If they made it possible to disable the heating element (ie. require a human to wipe snow off it) then it would be a lot more viable for hiking.

The large version draws 45-70w so a airplane carry-on legal USB-C powerbank could power it for 1-2 hours.

Fairly sure the heat is just a byproduct of the phased array antenna no?

I think you may be right, I read a HN comment a long time ago saying that they had a heater but it seems they do not.

They do have a heater in some versions - uses another 30-50 watts and is for melting snow.

It's just running the chips hot.

previous HN thread on this: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=29943898

I guess any sufficiently inefficient computer is indistinguishable from a space heater.

I thought it was for comforting cats.

They have it.

This is from the official docs [1]: Snow Melt Capability: Up to 25mm / hour (1 in / hour)

[1] https://api.starlink.com/public-files/specification_sheet_mi...

It's not just a byproduct. There's a definite mode it switches into, that can be disabled, that draws additional power in order to heat the dish up. There is no heating element, but the community understanding is that the radio elements are themselves used to do the heating.

You already can disable the heating element from the app on the current models

If considering, keep in mind that Starlink is used for warfare well beyond Ukraine, https://www.reddit.com/r/ChatGPT/comments/1dgyujd/comment/l8...

Yup, my issue with Starlink is giving money to a company owned by Musk. I will avoid that as much as possible.

Both Tesla and SpaceX have an incredibly positive impact on the world so I find this attitude hilarious

Tesla and SpaceX collectively employ 113,000 people, and I really think the story should be more about them than the guy who has the keys to the nicest office in the building. Gwynne Shotwell is a hell of an administrator. Without Starlink, I wouldn't have broadband!

Elon Musk makes his questionable opinions public, but we don't know if the Hughes or Chevrolet CEO has bad opinions for which they must be cancelled, because they have PR teams and filters and the sense not to shitpost. It's possible that no product is safe.

In a liberal and civilized society no one "must be cancelled" for opinions. And I personally much prefer they openly share their convictions than sneakily hiding behind corporate speak. What you're describing is done out of cowardice and greed. Maybe Tesla's stock would be higher if Musk let his PR team do the tweeting, like Bezos does. But why would anyone sensible want to listen to that? They'll say anything as long as it makes their boss look good. More importantly, what kind of person has that kind of wealth and yet is still concerned mainly with the share price and not what their conviction tells them to stand up for? There are more important things in life than money.

Nuance lost while attempting to approach the topic from GP's perspective. I don't personally adhere to cancel mob culture. My point is: they're likely all some variety of cartoon villain, given (my experience of) the sort of people who make it to that level, so singling out a bunch of compelling products because you know one specific dude who is peripherally involved is a socially-inept tosser is disingenuous at best and self-sabotage at worst.

people are allowed to think or say whatever they want to. steve job

If you are considering clothes, its also used for soldiers.

You obviously didn't read the link, it's way worse/more direct than you are thinking.

It's pretty silly you linked to a screenshot of some random Grok output

Read the comments

This new dish should be under 5kg.

It weights 1.16 kg (2.56 lb) with Kickstand. It's quite impressive.

Source: https://api.starlink.com/public-files/specification_sheet_mi...

This is under 2kg