I was out in the backyard working on trailer modifications for the new trailer we picked up to go with the 2007 Yamaha Rhino. While I was at it, I had a Starlink Mini mounted inside a Harbor Freight Apache 3800 case along with a battery and some other gear — running on a Victron solar charge controller off a 100-watt portable solar panel, just seeing how everything plays together before it goes on the road.
The trailer has a fold-up ramp on the back, and on a whim I mounted a trail camera I hadn't touched in a while pointing right at that case — just the Starlink antenna sticking out the top for a clear signal.
Here's the thing I'd noticed before with this camera: animals seem to walk right up and inspect gear that's putting off heat, like they're reading it as a heat signature worth checking out. I had a theory that a case running electronics all day would build up enough warmth to get some attention. I set the camera on it mostly to see if I was right.
I was. The first night, this showed up:
A fox, walking right up to sniff around the case like it wanted to know what was inside. Whatever heat that Starlink Mini was throwing off, it was enough to pull a wild animal in for a closer look.
I'm going to leave the camera running on it for the next few nights to see who else comes by to investigate — I'll report back with whatever else shows up.
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Assark Solar Trail Camera
Same camera as my camping pick, doing double duty in the backyard. I've had it pointed at the back lawn at night just to see what wanders through, and it's caught everything from a fox to more raccoons than I expected in Orangevale. Bluetooth wakes it and it switches over to WiFi so I can pull footage from inside the house without walking out to grab the card. Only real downside for yard use: sprinklers count as motion too, so be ready to scroll past a bunch of clips of your own lawn getting watered.
See it catch a fox checking out my Starlink → Check it out