This was fantastic, showing all the different ways to hookup. The DC barrel connectors were exactly the way I need to go. I appreciate you taking the time to make this video. Great work.
my pleasure! That was driving me nuts as well when I was scrambling to get ways to power the Mini before it arrived. Plus like I mentioned in the video, I will be using this to work a 9-5 job while camped in one spot for 5 days. I will need every bit of battery power I can get if it is stormy and I can’t get solar recharge.
@@OverlandCalling Mine is going on my sailboat, so every watt counts! It's arrived and I just need to mount it. It looks like I'll be saving an average of about/at least 15 watts (compared to my Standard V2)
@@ShaneEngelman very cool that sounds like it will be an amazing time. I was figuring the same for 15watt savings from my rough testing. I saw another video where they used the ram ball mount system mount a mini. I am going to give that a try, but not sure if I would trust it to be sturdy enough in heavy weather. I would probably get something that held it in from all sides if I were in your shoes.
Thanks for doing the testing with the different power sources! I found all the information I needed and I also appreciated the links you provided to the other cables! 👍
Sorry I didn’t make an install video. I did a video on my Aux power box and went into pretty deep detail. I did it a while ago, so didn’t have the boost converter though. the Aux box video is in my DIY playlist if you are interested. warning it is long LOL. I did put chapter markers in for skipping around though. The setup for the 12-36 boost for Starlink was pretty straightforward if you decide you want to do it and need any help being talked through it you are free to email me at info@overlandcalling.com and we can set up a time to chat things through. No charge or anything like that of course. I am not a professional electrician, so no way would I bill for it.
My pleasure and glad it helped! Starlink finally came out with their USB C cord, so that is an option as well if ya need a USB C cord and want to stick with name brand. I haven’t personally tried it, but I would guess it works well.
Yes you can’t beat simplicity of plug and play even if I did have to buy the extra 12v plug since my particular power station did not have the 100 watt output for the USC C connection it had.
I hit the road this weekend for some testing in the wild. Once I gather some data I will put it out along with some info on what it is like for both full day use both for working on the road and streaming video.
13:14 yeah it's understandable the uploads speed drops. This tiny thing is sending 5-14 mbps equivalent signal to a satellite hundreds of km in space. Just impressive. The standard model has somewhat higher upload speed because of the antenna size and power.
Thanks! I have wanted one badly for a long time. I am glad I waited because this is a huge power and savings. 24 watts wired into my battery system will barely dent my capacity even when I camp for the week working for 5 days. It is everything I was wishing for!
I've had mixed results with 12v from my powerbank, I've instead opted for the 36v buck converter with a 2.1mm dc jack, saves all the inverter overhead and works great from my 12v source.
Same result for me! Bit of work on the front end, but I think it will pay off in the long run. Do you know how many watts it draws when idle? Wondering if it is about the same as 24 ish for mine.
The USB-C cable he's got is asking for 20V. Not all USB-PD sources support 20V, but both his USB power bank and Yeti power station do. The voltage is high enough that you won't have to worry about cable voltage droop taking you under the 12V minimum, so I'd say that it's a better option than trying to boost the voltage from the 12V port. On newer power stations, 100W ports seem common, so more headroom. On the other hand, if you're powering directly off a 12V battery (as he is in his real setup), then yeah, you'd want a booster.
@@guspaz ahh I thought PD was all 20v. Learn something new every day! Both my Yeti and backup battery are pretty dated. I was actually happily surprised that they worked at 60 Wand 65W. Pretty sure I would have issues if trying snowmelt. Agree 100% that keeping things plug and play is much easier than wiring something custom. I was wanting to try a cigarette style 12V to 100W USB C adapter plug to try, but didn’t think about it for the first round of testing.
@@OverlandCalling USB by default is 5V, and with pretty low amperage limits. USB-PD is a bit of a mess. Depending on the version of the standard, there's potentially 5V, 9V, 12V, 15V, 20V, 28V, 36V, and 48V. A bunch of those are optional, or from different versions of the spec, and amperage supported varies by spec version and device. Anything past 5V needs to be actively negotiated (actual two-way data communication) between the source and destination devices. So that USB-C cable you've got has a little chip in it that can apparently negotiate 20V at up to 5A. But your power bank and power station don't support 5A, closer to 3A. It's a confusing mess. The only way to be sure is to check the label or manual of the specific devices involved.
