Reception Suggestions?

I'm trying to find an easy way to get reception in the area of Smith
Mountain Lake VA.

Here's the problem. I'm down in a valley near the lake. Not much
signal here.

The field test screen on my LG phone reports:

SID: 00502
I think that is an old Bell South ID now owned by Verizon.

Ec/Io: -6.5
Not bad for signal/noise ratio.

RX Power: -101
OK, that's really bad.

If I can get the signal somewhere in the -95 to -90 range, I would be
happy.

It would be nice to know where cellular antennas are located so that
you could point a "cantenna" in the right direction.

Any suggestions?

Regards, - Sandy

Just an external omni might get you to the -90 to -95 range... Otherwise a
high gain yagi pointed directly at the nearest tower would definetly do it.

If all else fails, you can get a BDA (bi-directional amplifier)

http://www.wpsantennas.com/ should have everything you need.

I personally have one of their omni's for use with my LG 4400 as well as
their directly connected 800/1900mhz amp. It rocks!

-Eric

"Sandy A. Nicolaysen" <sandynic@verizon.net> wrote in message
news:6547t0tvokb0us3mdiotgvija2gkfs5pqo@4ax.com...
> I'm trying to find an easy way to get reception in the area of Smith
> Mountain Lake VA.
>
> Here's the problem. I'm down in a valley near the lake. Not much
> signal here.
>
> The field test screen on my LG phone reports:
>
> SID: 00502
> I think that is an old Bell South ID now owned by Verizon.
>
> Ec/Io: -6.5
> Not bad for signal/noise ratio.
>
> RX Power: -101
> OK, that's really bad.
>
> If I can get the signal somewhere in the -95 to -90 range, I would be
> happy.
>
> It would be nice to know where cellular antennas are located so that
> you could point a "cantenna" in the right direction.
>
> Any suggestions?
>
> Regards, - Sandy
>

On Thu, 30 Dec 2004 05:33:50 GMT, Sandy A. Nicolaysen
<sandynic@verizon.net> wrote:
>It would be nice to know where cellular antennas are located so that
>you could point a "cantenna" in the right direction.

Try this site -

http://www.crowncastle.com/sitelocator.shtml

Lots of Verizon cell sites shown there.

In news:glt7t0pmnrf6q5fo2b6lvul308dqn2b1pn@4ax.com,
Bob Scheurle <njtbob@X-verizon-X.net> typed:
> On Thu, 30 Dec 2004 05:33:50 GMT, Sandy A. Nicolaysen
> <sandynic@verizon.net> wrote:
>> It would be nice to know where cellular antennas are located so that
>> you could point a "cantenna" in the right direction.
>
> Try this site -
>
> http://www.crowncastle.com/sitelocator.shtml
>
> Lots of Verizon cell sites shown there.

Hook up the directional antenna to the cell phone and slowly turn the
antenna until you get the strongest signal.

OK -100dbis bad but it still sounds like there is a little signal to
work with.
Any chance you could take a reading on your roof?

I'd try to get a mast up on the roof with a very high gain yagi. Cost
will run ~250+

As*a last resort a BDA amplifier could be used.

I own a Antennex Yagi, they are 360° welded and gold anodized with
drain holes etc. Pro models that will hold up well to the elements. Not
some painted and riveted crap...

Anyway, a yagi on a mast of some length. That's the tricky part. Since
the higher the mast and longer the cable the distance, and the better
cable needed. Likely some LMR type.
Thin cable = high loss.
Thick cable = high cost/foot.

Then just swivel the yagi until it gets the best signal reading on the
debug screen. You have several degrees to play with.

Often a good signal reflection will be adequate if a direct line of
sight to the tower is unavalable.

MAKE SURE all proper grounding protocols are followed... or getting
"called home" during a cellular conversasion could result!

High Gain Yagi antennas
http://www.criterioncellular.com/ant...iantennas.html

-
David

On Thu, 30 Dec 2004 05:33:50 GMT, Sandy A. Nicolaysen
<sandynic@verizon.net> wrote:

>I'm trying to find an easy way to get reception in the area of Smith
>Mountain Lake VA.
>

Thanks guys!

