Information on climbing installs for Starlink?

[Haplo]

If you want a tree then don't top it. Like was said before, the new shoots will quickly obscure the receiver anyway.

If you want an antenna pole, then cut every branch off the tree and hope it dies. Maybe you have to come back next year to clear some shoots. Maybe hit the wounds with round up. Be sure to get your receiver out of the tree before it rots too bad to climb

 

[skeet88]

If the Starlink is installed 100’ up in a pine tree , what happens when the wind blows? Won’t the signal strength be affected? Not a climber by trade, but have climbed 30-40’ for deer hunting and have considerable sway when the wind blew. I could only imagine what it would be like at 100’ .

 

[ken morgan]

It's sad that is even a question in 2022. Anybody who has been paying any attention at all to appropriate tree care knows topping is not an acceptable practice. I'm NOT saying it isn't done...it is, far too often. I AM saying it is a bad practice.

There are 2 kinds of people who top trees:
A) Don't know what they are doing...they have a chainsaw and a truck and are just cutting stuff because somebody paid them to do it. (or a homeowner is doing it because the think something needs cut and they don't know any better). They know nothing or proper tree care or how trees respond to wounding. If these folks have been around for a while, they are the ones of whom it is said "he doesn't have 30 years of experience...he has one year of experience repeated 30 times".
---Or the alternative---
B) Know exactly what they are doing...destroying a tree such that somebody will need to be back in a few years to deal with it again (and they expect it will be them). They know the wounds will lead to significant rot. They know full well that the response growth will be poorly attached and begin to fall apart so the client will call them back to "thin it out" or "clean it up" and they'll top it again. After a few cycles of that, the tree needs removed. If the naive client still owns the house, they'll call their regular tree guy to take it down.

Here are a few links if you want to read more:
https://extension.psu.edu/dont-top-treeshttps://www.treesaregood.org/treeowner/pruningyourtreeshttps://ucanr.edu/blogs/blogcore/postdetail.cfm?postnum=30077https://hort.ifas.ufl.edu/woody/do-not-top.shtmlhttps://www.dnr.wa.gov/anti-tree-topping

blah blah blah top the trash tree and chop it into firewood two season later when it dies... whats the issue?

 

[WIMMPYIII]

I have been installing clients, micropops, backhauls for wisps for years. In that time i have never once topped a tree for this. #1 it isn't necessary, clear some headroom and use standoffs. #2 It damages a tree that may be valuable to the property for generations for the use as a tower at the very least. I have had to do my best to mitigate the issues of trees being topped for antennas. The short term issue is the suckers that try and compensate for the damage and limbs below trying to become codominant tops. Long term issue of heart rot. Most clients don't understand how quickly all this can become an issue, it is your job as a respectable professional to do everything in your power to help them understand. Sometimes that means walking away from a job opportunity although with the proper convincing that's pretty rare.
Yet with all that i am about to do my first topping for a starlink install. It is in a old growth Douglas Fir that is already in decline and the top has already been dead for decades.

 

[TheJollyLogger]

I have been installing clients, micropops, backhauls for wisps for years. In that time i have never once topped a tree for this. #1 it isn't necessary, clear some headroom and use standoffs. #2 It damages a tree that may be valuable to the property for generations for the use as a tower at the very least. I have had to do my best to mitigate the issues of trees being topped for antennas. The short term issue is the suckers that try and compensate for the damage and limbs below trying to become codominant tops. Long term issue of heart rot. Most clients don't understand how quickly all this can become an issue, it is your job as a respectable professional to do everything in your power to help them understand. Sometimes that means walking away from a job opportunity although with the proper convincing that's pretty rare.
Yet with all that i am about to do my first topping for a starlink install. It is in a old growth Douglas Fir that is already in decline and the top has already been dead for decades.

Yeah, what he said, well put.

 

[TreeSook]

I’m not sure why everyone’s knickers are in a knot. This is a perfectly acceptable reason to top this tree, I’d personally ring bark it and look at installing eyelets for a future taught wire stability system. Another issue I wonder about is the length of cable to the wifi router and if it would introduce latency into the connection. Satellite already struggles with latency issues, not sure you’d want to introduce more.

 

[WIMMPYIII]

I’m not sure why everyone’s knickers are in a knot. This is a perfectly acceptable reason to top this tree, I’d personally ring bark it and look at installing eyelets for a future taught wire stability system. Another issue I wonder about is the length of cable to the wifi router and if it would introduce latency into the connection. Satellite already struggles with latency issues, not sure you’d want to introduce more.

Starlink latency is super low not anything like other providers 1000s of miles in space. 150ft is as far as you can go with the cable with stock parts ordered from starlink but proprietary POE power injection can be done with the right now how and get you 100s of feet to reach from the building out and 200ft up a tree. Tree sway isnt an issue at all due to phased array antenna tech. Most people get uninterrupted 150mbps or more with 30-60ms latency up in the trees.

 

[sb47]

Seems like an invite for a lightning strike to destroy your electronics.

