Written companions to my YouTube video reviews.
Powering a Starlink Mini from a vehicle sounds simple until you realize your car’s outlet puts out around 12V, and a Starlink Mini works best with a higher, steady voltage. That’s where a step-up converter comes in. For this review, I tested the STARGEAR Starlink Mini 12V to 30V Car Adapter in my Jeep. STARGEAR […]
When I head to the beach or the lake, I bring a lot of rechargeable gear: paddle board inflators, a water scooter, phones, and more. Instead of charging everything the night before and hoping it lasts, I wanted a way to charge it all from my vehicle. So I brought the Pro Chaser 400W Power […]
Most camping lanterns are bulky, and they only light up a small circle. This one takes a different approach. It folds down to about the size of a phone, and in a few seconds you inflate it into a long light tube that brightens a much bigger area. BILTRTE sent me its BILTRTE 24″ Inflatable […]
The solar charge controller is the brain of any off-grid solar system. It sits between your solar panels and your battery, and it decides how much power goes in and when. A good one gets more power out of your panels and protects your battery. SunSwift sent me its SunSwift 60A MPPT Solar Charge Controller, […]
If you travel with a Starlink Mini, your power adapter is the one piece you really can’t afford to lose or break. Without it, the dish is useless. That’s why I wanted to try a spare. I tested the Gunovy 60W Starlink Mini Charger on my Starlink Mini running off my solar battery system. It […]
Starlink Mini has no power button. Unless you add one, turning it off means unplugging the cable, and if you run it off a battery at a campsite, in an RV, or on a boat, you end up doing that a lot. It’s annoying, and it puts extra wear on the connectors. STARGEAR sent me […]
If your Starlink Mini lives outside at a campsite or on a vehicle, it’s exposed to hail, rain, dust, and bumps. A protective cover helps, but only if it doesn’t hurt your signal. For this review, STARGEAR sent me its STARGEAR Hailproof Starlink Mini Protective Cover, in gray. After I put it on my Starlink […]
ALLWEI’s 1500W pure sine wave inverter turns 12V battery power into clean 120V AC, and in my off-grid test it ran a MacBook Pro, a fan and a Starlink Mini at the same time from a 12V lithium battery and a 100W solar panel. ALLWEI rates it for 1,500W continuous and 3,000W surge, with an […]
If you run a solar or battery setup, a good multimeter is one of the most important tools you can own. It tells you whether your battery is healthy and whether your panels are actually producing. For this review, Proster sent me its Proster USB-C Rechargeable Smart Multimeter, and I used it on my entire […]
A small power station with a solar panel is one of the most useful pieces of gear you can own for camping, road trips, and power outages. The question is how much it can really run. For this review, EnginStar sent me the EnginStar 300W Portable Power Station With 60W Solar Panel, and it’s been […]