I really appreciate the help.

I post the results of my antenna project when the antenna arrives and
I install it.

- Sandy

On Fri, 31 Dec 2004 23:39:19 GMT, Sandy A. Nicolaysen
<sandynic@verizon.net> wrote:

>On Thu, 30 Dec 2004 05:33:50 GMT, Sandy A. Nicolaysen
><sandynic@verizon.net> wrote:
>
>>I'm trying to find an easy way to get reception in the area of Smith
>>Mountain Lake VA.
>>
>
Just a follow-up. I installed the yagi antenna on the roof. (Thanks
to Bob for the locator URL. Saved me a LOT of time searching for a
signal)

Per David's suggestion, I went with the costlier low loss cable, IMO
probably worth it for the 25' run.

New numbers:

Ec/Io: Went from -6.5 to -4.0. Maybe something in the house was
causing interference?

RX Power: Went -101 to -83. A very respectable improvement.

From the non-technical point of view, plusses are that calls so far
are clearer and less dropouts in the audio, also a bit less digital
distortion. I now have the "1x" icon on my screen. This is a good
thing I hope.

Minus is that I'm now tethered to a cable, but I feel that is a small
price to pay for free wireless long distance over my land line
$$$Verizon long distance$$$.

Again, thanks for the help.

Regards, - Sandy

Sandy - Glad to hear the good results. Would you please pass on to us
which model LG phone you have and its keystoke sequence to reach field
test mode, and if you have any tips about where you bought your antenna
and if it was easy to adapt it to your phone's connector.

Sandy A. Nicolaysen wrote:
> Just a follow-up. I installed the yagi antenna on the roof. (Thanks
> to Bob for the locator URL. Saved me a LOT of time searching for a
> signal)
>
> Per David's suggestion, I went with the costlier low loss cable, IMO
> probably worth it for the 25' run.
>
> New numbers:
>
> Ec/Io: Went from -6.5 to -4.0. Maybe something in the house was
> causing interference?
>
> RX Power: Went -101 to -83. A very respectable improvement.
>
> From the non-technical point of view, plusses are that calls so far
> are clearer and less dropouts in the audio, also a bit less digital
> distortion. I now have the "1x" icon on my screen. This is a good
> thing I hope.
>
> Minus is that I'm now tethered to a cable, but I feel that is a small
> price to pay for free wireless long distance over my land line
> $$$Verizon long distance$$$.
>
> Again, thanks for the help.
>
> Regards, - Sandy
>
>

--
Frank Harris in San Francisco

Good one! Let's see a 18db gain...what length/gain yagi did you use?
I get about 8db gain with the 9db 29" 6 element Antennex yagi...but
then I can still carry it easily in my car trunk

I tend to do overkill, when at times lesser gain antenna or cheaper
cable can be used. But if your going through all that trouble, why not
make sure the darn thing is going to work well. The small extra cost of
better equipment divided over many years of reliable service, works out
to be very little.

Also, a higher gain should help when the signal is being effected by
less than ideal atmospheric conditons ie. rain snow, wind.

1x is good. Later version of digital technology allowing more capacity
and data services with cell hooked up to laptop.

The weakest link is probably the antenna connector port on the phone
and then the connector itself. Not much one can do except not be
yanking it around unneccessarily. A spare phone and antenna connector
wouldn't hurt, but it sounds like you have landline back up.
I mention this because some peoples homes and cabins ONLY have a
cellular phone/Yagi set up.

-
David

On Sun, 02 Jan 2005 11:54:34 -0800, Frank Harris
<frankbhX@XcompuserveX.com> wrote:

>Sandy - Glad to hear the good results. Would you please pass on to us
>which model LG phone you have and its keystoke sequence to reach field
>test mode, and if you have any tips about where you bought your antenna
>and if it was easy to adapt it to your phone's connector.
>
Read the FAQ?

It's been posted many times.

- Sandy