Starlink Mini in a J

[Pinecone]

16 hours ago, kortopates said:

I guess i would like to learn what better weather source i am missing out on that i don’t have with XM in the cockpit?

There are apps with less latency for the radar image.

Radar Scope is one on the iPhone

[RoundTwo]

1 hour ago, Pinecone said:

There are apps with less latency for the radar image.

Radar Scope is one on the iPhone

This image brought to you compliments of Starlink. 

Edited September 25 by RoundTwo

[TangoTango]

16 hours ago, kortopates said:

I guess i would like to learn what better weather source i am missing out on that i don’t have with XM in the cockpit?

i do want it for international flying but i didn’t think there was any advantage for US flying.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

I make use of GOES imagery when I'm checking weather on the ground. Admittedly, it's more useful for VFR flight planning, but it does assist in visualizing the big picture for weather that doesn't paint on NEXRAD, such as fog/smoke/growing cumulus. I've had a couple times on long cross country trips it would've been useful to get an updated image along my route.

GOES Imagery Viewer - NOAA / NESDIS / STAR

[toto]

The Starlink Mini is now on sale for $299 and they have a $50 roam plan or $5 unlimited standby plan. All roam plans now include motion, so unless you’re pulling an awful lot of data, the $50 plan should be plenty - and the $5 plan is completely unlimited (but at a low 500kbps speed). 

https://starlink.com/roam

I dunno if you can get away with motion on the standby plan, but $299 and $5/mo is just about cheap enough for me to get one to play with. 

[MattS]

Same here. Best $65 a month I spend. 
 

I can jump on Zoom calls during my flights. 

[Fly Boomer]

9 hours ago, MattS said:

Same here. Best $65 a month I spend. 

How did you get to $65?  Is that the $50 plan mentioned above plus local, state, & federal taxes, fees, surcharges, shipping & handling, and miscellaneous shop supplies?

[EricJ]

14 hours ago, MattS said:

Same here. Best $65 a month I spend. 
 

I can jump on Zoom calls during my flights. 

That sounds like a pretty good power move. 

[MikeOH]

8 hours ago, Fly Boomer said:

How did you get to $65?  Is that the $50 plan mentioned above plus local, state, & federal taxes, fees, surcharges, shipping & handling, and miscellaneous shop supplies?

Don't forget dealer prep, options, and Simonizing!

[Fly Boomer]

1 hour ago, MikeOH said:

Don't forget dealer prep, options, and Simonizing!

And I forgot the undercoat.  Remember that?

[Ibra]

On 11/5/2025 at 4:10 AM, toto said:

and the $5 plan is completely unlimited (but at a low 500kbps speed).

I switched to 5$ plan for winter but the two monsters in my backseats keeps complaining now they can’t stream videos or download Gigabites, as they have to pre-download videos shortly before flight 

They think they have tough life  I spent all night behind 56k modem waiting to download a 10 pixels videogame (during the day it gets interrupted by phone dial-in)

Edited Sunday at 07:55 AM by Ibra

[toto]

I went ahead and pulled the trigger on the $299 mini. Home Depot has a 30-day return policy and they got it to my house the same day.

I’m planning to stick with the $5 plan for now and see how it goes. Filing flight plans or looking at airborne weather doesn’t need more than 500kbps, but I guess we’ll see how long my passengers can handle social media at DSL speeds 

I definitely don’t like a cluttered setup, and I would love a viable approach where I just stick this thing in a rear window. What’s the current best practice in a Mooney? Seems about 50/50 in this thread between the glare shield and the pax window. I didn’t think it would be possible to have the antenna 90 degrees to the sky, but if it works then that seems less intrusive than the glareshield - where sooner or later I’ll inevitably eject it out onto the ramp with my foot caught in a cable. 

[hazek]

Also just pulled the trigger. Also wondering where is the best location.

[Fly Boomer]

2 hours ago, toto said:

sooner or later I’ll inevitably eject it out onto the ramp with my foot caught in a cable

Made me laugh.  I hate cables and hoses running all over the cabin.

[LANCECASPER]

3 hours ago, toto said:

I went ahead and pulled the trigger on the $299 mini. Home Depot has a 30-day return policy and they got it to my house the same day.

