Improving Mobile Phone Reception in Car

Gyp <[email protected]> wrote:

> In message <1hsmbi0.1rfcnwh1hw7lpnN%[email protected]>, SteveH
> <[email protected]> writes
>
> >I lose my signal almost everywhere in South Wales.
>
> Because it's full of valleys and the sheep do not make enough calls to
> justify more masts

Heh. Thing is, you'd have thought the A40 would be pretty well covered,
given how busy it is.

> >In the depths of Portugal, I can't remember where I've lost my signal.

But also a nation that's supposedly less advanced than we are in the UK.

Although, every time I go out there, I notice more and more ways in
which they've surpassed what we have in the UK.

> Flatter with more affluent and chatty sheep
>
> >Most of my working week I'm out of reach at the moment.
>
> Much to the relief of everyone in your phone book ;-)

Heh.

****.
--
SteveH 'You're not a real petrolhead unless you've owned an Alfa Romeo'
www.italiancar.co.uk - Honda VFR800 - Hongdou GY200 - Alfa 75 TSpark
Alfa 156 TSpark - B6 Passat 2.0TDI SE - COSOC KOTL
BOTAFOT #87 - BOTAFOF #18 - MRO # - UKRMSBC #7 - Apostle #2 - YTC #

---

› See More: Improving Mobile Phone Reception in Car

In message <1hsmcdz.rv5fy7dikkc3N%[email protected]>, SteveH
<[email protected]> writes

>> >Most of my working week I'm out of reach at the moment.
>>
>> Much to the relief of everyone in your phone book ;-)
>
>Heh.
>
>****.

Sorry, Steve, didn't catch that? Are you somewhere near Llanddewi Brefi?
--
Gyp
Change to dotcom to reply

<[email protected]> wrote:

> [email protected] (SteveH) wrote in message
> <1hsmbi0.1rfcnwh1hw7lpnN%[email protected]>:
>
> ><[email protected]> wrote:
> >
> >> [email protected] (SteveH) wrote in message
> >> <1hsm1xu.enn8h073f4qqN%[email protected]>:
> >>
> >> >On the whole, mobile coverage in the UK is ****e - especially in
> >> >comparison with most other European countries.
> >>
> >> Rubbish.
> >
> >I lose my signal almost everywhere in South Wales.
> >
> >In the depths of Portugal, I can't remember where I've lost my signal.
> >
> >Most of my working week I'm out of reach at the moment.
>
> What experience of, say, rural France, Germany or Spain do you have?

I've never had an issue in France, can't comment on Germany, but I've
had Spanish signals from around 30 kilometers inside the Portuguese
border, which was odd.

Mind you, I suppose it comes down to my need for a phone in the UK vs my
need when abroad as much as anything.

I just have a real downer on UK mobile reception at the moment - less
than 2 miles outside of Chepstow I lose my signal and don't get it back
until I get to Lyndey. The same happens leaving Lydney - although I
struggle to get anything in Ross when I get there.

--
SteveH 'You're not a real petrolhead unless you've owned an Alfa Romeo'
www.italiancar.co.uk - Honda VFR800 - Hongdou GY200 - Alfa 75 TSpark
Alfa 156 TSpark - B6 Passat 2.0TDI SE - COSOC KOTL
BOTAFOT #87 - BOTAFOF #18 - MRO # - UKRMSBC #7 - Apostle #2 - YTC #

Gyp <[email protected]> wrote:

> In message <1hsmcdz.rv5fy7dikkc3N%[email protected]>, SteveH
> <[email protected]> writes
>
> >> >Most of my working week I'm out of reach at the moment.
> >>
> >> Much to the relief of everyone in your phone book ;-)
> >
> >Heh.
> >
> >****.
>
> Sorry, Steve, didn't catch that? Are you somewhere near Llanddewi Brefi?

Went through there last week, as it happens.

No mobile reception, either.
--
SteveH 'You're not a real petrolhead unless you've owned an Alfa Romeo'
www.italiancar.co.uk - Honda VFR800 - Hongdou GY200 - Alfa 75 TSpark
Alfa 156 TSpark - B6 Passat 2.0TDI SE - COSOC KOTL
BOTAFOT #87 - BOTAFOF #18 - MRO # - UKRMSBC #7 - Apostle #2 - YTC #

