Starlink Gen 3 DIY Vehicle Mount for 4x4 Overlanding and RV in Africa

Рет қаралды 12,288

Күн бұрын

In order to #mount the Gen 3 #Starlink on my vehicle, I purchased a Starlink pole mount and modified it to attach to my roof rack. While busy with this #DIY project I also added some magnetic feet to mount the Starlink #gen3 dish on vehicles that don't have roof racks. Once the mount is complete we attach it to the vehicle and take it for a test drive.
The Third Generation or V3 Starlink Standard kit has a larger surface area than the actuated kit but the dish itself is much flatter since it does not come with a pole. The Gen 3 kit uses a separate 57V power adapter, so it is simpler to convert to run of 12V DC power. In a future video I will attempt this 12 volt conversion.
If you want something similar to this, but would rather just buy a complete product, check out www.trioflatmount.com/
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00:00 Intro
02:22 Starlink Gen 3 Unboxing
04:28 DIY Mount Design
06:34 Building the Mount
07:42 Adding Magnetic Feet
10:15 Final Touches
12:20 Testing the Mount

Пікірлер: 105

@J.Dibble 5 ай бұрын

Robert, I think you have a technology habit. 😁

@MovingPicturesAfrica 5 ай бұрын

😂 I have a problem

@J.Dibble 5 ай бұрын

@@MovingPicturesAfrica LOL

@J.Dibble 5 ай бұрын

@@MovingPicturesAfrica You remind me of my brother-in-law. Could think in 3-dimensions and engineer and create amazing pieces of furniture or wood carvings. You can see how to engineer things to make them work for you. Your habit is feeding your gift!!!

@MovingPicturesAfrica 5 ай бұрын

@@J.Dibble very kind of you to say that. Thanks

@hammer-r Ай бұрын

Another excellent video on Starlink. Gives me ideas on how to mount on top of our RV. Tks from Chicago.

@JakeShirley 4 ай бұрын

Definitely a great tool to have when out in the middle of nowhere. Imagine nightly backups of content mid-trip to make sure no footage is lost. Great mount!

@MovingPicturesAfrica 4 ай бұрын

Thanks Jake!

@smetlenn6480 5 ай бұрын

Interesting, really enjoyed this video 👍

@MovingPicturesAfrica 5 ай бұрын

Glad you enjoyed it Smet. Hoping to get back to the wildlife videos soon 🤞

@TitoJaksVlogs 2 ай бұрын

Very good setup, Sir! I like it!

@MovingPicturesAfrica 2 ай бұрын

Thanks 👍

@mhornet18 5 ай бұрын

Great job. I enjoyed seeing how you made your own mount.

@MovingPicturesAfrica 5 ай бұрын

Glad you enjoyed it 👍

@mhornet18 10 күн бұрын

How much have you used it with magnets? I’m going to make a mount very much like yours and using magnets to mount to my roof of my vehicle for a 2100 mile trip.

@ccsuccess8744 5 ай бұрын

Excellent video! Exactly what I was looking for. Thanks for sharing.

@MovingPicturesAfrica 5 ай бұрын

My pleasure. Thank you 👍

@ridiculousthings4x4 5 ай бұрын

I really can't wait until they manage to get the form factor of this "bikeable". Good effort with the mount. "swivel feet" might help with your magnets too.

@MovingPicturesAfrica 5 ай бұрын

Thanks Matt. I did look online for swivel feet but the ones that popped up were all for furniture with rubber feet and no way to attach the magnets.

@harryhenderson594 5 ай бұрын

Gotta get me a Rooter..... LMFAO

@4x4OutFar 10 күн бұрын

soooooo, I'm going to mount mine with rubber round brackets onto a L bar. Rig it to my rear roof rack. Going to be exciting. magnets on the bonnet would be great but I drive a defender. also I have the Gen 2 and not paying $400 without shipping for the conversion

@MovingPicturesAfrica 10 күн бұрын

Sounds like a plan. Have you seen the recently announced Mini?

@4x4OutFar 10 күн бұрын

@@MovingPicturesAfrica i have, looks lekker b ut a buddy of mine in the US did a video on her 12V conversion and discussed the Mini. seems it's limited in a few ways for now. i'm also not buying a new dish (as much as i'd love it). it's too much admin right now and i'm trying to get into Okavango to do some human wildlife conflict work so no time to play around with that

@msku1985 22 күн бұрын

Hello, very nice instalation, you have big talent. Is there any chance of having link for that spacers on your special holder please? 😊

@MovingPicturesAfrica 22 күн бұрын

Thank you. The spacers were 3d printed. I could share the file, but I think it will not work for other people since it is unlikely that they will have the exact same dimensions.

@FrancoisBadenhorst 5 ай бұрын

Awesome work Robert! It looks like a Front Runner roof rack you are using.. you make these things look so easy but anyway, I am no handyman so just an idea: if you can manufacture these roof rack "kits" for gen 3 Starlink and make them available somewhere I will definitely be your first customer.. ;-) I can help put together an eCommerce site for you if you don't have one already.

