SpaceX launching 60 Starlink Sats Tomorrow!

[UFO]

Originally Posted by a64pilot

I think 5G will only be an Urban thing, and to my knowledge the only concern is that they operate on a frequency very close to NOAA’s satellites use to detect water vapor I believe
https://www.wired.com/story/5g-netwo...ng-into-chaos/

Glad you said "and to my knowledge"



Plenty of independent research putting a question mark over the safety of having High Frequency RF Radiation pumped out from towers based every 250 feet - Yes this will be an urban issue.

[skydiver]

I live in BC, Canada and I cannot wait for this. I first read about it years ago. I currently pay $89 to Telus for home internet (no TV, no landline) and $195 also to Telus for my cell phone plan (14 GB data, unlimited US roaming).

Starlink and possibly the competing constellations will entirely destroy Telus, Shaw, Verizon, AT&T and all these other greedy service providers. My fear is that here in Canada and elsewhere these dinosaur companies will scream loudly to the government and prevent Musk et al from selling directly to consumers but rather through them as middle men.

We see this with the taxi industry here in BC. Uber is not allowed to operate here due to protectionism by the taxi industry but this is unsustainable and I know that Uber will be allowed, it's just a matter of time.

If I had any shares in these fiber based service providers I'd be selling them now!

I have a more philosophical question regarding cruising and global broadband in case anyone is still reading...

The safety benefits aside, will having wifi while cruising, passage-making etc diminish the experience, isn't it all about putting the cellphone away for a bit?

[MartinR]

Originally Posted by skydiver

I have a more philosophical question regarding cruising and global broadband in case anyone is still reading...

The safety benefits aside, will having wifi while cruising, passage-making etc diminish the experience, isn't it all about putting the cellphone away for a bit?

Good point!

[stormalong]

Originally Posted by skydiver

I live in BC, Canada and I cannot wait for this. I first read about it years ago. I currently pay $89 to Telus for home internet (no TV, no landline) and $195 also to Telus for my cell phone plan (14 GB data, unlimited US roaming).

Starlink and possibly the competing constellations will entirely destroy Telus, Shaw, Verizon, AT&T and all these other greedy service providers. My fear is that here in Canada and elsewhere these dinosaur companies will scream loudly to the government and prevent Musk et al from selling directly to consumers but rather through them as middle men.

We see this with the taxi industry here in BC. Uber is not allowed to operate here due to protectionism by the taxi industry but this is unsustainable and I know that Uber will be allowed, it's just a matter of time.

If I had any shares in these fiber based service providers I'd be selling them now!

I have a more philosophical question regarding cruising and global broadband in case anyone is still reading...

The safety benefits aside, will having wifi while cruising, passage-making etc diminish the experience, isn't it all about putting the cellphone away for a bit?

What would stop you from driving to the U.S., Buying the equipment and driving home?

[Midnight Son]

The same thing that restricts me from getting US Sirius radio. Canadian credit card number. I tried. Have to do a work-around through Canadian owned US Bank. Too much effort/cost for some, exchange rate costs both ways. Otherwise disguised as bank fees. The last two words in that sentence, will bring the Canadians blood to the boiling point.
Cheers

[Checkswrecks]

Originally Posted by a64pilot

I think 5G will only be an Urban thing, and to my knowledge the only concern is that they operate on a frequency very close to NOAA’s satellites use to detect water vapor I believe
https://www.wired.com/story/5g-netwo...ng-into-chaos/

5G is about to unleash host of issues because it (3.7-4.2 GHz) and it's harmonics are so close to frequencies which are already in use. I work in the aviation industry and we are now going to have hundreds of passenger 5G cell phones in close proximity to the radar altimeters (4.2 GHZ) during instrument landings. We also have a number of wireless devices in big airplanes which communicate about airplane health and other things.

Whether a 5G phone or other device will interfere with wireless devices on your boat will depend on frequencies, harmonics, distance, and power.