Steve Terry wrote:
> "Steve Walker" <[email protected]> wrote in message
> news:[email protected]...
>> Steve Terry wrote:
>>
>>> Try Peter Parry he's UKTMs expert on mobile aerials
>>> http://www.wppltd.demon.co.uk/WPP/wpp.html#FirstPage
>>>
>>> A 6310i on a CARK 91 with external aerial is about the best you can
>>> do My guess is an 1800MHz high gain colinear on your mobile mount
>>> will make the difference, also Peter sells at a very reasonable
>>> price bidirectional mobile amps for 1800MHz GSM.
>>
>> Thanks Steve - much interesting reading, esp:
>> http://www.wppltd.demon.co.uk/WPP/Pr...cessories.html
>>
> Peter must be away or he would have replied to this thread by now,
> he's a regular contributor to this group.
>
> Anyway give him an email, he'll sort you out the best aerial,
> and at only 40quid you might as well go for a Allgon amp
> to stick inline with your CARK91 aerial feed

Yep, e-mailed him for advice on fitting a Allgon amp and high gain colinear
aerial - £80 with cable and connectors, it's gotta be worth a try.

Thanks again,

"SteveH" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:1hsmctf.1w598y53f1ynsN%[email protected]...
> <[email protected]> wrote:
>
> > [email protected] (SteveH) wrote in message
> > <1hsmbi0.1rfcnwh1hw7lpnN%[email protected]>:
> >
> > ><[email protected]> wrote:
> > >
> > >> [email protected] (SteveH) wrote in message
> > >> <1hsm1xu.enn8h073f4qqN%[email protected]>:
> > >>
> > >> >On the whole, mobile coverage in the UK is ****e - especially
in
> > >> >comparison with most other European countries.
> > >>
> > >> Rubbish.
> > >
> > >I lose my signal almost everywhere in South Wales.
> > >
> > >In the depths of Portugal, I can't remember where I've lost my
signal.
> > >
> > >Most of my working week I'm out of reach at the moment.
> >
> > What experience of, say, rural France, Germany or Spain do you
have?
>
> I've never had an issue in France, can't comment on Germany, but
I've
> had Spanish signals from around 30 kilometers inside the Portuguese
> border, which was odd.
>
> Mind you, I suppose it comes down to my need for a phone in the UK
vs my
> need when abroad as much as anything.
>
> I just have a real downer on UK mobile reception at the moment -
less
> than 2 miles outside of Chepstow I lose my signal and don't get it
back
> until I get to Lyndey. The same happens leaving Lydney - although I
> struggle to get anything in Ross when I get there.
>


I would have to agree with you about coverage in Europe - France,
Italy, Switzerland, Austria, Germany, Belgium, Holland - never loose
signal. I have to say that before it became Orange F, Itineris (a.k.a.
France Telecom) had pretty well high quality saturation coverage and
you could stay on their service almost anywhere. Since they became
Orange that have gone down dramatically IME. I wonder if they have
applied Orange UK techniques of signal compression and cell hang-on to
improve their system capacity?

However you overlook one tiny tiny thing: when abroad you are roaming
so your phone will register onto any service that it can see. Thus
when you run out of signal on one service provider your phone will
switch to another and you still have coverage.

Apart from, I believe, a couple of areas of the outer islands of
Scotland and ignoring the 3/O2 arrangements, there is no roaming in
the UK so loose your service provider's signals and you are out of
contact.


--
Woody

harrogate3 at ntlworld dot com

On Sat, 27 Jan 2007 17:01:12 -0000, "Steve Walker"
<[email protected]> wrote:

>Is there any merit in replacing the roof aerial with a longer/better one?

Not necessarily.

>I
>know next to nothing about RF or telecoms, but it seems to me that the
>emergency services must use those long steel whip antennae for some reason?

Because they use a lower frequency. In RF bigger isn't always
better. You need an antenna to match the frequency (wavelength). The
antenna you have is a dual frequency one by the look of it. These
were commonly fitted as one antenna covered all networks (both 900MHz
- Vodafone and Cellnet (O2) and 1800 MHz - Orange and TMobile).

You will get better performance by fitting a single frequency
antenna. It's also worth checking the cable run - if the co-ax cable
gets crushed or kinked its performance falls off quite a bit. You
will also improve performance by putting the antenna vertically, not
at an angle.

Fitting a single frequency antenna will probably involve swapping the
base. The aerial you have looks like a Panorama one and single
frequency radiators should be available. In any case changing the
base isn't difficult if the feeder is plugged into it using the
common FME connector but is somewhat more tedious if it is hard
wired.

Depending upon the network (frequency) it is possible to get antenna
radiators which give better low angle gain at the expense of high
angle - the latter usually isn't an issue any more as town/city
coverage isn't a problem.