@MovingPicturesAfrica 5 ай бұрын

Thanks Francois. Appreciate the confidence in my DIY skills 🙂. Don't think I will start manufacturing these, but there is a guy who sells something similar (and probably better). Check out www.trioflatmount.com/

@FrancoisBadenhorst 5 ай бұрын

@@MovingPicturesAfrica awesome, thank you!

@JeremyToh 2 ай бұрын

Hi Robert, thank you for sharing this amazing idea. I am wondering how well it’s been going. Will corrugated roads knock it loose from the the Pipe Adapter mount? Any information you can provide on this would be greatly appreciated. Thanks.

@MovingPicturesAfrica 2 ай бұрын

No prob. It is working great. Have done quite a few nasty roads with no issue at all 👍

@JeremyToh 2 ай бұрын

@@MovingPicturesAfrica Thanks Robert. Love this idea of modifying the pole mount. Thanks again for sharing. 🙏

@MonkeyPunchZPoker 5 ай бұрын

Im curious about the direcr DC power draw. With Gen2 people seemed to get around a 40% reduction with direct DC vs AC, I wonder if its about the same with Gen3.

@MovingPicturesAfrica 5 ай бұрын

I'm also curious. I purchased a DC boost converter but it was not powerful enough. I've now got a more powerful one but my starlink is up in Botswana till mid February. As soon as it gets back I will test and report back 👍

@salliehaws1529 4 ай бұрын

Which Gen 3 did you purchase? The standard or the Flat High Performance?

@MovingPicturesAfrica 4 ай бұрын

Standard

@maphirimutshutshu2128 5 ай бұрын

This is Magic. Brilliant man

@MovingPicturesAfrica 5 ай бұрын

😊 thank you!

2 ай бұрын

Considering it is a standard cat6 cable now, would the antenna work with a poe injector and a 3rd party router, without using the Starlink router at all?

@MovingPicturesAfrica 2 ай бұрын

I believe so but I have not tested this

@peTeMelster 5 ай бұрын

If the Starlink is flat mounted to the roof, how can it be aligned to the proper angle? You have to move your whole entire vehicle?

@MovingPicturesAfrica 5 ай бұрын

I just pointed it straight up and it works fine. If it is pointing up then the direction the vehicle is facing makes no difference. Obviously it is not perfectly optimised though.

@J.Dibble 5 ай бұрын

Do you think it will be safe in the rain with that gap along the edge of the dish? Did you drill a hole in the roof for the cord? Always the questions. 😁 That’s my gift. 😂👍 Looking forward to seeing it in action!

@MovingPicturesAfrica 5 ай бұрын

Good questions. I contacted Starlink about the gap and they responded that it is a common problem but it does not effect performance and I must not shove glue in the gap 🙂. No I could not bear drilling into the roof. My plan is to run the cable down the front edge of the passenger door (attached with small magnets) then in near the top hinge. The gap is big enough 👍

@J.Dibble 5 ай бұрын

@@MovingPicturesAfrica 😊

@petervandommelen9733 5 ай бұрын

Hi Robert, thanks for the video!!! Quick question, so is it possible to buy the equipment in the US (or Europe) and then set up and activate a regional account for Southern Africa? No need then to reregister or something every 60 days? Thanks!

@MovingPicturesAfrica 5 ай бұрын

Thanks. Yes it's possible. You just need to transfer the kit from the US or UK account to an African account. This only needs to be done once. The catch is you must wait 90-120 days before you can transfer.

@lionridds 5 ай бұрын

Nice video Rob👌 Looking forward to your test updates in the field🙌

@toh59 5 ай бұрын

hi Robert, enjoyed the video, havent you explored option of buying from Zambia , Moz etc, would one have to wsait 120 days , thanks

@MovingPicturesAfrica 5 ай бұрын

@@toh59 Yes, it is better to buy in Africa to avoid the 120 day wait. But the gen 3 dish is not yet available here.

@ojobee 3 ай бұрын

What did you mean by transferring your US account? I am buying my unit in the US and taking it to Africa. I don't have an account yet. Will I have same issues?

@jenningsc001 5 ай бұрын

They are having a recall on the poll mounts fyi

@MovingPicturesAfrica 5 ай бұрын

Yeah. They have shipped me the new one and offered me 1 month free subscription

@ZaZa-ra 5 ай бұрын

What power consumption are you seeing off this setup? Wondering if I could power this off a 108 mAh 12V lithium battery overlanding setup.

@MovingPicturesAfrica 5 ай бұрын

I've had to send my kit to Botswana. When it gets back I will test power consumption. I also plan to do a 12v conversion so I don't need to run it through my inverter. I have read that it uses around 60W on average. I assume you meant 108Ah. If so your battery will run it for roughly 20 hours.

@ZaZa-ra 5 ай бұрын

Yeah 108Ah not mAh! @@MovingPicturesAfrica 😆Ok, that's pretty cool. With a Namib 240W solar setup as well I think that would be pretty workable.

