[Pollard]

At first I thought Starlink would give a off grid solution to internet. When I looked at the power consumption that did not look favorable.

Tell me more. And these things have a heater built in? Yuck.

[BBB333]

“Tell me more. And these things have a heater built in? Yuck.”

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Yes, there is a heater as some installations require the dish to be mounted on a roof (or someplace equally inaccessible during the winter months).

You can choose, via the app:

OFF: Never use extra power to melt snow (southern climes or off the grid folks that have a way to clear the dish from snow),

AUTOMATIC: Automatically detect snow and heat up when needed,

PRE-HEAT: Keep warm to better resist snow build-up. This option may increase power consumption,

I use AUTOMATIC and it works very well. My client lives on the other side of the valley in a very snowy and inaccessible area and uses PRE-HEAT.

Your mileage may vary...

[Texas Fossil]

It is not intended to be a heater. the dish is electronically steered, so the dish is an active not a passive antenna. That is what generates the heat.