Starlink Mini in a J

[Bolter]

18 hours ago, GeeBee said:

West Marine has the antennas for 175 right now. Is that a good deal?

 

18 hours ago, RoundTwo said:

I think that’s the Standard. You want the Mini. I paid $500 direct from Starlink.

There is a Starlink sale right now.  Hardware is about 50% off.  This is timed with changes in their plans and terms, so all old advice may be slightly incorrect right now.  I think the core requirement of having a the "Mini" antenna and a "priority" plan for airplane use is still true.  

[flyboy0681]

That Piper must be pretty noisy with that huge gap in the door seal.

[RoundTwo]

18 hours ago, GeeBee said:

I am looking at radar.weather.gov and it still has about 7 minutes latency. According to Google RadarScope or RadarOmega is near real time and what the storm chasers are using. Anyone have any opinions?

RadarScope looks like a great app, and for $10/year, cheap too. 

[wombat]

I've got a Starlink Mini.  I've used it in flight.  My opinion.... Meh.   Not worth it for me as a pilot.

If you are wanting to provide in-flight entertainment for passengers, it's amazing.

For thunderstorm dodging weather info?    Are you freaking crazy?     Do you really want to explain to the NTSB and FAA that's what your plan was after you've had an in-flight emergency or incident or accident?    

Filing flight plans?  Either do it on the ground or talk on the radio to ATC.  If you are filing a flight plan that means you are VMC, so you need to be looking outside for other traffic.   This sounds like a a bad idea that some marketing shill that isn't a pilot might put in an advertisement, like "Creating your grocery list on the laptop while you drive to the grocery store."

 

If you are just looking for personal entertainment and staying in communication with people in flight but you are just ashamed to say that's what you want it for, well... I don't know what to tell you.   Long XCs with an autopilot are kind of boring.   Listen to music that is already downloaded or an audiobook or a podcast or whatever.

[Lax291]

I haven't bit on Starlink yet, but I am sold on Internet in the cockpit. However, I'm waiting for Amazon's project Kuiper to hit the market. Not sure if it will be superior or less expensive, but I believe competition will drive prices down to something more reasonable from a hardware and plan standpoint. 

https://www.aboutamazon.com/what-we-do/devices-services/project-kuiper

[mhrivnak]

On 8/18/2025 at 8:35 PM, RoundTwo said:

Local priority $65/mo is good for 350 mph. If you leave the US, ie Bahamas, you’ll need Global Priority at $250/mo. The roam plan is only good up to 100 mph.

That's no longer correct. The $50/month Roam plan is now good up to 450 knots. They changed the following page some time in July:

https://www.starlink.com/support/article/36fcdd07-e552-3dec-c6cc-bf8b8bb669cd

General Aviation customers may select one of the two service options:

For aircraft with ground speeds under 450 knots (land only, max 2 months outside base country):

Roam 50GB – $50/month USD
Roam Unlimited – $165/month USD
For aircraft with ground speeds under 450 knots (land and ocean coverage):

Global Priority – $250/month USD

 

[RoundTwo]

4 hours ago, mhrivnak said:

That's no longer correct. The $50/month Roam plan is now good up to 450 knots. They changed the following page some time in July:

https://www.starlink.com/support/article/36fcdd07-e552-3dec-c6cc-bf8b8bb669cd

General Aviation customers may select one of the two service options:

For aircraft with ground speeds under 450 knots (land only, max 2 months outside base country):

Roam 50GB – $50/month USD
Roam Unlimited – $165/month USD
For aircraft with ground speeds under 450 knots (land and ocean coverage):

Global Priority – $250/month USD

 

Thanks. Keeping up with their constant changes is a full time job. 

[Z W]

10 hours ago, wombat said:

For thunderstorm dodging weather info?    Are you freaking crazy?     Do you really want to explain to the NTSB and FAA that's what your plan was after you've had an in-flight emergency or incident or accident?    

Filing flight plans?  Either do it on the ground or talk on the radio to ATC.  If you are filing a flight plan that means you are VMC, so you need to be looking outside for other traffic.   This sounds like a a bad idea that some marketing shill that isn't a pilot might put in an advertisement, like "Creating your grocery list on the laptop while you drive to the grocery store."

Sometimes there are thunderstorms that pop up after you took off, especially on a 900+ NM trip. The dang things are also known to move, sometimes in unpredictable directions. I'll take all the data I can get in the cockpit, and the faster it updates, the better. I see a future where ground-based radar gives us real-time data via high speed internet in the cockpit that's comparable to an on-board radar dish, and I think that's great.

I've only had to get a pop-up IFR clearance over the radio a few times, and luckily for me, it's never been a big deal. I've heard other pilots, seemingly struggling with a bad situation they didn't plan for, be told ATC is too busy, go call flight services, maintain VFR, maintain clear of the Bravo. It would maybe be a lot easier to turn on your autopilot, tap a few times on your phone or tablet and beam the information of where you are, what equipment you have, and where you want to go to ATC, then click on the radio and ask for your clearance.

