Transporting “Dishy” Safely
“Dishy” is a nickname given to the Starlink satellite dish. The equipment kit cost around $600 and I had to spend an additional couple hundred to get a longer cable and Ethernet adapter. The longer cable is to give me more reach to find a clear view of the sky, or the ability to raise Dishy higher, and the Ethernet cable adapter is to get off of Starlink’s routing. I prefer to manage my own networks, routing, VPN, switching, and wireless access. To achieve this with Starlink, you need to hand off a public IP address to your managed device. It’s possible over wireless, but foolish due to speed issues. An Ethernet cable is much faster.
We also take Dishy along with us in our mobile lifestyle, so packing about a thousand dollars worth of not fragile, but delicate tech stuff should not be taken lightly. I made a box for the outdoor weather station unit out of cardboard, but for Dishy, I chose a Pelican 1610 case. The case can be purchased empty, or with foam inserts that have those little pre-cut notches so you can pinch out the necessary pieces to accommodate your items.
By the way, this has been done before; it’s not an original idea. But it’s still kinda cool.
Put Dishy into “Storage” mode through the app, meaning the dish fully tilts on its support arm, and in this way, Dishy minimizes its overall girth.
Here’s the Pelican 1610 full of foam:
Here’s the case with the lower foam removed and all the equipment loose:
The technique is simple. You layout the foam trimming by using toothpicks to trace the outline:
And then pinch and pull:
Set the bottom piece of foam in the bottom of the case:
And the first layer cut out for Dishy and the supplied WiFi/Router device:
Check the fit:
Trim and insert the next layer of foam:
Add Dishy’s legs:
And toss in the rest of the gear:
Upper left is the Ethernet Adapter. Upper right is a travel router from https://www.gl-inet.com/, the GL-MT3000 / Beryl AX, a powerful and feature laden device. Middle left edge is the power cord for the Starlink WiFi/Router, which is the white wedge top center. The case closes nicely and all the gear is ready for travel.
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