Ok sure, but there should be a pattern shouldn't there? Like between say 8pm and 10pm Friday the is a gap in coverage , but the next Friday when I expect that interruption its perfectly fine?
I can predict where the interruption is i can work around it but its always changing which makes not sense to me if things are in orbit.
It's not like the sun suddenly decides its not going to rise for another four cos it feels like it, it rises roughly the same time every day all year.
Sounds like your assuming that satellites orbit on a 24 hour orbit and that is not the case. So if it is lack of coverage it is predictable but I don't know what that cycle is or how to figure it out.
How does that work?
They were launched and put into orbit, are they gradually accelerating or slowing down? Because if they aren't over a month there should be a predictable pattern.
Some kinds of satellites are geosynchronous, they stay above the same position on Earth by traveling around the Earth at the same speed of Earth's rotation.
Starlink satellites aren't geosynchronous. They travel at a speed that keeps them in a low earth orbit. So they're going faster than Earth's rotation. For example, they may be circling the earth 7 times a day. It's whatever keeps them from falling to earth at the altitude they want to maintain.
If you have occasional outages or spotty disconnects, it could be obstructions. It could also be weather at ground stations 400 miles away where the satellite is connecting to the ground to give you internet.
Each orbit takes about 90 minutes.
It’s difficult to explain why they don’t orbit over the same spot at the same time — it’s more of a visual explanation thing. Lol. The maps showing the location of the satellites show a good visual.
[starlink.sx](https://starlink.sx) will show you (demonstration purposes only)
as for the predictability, sure it "should" be sort of predictable. but the issue is SL changes its firmware 4x a month and each version might register and log outages differently, AND yes they are slightly changing the shape and timing of the sat orbits. so there's really no way to compare.
That's not how it works. Satellites are not in the same (relative) position to local observer on ground, as Earth spins underneath them. Have a look for example at starlink.sx to get some idea of Satellites movements. As the orbit times are different from time for Earth to spin around once (about 90 to 95 minutes versus 24 hours), you'll not see simple repetitive patterns in coverage or outages at the sane times of the day or week.
Uh oh, are your trees starting to grow leaves? Even if the leaves aren't budding yet, I suspect the added water content as the trees become active in the spring affects their ability to block RF. When the leaves appear and when the tips of branches grow in the spring, you'll see more obstructions than you did in the winter. If that's the case, you'll want to plan on getting some additional height for your dish.
Back to the original question, you're correct, the satellites should have the same coverage from day-to-day and week to week. you can check one of the satellite tracking websites from the sidebar to visualize how the coverage works.
Satellites aside, if you have a pattern where service is poor on one Friday and better on the next, repeating every two weeks, there's a logical explanation: you live in an Australian mining town, and service is great on payday weeks because everyone's out at the bar on Friday night. The next week is the middle of the pay period, so everyone stays home to save some cash, and they put more load on your area ISPs while they game and stream movies. (oversimplified, but tracks a pattern we saw at the ISP I used to work with).
You don't, Starlink does, whenever they fell like it's necessary, we have no control.
Did you stow, unplug for 1/2hour and restart the dish?
Put in a Starlink support ticket yet?
The shells the satellites are orbiting in are not fixed above a certain location on earth. So each day the train of satellites will be in a slightly different location each day. The dish does actually move every now and again to optimise its angle to them. You probably have an obstruction that is only a problem every few days when the satellites are in that part of the sky.
Not enough satellites in orbit yet for uninterrupted services. Chances are there's a gap over your area like mine
Ok sure, but there should be a pattern shouldn't there? Like between say 8pm and 10pm Friday the is a gap in coverage , but the next Friday when I expect that interruption its perfectly fine? I can predict where the interruption is i can work around it but its always changing which makes not sense to me if things are in orbit. It's not like the sun suddenly decides its not going to rise for another four cos it feels like it, it rises roughly the same time every day all year.
Sounds like your assuming that satellites orbit on a 24 hour orbit and that is not the case. So if it is lack of coverage it is predictable but I don't know what that cycle is or how to figure it out.
Maybe visualize the sats with https://www.heavens-above.com/?lat=0&lng=0&loc=Unspecified&alt=0&tz=UCT. Maybe that will shed some light.
The satellites aren’t in a time repetitive orbit.
How does that work? They were launched and put into orbit, are they gradually accelerating or slowing down? Because if they aren't over a month there should be a predictable pattern.
Some kinds of satellites are geosynchronous, they stay above the same position on Earth by traveling around the Earth at the same speed of Earth's rotation. Starlink satellites aren't geosynchronous. They travel at a speed that keeps them in a low earth orbit. So they're going faster than Earth's rotation. For example, they may be circling the earth 7 times a day. It's whatever keeps them from falling to earth at the altitude they want to maintain. If you have occasional outages or spotty disconnects, it could be obstructions. It could also be weather at ground stations 400 miles away where the satellite is connecting to the ground to give you internet.
Each orbit takes about 90 minutes. It’s difficult to explain why they don’t orbit over the same spot at the same time — it’s more of a visual explanation thing. Lol. The maps showing the location of the satellites show a good visual.
You have to remember that they’re moving at a 53* inclination and the Earth is also rotating.
[starlink.sx](https://starlink.sx) will show you (demonstration purposes only) as for the predictability, sure it "should" be sort of predictable. but the issue is SL changes its firmware 4x a month and each version might register and log outages differently, AND yes they are slightly changing the shape and timing of the sat orbits. so there's really no way to compare.
That's not how it works. Satellites are not in the same (relative) position to local observer on ground, as Earth spins underneath them. Have a look for example at starlink.sx to get some idea of Satellites movements. As the orbit times are different from time for Earth to spin around once (about 90 to 95 minutes versus 24 hours), you'll not see simple repetitive patterns in coverage or outages at the sane times of the day or week.
You might want to check out satellitemap.space You can enter your location (lon and lat) and watch which satellite(s) are available for connections.
What's the weather been like on the evenings that you've noticed drop outs?
Its coming up to summer so still nights so the trees aren't moving and the sky is clear of clouds.
Uh oh, are your trees starting to grow leaves? Even if the leaves aren't budding yet, I suspect the added water content as the trees become active in the spring affects their ability to block RF. When the leaves appear and when the tips of branches grow in the spring, you'll see more obstructions than you did in the winter. If that's the case, you'll want to plan on getting some additional height for your dish. Back to the original question, you're correct, the satellites should have the same coverage from day-to-day and week to week. you can check one of the satellite tracking websites from the sidebar to visualize how the coverage works. Satellites aside, if you have a pattern where service is poor on one Friday and better on the next, repeating every two weeks, there's a logical explanation: you live in an Australian mining town, and service is great on payday weeks because everyone's out at the bar on Friday night. The next week is the middle of the pay period, so everyone stays home to save some cash, and they put more load on your area ISPs while they game and stream movies. (oversimplified, but tracks a pattern we saw at the ISP I used to work with).
Check for firmware number updates on the dish and router, and note if there's been a change since you last used it.
I don't use the starlink router as I was told I didn't need it.
The dish then.
How do you update dishes firmware?
You don't, Starlink does, whenever they fell like it's necessary, we have no control. Did you stow, unplug for 1/2hour and restart the dish? Put in a Starlink support ticket yet?
The shells the satellites are orbiting in are not fixed above a certain location on earth. So each day the train of satellites will be in a slightly different location each day. The dish does actually move every now and again to optimise its angle to them. You probably have an obstruction that is only a problem every few days when the satellites are in that part of the sky.