[RoundTwo]

7 hours ago, mhrivnak said:

That's no longer correct. The $50/month Roam plan is now good up to 450 knots. They changed the following page some time in July:

https://www.starlink.com/support/article/36fcdd07-e552-3dec-c6cc-bf8b8bb669cd

General Aviation customers may select one of the two service options:

For aircraft with ground speeds under 450 knots (land only, max 2 months outside base country):

Roam 50GB – $50/month USD
Roam Unlimited – $165/month USD
For aircraft with ground speeds under 450 knots (land and ocean coverage):

Global Priority – $250/month USD

 

Digging further into this, I found the following through my app. The Global Roam, I couldn’t find Local Roam as an option, states data is deprioritized behind Residential and Priority plans. I’m not sure what this would mean in the real world, but for $15, I’ll stick with my priority plans for now. 

[exM20K]

3 hours ago, Z W said:

Sometimes there are thunderstorms that pop up after you took off, especially on a 900+ NM trip. The dang things are also known to move, sometimes in unpredictable directions. I'll take all the data I can get in the cockpit, and the faster it updates, the better. I see a future where ground-based radar gives us real-time data via high speed internet in the cockpit that's comparable to an on-board radar dish, and I think that's great.

I've only had to get a pop-up IFR clearance over the radio a few times, and luckily for me, it's never been a big deal. I've heard other pilots, seemingly struggling with a bad situation they didn't plan for, be told ATC is too busy, go call flight services, maintain VFR, maintain clear of the Bravo. It would maybe be a lot easier to turn on your autopilot, tap a few times on your phone or tablet and beam the information of where you are, what equipment you have, and where you want to go to ATC, then click on the radio and ask for your clearance.

Sirius XM is cheap ($18/month,) and the GDL69A is in place. This gives me excellent inflight weather and entertainment. Stratus is a backup and quick search tool in ForeFlight for surface observations.

My OCD clashes with wires, boxes, O2 tubes all over the place, so while I like the idea of inflight connectivity, it doesn’t really add anything for me that is more beneficial than more wires, plugs, boxes and recurring $$$ going out the door. 

In more than 25 years of GA flying, I don’t recall ever having to file with a FSS en route, which is good, because the last time I tried the broadcast freq, listening on a VOR, it didn’t work.

If I didn’t have the Sirius XM stuff in place, I’d be looking into this, but it’s not worth the change for me. I kind of like being unreachable for a few hours :-)

-dan

[LANCECASPER]

2 hours ago, exM20K said:

Sirius XM is cheap ($18/month,) and the GDL69A is in place. This gives me excellent inflight weather and entertainment. Stratus is a backup and quick search tool in ForeFlight for surface observations.

My OCD clashes with wires, boxes, O2 tubes all over the place, so while I like the idea of inflight connectivity, it doesn’t really add anything for me that is more beneficial than more wires, plugs, boxes and recurring $$$ going out the door. 

In more than 25 years of GA flying, I don’t recall ever having to file with a FSS en route, which is good, because the last time I tried the broadcast freq, listening on a VOR, it didn’t work.

If I didn’t have the Sirius XM stuff in place, I’d be looking into this, but it’s not worth the change for me. I kind of like being unreachable for a few hours :-)

-dan

Hmmm . .  I'm still paying $30 for XM on my G1000 and a trip I took from Texas to Minnesota and back over the past ten days that confirmed my reason for having it. It is so much better than ADS-B weather.

What plan are you on that's $18?

[exM20K]

1 hour ago, LANCECASPER said:

Hmmm . .  I'm still paying $30 for XM on my G1000 and a trip I took from Texas to Minnesota and back over the past ten days that confirmed my reason for having it. It is so much better than ADS-B weather.

What plan are you on that's $18?

my error - i looked at the wrong statement.  I'm at $30. 

-dan

[wombat]

@Z W 

If your planned VFR flight is no longer viable, call ATC on the radio and get a clearance or land and do some actual flight planning.   Don't stare inside the cockpit for 5 minutes while you play around on your iPhone.  And quibbling about how much time it takes is not a good argument.   Look outside.      I have gotten clearances in the air many many times, it's really easy and fast.  If you have to switch over to flight service... Well, switching frequencies isn't a big deal.

 

And getting radar imagery from some random website or app over the internet to use to fly through storms?     Personally, I would be extremely uncomfortable with this. Talk to ATC to find a route or turn around.

[WilliamR]

18 minutes ago, exM20K said:

my error - i looked at the wrong statement.  I'm at $30. 

-dan

The same service is also provided by Sirius for marine for $17.99. Not that I would ever advocate lying to Sirius.

[LANCECASPER]

22 minutes ago, WilliamR said:

The same service is also provided by Sirius for marine for $17.99. Not that I would ever advocate lying to Sirius.

It depends on the receiver. For years I subscribed to a Marine package on a Garmin 496 GPSMap for $9.99/mo. For a G1000 receiving on a GLD69A that won't work.

[exM20K]

with Starlink now competing, they may be more flexible on renewal pricing.  I'll see in a few months.

