Starlink coming to Cybertruck?

[Hazzzard122]

I turn it on in my bolt when I go from Canada to the US... it saves on roaming fees... othwise completely agree. Remote areas will be the key!

Sponsored

 

[LoPro]

The next problem then has to do with keeping an unobstructed view while moving. Tunnels, bridges, trees, etc could periodically block the satellite view if you are driving around.

Makes me wonder what the solution for internet and phones will be in the Boring tunnels.

When building railroad tunnels we simply put use what we call a «beam cable» (dont know in English) along the inside of the tunnel connected to antennas on the outside (+electronics). The trains then can provide uninterrupted wifi to the passengers.

Not topic, but for the curious:

The signal to the trains are provided by very low frequency and long range 450Mhz which reaches every nook and cranny (mountains and valleys) of the Norwegian railroad system, where mobile phones might not work. The system is capable of switching to higher frequency mobile systems when in populated areas when advantageous to speed according to WiFi traffic.

(The train and personnel have a separate encrypted communication system but also land-based)

 

[azjohn]

When building railroad tunnels we simply put use what we call a «beam cable» (dont know in English) along the inside of the tunnel connected to antennas on the outside (+electronics). The trains then can provide uninterrupted wifi to the passengers.

Not topic, but for the curious:

The signal to the trains are provided by very low frequency and long range 450Mhz which reaches every nook and cranny (mountains and valleys) of the Norwegian railroad system, where mobile phones might not work. The system is capable of switching to higher frequency mobile systems when in populated areas when advantageous to speed according to WiFi traffic.

(The train and personnel have a separate encrypted communication system but also land-based)

Thank you for your response. I always enjoy the point of view from outside of the United States, Most often it is a learning experience

 

[Friday]

XMradio (back when they were good before the awful Sirius merger) had a dual antennae solution for reception around tall buildings or shadowed areas. They installed a large network of terrestrial repeaters on cell towers in those areas so the repeater could step in when the sat signal became weak. That meant all the freeways were covered by repeaters as you drove around. I never lost signal in underpasses or downtowns when I had the legacy XM.

Sirius, on the other hand, would just have 1 large repeater to cover a 10 mile radius. If you were beyond the repeater, you experienced drop outs at every underpass/building shadow. I bought a new car that had Sirius on it after being used to XM and thought I had a defective unit because of all the dropouts I was experiencing where I had never had issues with XM before. I cancelled all my subs because I knew it wasn't going to get better.

I would think Starlink *could* eventually mimic the XM legacy model of a network of terrestrial repeaters in congested areas since the cell towers exist in a large choice of locations. Just a thought, it's been done before.

 

[carpedatum]

Makes me wonder what the solution for internet and phones will be in the Boring tunnels.

Oh, hey, you remind me of the day I got XM Radio as a bolt-on for my truck a couple decades ago. Best Father's day present ever! At the time there was a good story, made obvious by the antenna and cable design, about these satellite coverage corner cases. Ground repeaters, as Friday noted. That was how they planned to solve for every major tunnel, and for dense urban areas with skyscrapers.

I suppose the moral equivalent in a Tesla might just be a 5G modem as a backup, and there are myriad ways to make that work in tunnels and such.

Wouldn't surprise me if there were a team at SpaceX trying to figure out how to make a Starlink antenna that works on a car. It'd save Tesla a fortune in cellular bills, even if it only worked half the time, but more importantly it would be awesome.

 

[Crissa]

I never use satellite radio, because it has more shadows than the cell network. It just doesn't work anywhere I need it to.

-Crissa

 

[FutureBoy]

I never use satellite radio, because it has more shadows than the cell network. It just doesn't work anywhere I need it to.

-Crissa

My mom had Sirius in her car and at the house. She liked it. I was mostly ok with it at the house but even with a stable receiver it still would drop out periodically. It was really noticeable when it happened too. After a few times it got to be really annoying.

A few months ago though I had a rental car with SiriusXM and it never seemed to cut out while I was driving around. Maybe I was just lucky.

 

[Crissa]

It really depends on where you are. You need a clear view of the sky, basically. The vast majority of of suburbia has that. Any canyons or deep forests won't. The signals will penetrate some cover, but not redwoods.

-Crissa

 

[azjohn]

I had been a long time subscriber to Sirius. I had to replace the alternator in my truck and after that I couldn't get the signal even after numerous signal reboots and calls with Sirius. I now just use my cell phone whether its the existing music, I Heart or Pandora

 

[Friday]

So, I saw some speculation that SpaceX could conceivably get into the smartphone sector with a Starlink version. That would be disruptive tech, g'bye Att, verizon, t mobile, etc. A global phone, never out of coverage.

 

[TheLastStarfighter]

Elon stated Starlink will not be in cars. Boats, plains, etc.

Sponsored