Andrew Duane <andrew_l_duane@yahoo.com> wrote in
news:1180471974.143917.316850@u30g2000hsc.googlegr oups.com:

> Will these antennas also help with in-house reception? I live in a
> just-barely-marginal area, and lose maybe 1 in 4 calls. It would be
> nice to have just a little bit better reception at home to make the
> phone more reliable. I can plug it into the antenna, perched somewhere
> decent, and use my bluetooth headset to talk.
>
>

Yes. Radio Shack has a neat little plugin 12V power supply, catalog
number 22-501 that is a large wall brick with a built-in cigarette socket
to plug the amp into (or any 12 thingy up to 1A). They are really handy
for running mobile stuff in the house. The mobile antennas do need a
small metal object, preferably steel so the magnet will stick, such as a
filing cabinet or even just a steel coffee can to use as a ground plane
for best transmission. Just turn the empty coffee can upside down and
stick the antenna to the middle of the bottom plate. Set it in a window
or even outside if you have a way, which is better still.

For a more permanent installation, look here:
http://www.cellantenna.com/Antennas/yagi.htm
Directional antennas, like yagis, have been around since WW2. They
direct your power in one direction. 10db gain multiplies the effective
radiated power of your cellphone 10 times. 6db = x4. This allows you to
point it at the best cell the house can see and nearly eliminates
multipath interference bouncing your signal off objects and terrain like
mountains. Your signal arrives stronger, cleaner, with little or no
signal arriving late (UHF TV reflections look like ghosts. That's
multipath.) The cell will command the phone to reduce power, saving you
battery loading, if your signal arrives too powerful. The big antenna
just lets you set this level at something lower, rather than running full
blast into that crappy, but cutesy, stub of an antenna it came with.

Your bluetooth headset will give you 60' of range from where the phone is
plugged into the antenna....and its power supply...making your talk time
infinite, much to Verizon's dismay on unlimited N/W...(c;

Get the antenna, first, and cable it into the operating station from up
on the roof or pointing towards the cell from a balcony post. Its
orientation is VERTICAL...like the pictures show. To get a cable made,
if you're not proficient at complex coax connectors, go to any two way
radio shop with the antenna and your phone's antenna extension cable.
They have the proper UHF coaxial cable, best connectors and the tools to
put them on right. They test the cables for proper connections and
operation. Measure how long it needs to be to go from where the antenna
will be mounted to where the cellphone will be charged/operated. Add 3'
so you can leave a drip loop on both ends and have some leeway for
measurement errors. Measure carefully. You can't stretch it if it's too
short, but can use it if it's a bit too long.

Now you need to find out what BAND your local Verizon operates on. Here
in South Carolina, Verizon uses a combination of 800 Mhz old systems in
the big cities, but is a PCS carrier in the NE quadrant, notably Myrtle
Beach where big money is made on cellphones all summer. Buy just the one
band antenna for your area's frequency band...1900 PCS or 800 cellular.
800 makes it down the cable much better than 1900. Tell the cable shop
at the two way radio store which band it's on. The shorter the cable
run, the more signal you have at the other end of the cable, both on
transmit and receive. If the system is 800 Mhz, CAY810 is a good choice
for this band. If the system is 1900 Mhz PCS, get a panel, CAY1912 with
a bigger capture area and more gain. The panel mounts well on a wall
facing the tower. They have a wall mount designed for it.

Tell anyone who asks about the antenna its a for your government work and
you can't talk about it....Homeland Security...(c;

http://www.cellantenna.com/Boosters/da4000.htm
If the antenna alone doesn't solve the problem, you're in luck! The $400
DA4000 dual-band, bi directional amp I paid $400 for a few years ago is
on sale for $199! It puts out a full 3 watts on 800 Mhz and 2 watts on
PCS....times your antenna gain! With a 10db yagi, it would max out at 30
watts ERP...enough to blow holes in most all the noise! Of course, it
won't run any more power output then the cell tells the phone to generate
on transmit. Leveling is very important on shared channels. It also has
a very nice 20 db preamp on the receive side. Mine is in my truck into
an 800 Mhz, 6db colinear. POWER is our FRIEND in any communications
system...(old paging fact....why we ran 500 watts into a very high gain
antenna at 800') Your pager didn't even need an external antenna to work
out in the boonies with those transmitters...(c;

Larry
--
Grade School Physics Factoid:
A building cannot freefall into its own footprint without
skilled demolition.