StarLink now has the USB-C wire for sale. It’s 5m (16’.5”) long and costs $31.00 USD. It has a red power indicator light in it to show if the required 100W 5A 20V power supply is good. For the Mini Only.
Awesome and that is great news about the indicator light. I just helped troubleshoot one for a buddy out camping. We thought that it was a cord or connection, but it turned out to be the power station 100W outlet. that indicator light will make things much easier.
How long from applying power before you can make i=an internet connection? Important when you need to send short message - but it takes a long time to boot and acquire a connection.
It is pretty quick, but I have never actually timed it…….camping on a beach in Cali right now watching UA-cam and waiting for the sun to come up. Great time to test it out I guess. Be back in a few min…
@@OverlandCalling Thanks for the quick response! My application is for a remote alarm system where in the event of an alarm , the Starlink would be powered on and a ~20kB jpeg would be sent as soon as a connection was established than powered off. SO in that kind of use case almost all the energy would be in the booting stage. So minimizing the boot time is critical for long, unattended battery life. I assume the Starlink can be configured to automatically connect with the internet on power up? Enjoy the beach!
Thanks for the tests! Question: does your Goal Zero have a 6mm barrel power port? My Yeti 400 lithium has one, and I was thinking of trying a barrel adapter and plugging straight into there with the original cable. Seems pretty ideal. Any chance you’ve tried this?
I do have a 6mm port. I got excited when I saw it, then dreams were crushed when it didn’t fit the 5.5 plug I had. I didn’t try it, but would love to hear if it works out. Just a heads up though…..if it is 12V there is a very high chance that the Starlink cable is too long and thin to deliver the 12V needed to run the mini. I have seen it stop others when they tried going from 12V cigaret style plug to adapt into the long Starlink cord. you get a good amount of voltage drop with the amps needed.
I have the same setup w the Starlink mini, yeti 500x and usb-c to 5521 cable. The Starlink will boot up but eventually the Yeti circuit breaker trips on the USB-C port as indicated by the red light on the Yeti’s USB button. Have you run into this?
I have not run into it on Starlink, but I have seen it with my cell modem with the Yeti over the year or so I have been using it. I can’t be certain, but it seems to happen more when the temp is high in the car. So far I have only used the Starlink through the USB C about 30 min, so not a whole lot of long term use. How long does it run before the internal breaker trips for you?
I just finished testing using a 12v plug adapter capable of 100w PD. That was able to work for 45 min straight streaming video using the 6 foot USB C to 2.1 cord connected into the 49 ft cord that comes with the dish. If it can run that long cord setup without blowing the circuit breaker it should work fine with just the USB C cord. Vid coming out for it this weekend, but wanted to let ya know I found a work around if you need it. Costs about $35 for the 12v cigarette to 100w USB C adapter.
I am considering buying the mini to go camping around the country. I see you're getting great download speeds. What state are you in getting these speeds?
@@kip5588 absolutely! I will be hitting the road working 9-5 daily M-F. I will post updates in the community tab. Once I have enough data points I will make a full video on reality for work to include video teams meetings and different weather performance. I can’t wait for the freedom of working off grid and am happy to help others do the same.
@@OverlandCalling I would be interested in knowing what percentage of tree coverage for example that still will allow enough signal to stream video in 1080p?
I boosted above 12V to be able to use the 49ft cord that came with the mini without the voltage dropping below 12 over the long distance and thin wires. For power the mini can accept 12V-48v. I could have gone with 24V but I didn’t know that for sure at the time. The AC plug that comes with Starlink mini converts to 30V and I chose 36V because it was slightly higher than the voltage used with the AC adapter and I knew it would work. Once I got my next Amazon shipment in I was able to test and find out that USB C at 20V would also work using the 49ft cord. With that new knowledge I put out the second video on using USB C with the long cord.
