BOATS AND CELL PHONES

[Robja]

When I am out fishing if I get more than a mile or so foo the beach my cell service goes to schitt. When I had the old bag phone(6watt) it worked a lot better. What does everybody do to get increased signal on a cell phone while on the boat? I know it varies with the area but surely someone is getting service off shore. I hear people on the radio saying call my cell so someone is getting service in my area while I can't. I had a razor and it sucked now have a crackberry and it is not any better. any advice as to what to do to get better service on a boat will be appreciated

[clt_capt]

I had a motorola an al og bag phone until last year It was fixed Mounted and I had a big antenna- I could usually get 40 - 50 miles with it.

Since Alltel dropped an al og service, I would up switching to a digital Motorola bag phone and added an antenna booster - I get 20 - 30 miles now.

I know that there are antenna boosters available (fixed mount) that allow you to use your normal cell phone and extend your range, but I haven't used one.

[Bird Dog]

I think the people offshore are referring to their satelite phones

[Avenger]

Whyinthehell would you want anybody to be able to call you while you are out fishing?

[gradywhite273]

Originally Posted by clt_capt

I had a motorola an al og bag phone until last year It was fixed Mounted and I had a big antenna- I could usually get 40 - 50 miles with it.

Since Alltel dropped an al og service, I would up switching to a digital Motorola bag phone and added an antenna booster - I get 20 - 30 miles now.

I know that there are antenna boosters available (fixed mount) that allow you to use your normal cell phone and extend your range, but I haven't used one.

as usual, clt capt hit the nail on the head, the switch from ****og to digital had brought them way down, from what i understand there are signal boosters, my step brother has one in his house for nextel, i would love to hear from guys who have the cell booster for marine use.

[Russell A. Jost]

Originally Posted by Robja

When I am out fishing if I get more than a mile or so foo the beach my cell service goes to schitt. When I had the old bag phone(6watt) it worked a lot better. What does everybody do to get increased signal on a cell phone while on the boat? I know it varies with the area but surely someone is getting service off shore. I hear people on the radio saying call my cell so someone is getting service in my area while I can't. I had a razor and it sucked now have a crackberry and it is not any better. any advice as to what to do to get better service on a boat will be appreciated

Robja, this company sells boosters for cell phones www.digitalantenna.com. I have one of their older models that worked great on my ****og cell phone but it won't work at all on my newer digital cell. I would try and get some reassurances that their newer models will work on your cell before buying.

[Robja]

Thanks for the info and the web page russell.One thing I noticed is with the antenna you have to make sure it is compatible with the band widths on your phone. Most cell phones operate on 2 bands which means they only work in the us while other phones like the world phone by blackberry uses 4 bands(the 2 other bands that the rest of the world uses).

Oh, Avenger. The reason is if I am on a bunch of fish and I want to let a friend know I would rather be able to call his cell. When we were fishing a couple of weeks ago we were in a spot with 4 other boats catching fish. One boat radioed a friend and within 30 minutes there were 200 boats in the same general area.

[JD5652]

I have the Digital Model 4000 cell phone amplifier installed on my boat and I get about 20-25 mile reception offshore here in the NE. I'm pretty happy with this unit.

http://www.digitalantenna.com/prods/...amplifier.html

One governing factor is the height of where you external antenna is mounted. Cell phone signals are "line of sight" technology.

I agree....the old ana log phones were the best for long distance reception!

Good luck!

[Kukoa]

I have the same cell phone booster as JD5652 on my boat. I get between 15 to 30 nautical miles, depending on where I'm fishing offshore from Oahu. On the Penguin Banks, Molokai the digital cell phone will work up to 12 nm without any antenna connection.

It's good to have a cell phone if you know you're going to be late rather than having the Coast Guard relay a message. FYI: the Coast Guard's VHF antenna is on top of Mount Haleakala National Park, Maui (elevation 10,000 plus feet). You can reach the CG from 100 miles offshore w/a portable VHF.

Just be sure your phone has the direct (adapter) connection to the antenna rather than the passive one (wrap around adapter).

[captadamnj]

Concur with the above posts with regards to the Digital booster with an external antenna giving coverage to 15-25 miles offshore off of NJ.