Starlink works great until the cats find out that the dish gives off a little heat on cold days.

[NFUN]

[Lewie]

that is too cute! 

[Nuke]

to our feline overlords we salute you. 

[JoeSchmuckatelli]

On 1/1/2022 at 2:15 PM, NFUN said:

That's the best post all week! 

[KSK]

I thought Starlink used something a bit fancier than a Cat-5 connection…

 

[DDE]

Just now, KSK said:

I thought Starlink used something a bit fancier than a Cat-5 connection…

 

Lower meow-width, higher felinity?

Edited January 3, 2022 by DDE

[KSK]

I guess they could design something from scratch, yeah.

[Nuke]

On 1/3/2022 at 1:21 AM, KSK said:

I thought Starlink used something a bit fancier than a Cat-5 connection…

 

looks like it supports cat-6 to me. i could get my little one up there.

Edited January 5, 2022 by Nuke

[K^2]

You might have to sacrifice a heated blanket to create a more attractive perching spot in the vicinity if you want your internet back. 

[AtomicTech]

Well!

Now we know how to get free internet cat pics!

[magnemoe]

3 minutes ago, K^2 said:

You might have to sacrifice a heated blanket to create a more attractive perching spot in the vicinity if you want your internet back. 

Adding spikes like they tend to do on stuff on train stations to stop birds resting and then pooing on monitors would work, they would need to be of plastic here. 
Or just elevate it. I assume they wanted an flat profile because of wind but will not snow buildup be an issue? I assume its enter an sleep mode / low power with with no or low traffic. Having it tilt would probably solve this and will get rid of cats and birds. Now you have worse stuff like super cooled rain, your car is now armored including the doors and you are on the outside. Here an remote start and heat up function is nice. Now spikes would be an serious issue in this case as you need to melt the ice, an load sound would get cas moving. 

[K^2]

1 hour ago, magnemoe said:

Adding spikes like they tend to do on stuff on train stations to stop birds resting and then pooing on monitors would work, they would need to be of plastic here. 
Or just elevate it. I assume they wanted an flat profile because of wind but will not snow buildup be an issue? I assume its enter an sleep mode / low power with with no or low traffic. Having it tilt would probably solve this and will get rid of cats and birds. Now you have worse stuff like super cooled rain, your car is now armored including the doors and you are on the outside. Here an remote start and heat up function is nice. Now spikes would be an serious issue in this case as you need to melt the ice, an load sound would get cas moving. 

People with a lot of snowfall have complained about buildup. You can tell when something has been designed by Californians when we completely forget that snow happens.  I assume, under mild snowfall the warmth generated by the dish is enough to melt it, but there are plenty of places where that's not going to be enough, and you have to be able to sweep the thing. That's probably part of the reason why it's on the ground and not on the roof somewhere.

The problem with tilt is that the system decides on its own where to point the dish and that can change as the constellation shifts. So it really needs to work across a range of orientations, including with relatively flat top. I suppose, making the top into a round dome instead would have been better, but somebody probably decided that this is more compact. Probably not the best call, as round top would have helped with a lot of problems here.

Also, I can't help but notice that you focus on being mean to the cats so they leave, instead of being nice to cats somewhere else to lure them away. I won't lie, that upsets me just a little bit. 

[Starhawk]

There has been no sweeping of the Starlink in my yard.

We got over 50 centimeters of snow (about 20 inches) two days after this pic was taken.
I had to clear snow that built up around the dish and was higher than it, but the heat of the dish melts any snow that lands on it.

It seems to be engineered pretty well as far as I can tell.

Happy landings!

[kerbiloid]

A plastic radome.

[Scotius]

When comstellation (originally it was a typo i intended to correct. Then I've read it again, and... well, it's actually accurate word to describe Starlink. So it stays.) will be finished and fully operational, we will be able to fry eggs on the dish!

[DDE]

20 minutes ago, Scotius said:

When comstellation (originally it was a typo i intended to correct. Then I've read it again, and... well, it's actually accurate word to describe Starlink. So it stays.) will be finished and fully operational, we will be able to fry eggs on the dish!