@@brockdelorenzo7505 I don’t know if 18V would work, but most likely it would. If foldable panel is a solar panel it most likely would not work direct wired unless it had PD protocol needed to manage power. The Starlink spec calls for 20v/5amp, but I have never seen it draw 5 amps. Maybe that is when using snowmelt.
Ha! I just texted my buddy the exact same question since he uses Starlink at home and has no cell signal! The answer is yes! Got to phone Settings/Cellular/turn on WiFi for calling. He also recommended putting your phone in airplane mode since if it catches a hint of signal it will switch back to cell instead of Wifi and then it will drop cell connection if it is weak.
I can’t say for sure, but that was my plan. I have the 50GB plan right now and if I need more I planned to change. Based on past plans it will likely require changing at my billing cycle date. If I need more GB I will likely have to pay per GB for overage until my billing cycle date comes around to be switched over to unlimited.
@@OverlandCallingGreat video and lots of great tips. I saw that you did an updated version(which I’ll watch next) but did not want to forget my question(in case it’s not answered in that video). Have you found that 50G works for what you do? I’m going to be living out of a vehicle for a couple of months and wondering how that 50G worked for your usage. Thanks!
This was fantastic, showing all the different ways to hookup. The DC barrel connectors were exactly the way I need to go. I appreciate you taking the time to make this video.
Great work.
Thank you. I am glad to hear that it helped you!
Thank you for running this on DC instead of just AC like everyone else!
my pleasure! That was driving me nuts as well when I was scrambling to get ways to power the Mini before it arrived. Plus like I mentioned in the video, I will be using this to work a 9-5 job while camped in one spot for 5 days. I will need every bit of battery power I can get if it is stormy and I can’t get solar recharge.
@@OverlandCalling Mine is going on my sailboat, so every watt counts! It's arrived and I just need to mount it. It looks like I'll be saving an average of about/at least 15 watts (compared to my Standard V2)
@@ShaneEngelman very cool that sounds like it will be an amazing time. I was figuring the same for 15watt savings from my rough testing. I saw another video where they used the ram ball mount system mount a mini. I am going to give that a try, but not sure if I would trust it to be sturdy enough in heavy weather. I would probably get something that held it in from all sides if I were in your shoes.
Thanks for doing the testing with the different power sources! I found all the information I needed and I also appreciated the links you provided to the other cables! 👍
Glad it helped you out!
I would have loved an install video. Very very nice setup. I wouldn’t mind having an exact setup like this.
Sorry I didn’t make an install video. I did a video on my Aux power box and went into pretty deep detail. I did it a while ago, so didn’t have the boost converter though. the Aux box video is in my DIY playlist if you are interested. warning it is long LOL. I did put chapter markers in for skipping around though. The setup for the 12-36 boost for Starlink was pretty straightforward if you decide you want to do it and need any help being talked through it you are free to email me at info@overlandcalling.com and we can set up a time to chat things through. No charge or anything like that of course. I am not a professional electrician, so no way would I bill for it.
@@OverlandCalling I will definitely take you up on that offer when I am ready and have all the parts. Thank you so much. 👍
Thank you for sharing all the testing. Now i know what to buy for me little toy.
My pleasure and glad it helped! Starlink finally came out with their USB C cord, so that is an option as well if ya need a USB C cord and want to stick with name brand. I haven’t personally tried it, but I would guess it works well.
Nice video. Was glad to see it can run off of a USB power bank.
Yes you can’t beat simplicity of plug and play even if I did have to buy the extra 12v plug since my particular power station did not have the 100 watt output for the USC C connection it had.
Interesting.. Look forward to seeing how it works under tree cover.
I hit the road this weekend for some testing in the wild. Once I gather some data I will put it out along with some info on what it is like for both full day use both for working on the road and streaming video.
@@OverlandCalling safe travels
13:14 yeah it's understandable the uploads speed drops. This tiny thing is sending 5-14 mbps equivalent signal to a satellite hundreds of km in space. Just impressive.
The standard model has somewhat higher upload speed because of the antenna size and power.
yep pretty impressive especially with a car blocking half of the sky.
Great video. On my list.
