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Re:Starlink Maritime by HWR_14 on Friday July 08, 2022 @01:28AM (#32023631)
Doesn't RF just get shot in all directions and get picked up by the satellites easily, whereas the lasers need to aim precisely when transmitted?
Re:Starlink Maritime by jhugo on Friday July 08, 2022 @04:01AM (#32024128)
You'd need an excessively powerful transmitter to use an omnidirectional antenna. In the context of a satellite, where power efficiency is crucial, it makes much more sense to use a lower-power transmitter and a directional antenna / beamforming.
Re:Starlink Maritime by HWR_14 on Friday July 08, 2022 @04:44PM (#32026747)
Hmmm... but less precision is still required than optical lasers, right?
Re:Starlink Maritime by jhugo on Saturday July 09, 2022 @03:36AM (#32032789)
A bit? It doesn't really change the nature of the problem, just the tolerances. It's nowhere near the intractable problem that some people make it out to be.
Re:Starlink Maritime by HWR_14 on Saturday July 09, 2022 @06:04PM (#32039702)
I mean, we are all aware each extra 9 of precision/uptime/etc. is far more expensive than the last. If the lasers require an order of magnitude more precision (and I could imagine it being higher), it would be a far far harder problem.