Lastly it is possible to fit an approved (legal) amplifier to
overcome cabling losses. At 900MHz these give little advantage in a
car and are expensive. At 1800 MHz (Orange, TMobile) they can be
useful and are relatively cheap.
--
Peter Parry |Hemel Hempstead| tel +44 (0)1442 212855 |
WPP Ltd |Herts, UK | fax +44 (0)7989 853112 |
Antenna solutions for car, caravan, house, office, boat
and tent.
Allgon 1800 Signal Enhancers now GBP20.

> Is there any merit in replacing the roof aerial with a longer/better one?
> I know next to nothing about RF or telecoms, but it seems to me that the
> emergency services must use those long steel whip antennae for some
> reason?

Yes, they are on a different frequency to mobile phones!.

DAve

[email protected] declared for all the world to hear...
> Doki wrote:
> > "Steve Walker" <[email protected]> wrote in message
> > news:[email protected]...
> >> Greetings,
> >>
> >> I happily use an Orange Nokia 6310i in my Fiat Stilo, connected via a
> >> CARK-91 cradle etc. It has a 10cm rubberised roof-mounted aerial*
> >> cabled directly to the CARK-91 control unit, but this isn't always
> >> sufficient to maintain reliable signal strength in rural areas
> >> (mainly Northern England).
>
> > IIRC Aerial length is calculated according to the wavelength of the
> > transmission. It's not a longer, but a more efficient aerial that you
> > want.
>
> Thanks Doki - I know that Orange use 1800MHz, and I dimly recall that an
> efficient aerial has to match the freq by fractions (eg 1/4 wavelength or
> whatever). I haven't seen any mobile aerials advertised with this info
> though - they seem to be sold without technical data.

You are correct in your 1/4 wavelength assertion.
--
Regards
Jon

"Steve Walker" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
> Greetings,
>
> I happily use an Orange Nokia 6310i in my Fiat Stilo, connected via a
> CARK-91 cradle etc. It has a 10cm rubberised roof-mounted aerial* cabled
> directly to the CARK-91 control unit, but this isn't always sufficient to
> maintain reliable signal strength in rural areas (mainly Northern
> England).

That explains it.
Switch to Vodafone.
You will be glad you did.

Orange does not work in my house or in many areas round here (in Scotland).
T-mobile is a useless joke with no 3g coverage anywhere near here.

I use the same phone as you, but on vodafone with the Mercedes built in
hands free and antenna (similar to yours but he sound of it).
I have never failed to get service anywhere I have gone in Scotland or the
north of England.

Steve Walker wrote:
> Greetings,
>
> I happily use an Orange Nokia 6310i in my Fiat Stilo, connected via a
> CARK-91 cradle etc. It has a 10cm rubberised roof-mounted aerial* cabled
> directly to the CARK-91 control unit, but this isn't always sufficient to
> maintain reliable signal strength in rural areas (mainly Northern England).
>
> Is there any merit in replacing the roof aerial with a longer/better one?

Probably not. Its not so much the car aerial as lack of coverage from
the base stations.
>
>

>
> But higher gain is achieved by making the aerial more directional. For
> this reason not very much can usefully be done to increase the gain on
> a car mobile antenna, you don't want to lose the signal because you've
> turned a corner and the antenna is looking away from the transmitter.

You forget vertical co-linears my friend!

Dave

On Sat, 27 Jan 2007 18:34:28 -0000, "Tony" <[email protected]> wrote:

>
>Also contary to popular belief, the antenna will work better if vertical and
>not swept back at an angle. May look sporty but does nothing for the
>performance!
>

Contrary to popular belief most BTS antennas transmit cross polar at +
and - 45 degrees and most mobile reception is actually multipath.
Depending on the vehicle position to the BTS site and if line of site
the angle of the current antenna would actually be perfect!

On Sun, 28 Jan 2007 11:00:55 +0000, gort <[email protected]> wrote:

>
>>
>> But higher gain is achieved by making the aerial more directional. For
>> this reason not very much can usefully be done to increase the gain on
>> a car mobile antenna, you don't want to lose the signal because you've
>> turned a corner and the antenna is looking away from the transmitter.
>
>You forget vertical co-linears my friend!
>

Certainly not.

What part of :

"The gain can be increased by trimming the response in a skyward
direction well above the horizon where you lnow the transmitter is not
going to be, to the benefit of response closer to the horizon 360
degress around the car"

Did you not understand?

DG

>
> Certainly not.
>
> What part of :
>
> "The gain can be increased by trimming the response in a skyward
> direction well above the horizon where you lnow the transmitter is not
> going to be, to the benefit of response closer to the horizon 360
> degress around the car"
>
> Did you not understand?
>
> DG

My mistake, read it too quickly.

Dave