Thanks! I have wanted one badly for a long time. I am glad I waited because this is a huge power and savings. 24 watts wired into my battery system will barely dent my capacity even when I camp for the week working for 5 days. It is everything I was wishing for!
I've had mixed results with 12v from my powerbank, I've instead opted for the 36v buck converter with a 2.1mm dc jack, saves all the inverter overhead and works great from my 12v source.
Same result for me! Bit of work on the front end, but I think it will pay off in the long run. Do you know how many watts it draws when idle? Wondering if it is about the same as 24 ish for mine.
The USB-C cable he's got is asking for 20V. Not all USB-PD sources support 20V, but both his USB power bank and Yeti power station do. The voltage is high enough that you won't have to worry about cable voltage droop taking you under the 12V minimum, so I'd say that it's a better option than trying to boost the voltage from the 12V port. On newer power stations, 100W ports seem common, so more headroom. On the other hand, if you're powering directly off a 12V battery (as he is in his real setup), then yeah, you'd want a booster.
@@guspaz ahh I thought PD was all 20v. Learn something new every day! Both my Yeti and backup battery are pretty dated. I was actually happily surprised that they worked at 60 Wand 65W. Pretty sure I would have issues if trying snowmelt. Agree 100% that keeping things plug and play is much easier than wiring something custom. I was wanting to try a cigarette style 12V to 100W USB C adapter plug to try, but didn’t think about it for the first round of testing.
@@OverlandCalling USB by default is 5V, and with pretty low amperage limits. USB-PD is a bit of a mess. Depending on the version of the standard, there's potentially 5V, 9V, 12V, 15V, 20V, 28V, 36V, and 48V. A bunch of those are optional, or from different versions of the spec, and amperage supported varies by spec version and device.
Anything past 5V needs to be actively negotiated (actual two-way data communication) between the source and destination devices. So that USB-C cable you've got has a little chip in it that can apparently negotiate 20V at up to 5A. But your power bank and power station don't support 5A, closer to 3A.
It's a confusing mess. The only way to be sure is to check the label or manual of the specific devices involved.
@@guspaz Wow! Awesome info and thank you! Maybe that is why I kept seeing it bouncing around for Watts when I was testing even when idle.
StarLink now has the USB-C wire for sale. It’s 5m (16’.5”) long and costs $31.00 USD. It has a red power indicator light in it to show if the required 100W 5A 20V power supply is good. For the Mini Only.
Awesome and that is great news about the indicator light. I just helped troubleshoot one for a buddy out camping. We thought that it was a cord or connection, but it turned out to be the power station 100W outlet. that indicator light will make things much easier.
in case anyone missed it, the regular cable drops the voltage too much to run the starlink. you need the shorter one.
Yes when running straight from 12V I have heard about 10ft is about the max cord length. If you are running USB C you can still use the regular cord.
Where did you get the 50 ft power cable..?
It is the cord that came standard with the Starlink mini. Starlink has also come out with a USB C cord you can get as an optional accessory.
How long from applying power before you can make i=an internet connection? Important when you need to send short message - but it takes a long time to boot and acquire a connection.
It is pretty quick, but I have never actually timed it…….camping on a beach in Cali right now watching UA-cam and waiting for the sun to come up. Great time to test it out I guess. Be back in a few min…
1 min and 58 seconds is what it came out at with open skies.
@@OverlandCalling Thanks for the quick response! My application is for a remote alarm system where in the event of an alarm , the Starlink would be powered on and a ~20kB jpeg would be sent as soon as a connection was established than powered off. SO in that kind of use case almost all the energy would be in the booting stage. So minimizing the boot time is critical for long, unattended battery life. I assume the Starlink can be configured to automatically connect with the internet on power up?
Enjoy the beach!
@@stevegulick7656 ahh that is a very cool application! Let’s you save power by just powering on when triggered.
Thanks for the tests! Question: does your Goal Zero have a 6mm barrel power port? My Yeti 400 lithium has one, and I was thinking of trying a barrel adapter and plugging straight into there with the original cable. Seems pretty ideal. Any chance you’ve tried this?
