I have read quite a bit about disabling the motors on the standard StarLink dish in order to make the connection more reliable, but I am wondering how necessary this really is?
I haven’t managed to get to my boat with my StarLink yet so it is currently sitting in the garden on a nice solid unmoving surface.
I allowed it to track onto a position and then, by hand, turned it to point in the opposite direction. It pointed in the wrong direction for a couple of days with no obvious issues and didn’t attempt to reposition itself until I forced it to do so by stowing.
It leaves me wondering how necessary it is to disable the motors and how often the equipment would actually try to change position and disrupt the connection?
Are there particular situations or times or locations where it is more likely to be a problem? Is it more likely to happen if you are making extensive use of your internet connection?
I appreciate that pointing the dish directly upwards probably should improve the signal, but my own tests suggest no noticeable problems even when it points the wrong way.
Can you use Starlink while in motion?
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They have made numerous changes to the firmware on the dish over time which seems to have improved connection persistence and reduced the benefit of doing this. For what it’s worth, a lot of us have never disabled the motors, myself included. I don’t find it to be a problem, personally.