proprietary port. The adapter we bought does not work though-- unless it was the ethernet cable that was the problem. If we get fiber we will likely try to sell our Starlink equipment to someone. It's possible to sell it if we tell Starlink we are getting rid of it and have it removed from our account and then give the person who buys it the code or whatever its called.

Took Mom for her appointment and let the NP see how angry and unreasonable she was getting about the app on the phone. She started screaming at me even though we were talking about her dexcom receiver, not the app or the phone. The NP managed to calm her down and explained she was mistaken and went through stuff on the pump. But Mom was back on her bs again last night. I drew her a frickin' diagram explaining things to her and all she did was complain that my drawing wasn't good. LOL.

I calmed my nerves by making a glass block window with hopper window in Sketchup-- brick by brick. It's not perfect, but its close enough. I'll post pics in my bathroom laundry room thread.

Boo is on me telling me its canned-food-o'clock.
 
To clarify something about Starlink-- it aligns itself. The satellites it tracks are constantly on the move and the dish moves to follow it. Sometimes it goes out with heavy rain/clouds and will keep trying to lock on to the target but fail. In this case, you have to use the Starlink app to tell the dish to "stow" for several minutes and then Unstow it.
Pretty cool stuff! Those satellites are not geo-stationary like the DirecTV satellites or so it seems.

Is the antenna actually motorized of is it "steered" electronically?
 
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Starlink dish looks like this.
1719947280204.png
You get the app and login to your account once they send you the info. Then you have to use your phone or a device with a camera to scan the sky until it says it is 100% done scanning. You aiming in the general area where you want your dish to aim. It will then determine a suitable location to place your dish. The legs do have holes to screw it down but they will break in high winds and you would need another method to mount it to a roof or pole. The small pole on the dish has the cable running through it and a button. You either have to buy their pole adapter or modify something yourself to make it work. You can move it around if you are not happy with the location, but whenever you move it, you should stow it first. It comes with a bag to carry it in and you have to be careful not to damage the flat face. The dish can pivot and move around using some kind of motorization to aim and try to get the best angle to catch the moving satellites. I need to find the link again, but there is a map of the satellites and it will tell you which one your dish is grabbing on it and shows the satellites moving all around the sky. The ones my dish tend to grab on to are in Texas. This makes the internet think that I am located in Texas.
Here is one satellite map, but not the one I was referring to. https://www.starlinkmap.org/
Here's another map https://satellitemap.space/
I recommend getting a fan to cool the Starlink modem from below-- you just set the starlink modem on it and turn the fan on to keep it cooler). The connections for the starlink modem are on the bottom and use proprietary connections.
Editing to add I found info on the tiers:
1719948155273.png

Mom woke me up at 4am again because she removed her dexcom sensor prematurely and needed a new one put on. It still had 36 hours left and she forgot that the new sensor goes on at least an hour before the old one gets removed and she was getting on my last nerve. She's got 4 units of insulin left in her pump and will need a cartridge change soon.
 
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Went out to eat for my birthday (the 4th) , dinner was good , went to Outback. But we got talking to our server, and she had just gotten back from a Florida vacation.... said they went to universal.. cost 40 just to park, 25 for 3 chicken strips and fries...
I have no idea what the gate fee was. I guess I won't be going back to the parks again... we even have 1 day left on a 5 day never expire hopper pass to Disney. It would end up costing more than it's worth just to use that last day. I feel real bad for the youngsters comming up now.
 
Went out to eat for my birthday (the 4th) , dinner was good , went to Outback. But we got talking to our server, and she had just gotten back from a Florida vacation.... said they went to universal.. cost 40 just to park, 25 for 3 chicken strips and fries...
I have no idea what the gate fee was. I guess I won't be going back to the parks again... we even have 1 day left on a 5 day never expire hopper pass to Disney. It would end up costing more than it's worth just to use that last day. I feel real bad for the youngsters comming up now.
The best pass I ever got was the senior lifetime pass to all US National parks and monuments, etc. $80 has never been so well spent IMHO. Of course if I drop dead tomorrow, it would not have been worth it.

Happy birthday!
 
I purchased the senior parks pass on the final day when they sold for $10. Never used it, but who knows?

I just had a car camera installed on my wife's car today. It is an upgraded version of the one I have. Man, this little camera is sweet! Now, if we get into a not at fault collision, we will have proof, and I will save $1000 deductible.
 
I purchased the Starlink Gen III , with the new type modem . The dish is much thinner than the GenII and non motorized, apparently with the amount of satellites in the sky now , it doesn’t have to track any individual satellites.
 
I purchased the Starlink Gen III , with the new type modem . The dish is much thinner than the GenII and non motorized, apparently with the amount of satellites in the sky now , it doesn’t have to track any individual satellites.
Lots of potential “space junk” up there and an early Happy Independence Day to all and Happy Birthday to some.
 
I purchased the senior parks pass on the final day when they sold for $10. Never used it, but who knows?

I just had a car camera installed on my wife's car today. It is an upgraded version of the one I have. Man, this little camera is sweet! Now, if we get into a not at fault collision, we will have proof, and I will save $1000 deductible.

What's a good brand (what you bought, for starters) for a dash cam ?

Plus, my newest vehicle (2023 honda) has no cigarette lighter and I'm uninspired to wire/splice into something for 12v. Do these cameras work on USB (5v) power/connectors? I suppose I could try a dashcam with a good internal battery, driving around withOUT an in-car-power-wire ; I only drive max 2 hrs at a time. Pardon my laziness, I've only started to surf for dashcams.
 
What's a good brand (what you bought, for starters) for a dash cam ?

Plus, my newest vehicle (2023 honda) has no cigarette lighter and I'm uninspired to wire/splice into something for 12v. Do these cameras work on USB (5v) power/connectors? I suppose I could try a dashcam with a good internal battery, driving around withOUT an in-car-power-wire ; I only drive max 2 hrs at a time. Pardon my laziness, I've only started to surf for dashcams.
Hold up your phone and record. It’s easy after you get the hang of it 👍
 
I've been using the Red Tiger brand, with front and rear cameras. The front view is 4k, and the rear view is 1080. Both are hard mounted directly to the fuse box, with the purchased hard wire kit. It allowed recording to a 256 MG SD card, or the videos can be downloaded via wi-fi directly to your phone. What I like the best is this camera provides 24 hour surveillance after you walk away, to watch over your car as you sleep, from either burglars or ht and run crashes. It provides 360 degrees of coverage when placed properly, and with date/time/speed/GPS stamp, it is verifiable proof of at a collision scene. Since I have a $1000 deductible on collisions, so if I can prove the collision was not my fault, the insurance company waves the deductible. I believe it is well worth the $200 cost and the $150 installation charge from an auto electrician genius.
 
Hold up your phone and record. It’s easy after you get the hang of it 👍
Won't work here. You can't use a cell phone in Virginia unless it's "hands-free". Plus, if you’re in the middle of an unfolding accident or car-jacking, there are better things to do with your hands like praying!
 
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