I’m planning to stick with the $5 plan for now and see how it goes. Filing flight plans or looking at airborne weather doesn’t need more than 500kbps, but I guess we’ll see how long my passengers can handle social media at DSL speeds 

I definitely don’t like a cluttered setup, and I would love a viable approach where I just stick this thing in a rear window. What’s the current best practice in a Mooney? Seems about 50/50 in this thread between the glare shield and the pax window. I didn’t think it would be possible to have the antenna 90 degrees to the sky, but if it works then that seems less intrusive than the glareshield - where sooner or later I’ll inevitably eject it out onto the ramp with my foot caught in a cable. 

I think you have to at least sign up on a monthly plan ($50) the first month and then you can put it on standby ($5).

[toto]

12 minutes ago, LANCECASPER said:

I think you have to at least sign up on a monthly plan ($50) the first month and then you can put it on standby ($5).

I’ll know soon enough

I’ll report back here whether I can do the initial activation on standby or not … I haven’t opened the box yet. 

[kortopates]

Also just pulled the trigger. Also wondering where is the best location.

With respect to roaming does starlink consider it roaming when you leave Germany or when you leave the EU? it may not matter since they give you two months to return back home (at least in the US they do).


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[icurnmedic]

Did not really need it but bought one anyway. Also bought the cigarette lighter plug, along with 2 dewalt batteries and an adapter. Both power supplies work well. Starlink worked wonderfully this past week at 9500ft and 200kts ground speed. Only problem is my wife kept fussing (not really) telling me to quit checking my eBay Lol.

I imagine in a few years it will be the size of a phone with rechargeable battery. Amazing technology. IMHO.

[Paul Thomas]

My understanding is that roaming will not work in flight; is that incorrect?

[hazek]

14 hours ago, kortopates said:

With respect to roaming does starlink consider it roaming when you leave Germany or when you leave the EU? it may not matter since they give you two months to return back home (at least in the US they do).

I think so.. Will confirm when I test it. But it's funny for my particular situation as 15min (and as low as 5min) of flight in any direction puts me in 4 different countries from my home base. So I will basically always use it abroad!

[kortopates]

3 minutes ago, hazek said:

I think so.. Will confirm when I test it. But it's funny for my particular situation as 15min (and as low as 5min) of flight in any direction puts me in 4 different countries from my home base. So I will basically always use it abroad!

It much describes most of EU flying. Here in the US, not that many pilots get more than 100 nm miles from home and very very few leave the country. But in the EU the average pilot is an international pilot.

[kortopates]

59 minutes ago, Paul Thomas said:

My understanding is that roaming will not work in flight; is that incorrect?

Incorrect; it does have speed restrictions though that aren't an issue in a Mooney.

[hazek]

19 minutes ago, kortopates said:

It much describes most of EU flying. Here in the US, not that many pilots get more than 100 nm miles from home and very very few leave the country.

It can, depending on the EU country. Germany and France for example are large enough where the typical flight might keep you in the same country.

My personal favorite flight of 400NM or so has me fly through 6 countries though.  So it will be interesting how Starlink will work for me.

[varlajo]

32 minutes ago, kortopates said:

Here in the US, not that many pilots get more than 100 nm miles from home

That's a fascinating statistic 

[RoundTwo]

On 11/6/2025 at 5:43 AM, Fly Boomer said:

How did you get to $65?  Is that the $50 plan mentioned above plus local, state, & federal taxes, fees, surcharges, shipping & handling, and miscellaneous shop supplies?

The Local Priority plan is $65. A couple of months ago, that’s what was required to get over 100mph. It looks like that has changed.

[RoundTwo]

20 hours ago, toto said:

I went ahead and pulled the trigger on the $299 mini. Home Depot has a 30-day return policy and they got it to my house the same day.

I’m planning to stick with the $5 plan for now and see how it goes. Filing flight plans or looking at airborne weather doesn’t need more than 500kbps, but I guess we’ll see how long my passengers can handle social media at DSL speeds 

I definitely don’t like a cluttered setup, and I would love a viable approach where I just stick this thing in a rear window. What’s the current best practice in a Mooney? Seems about 50/50 in this thread between the glare shield and the pax window. I didn’t think it would be possible to have the antenna 90 degrees to the sky, but if it works then that seems less intrusive than the glareshield - where sooner or later I’ll inevitably eject it out onto the ramp with my foot caught in a cable. 

Even with mine on the glareshield, it gives me the obstructed message at times, however, the speed is still more than needed. I always unplug and stow for landing, so it has been a problem on the ground.