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by shaklee3 2310 days ago
> The motorized mount is only for pointing optimization during the installation process; it's not going to be constantly motoring around.

Please cite a source on that one. If they're putting a motor on just for installation to point to roughly the right spot, that's a ton of money spent on a motor for a single-use item. That will again point to it not being a consumer product. What's more likely is the motor is making up for the poor scan loss of the cheaper phased array.
1 comments
Robotbeat 2310 days ago
But a one-time-use, non-precision motor is pretty inexpensive. A precision motor that has to run 24/7 outside in the elements is super expensive.

Musk is trying to get rid of the $100 cost of professional installation by substituting with a $10 motor. I'm not sure it'll be successful (I wouldn't be surprised if professional installation still ends up happening and they eventually delete the motors), but that is the plan. It's just to get a good view of the sky, not to scan. A reliable scanning motor would cost a lot more. (And they need to track multiple satellites at once... can't do that with a single array steered by a motor, has to be beam-steered.)

Source is here: "Looks like a thin, flat, round UFO on a stick. Starlink Terminal has motors to self-adjust optimal angle to view sky. Instructions are simply: - Plug in socket - Point at sky These instructions work in either order. No training required." https://mobile.twitter.com/elonmusk/status/12145487640542167...

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shaklee3 2310 days ago
Trust me -- it's NOT inexpensive. Maybe your definition of inexpensive is different from mine, but adding $20-$30 onto the cost of every install is a massive expense, especially when you still have to send a trained installer out to do it. You can't rely on an end user to do it since there are all kinds of issues with placement/blockage/etc. If you choose to ignore that, you spend more money on customer support to help them install it. Notice Elon doesn't say that end users will do it. He just said no training required, just like you don't need training to install tiles in your house either.
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