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astrobaja
Senior Nomad
Posts: 952
Registered: 5-22-2006
Location: near San Pedro Martir Park
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Mood: beam me up
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Our remote phone solution
Well its been 3 years of experimenting with different combos, but finally we have a cell phone signal down at our house! We have a small hill about
500 feet from our house that had a weak telcel signal, and on some days with a good cell phone (some have decent internal antennae some have crappy
ones) you could call out.
So the idea was to try boosting this signal (from Camalu) with various antennas and amps. The thought was to amplify the signal and then beam it
down towards the house with a 2nd dish. This worked initialy but the 2 antennae fed back on each other causing the amp to shut down. 2nd idea was to
use a fixed wireless terminal and a long range wireless phone box to give a cell signal but the FWT's never worked in our area even though they did in
the Ensenada area. The info we got was that some areas the FWT's do not work.
So we looked around for other higher quality amps that reset after being overloaded. Wilson makes one that works with the 1900 MHz telcel system. Its
pricey (like around $500) but this one finally did the trick, full bars on the Iphone (which has a notoriously bad internal antenna). So we can use
our Telcel plan to call out instead of the much more $$ per minute card method!
This could work for anyone on the fringe of a reception area if you need a list of the components used I can supply it for you. We were lucky that my
Wifes brother does high end electronics for yachts in the SD area so he put it together for us!
Heres the Wilson amp we used:
http://www.wilsonelectronics.com/ProductDetails.aspx?Product...
[Edited on 11-24-2011 by BajaNomad]
\"There is a theory which states that if ever anyone discovers exactly what the Universe is for and why it is here, it will instantly disappear
and be replaced by something even more bizarre and inexplicable.There is another theory which states that this has already happened\"
Douglas Adams
our website: http://bajadarkskies.com |
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astrobaja
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Location: near San Pedro Martir Park
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the inside of the weatherproof electronics box, the black box is not being used it was back when we were trying the fixed wireless terminal route. Its
just the charge controller for the small solar panel and the blue Wilson amp.
\"There is a theory which states that if ever anyone discovers exactly what the Universe is for and why it is here, it will instantly disappear
and be replaced by something even more bizarre and inexplicable.There is another theory which states that this has already happened\"
Douglas Adams
our website: http://bajadarkskies.com |
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astrobaja
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Posts: 952
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Location: near San Pedro Martir Park
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this is the 2nd antenna (28 Db I think) which beams the signal down and towards our house. A 100 ft thick shielded cable runs from the amp site to
this antenna.
\"There is a theory which states that if ever anyone discovers exactly what the Universe is for and why it is here, it will instantly disappear
and be replaced by something even more bizarre and inexplicable.There is another theory which states that this has already happened\"
Douglas Adams
our website: http://bajadarkskies.com |
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Udo
Elite Nomad
Posts: 6364
Registered: 4-26-2008
Location: Black Hills, SD/Ensenada/San Felipe
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I clicked on your link, but the page no longer exists.
Can you update it please?
GRACIAS
Udo
Youth is wasted on the young!
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Mengano
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| Quote: | Originally posted by astrobaja
So the idea was to try boosting this signal (from Camalu) with various antennas and amps. The thought was to amplify the signal and then beam it
down towards the house with a 2nd dish. This worked initialy but the 2 antennae fed back on each other causing the amp to shut down.
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It seems to me a more elegant, and cheaper, solution would be to just run 500 feet of coax from your antenna site to the house and terminate it with
another antenna in the house to re-radiate the cell phone signal in your house. You would place an rf amp at the antenna site and power it with DC
from the house, using the same coax to carry the DC. There should be no feedback problem at that distance.
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capt. mike
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why have cell?
if you have computer via sat can't you use skype vonnage OOMA or any of the internet based phones?
formerly Ordained in Rev. Ewing\'s Church by Mail - busted on tax fraud.......
Now joined L. Ron Hoover\'s church of Appliantology
\"Remember there is a big difference between kneeling down and bending over....\"
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astrobaja
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Udo try this you need to cut and paste the bottom part of the url, but try this tinyurl: http://tinyurl.com/7suee7s
Mengano: probably because with the 5-600 feet needed there would be about a 35-40 db loss in gain. Plus its really rocky up on the hill it would be
really tough to bury the cable. Too many unwanted cattle in the area too!
Mike: Skype/Magic Jack don't work worth a @#$% using Sat internet. Actually the Iphone Viber app works better than any of them, still lots of dropout,
weird compression artifacts and bad intelligbility.
\"There is a theory which states that if ever anyone discovers exactly what the Universe is for and why it is here, it will instantly disappear
and be replaced by something even more bizarre and inexplicable.There is another theory which states that this has already happened\"
Douglas Adams
our website: http://bajadarkskies.com |
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Mengano
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| Quote: | Originally posted by astrobaja
Mengano: probably because with the 5-600 feet needed there would be about a 35-40 db loss in gain. |
The airwave propagation loss would be at least twice that. That is what the rf amp is for.
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astrobaja
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"airwave propogation"? Hmmm sounds like a load of feotid dingos kidneys to me I think you just might be talking out of your posterior region
I think my brother in law knows perhaps just a bit more than you do! His last few jobs have been on Americas Cup boats!