"You may fry when ready"

[magnemoe]

11 hours ago, K^2 said:

Also, I can't help but notice that you focus on being mean to the cats so they leave, instead of being nice to cats somewhere else to lure them away. I won't lie, that upsets me just a little bit. 

Not hurting any cats just make them not use the antenna as resting spot.  If you have cats I would want them an outdoor area to rest, an cat door might be an better idea. 

Just make sure the car fit  

[K^2]

2 hours ago, magnemoe said:

If you have cats I would want them an outdoor area to rest, an cat door might be an better idea.

Non-starter for me personally. I live in one of the few areas where letting the cat out, I wouldn't be worried for the birds, but the other way around. Don't know which would get the cat first, the ravens or the eagles. But then we also don't get snow, as mentioned previously, so moot point.

But yeah, if cats go back and forward, you have a point. I'm assuming cats OP presented are kept outside, at least, during the day. Hence my suggestion of creating a warm spot for them somewhere. Though, in retrospect, heated blanket is probably not it.

[JoeSchmuckatelli]

My parents moved with their LA soft outdoor cats to Phoenix in the 90s.  They decided to try to make the cats be indoor kitties. 

New house had ceiling fans.  Freaked one of the cats out.  Like seriously, instinctive, unreasoned fear.  We figure the cat thought the fan was an eagle. Cat kept trying to escape to the safety of being outside. 

 

... 

 

One of these lived in the saguaro cactus on the hill behind their home 

https://www.desertmuseum.org/kids/oz/long-fact-sheets/Great horned owl.php

Never saw the cat again 

 

Edited January 6, 2022 by JoeSchmuckatelli

[Nuke]

5 hours ago, K^2 said:

Non-starter for me personally. I live in one of the few areas where letting the cat out, I wouldn't be worried for the birds, but the other way around. Don't know which would get the cat first, the ravens or the eagles. But then we also don't get snow, as mentioned previously, so moot point.

But yeah, if cats go back and forward, you have a point. I'm assuming cats OP presented are kept outside, at least, during the day. Hence my suggestion of creating a warm spot for them somewhere. Though, in retrospect, heated blanket is probably not it.

we have had an unusually harsh winter this year. as a result the cats have been banned from the outside. i usually do that every winter just to save on heating costs. a cat will typically demand the door be opened and then spend 10 minutes in the door way trying to decide if they want to go out or not. every time id go out to shovel snow one of them had to come out and watch but never left the arctic entry and then complain when i try to bring them in. i figure a lot of cat owners just give into the cat's demands. its when they get stuck out thats the problem. cats are smart enough to find their own heat, and usually in places that pose a danger, like inside somone's engine compartment or transformer at the nearest substation. the starlink dish is probibly harmless, but i cant imagine the added weight of 5 cats being good for the dish's servo motors. if i had a cat flap id be sure to also provide a heated outdoor cat shelter.  dish owners would be wise to put the thing at least 6 feet of the ground  (or however high makes the cats stay off of it, i once had a cat that could jump 7 feet straight up). thats low enough you could knock snow down with a snow shovel. 

its also possible that some of those cats are strays. and short of finding homes for them all, you can either deny access or give them a more comfortable alternative. 

bird wise were about the same, eagles, ravens and a number of species of sea birds. when my old kitty walked off to die, im pretty sure he fed some of the local eagles. we had a neighbor who was fond of feeding the pigeons and now they own the power lines near here. i keep finding piles of bird feathers around here as well, if they dont clear out by spring im going to have to make sure my cats are up to date on their anti-parasitic meds, because i have one that will hunt them. 

Edited January 6, 2022 by Nuke

[StrandedonEarth]

19 minutes ago, Nuke said:

a cat will typically demand the door be opened and then spend 10 minutes in the door way trying to decide if they want to go out or not.

Cats have those times when they don't want to be inside or outside, they just want to be between

[splashboom]

Here I was hoping that adding cats to Starlink would improve reception