In the new video about using Starlink + NTRIP in remote areas — does this mean the GNSS/RTK rover must stay close to the Starlink router (say within ~50 m of WiFi) to receive corrections?
Does the surveyor have to move the antenna case (or router) every 50 m to keep WiFi signal? Is there a way to cover a much larger area so you don’t have to reposition the case so often?
Your corrections are coming via WiFi from the case so you need to stay within WiFi distance of the case to be able to receive them.
A helper keeping the case nearby would give you unlimited range as long as the case has a starlink connection.
Just adding a link to the video - for anyone that missed it.
Enjoy!
Paul
I’ve been wanting to do this for a while.
I have a perfect reason now.
@djchadli, I’m expecting the built-in WiFi router in the Starlink Mini to not be extremely powerful. Turning off the router and using you own Outdoor Router w/ Good Antenna would likely produce a significantly larger coverage area, if the built-in isn’t adequate for your needs.
I’ll be testing this soon, I hope.
LoRa may be more suitable to broadcast Ntrip corrections around your Starlink receiver. There should also be some radio solutions.
The MorseMicro sdk let wifi-halow (IMHO the) better experience but still unripe…
Quectel FGH100M-H chip or the Heltec one are the solution when ready to use –cheap&friendly–.
BTW, the power consumption of Starlink could be an issue. It is about 50W in idle and 100W in use. The battery, that I imagine is 12V 20 Ah is announced to run for 4 hours. (And you can’t carry it in plane, max 160 Wh). If far from anywhere, how can you recharge it at the end of the day?
They Claim 25-40W for the Mini, or ~300 Wh per 8 hour workday assuming the max.
I have 12V 50Ah LifePO4 batteries (4S) that are the same footprint as the Starlink Mini, and about 1" thicker to perfectly stack in a hard case under the Mini.
That’s good for (2) 8 hour days before recharging. Since I have proper cell balancing, this 4S battery can be floated on any 12V nominal charging circuit (up to 14.4V for vehicles) without issue. Naturally, I prefer to use a real charger when possible 
I agree, the WiFi range of the mini is not great, and having on the ground is far from ideal. I envision users powering it up in the bend of their truck and walking 10s of meters away, nothing long distance. If you really need to go far, well then just carry the case to the site :). It’s mind-bending to have a suitcase that gets internet anywhere in the world…
To confirm @rftop’s numbers, my testing showed 22 to 24W while connected, running NTRIP, and loading webpages in both a poor visibility and wide open environment.
In the case is a 10Ahr battery but I hold up a 20Ah battery to illustrate a different formfactor. Sorry for the confusion! The 10Ahr battery ran the terminal for a little over 4 hours.
@sparky, thanks for giving us a real-world power consumption. I like 24W even better.
Hmmmm… Since Starlink is in the 10’s of GHz band(s) - that means a thin film solar panel is basically transparent to the Sat Comms. Could realistically fit a 10W Panel on a hard case this size.
Or using a folding panel that you remove from the case, the wattage can go way beyond the required power budget per workday.
The Mini has a DC input range of 12-48V, so we can select our favorite battery chemistry & construction for the Solar System, even simple 18650’s.
I still vote for adding our own router for extended WiFi Range when required. No point in adding another radio technology when our “normal” endpoint devices already use WiFi.
A solar-recharged InterWebs briefcase could get fun 
Instead of having a person whose only job is to carry a case and move it each time the surveyor moves — which is costly, slow, and inefficient — we could use the Starlink to provide Internet connectivity, combine that with a tool that converts the WiFi/NTRIP correction feed into a LoRa radio broadcast (no need to move the case any more). The rover unit must also have a LoRa radio built in so it can receive those corrections directly. This setup eliminates the need for a helper just to move equipment, reduces costs, and ensures that corrections are available even when outside of regular WiFi or cellular range.
I found a video with a very impressive battery for the Starlink Mini
The PeakDo battery bank is expensive for the 99Wh capacity, but you can’t beat the formfactor. Also claims to accept up to 100W of charge 
I still prefer LiFePO4 over the Li-Ons used in this PeakDo battery, especially when considering the operating temperatures inside a Black Case sitting in the Sunshine, with a 25W heater (Starlink) inside the case. We can Discharge up to 140°F, but 113°F is the max for Charging.
For me in the Southeast US, internal temps can reach >113° fairly easy in this scenario.
This is still absolutely serviceable, users just need consider the internal temp to be safe.
Open the lid, let the Solar Panel provide shade, etc, are easy things to do to protect whatever battery system is selected.
If you were going to introduce a second (base) GNSS receiver to the mix then that would eliminate the need for a wifi router.
You would simply acquire the position of the base station via NTRIP caster, turn off the Starlink (saving battery), broadcast the corrected coords of the base station to the rover.
FYI: The price for the StarLink Mini just dropped to $299 in the US.
Let’s see how you do with PointPerfect Corrections and this setup, in the woods, in a valley…. I’ve been trying off and on for almost a year with my RTK Torch in the woods. No more testing in flat plain fields…. let’s see some challenges like in the trees, in the valleys…. Your welcome to come out to my farm near Knoxville Tennessee for some field testing (and a write off to visit the Smoky Mountains)
My Initial testing with Starlink Mini & a PostCard (as a Network Rover) was fine.
No problems with PP NTRIP using a smartphone as the data collector and NTRIP Client.
As expected, the Starlink needs a good view of the sky (just like GNSS ).
I didn’t have any trouble placing the Starlink in a good spot and maintaining WiFi link to it with my phone.
Next step: have the SparkFun RTK product(s) directly connect to the Starlink WiFi. I normally don’t use this method, but this seems like a good application for it.
Update - I’ve independently tested the SparkFun Firmware’s built-in Wifi Connect and NTRIP Clients connecting through a StarLink Mini. The Torch was on V2.2 and the Facet on V4.3.
Having the SparkFun GNSS devices directly connect to the StarLink’s WiFi and also handle the NTRIP connection was successful, but see results below.
My “real world” testing included:
Results and Opinions:
I didn’t notice any benefit to having the SparkFun devices use their WiFi Connect to directly connect to the StarLink.
I didn’t notice any benefit to using the Sparkfun FW’s NTRIP Client.
There are times (in bad areas) that the StarLink will drop it’s internet connection to the SL satellites. This causes the NTRIP to disconnect, and sometimes the WiFi as well.
Overall, I had better luck with my smartphone (WiFi phone to StarLink and use a data collector app’s NTRIP Client) as I could quickly re-establish those pipelines after a StarLink snag. The Bluetooth connection remains stable during a StarLink interruption.
I also confirmed iPads and Android tablets work as data collectors with SparkFun RTK in this application, as expected (tablet WiFi’s to StarLink Mini, bluetooth to RTK).
RTN with Cellular NTRIP is so nice! But the StarLink Mini with the $5/month plan is a great backup or alternative for Zero Cell coverage areas. But honestly, I haven’t found a location that Cellular NTRIP doesn’t work…even when phones show “0” bars for voice comms. NTRIP data is a different animal, but each of us have to deal with different circumstances for our areas.
My normal/everyday workflow is Cellular NTRIP and let the app manage the NTRIP connection. If an area of no Cell Service is encountered, switching to Starlink is as simple as connecting the phone or tablet to Starlink’s Wifi and no other configuration changes are required on the fly.
More testing is in the works. I’ll add an outdoor router to the UTV to increase the wifi range verses the built-in StarLink router to the SparkFun RTK Network Rovers (RTN).