Note to self ignore posts by Mengano
\"There is a theory which states that if ever anyone discovers exactly what the Universe is for and why it is here, it will instantly disappear
and be replaced by something even more bizarre and inexplicable.There is another theory which states that this has already happened\"
Douglas Adams
our website: http://bajadarkskies.com |
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JESSE
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| Quote: | Originally posted by astrobaja
Note to self ignore posts by Mengano |
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Mengano
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| Quote: | Originally posted by astrobaja
I think my brother in law knows perhaps just a bit more than you do! His last few jobs have been on Americas Cup boats!
Note to self ignore posts by Mengano |
I'm not sure how you would know that, since you do not know what I know. Does your brother-in-law have a 1st Class FCC license and a ship radar
endorsement, like me? You have already tried to blow smoke by simply stating the signal loss is too great with a coax cable run. Did your
brother-in-law tell you that?
When an rf signal is transmitted from a simple antenna, the signal radiates in all directions. It actually radiates in a half-sphere shape with the
Earth as the flat part. Since you are ignoring me, I'll just explain it for everybody else. It is easy to visualize that as the sphere of the rf
signal radiates from the antenna, the rf power at any one spot decreases geometrically. That is because the same amount of power transmitted at the
antenna has to fill an ever-increasing volume of space.
However, when the same rf energy is run through a coax cable, the energy is contained within the cable. The coax cable is also far less prone to
interference from other sources, as it is insulated. The coax can also be fed through concrete buildings and other obstacles that would attenuate a rf
signal over the air.
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goldhuntress
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You can use Skype, Viber, or whatever to make calls but unless the signal is good it's very frustrating. I don't live in Baja I just travel there and
so I don't mind Skype and Viber just to check in but if I lived there I would definitely be happy to get a good cell signal in my home.
Congratulations on that, it's pretty cool
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mcfez
Elite Nomad
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Registered: 12-2-2009
Location: aka BN yankeeirishman
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| Quote: | Originally posted by JESSE
| Quote: | Originally posted by astrobaja
Note to self ignore posts by Mengano |
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Mengano .....you do really bad Photoshop. Is this as good as you advice?
[Edited on 11-24-2011 by mcfez]
Old people are like the old cars, made of some tough stuff. May show a little rust, but good as gold on the inside.
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JESSE
Ultra Nomad
Posts: 3370
Registered: 11-5-2002
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| Quote: | Originally posted by Mengano
| Quote: | Originally posted by astrobaja
I think my brother in law knows perhaps just a bit more than you do! His last few jobs have been on Americas Cup boats!
Note to self ignore posts by Mengano |
I'm not sure how you would know that, since you do not know what I know. Does your brother-in-law have a 1st Class FCC license and a ship radar
endorsement, like me? You have already tried to blow smoke by simply stating the signal loss is too great with a coax cable run. Did your
brother-in-law tell you that?
When an rf signal is transmitted from a simple antenna, the signal radiates in all directions. It actually radiates in a half-sphere shape with the
Earth as the flat part. Since you are ignoring me, I'll just explain it for everybody else. It is easy to visualize that as the sphere of the rf
signal radiates from the antenna, the rf power at any one spot decreases geometrically. That is because the same amount of power transmitted at the
antenna has to fill an ever-increasing volume of space.
However, when the same rf energy is run through a coax cable, the energy is contained within the cable. The coax cable is also far less prone to
interference from other sources, as it is insulated. The coax can also be fed through concrete buildings and other obstacles that would attenuate a rf
signal over the air.
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Dont feed the troll
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Mengano
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Posts: 1238
Registered: 9-26-2011
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| Quote: | Originally posted by JESSE
Dont feed the troll |
...or the cocinero.
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willardguy
Elite Nomad
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very interesting! how many miles do you estimate between the cell tower in camalu and your house?
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john68
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if you meet the criteria, another possibility would be a satellite phone.
Until normal circumstances, the cost is prohibitive, but I'm told there's a new federal program in the U.S. that subsidizes satellite phones if you
live in part of the country that doesn't have cell phone service. It's available in Texas now and I'm told it will be rolled out in other states in
January.
It's a lease deal and the phone is an Iridium. The cost is a one-time $50 activation and $10/month for 300 minutes, less expensive than cell phones.
No other charges to call a U.S. number. International charges apply if you call a number in another country.
Unlike a cell phone, you must use an external antenna (provided) if you want to use it inside your car or home.
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Roberto
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Wilson is definitely one of the premiere sellers of this type of equipment. I and many others have excellent experience with them, and they have
expanded into the cellular-repeater are for years now. Sounds like a good choice to me!
I have an Amateur Extra license, and have for at least a few years now, hope that allows me to express an opinion!
He has found a solution that works for him. He is informing others who may have similar needs. Not sure that requires additional comments, suggestions
on his setup ... if it ain't broke don't fix it.
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Roberto
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| Quote: | | When an rf signal is transmitted from a simple antenna, the signal radiates in all directions |
What about a Yagi?
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Mengano
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| Quote: | Originally posted by Roberto
| Quote: | | When an rf signal is transmitted from a simple antenna, the signal radiates in all directions |
What about a Yagi? |
Simple antenna was the theory. The most gain you can get from a Yagi is about 10dB, and they are very directional, which is not good for a cell phone
installation. In addition, Yagi's are only good over a narrow bandwidth. Cellphones operate between 800 and 1900 MHz. You couldn't tune a Yagi to
handle multiple frequencies.
Most everyone reading this is getting their internet signal through miles of coax cable with no problem.
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