That's not to mention the medical unknowns. These are pico transmitters which need to radiate close and in the test areas they are already being mounted on condo and townhouse walls and on streetlights right outside of bedrooms in urban settings.

To me, the benefits of 5G will be great but it's not been tested well enough before being pressed into use.

[RaymondR]

Originally Posted by Midnight Son

The same thing that restricts me from getting US Sirius radio. Canadian credit card number. I tried. Have to do a work-around through Canadian owned US Bank. Too much effort/cost for some, exchange rate costs both ways. Otherwise disguised as bank fees. The last two words in that sentence, will bring the Canadians blood to the boiling point.
Cheers

They're sneaky buggers. I used to buy a fair bit of stuff from Amazon in the U.S. but I notice that since Amazon established a subsidiary in Australia the range of goods displayed on my Amazon U.S. page is very limited.

[skydiver]

Originally Posted by RaymondR

They're sneaky buggers. I used to buy a fair bit of stuff from Amazon in the U.S. but I notice that since Amazon established a subsidiary in Australia the range of goods displayed on my Amazon U.S. page is very limited.

We all need to start paying for everything with Bitcoin. I'm fed up with being restricted from purchasing so many excellent products. Right now I'd use Google Fi in an instant if it were available in Canada.

[Chotu]

Google Fi: I love most Google products but this is way too expensive. $80/mo for 6 gigs of data? Then throttling at 15 gigs??

I have TMobile unlimited for $75 a month and it throttles at 48 gigs.

I go to Canada with it and there are no charges for that or changes to my plan.

[GordMay]

“Four steps to global management of space traffic” ~ by Jamie Morin
Space is getting crowded. Today, we can track more than 20,000 artificial objects that orbit Earth; including 1,500 working satellites and a plethora of expired craft, used boosters and other debris. That’s just the tip of the iceberg. The company SpaceX aims to launch nearly 12,000 small satellites to form a space-based internet system by the mid-2020s.
Later this year, ten times as many objects could be revealed when the US Air Force switches on its Space Fence (see go.nature.com/2dxztu3). This powerful radar, located on Kwajalein Atoll in the Pacific Ocean and costing US$1.6 billion, will make 1 million observations a day.
And the company SpaceX aims to launch nearly 12,000 small satellites to form a space-based internet system by the mid-2020s.

More about the elements required to track satellites and avoid crashes. ➥ https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-019-00732-7

[skydiver]

Originally Posted by Chotu

Google Fi: I love most Google products but this is way too expensive. $80/mo for 6 gigs of data? Then throttling at 15 gigs??

I have TMobile unlimited for $75 a month and it throttles at 48 gigs.

I go to Canada with it and there are no charges for that or changes to my plan.

I didn't know about the throttling, thanks for that. Not that it matters, I can't get it here anyway. For cruising it's good because it works all over the world rather than just N.America.

[tanglewood]

Did the launch ever happen?

[B23iL23]

Originally Posted by tanglewood

Did the launch ever happen?

Yes. 60 sats now in orbit.

[GordMay]

SpaceX launched 60 more Starlink mini-satellites, on Monday, Nov 11/19, and plans to start service next year in the northern U.S. and Canada, with global coverage for populated areas after 24 launches.

Each satellite has an autonomous system for dodging space junk. In September, however, the European Space Agency had to move one of its satellites out of the way of a Starlink satellite.

N2Y0.com automatically picks up your coordinates from your browser, to show when and where particular bright satellites (and yes, the International Space Station, too) will be visible.
☞ https://www.n2yo.com/?s=25544

[MartinR]

Unfortunately these will not give global coverage in the near future. On land, probably more or less, at sea only in near coastal areas. The reason is that the satellites do not have inter-satellite connectivity as originally promised. This means to get a connection, both you and a ground station have to be in the same footprint of one satellite. And as these satellites are low flying the footprints will be relatively small.

SpaceX is now talking about inter-sat connectivity in generation two or three, so that will be a few years from now.

Until then, we will probably have connectivity to about 200-300NM offshore, depending on where we are in the world.