Navatech — Starlink Tracker

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Interference – other TX/RX units onboard

The Starlink flat panel antennas are operating in Ku-band. Antennas shall be mounted outside the radar beam according to described minimum angle. NB! The radars might degrade the Starlink service, even when mounted according to the below recommendation.

Keep a minimum distance of:

2 meters from Starlink antenna to any Ku-band antenna (VSAT).

1.5 meters from the Starlink antenna to any L-band antenna (FBB, Certus etc).

1.5m from Starlink antenna to MF/HF/VHF, LTE and GPS antennas

Onboard mount position

The Field of View (FOV) out of a Starlink flat panel antenna is 140 degrees. The antennas are tilted 8 degrees from the horizon when installed on wedge mount, to allow water to drain off the panel.

The two antennas should be tilted in opposite directions to each other, and away from blockage.

The two antennas shall have a minimum blockage.

The two antennas must not share the same blocking sectors concerning azimuth and elevation.

The minimum distance between the two Starlink antennas is 1.5 m.

Mast

Each flat panel antenna shall be mounted on top of a flat horizontal foundation, e.g. on top of a mast. Depending on the mast’ diameter and height, it must be considered use of braces or other measures to make the mount foundation solid. The total weight of the antenna and wedge mount is 7 kg. It shall be possible to have safe access to the flat panel antenna for inspection and service. Below is a generic example of a pedestal. It is not required to pull the cable through the pedestal, it can also be tied up on the outside of it, but there must be support for cable and cable ties.

Wedge Mount

The flat panel antenna is mounted on an 8-10 degrees tilted wedge mount. The wedge mount is interfacing with the customer-prepared base. The bracket is tilted to prevent water / snow from build-up. The pedestal should have four Ø8mm holes 142.2mm and 233.7mm apart as shown below.

RF & Cabling

By default, the Starlink system is delivered with an 8-meter cable between the antenna and the power supply, which will carry both power and data traffic. The default cable can be replaced by an optional 25-meter cable, which is pre-terminated with Starlink proprietary connectors on both ends. The 25-meter cable is the longest cable that can be used between the antenna and the power supply.

Values are typical; confirm exact loss at your operating frequency and connector type from vendor datasheets.

Ethernet

Ethernet UTP Cable (Unshielded) – RJ45 Male connector

The picture below shows the normal color coding for a straight through Ethernet RJ45 connection:

Crossed ETH

The picture below shows the crossed over color coding:

R11 Male connector

The RJ11 connector is used to connect to various type of voice equipment, such as the FXS ports on the Sangoma Vega 50/60 voice gateway. Only the blue/blue-white pair of the Ethernet cable is necessary in these cases, connected to the middle pair of the RJ11 connector (pin 3 and 4). Polairty is irrelevant.

Starlink Cable

Due to different connector types, it might be preferred to start pulling the cable from the antenna side. The connectors must be protected against physical damage, water and salt during the pulling of the cable and when not connected to the antenna and power supply. Remember the two connectors are different on each side of the cable. The cable between the antenna and the power supply must never be connected/disconnected while the power supply is energized. This is to remove the risk of short-circuiting the 48VDC which runs on the cable.

Dual Starlink setup

PSU Setup

Antenna setup comes with 8meter and 25meter Cable between Terminal and antenna.
Some info when chosen the setup:
We have seen some clients have used 25meter that are max length, and over time the system has been degrading and service has not been 100% and have to replace the cable.

We do recommend to use as short as cable as possible (8meter), and then use a Junction box setup close to the antenna, so the Starlink Cable are as short as possible. And then use CAT V or CAT VII and a separate power cable from Junction box from a Power distribution unit. To make the system best and too have redundancy we do recommend one JB (junction box) at each antenna.

Power Cable

Tools

Crimping tool for ferrules
Knife
Combination plier
Side cutter
Self-amalgamating tape
UV protective electrical tape

STEP 1:

Cut and remove 12 to 15 cm of the outer shield

STEP 2:

Remove the copper armor and plastic inner cover. Tape transition with black electrical tape.Some location want you to twist up the copper armor and connected this to GND.

STEP 3:

Remove 12 to 15 mm off the inner shield of the end. Use bootlace ferrule on the ends and remove/cut any excess wire.

Commissioning & Testing

Verify antenna are connected and turn on also recard the KIT nr for futrue refernce, special when you have 2 Kits
Connect a PC/laptop to the unit, default IP:192.168.100.1
Use a web browser and log into the terminal.

Check the speed by doing a speedtest on ex: www.speedtest.net.

take a screen shots of the status etc.

Capture final photos (mount, cable routing, labels, grounding).

Common Mistakes

Mounting on flexible or corroded structures.
Skipping waterproofing on outdoor connectors.
Ignoring skew/polarization settings.
Leaving unsecured cables that flap in wind and detune alignment.

Safety

Use fall protection, tag-out procedures, and weather windows. Keep a spotter during mast work. Treat all masts and rails as potential RF exposure zones; follow site RF safety limits and lock TX when personnel are near the antenna.

Quick Checklist

Mast plumb ✔
LoS verified ✔
Az/El/Skew set ✔
Beacon peaked & torqued ✔
Grounding & waterproofing ✔
Photos & handover docs ✔