Output wattage on phones

I was just noticing that the 1900 Mhz output wattage on Sprint phones
can vary greatly. The upcoming A680 looks to have a very high output
wattage of 0.555 watts. Do these numbers really mean anything or do
they all have a max. output from the tower which can't be exceeded
over a certain limit and anything over that is just waste?

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"Larry Thomas" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
> I was just noticing that the 1900 Mhz output wattage on Sprint phones
> can vary greatly. The upcoming A680 looks to have a very high output
> wattage of 0.555 watts. Do these numbers really mean anything or do
> they all have a max. output from the tower which can't be exceeded
> over a certain limit and anything over that is just waste?

My understanding is that FCC regulations prohibit a handheld (i.e.,
headheld) cell phone from exceeding 0.6W in analog or TDMA mode, if only for
human safety reasons. (I think CDMA has a much lower limit, perhaps 0.2W,
for technical reasons.) The old car-mounted and bag-carried cell phones
were allowed a full 3W. This large wattage is reportedly still useful and
necessary in the wilds of Montana and similar areas.

"Lawrence G. Mayka" <[email protected]> wrote in message news:<[email protected]>...
> "Larry Thomas" <[email protected]> wrote in message
> news:[email protected]...
> > I was just noticing that the 1900 Mhz output wattage on Sprint phones
> > can vary greatly. The upcoming A680 looks to have a very high output
> > wattage of 0.555 watts. Do these numbers really mean anything or do
> > they all have a max. output from the tower which can't be exceeded
> > over a certain limit and anything over that is just waste?
>
> My understanding is that FCC regulations prohibit a handheld (i.e.,
> headheld) cell phone from exceeding 0.6W in analog or TDMA mode, if only for
> human safety reasons. (I think CDMA has a much lower limit, perhaps 0.2W,
> for technical reasons.) The old car-mounted and bag-carried cell phones
> were allowed a full 3W. This large wattage is reportedly still useful and
> necessary in the wilds of Montana and similar areas.

Ok but does that mean that a Sprint phone with let's say 0.55 watts of
output potentially work better than one with only 0.35 watts of output
or doesn't it matter?

"Larry Thomas" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
> Ok but does that mean that a Sprint phone with let's say 0.55 watts of
> output potentially work better than one with only 0.35 watts of output
> or doesn't it matter?

In analog mode, yes. A Sprint phone that can put out 0.55W in analog mode
should generally show slightly better analog roaming coverage than one that
maxes out at 0.35W.

In digital (CDMA) mode, no, because CDMA phones must stay below 0.2W anyway.

"Larry Thomas" <[email protected]> wrote in message =
news:[email protected]...
> "Lawrence G. Mayka" <[email protected]> wrote in message =
news:<[email protected]>...
> > "Larry Thomas" <[email protected]> wrote in message
> > news:[email protected]...
> > > I was just noticing that the 1900 Mhz output wattage on Sprint =
phones
> > > can vary greatly. The upcoming A680 looks to have a very high =
output
> > > wattage of 0.555 watts. Do these numbers really mean anything or =
do
> > > they all have a max. output from the tower which can't be exceeded
> > > over a certain limit and anything over that is just waste?
> >=20
> > My understanding is that FCC regulations prohibit a handheld (i.e.,
> > headheld) cell phone from exceeding 0.6W in analog or TDMA mode, if =
only for
> > human safety reasons. (I think CDMA has a much lower limit, perhaps =
0.2W,
> > for technical reasons.) The old car-mounted and bag-carried cell =
phones
> > were allowed a full 3W. This large wattage is reportedly still =
useful and
> > necessary in the wilds of Montana and similar areas.
>=20
> Ok but does that mean that a Sprint phone with let's say 0.55 watts of
> output potentially work better than one with only 0.35 watts of output
> or doesn't it matter?

That would be just barely better.
That's a power ratio of less than 160%, or approximately 2 dB.
To relate that number to human senses, remember that 1 dB
is roughly the smallest difference in sound-power levels
which the human ear is able to detect.
---JRC---

"Lawrence G. Mayka" <[email protected]> wrote in message news:<[email protected]>...
> "Larry Thomas" <[email protected]> wrote in message
> news:[email protected]...
> > Ok but does that mean that a Sprint phone with let's say 0.55 watts of
> > output potentially work better than one with only 0.35 watts of output
> > or doesn't it matter?
>
> In analog mode, yes. A Sprint phone that can put out 0.55W in analog mode
> should generally show slightly better analog roaming coverage than one that
> maxes out at 0.35W.
>
> In digital (CDMA) mode, no, because CDMA phones must stay below 0.2W anyway.

That's what I thought but someone on sprintusers.com forum keeps
saying that wattage is important and that CDMA phones in the US can go
up to 0.6 watts.

http://www.sprintusers.com/forum/sho...5&pagenumber=3

Yes.

..6 is better than .3, but not twice as good. Doubling the power will
give about half again the distance. If your maximum range from cell
tower to handset was 4 miles, doubling power will get you to 6 miles.

Handheld phones are limited to around 600 milliwatts (.6 watts), mostly
to keep the amount of RF absorbed by the head of the user down. CDMA,
TDMA, Analog, doesn't matter. It's all 600 milliwatts or so.

TDMA and GSM phones are often "rated" at levels higher than 600
milliwatts, but unlike CDMA, TDMA and GSM phones transmit only one eight
of the time, so the average power levels are about the same or just a
bit higher than CDMA.

Maximum analog range with the proper antenna is limited mostly by line
of sight and can easily run over 100 miles (I have a Verizon bill to
prove this). Regular CDMA is limited to about 38 miles - easily
extendable to 70 or 120 miles by modifying the base station. GSM is
limited to around 35 miles if my memory is correct. GSM's limit is a
hard limit, no amount of power will fix it - it's based on timing of the
round trip signal from base station to handset and back.

GSM range limitations are a problem in Australia and the solution is to
use CDMA as the second system.

Stu Sims
remove the "xyz" in any reply.

Larry Thomas wrote:
> "Lawrence G. Mayka" <[email protected]> wrote in message news:<[email protected]>...
>
>>"Larry Thomas" <[email protected]> wrote in message
>>news:[email protected]...
>>
>>>I was just noticing that the 1900 Mhz output wattage on Sprint phones
>>>can vary greatly. The upcoming A680 looks to have a very high output
>>>wattage of 0.555 watts. Do these numbers really mean anything or do
>>>they all have a max. output from the tower which can't be exceeded
>>>over a certain limit and anything over that is just waste?
>>
>>My understanding is that FCC regulations prohibit a handheld (i.e.,
>>headheld) cell phone from exceeding 0.6W in analog or TDMA mode, if only for
>>human safety reasons. (I think CDMA has a much lower limit, perhaps 0.2W,
>>for technical reasons.) The old car-mounted and bag-carried cell phones
>>were allowed a full 3W. This large wattage is reportedly still useful and
>>necessary in the wilds of Montana and similar areas.
>
>
> Ok but does that mean that a Sprint phone with let's say 0.55 watts of
> output potentially work better than one with only 0.35 watts of output
> or doesn't it matter?