@darrinevans6858 Ай бұрын

Do you have a link to where you got your magnets? Or how strong/rating they are. Thanks

@MovingPicturesAfrica Ай бұрын

Hi. I purchased a few options from Amazon. Here's an affiliate link to the ones I used: amzn.to/3UPJKTU. They are 30lb magnets.

@darrinevans6858 Ай бұрын

Thanks for that. Was worried what would happen with if they weren’t strong enough.

@darrinevans6858 Ай бұрын

And you are happy that 40lb magnets are strong enough to stay on while driving over tough terrain or highway driving?

@MovingPicturesAfrica Ай бұрын

@@darrinevans6858 So I have only been using my roof rack mount so far. Have not fully tested the magnet mount. But if the magnets are well attached I do think they will be fine. What I would do is add a safety strap and test at high speed and on rough roads. If there are any issues, I'd upgrade the magnets.

@flip0x01 5 ай бұрын

What Starlink plan are you using? If I may ask. Thanks

@MovingPicturesAfrica 5 ай бұрын

Currently on global roam, but will change to regional roam as soon as I can

@flip0x01 5 ай бұрын

@@MovingPicturesAfrica will regional roam still work while vehicle is in motion?

@MovingPicturesAfrica 5 ай бұрын

@@flip0x01 it seems to work fine - obviously the connection is not perfect. It drops out occasionally. Maybe Starlink will make you pay extra for in motion use in the future, but for now that is not necessary.

@flip0x01 5 ай бұрын

@@MovingPicturesAfrica thanks, glad to know it works

@ZED-PV 5 ай бұрын

As long as there's no big trees overhead, the stability is phenomenal even in motion up to 160kmh. It's so good I no longer use mobile cell data in my car when travelling.

@eduardopujol7111 5 ай бұрын

Random question, No stickers on the new dish?

@MovingPicturesAfrica 5 ай бұрын

None

@eduardopujol7111 5 ай бұрын

Besides that, how is the dish working?@@MovingPicturesAfrica

@MovingPicturesAfrica 5 ай бұрын

@@eduardopujol7111 worked great in the brief test I did. I've sent it up to a crew in Botswana and will get feedback in a week or so.

@ZED-PV 5 ай бұрын

Are you using an African subscription or global roam?

@ZED-PV 5 ай бұрын

Nevermind.. I've found the answer in the comments you've replied to! Love your setup. Would have killed for a gen 3 but I'm very happy with my Starmount gen 2 dish permanently attached to my roof! And it works so well it's mind blowing.

@MovingPicturesAfrica 5 ай бұрын

Great! Yeah I still have to test thoroughly, but so far it seems to be really good.

@amaky23 3 ай бұрын

Did you initially purchase gen3 on residential or roam?

@MovingPicturesAfrica 3 ай бұрын

If I recall it was on regional roam then I changed to global roam when I activated it.

@amaky23 3 ай бұрын

Did you activate global roam when it arrived in sa or at myus?

@MovingPicturesAfrica 3 ай бұрын

@@amaky23 when it arrived in SA.

@amaky23 3 ай бұрын

Hi Rob, what was the cost of shipping and import duty and did myus administer the import duty for you?

@MovingPicturesAfrica 3 ай бұрын

@@amaky23 so I shipped it with a bunch of other things so I'm not sure what it would have cost by itself. Myus has a calculator you can use to check the costs. IIRC I shipped with FedEx and they handled the import duties and I was only charged 15%VAT.

@bermontoto 5 ай бұрын

Do you use African plan or US GLOBAL?

@MovingPicturesAfrica 5 ай бұрын

Currently on US global but will change to African as soon as I can transfer the kit.

@ZED-PV 5 ай бұрын

Could you do another video or update us in the comments once that time comes around?

@MovingPicturesAfrica 5 ай бұрын

@@ZED-PV sure.

@ZED-PV 5 ай бұрын

@@MovingPicturesAfrica thank you 🫡

@duncangroenewald 20 күн бұрын

Has Starlink cut you off yet - I see still no sign of it being approved by the SA government.

@MovingPicturesAfrica 20 күн бұрын

I'm not using it in SA, but I know people who are still online. I got shut off in Botswana but the Mobile Priority and Global Roam plans still work 👍

@duncangroenewald 20 күн бұрын

@@MovingPicturesAfrica oh, hasn’t Botswana just approved starlink

@MovingPicturesAfrica 20 күн бұрын

@@duncangroenewald in principle, but it's not yet active or available unfortunately. I'm sure it will be soon

@duncangroenewald 20 күн бұрын

@@MovingPicturesAfrica I'll be in your neighbourhood next week and then in Botswana in July - I certainly hope my global roaming work as I need it for work too.

@MovingPicturesAfrica 20 күн бұрын

@@duncangroenewald I think you will be fine but you never know for sure with Starlink 🤷‍♂️