[CQ-Contest] StarLink and remote contesting?

Mike Smith VE9AA ve9aa at nbnet.nb.ca
Thu Mar 2 14:45:25 EST 2023


I've been asked to partake in some remote contesting here and there, but my
local internet provider is not-the-best at providing consistency to say the
least, so unfortunately I have had to disappoint my team and drop out. It's
very disheartening and a little embarrassing to be "that guy".  Today I am
"that guy" but hoping to get FB information from the great contesters on
this list !

 

Anyways, my ISP is my only local option, so I am kinda stuck for local
providers.  There is no (coax) cable, glassfiber, DSL or wireless in my area
except the one I am with now. (Yeah, I really AM that far out in the
puckerbrush!) Fantastic for low snr radio and hunting/fishing but notsomuch
for qrq internet hi.we get our TV via Bell Satellite, but it's expensive
enough already and I think the Internet is even worse. I understand when I
last checked it out that latency #'s were huge.

 

Has anyone used Starlink to remote into their contest station?

 

AFAICT, it's now available in my area and I'd likely go with the $850 pkg
vs. the $2500 pkg.  I've only just started to research but so far have not
found terms like latency, jitter or packet loss in the docs I've seen.

 

Does anyone have some advice whether it's doable via Starlink?

 

Today my local internet has latency #'s up to 5.35 seconds and up/dn-load
speeds of less than dialup (I wish I was kidding).  Other times, I see about
70ms latency, 20Mb down and 1Mb up which (to me) seems abt normal.  

 

I did the WAG contest remote and was seeing latency numbers approaching 2
seconds so I know for sure  that number is way too high. (2-3 second delays
were painful for me and I am sure all the Germans calling me)

 

What are good #'s and what does Starlink give?

 

Advice?

 

Tnx all !

 

Mike - VE9AA

Keswick Ridge, NB

 



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