i just installed one on the 70 footer i took to Nantucket...  i can't say
how well it works because the signal is very strong in Nantucket anyway...

i'm not impressed by a couple of things...

1)-  these are for "big" boats yet they only provide a 12v cigarette lighter
plug...  duh... most larger boats are 24v!!!
they do include a 110v power suply but it doens't have the fault detection
circuitry of the DC supply.

2)- the 25' separation requirement isn't that easy to meet even on a 70
footer. We added an 8' antenna extention to play it safe otherwise it was
barely 20' from the top of the arch to the inside antenna location.

3)- there is no coverage behind the inside antenna. forward coverage is
about 50' i think so on a boat over 50 you're going to have some blind
spots.  also, the manual says that large objects like engines, will block
signal and shoudl be relocated.  I guess this is a technician sense of
humor... relocate the engines! so in our case, installing the inside antenna
at the bow wouldnt' work as coverage in the saloon and aft deck woudl be
limited and we'd have no coverage in the master because it's aft, behing the
engine room and more than 50' away. And the interior antenna must  notbe
pointed at the outside antenna.  When you put all the requirements together,
you end up scratching your head figuring where to put the darn thing!

4)- the inside antenna is pretty big, about 8x6 and 2" thick so it's not
that easy to hide it somewhere.

5)- the cables provided inthe kit are too short...  they want 25' separation
but the outside antenna cable is only 50' long...  once you add all the
turns and routing issues, it's too short.

i want to try it in weak signal areas before calling it a gadget but so far
i'm not that impressed.

seems like an RV product marketed to the marine market.

pascal
miami,fl
70 hatteras 53MY
live helm cam @ www.sandbarhopper.com

----- Original Message -----
From: Petro4@aol.com
To: trawlers-and-trawlering@lists.samurai.com
Sent: Friday, May 30, 2008 12:55 PM
Subject: T&T: Cell phone amplifiers

Save your money.  I have one and it is worse than useless.  Buy a
wired amplifier, not a repeater.  The repeater attenuates its signal
to avoid feedback between the two antennas.  Unless you have a metal
boat, you will end up with little or no gain.

Best,

Steve

Steve Dubnoff
1966 Willard Pilothouse
www.mvnereid.com
sdubnoff@circlesys.com

I've tested them too and found the same thing.  I believe they only have a
place on a very large boat (greater than 60') or if there is a steel
superstructure.  They seems to work much better in cars/RV's than in boats
because the small amount of steel provides separation between the antennas.

A 34 dB wired amplifier makes a large difference in better signal strength,
range, and data speed.  This article on Panbo gives some of my objective
measurements:

http://www.panbo.com/archives/2006/11/jeff_cruises_south_cell_yay_wifi_nay.h
tml

-or in case that breaks-

http://tinyurl.com/4x55mx

---=
Jeffrey Siegel
M/V aCappella
DeFever 53PH
W1ACA/WDB4350
Castine, Maine

www.activecaptain.com
Content, Communications, Community

..

At 01:28 PM 5/30/2008, you wrote:

Where do you find a cell phone these days with an external antenna jack?

My setup is about 4 years old.  I have a Digital Antenna 3 watt wired
amplifier connected to an older Motorola phone that does have an
external antenna jack.  I have the phone connected to a Dock N Talk
(http://www.phonelabs.com/prd05.asp) and that is connected to a
Panasonic cordless phone.

I would like to upgrade the phone but can't find any Verizon models
that have external antennas.  My Dock N Talk is hardwired to the
phone, but they have models with Bluetooth capability.

My setup works fine and I can definitely see signal strength
improvement when I connect the antenna and turn on the amplifier.

Jim

Jim Barrentine
Endeavour Trawlercat 36 "Down Time"
Marathon Yacht Club
825 33rd Street, Gulf
Marathon, FL  33050
216-496-2008
N9JKB

I have the repeater and have used it in very low signal areas to get
connected. I know it works because I have had very weak connections
where the folks said they could not hear me.
I walked closer to the inside antenna and the signal improved to the
point where I could be understood normally.

I do not have the recommended separation and cannot comment
quantitatively on the improvement only qualitatively as above.  I did
place the interior antenna just below but only 10 feet or less from
the outside antenna to get the results above. This was recommended
also , because the antenna focuses horizontally and being below it
would reduce the feedback.

I was advised by the 'doc' one of the owners that I should hold the
inside antenna close to the phone right next to it in the same hand
infact,  to get maximum results. That is like having a tethered set.

So would I buy an amplifier of either type again. No not really. The
quality of verizon signals on the ICW has improved so much over the
past years that it is rarely necessary.  Except for NC I can get not
only phone but revA data speeds in remarkably remote places.

On Fri, May 30, 2008 at 12:55 PM,  Petro4@aol.com wrote:

--
Greg and Susan Han
Allegria -- Krogen Whaleback #16

I'm finding mobile phones that have external antenna jacks but no hole
through the case to access it.  In order to get to it, you have to remove
the cover (or drill a new hole through the case).  The AT&T Tilt is a good
example of this.  It has a wonderful jack but you have to punch out a
section made to be punched in order to get access.

The Palm Centro has a jack and has a little rubber cover for it.

When all else fails, there is a proximity cradle that amplifies any phone
that is put into it.  It costs about 1 "bar" of signal strength but still
provides a stronger signal:
http://www.wilsonelectronics.com/ViewProductB.php?ID=31

When I'm messing around with a lot of phones during software development, I
only use the cradle.  On the boat, I only use a direct connection.

With regard to "do amplifiers really work" - I can say that I've monitored
it extensively over thousands of miles.  When along the coast, very near
land, like on the ICW, an amp will give you 2+ extra bars.  That means a
more reliable connection and faster data speeds.  Offshore (6 miles or more)
the amp is the difference between getting a signal and not getting a signal.
It's those times when I look at the amp as a safety device.

Moving to a more remote location like Maine, you're not going to get much of
a signal unless you're near larger towns.  At my mooring across the Castine
harbor, I like to say that I have "less than zero bars" because the phone
can't even see a cell to give it's name or make a 911 call.  But if I turn
on the amp, I get 3-5 bars and solid connections for voice and data.

---=
Jeffrey Siegel
M/V aCappella
DeFever 53PH
W1ACA/WDB4350
Castine, Maine

www.activecaptain.com
Content, Communications, Community

..

good point.

Teh DC power supply that comes with the DA kit has "inteligent" circuitry to
shut down power to the amplifier should it detect any anomaly.

How reliable is that?  I have no idea...  but it adds some protection.  In
any case, keeping it off when not in use or off the boat, and only using it
when the signal is really weak is a no brainer.

As mentioned the kit also comes with a basic 110v power supply which doesn't
seem to have the fault detection circuitry, i didn't use that even though it
woudl have been easier than finding a 12v source on a 24v boat.

pascal
miami,fl
70 hatteras 53MY
live helmcam @ www.sandbarhopper.com

----- Original Message -----
From: "Jim Fuller" jfuller@svinet.com
To: trawlers-and-trawlering@lists.samurai.com
Sent: Saturday, May 31, 2008 3:15 AM
Subject: Re: T&T: Cell phone amplifiers