Starlink Mini Review: Can it be powered with a 12v battery?

In this Starlink Mini Review we're looking checking to see if you can run the starlink with a 12 volt battery. In this video, I'll share a game-changing hack for Starlink Mini users. Discover how to power your Starlink Mini directly from a 12V battery, eliminating the need for AC power conversion. This simple modification can significantly reduce power consumption and increase portability, making it perfect for off-grid living, nomads, and emergency preparedness. Learn step-by-step how to set up this DC power solution for your Starlink Mini.

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Timestamps:
00:00 - Introduction
01:01 - Starlink Power Consumptions
02:34 - Setup & Explanation
06:45 - Climax: Test Results & Analysis
07:45 - Battery Power
08:54 - Conclusion

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#starlink #starlinkmini #nomadinternet

[EastTexasHomestead]

Here's what you need:
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[SandyRVUpgrades]

The Starlink Mini brick says 30v -2a so that means your power source needs to be 30v to accomadate the voltage drop over the 50ft of cable to have the necessary voltage and amperage supply to run the Starlink Mini panel. Your 48v house system would be able to run it with the 50ft cable. When you plug the 50ft cord into a 30v power supply, you see the Starlink Mini is using 20.2v at 47w on startup and the the power usage goes to under 25w at 20.3v once it stabilizes. So it really needs more than what a 12v battery can supply if you need to use the 50ft cable that comes with it. The shorter it's power cable the less voltage it requires.

[MatthewYBarbo]

Really enjoyed seeing the 12V with the Starlink. I really like how it's waterproof to a certain extent as well. Great job breaking this down. Enjoyed the content as always!

[KUL]

Yes, your AC power supply is putting out 30 volts and although the dish will just barely run on 13.3 volts, there was too much voltage loss on a longer cable toake it work. The Buck Converters that double the voltage are 90-95% efficient so that is why so many folks are using them to run their dish on DC without the bigger power loss. Thank you for confirming that I will need to do this as well. We camp host in the USFS & need to download the reservation lists for each campground every day to catch any cancellations or modifications to any existing reservation. I hope that folks will spread the word about the 30 volts part. The raised it to what they did because Starlink knew the small cables would have a lot of voltage loss. Cheers, Davey - KU9L

[ScottJones]

V=IR You add a bunch of resistance with that 50' wire. The voltage is approximately constant from the battery. So the current (I) goes down below the minimum for the device to operate and eventually the voltage sags, too.
A simple USB-C PD solution that has higher voltage available will work better even with a smaller power source.

[XG_Alpha_Supreme]

I have the mini. I use the Anker Solix DC. I also have the Solix AC version, but the DC fits in my bag better. I also use the Sokiovola 100w IP68 foldable solar panel. They all fit into my camera bag. I can plug the Starlink directly into the solar panel, but I use the Anker to regulate surges. It takes in 3X the amount that it puts out. My Anker stats between 99-100%. Input is 68 W, output is 23 W (+/-). I purchased a Starlink direct to USB C cable and plug it into the 140 W input/output port. This setup is much better and is free energy for unlimited time. The battery without the solar panel connected to it would last a full day easy. Being that I have the AC & DC versions, I'm not worried about running out of juice at night in a power outage.

[eljeffe]

You have too much voltage drop with that long cable run at 12V. You're not seeing the voltage drop when you measure it because it's not under load. Put a 4A load on it and you'll see how much it drops. You can either run higher voltage like 20V by using a USB-C PD trigger to 5521, use shorter cable, or use a much thicker gauge cable if you need a longer run. It's easier just to boost the voltage. There are plenty of car cigarette lighter chargers that can do USB-C PD 20V/3A.

[michaelbrown]

Hey brother we watched the first video which connected us to this video and we’re Americans in Europe and thanks for the info

[RVCycle]

Nicely done; thanks for taking the time to put this together!!

[JoaoAmadoTV]

Great Video. Thank you. We are all very grateful!
let us know how did the USB-C at 5v worked out ...

[Doc.Holiday]

The long mini chord suffers line amperage drop. What I do when in my RV is run a 10AWG solar cable to it at night then run a short SAE to Mini pigtail at the end. The draw is way less than the long mini to AC adapter drawing from my inverter. The 10AWG cable delivers the amperage and voltage to make the “dishy” happy well away to open sky when my RV is in the shade. During the day I just run it from my inverter because solar is offsetting the draw and then some plus I need my cable

[genac]

Great info. Gen3 standard dish supports POE, so indeed Mini is not the only model supporting straight DC. If requires some POE injection shenanigans and other moving part though; Mini is simpler. After startup power "spike", Gen3 draws ~40 W, about double the Mini. USB-C is the answer, will look for vid. Thx!

[canest]

The wire length could be the problem like others have said, or the female to female adaptor may be reversing the polarity causing the DC not to work on the dish side.

[carlleon]

Pretty much what everyone has said below. Using 12 AWG wire, I can power my mini from a 12 volt source over 50 feet away. Using the same 12 volts source and the provided cable, it won't work (but does work through about 10 feet of cable). As to the USB-C-PD, I have run mine with a 5 foot and with a 15 foot USB C source cable, but not longer. I've also added a 12 to 24 volt step up buck converter, and it runs the Mini just fine over the length of the stock cable (the up-convert is at the battery, so am feeding the cable with 24 volts, not 12). Lots of options to solve the problem you were seeing.

[John_thetrader]

i would use a StepUpConverter 12 to 24volts (it can do a bit more thing 30v max) ... then it would be more stable... OR depending on the max voltage something to the highside. you have them from Victron Orion DC-DC cargers. ( the one with 2 black plastic sides) ... those have a Variable voltage ..Higher Voltage Lower Amps and would be ideal for a Longer Cable lengt ...

[douglasmontgomery]

Maybe the gauge of the Starlink wire is too small. I have a 20' 5521 extension cable that is 14 ga wire and it works.

[aquatrax]

You need to put a load on the end of the wire while you test the output voltage. I would take a headlight or some something that draws around 3 amps at 12 volts and while you have the light connected test the voltage. The minimum voltage the mini can run on is 12 volts so perhaps you have a poor connection or you are close to the mini's dropout voltage. To further isolate what wire, positive or negative is causing the problem by testing the voltage between the positive cable by the battery and positive by the light bulb. You should have less than .2 volts. Do the same for the negative side.

[seekerstan]

You need to measure the voltage while under the load. You can show full voltage with a really lousy conection if the is no load on the circuit besides the meter. Of course with sealed wires and conectors its hard to probe. You can build a probe adapter but that is also a failure point in the circuit.

[tracker]

Rough numbers here....The dish needs about 48 watts to start up. If you were using 48 volts that would be 1 amp. Since you are using 12v then it will draw 4 amps. But.... The more current and the more length a wire has then the greater the voltage drop. One fix is to shorten the cable, you found that on. Another would be to get a DC to DC converter and bump up the voltage off the battery.

[bobbytim]

just really quick, this comment is sponsored by Pepsi. ok, back to the video.