I do have a 6mm port. I got excited when I saw it, then dreams were crushed when it didn’t fit the 5.5 plug I had. I didn’t try it, but would love to hear if it works out. Just a heads up though…..if it is 12V there is a very high chance that the Starlink cable is too long and thin to deliver the 12V needed to run the mini. I have seen it stop others when they tried going from 12V cigaret style plug to adapt into the long Starlink cord. you get a good amount of voltage drop with the amps needed.
I have the same setup w the Starlink mini, yeti 500x and usb-c to 5521 cable. The Starlink will boot up but eventually the Yeti circuit breaker trips on the USB-C port as indicated by the red light on the Yeti’s USB button.
Have you run into this?
I have not run into it on Starlink, but I have seen it with my cell modem with the Yeti over the year or so I have been using it. I can’t be certain, but it seems to happen more when the temp is high in the car. So far I have only used the Starlink through the USB C about 30 min, so not a whole lot of long term use. How long does it run before the internal breaker trips for you?
I just finished testing using a 12v plug adapter capable of 100w PD. That was able to work for 45 min straight streaming video using the 6 foot USB C to 2.1 cord connected into the 49 ft cord that comes with the dish. If it can run that long cord setup without blowing the circuit breaker it should work fine with just the USB C cord. Vid coming out for it this weekend, but wanted to let ya know I found a work around if you need it. Costs about $35 for the 12v cigarette to 100w USB C adapter.
I am considering buying the mini to go camping around the country. I see you're getting great download speeds. What state are you in getting these speeds?
I am in the Norfolk Virginia area. I will be starting my camp around the country trip in about a week! hoping the great speeds keep up for my trip.
@@OverlandCallingappreciate it you would keep us up to date on how it's working and your downloads.
@@kip5588 no problem at all. Happy to do it
@@kip5588 absolutely! I will be hitting the road working 9-5 daily M-F. I will post updates in the community tab. Once I have enough data points I will make a full video on reality for work to include video teams meetings and different weather performance. I can’t wait for the freedom of working off grid and am happy to help others do the same.
@@OverlandCalling I would be interested in knowing what percentage of tree coverage for example that still will allow enough signal to stream video in 1080p?
Not sure I understand why you needed to boost to 36v?
I boosted above 12V to be able to use the 49ft cord that came with the mini without the voltage dropping below 12 over the long distance and thin wires. For power the mini can accept 12V-48v. I could have gone with 24V but I didn’t know that for sure at the time. The AC plug that comes with Starlink mini converts to 30V and I chose 36V because it was slightly higher than the voltage used with the AC adapter and I knew it would work. Once I got my next Amazon shipment in I was able to test and find out that USB C at 20V would also work using the 49ft cord. With that new knowledge I put out the second video on using USB C with the long cord.
@@OverlandCalling Makes sense... thanks! You saved me some mystery and some hassle.
100w 18v foldable panel work?
@@brockdelorenzo7505 I don’t know if 18V would work, but most likely it would. If foldable panel is a solar panel it most likely would not work direct wired unless it had PD protocol needed to manage power. The Starlink spec calls for 20v/5amp, but I have never seen it draw 5 amps. Maybe that is when using snowmelt.
No cell coverage. Will phone work through WiFi????
Ha! I just texted my buddy the exact same question since he uses Starlink at home and has no cell signal! The answer is yes! Got to phone Settings/Cellular/turn on WiFi for calling. He also recommended putting your phone in airplane mode since if it catches a hint of signal it will switch back to cell instead of Wifi and then it will drop cell connection if it is weak.
Can I upgrade 50GB mini plan to unlimited at any time?
I can’t say for sure, but that was my plan. I have the 50GB plan right now and if I need more I planned to change. Based on past plans it will likely require changing at my billing cycle date. If I need more GB I will likely have to pay per GB for overage until my billing cycle date comes around to be switched over to unlimited.
@@OverlandCallingGreat video and lots of great tips. I saw that you did an updated version(which I’ll watch next) but did not want to forget my question(in case it’s not answered in that video). Have you found that 50G works for what you do? I’m going to be living out of a vehicle for a couple of months and wondering how that 50G worked for your usage. Thanks!