-dan

[LANCECASPER]

10 hours ago, wombat said:

 

And getting radar imagery from some random website or app over the internet to use to fly through storms?     Personally, I would be extremely uncomfortable with this. Talk to ATC to find a route or turn around.

I don't think anyone on this thread has any intentions of flying through a thunderstorm. 

The XM weather that I use consistently shows 2 minutes old - I'm sure that doesn't include time to process it and get it uploaded. But everything I see out the window compares very well and allows me to fly around thunderstorms, at what I feel is a safe margin. Comparing XM to ADS-B I don't feel the same level of comfort. XM resolution is so much better and compares so much better to what I see out the window. 

If on-board internet is ever to the point where I don't have wires running all over the place and it can give me a better picture than whatI have now,  I would consider it. But at the moment XM is light years ahead of asking asking ATC to find me a route - they don't have to ride with me on the route they pick, which may be based on other traffic they need to vector rather than a good ride for me.

Years ago with just a stormscope many times I did turn around or land and wait it out, and sometimes I still do based on what all the information shows me. A week ago Monday I stayed overnight in OKC since I didn't like the picture I saw.  I still stay away from heavy precip and convection but if XM is showing what the Stormscope shows and that compares well to what I see out the window and after talking to ATC if they agree, then XM (or internet weather) is just another tool in the toolbox. It's to avoid weather and at times help you find a safe path that works, not a way to fly through storms.

[GeeBee]

The problem with XM is you can't get a vertical profile and Doppler velocities as well as indications of returns over 50db. These are common to on board radar and necessary to evaluate what you are dealing with close up. I use XM and it is good, but it is strictly a strategic tool. Within the terminal area you often need really up to date data to be tactical in your decision making.

[201Steve]

Anyone suggesting a more up to date radar isn’t useful bc it’s only strategic and not tactical….. ok so what’s your preferred delay? lol. Crazy talk. The closer to real time the better. 
 

it would be great if they would make a remote antenna. I guess the unit technically is the antenna but they could separate the guts for more in a “mini mini” version. Not loving the idea of on the glare shield. Cirrus was way ahead of its time when it installed the top window in the back. 
 

heck I pay $60 a month for my crappy dsl internet at the hangar. Will be dual purpose if I get the star link rig.  Pays for itself!

[EricJ]

6 minutes ago, 201Steve said:

it would be great if they would make a remote antenna. I guess the unit technically is the antenna but they could separate the guts for more in a “mini mini” version. Not loving the idea of on the glare shield. Cirrus was way ahead of its time when it installed the top window in the back. 

The antenna uses an electronically-steered beam, which has to be tightly integrated with the modulator/transmitter, and the receiver/demod.   There's not much else there other than the network interface and power supply, so there's not much that can be separated out from the antenna.   The entire thing might get smaller, or at least thinner, but it probably doesn't make sense to separate the electronics from the antenna.

[wombat]

 

I don't know if there is a difference between 'electronic phased array antenna' and 'electronically-steered beam' or 'steerable antenna' but in my mind these are all basically the same thing.

 

https://www.starlink.com/na/support/article/07621adc-9a6f-8f94-6f27-361a78cce37d says "Both Starlinks are electronic phased array antennas, meaning they can track the signal from satellites overhead without the need to physically move."

 https://portal.powertec.com.au/equipment/it-networking/network-devices/starlink-mini-dish-rev1#:~:text=Like its predecessors%2C Starlink Mini,ethernet reduces the weather rating). says "Starlink Mini is a satellite transceiver which uses digital beamformers and an Electronic Steerable Antenna to track and maintain connectivity with LEO satellites"

 

 

Edited 7 hours ago by wombat

[N201MKTurbo]

49 minutes ago, wombat said:

@N201MKTurbo 

https://www.starlink.com/na/support/article/07621adc-9a6f-8f94-6f27-361a78cce37d says "Both Starlinks are electronic phased array antennas, meaning they can track the signal from satellites overhead without the need to physically move."

 https://portal.powertec.com.au/equipment/it-networking/network-devices/starlink-mini-dish-rev1#:~:text=Like its predecessors%2C Starlink Mini,ethernet reduces the weather rating). says "Starlink Mini is a satellite transceiver which uses digital beamformers and an Electronic Steerable Antenna to track and maintain connectivity with LEO satellites"

 

I don't know if there is a difference between 'electronic phased array antenna' and 'electronically-steered beam' or 'steerable antenna' but in my mind these are all basically the same thing.

Yes, I did more searches and found the truth and deleted my post. Quite an accomplishment on their part. Especially for the price. The military antennas I used to work on cost many orders of magnitude more.

[EricJ]

55 minutes ago, wombat said:

I don't know if there is a difference between 'electronic phased array antenna' and 'electronically-steered beam' or 'steerable antenna' but in my mind these are all basically the same thing.

There are lots of ways to accomplish beamforming, but in general I agree with you.   A "phased array" is a subset of beamforming antenna types, but I think starlink does more than that since phased arrays are kind of old-school these days.   FWIW, even WiFi has been doing electronic beamforming (usually 2-D) for more than a decade.