Richard W. Price

View Original

Baja Prep: T-Minus 34 Days - She Calls Me Custom

The truck interior is still disassembled, two of three batteries are uninstalled, the engine bay looks like black and red spaghetti, and the compressor is still not plumbed.

But, hey, at least the Kilmat is in, which should make for a quieter ride!

And Starlink arrived.

But it's not quite as plug-and-play as I imagined.

Despite being a "portable" solution good for "off-grid" it's wired for regular household current at 110 volts.

A normal person would probably say screw it and get an inverter or plug it into the portable battery box they carry in their truck that has such a plug.

But I have no time for games, and Julia doesn't call me Custom for nothing.

I want this thing set up and ready to go at a moment's notice - I don't want to mess with getting out the battery box and running wires and whatnot every time I need to check my email or get on a Zoom meeting.

There has to be a better way.

It needs DC power without an inverter.

So now, in my Amazon shopping cart, are the following items:

-POE injector

-12v power supply

-Shelly connector

-RJ45/Cat6 adapters

-various cables & crimpers

All of which, once properly assembled, should allow me to wire this thing directly to the truck's battery and, as a bonus, reset & reorient the dish from my phone without having to push a button on the router.

Do I have any clue what I'm doing?

No.

Will this work?

50/50

Do I have to cut the proprietary cords that came with the Starlink?

Yes.

Do I risk blowing up the Starlink?

Probably.

Am I going to do it anyway?

Yes, unless one of you has a better idea.

And, by all means, if you do - please speak up.