 

[SteveInOregon]

popcorn

 

[just phil]

I have installed starlink using a 20’ long pole with the appropriate I.D. For the leg of the dish. I toss the factory tripod out, insert the stem of starlink into the pole, then I lash and zip tie the pole to a half dozen branches and project the pole with dish many feet above the top of the tree.
Also I do sprinklers this way too! 600-800 CAD depending on how far of a drive it is

 

[Montana_Sam]

Haha glad to see this thread.

I have done about a dozen Starlink installs in a remote mountain community near Glacier Park. Each one is the same...find a tall, stout, good looking larch (tamarack) near the home that the homeowner is okay with turning into a telephone pole...then climb, limb and top the tree at 100', or roughly 8" diameter. Put a sloping cut on the top so it sheds snow, away from the dish. Carve out a square ledge and attach the arm mount, haul up the dish and install it, fencing staple the cord on my way down (loose enough so the cord can move). A local electrician usually comes along afterwards and runs the cable through PVC or conduit and into the houe. I charge $450 for this operation, takes about 2 hours.

I top the tree because it greatly reduces the amount of movement once the bole dries out, and most homeowners have way too many trees anyway. I'm confident the tree will stand LONG after Starlink technology becomes obsolete. Typically this will boost their internet speed from 10-30 MBPS to well over 120 MBPS....with no obstructions....folks are more than happy for the service!

I did two installs today and thought I'd do a little research to see if other guys are installing Starlinks in trees...looks like it's still catching on.

 

[GenXer]

My starlink is on the ground and surrounded by trees, no problems with it or obstructions. I use a better router and I get around 200Mbps.

 

[sb47]

Why would you want or need to put it on a tall pole? The signal is coming from space. Mounting it on a pole is not getting it any closer to the satellite.

 

[GenXer]

Why would you want or need to put it on a tall pole? The signal is coming from space. Mounting it on a pole is not getting it any closer to the satellite.

The satellite signal hits the ground. And when it's self setting, one doesn't know the general direction without the starlink app. My TV and the old sat internet dishes all point in a sw to west direction. The starlink it is pointed north.

 

[GenXer]

Haha glad to see this thread.

I have done about a dozen Starlink installs in a remote mountain community near Glacier Park. Each one is the same...find a tall, stout, good looking larch (tamarack) near the home that the homeowner is okay with turning into a telephone pole...then climb, limb and top the tree at 100', or roughly 8" diameter. Put a sloping cut on the top so it sheds snow, away from the dish. Carve out a square ledge and attach the arm mount, haul up the dish and install it, fencing stable the cord on my way down (loose enough so the cord can move). A local electrician usually comes along afterwards and runs the cable through PVC or conduit and into the houe. I charge $450 for this operation, takes about 2 hours.

I top the tree because it greatly reduces the amount of movement once the bole dries out, and most homeowners have way too many trees anyway. I'm confident the tree will stand LONG after Starlink technology becomes obsolete. Typically this will boost their internet speed from 10-30 MBPS to well over 120 MBPS....with no obstructions....folks are more than happy for the service!

I did two installs today and thought I'd do a little research to see if other guys are installing Starlinks in trees...looks like it's still catching on.

View attachment 1115204

2 questions...

1 where do you get the 200ft cable for the dish to house?

2, why not the peak of the metal roof of the house? From your picture it would have worked on the house.

 

[Montana_Sam]

GenXer:

1. The homeowners provide a 150ft Starlink cable...so perhaps 100' up a tree was a stretch, but as high as I can get and still have cord left to run into the house. I'd guess 75' or 80' is average height.

2. Most of the homeowners have already tried the peaks of their house, peaks of garage, mounted in their lawn...all to no success. About a year ago one of my tree clients, a retired electrical engineer, called me to come do my first Starlink install. He had it all lined out, knew exactly what and how he wanted it done. I installed it as I outlined earlier and it has since worked extraordinarily well for him. So much so that all his neighbors now have a similar setup...and the install jobs just keep coming.

I'm not a Starlink expert...but this community is in the mountains, surrounded by mountains, and has very tall trees. I don't think the folks get great reception from their house-peak-mount locations, so up in the trees seems to work the best.

 

[ColoCoug]

The signal depends on line of sight to the satellite, not dish height. If a clear line of sight is available from the ground and no leaf canopy blocks it, something shoulder high works fine. However, if a home is surrounded by tall trees and no line of sight is available from a nearby ground location, I can see where a tall mount would work. Just be ready for loss of service if the dish gets covered by a heavy, wet snow... and a dish mounted that high is impossible to clean off.

 

[Montana_Sam]

The signal depends on line of sight to the satellite, not dish height. If a clear line of sight is available from the ground and no leaf canopy blocks it, something shoulder high works fine. However, if a home is surrounded by tall trees and no line of sight is available from a nearby ground location, I can see where a tall mount would work. Just be ready for loss of service if the dish gets covered by a heavy, wet snow... and a dish mounted that high is impossible to clean off.

Good points. Apparently the dish's are self-heated, so they'll melt the snow off eventually.

 

[samhop]

.
great thread.

fyi. the starlink satellites are not geo-stationary in the 2 years i have used it both Azimuth and Elevation have chainged

 

[GenXer]