Registered: Nov 2000
Location: Austin, Texas
Posts: 40

I was wondering what your average signal strength is where you live and move around. In Austin, in my apt (far SW austin), with the little gold sticker on the battery - I get about -86 or so. I've zoned in on a tower, where i've seen it go down to -15!! but usually -49 (300 yards from tower). Connections go in and out as I move around town, but I'm thinking this is slowly getting better as they add more CDPD tranmiters to the towers... How is it where you are?

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Christo

"it's not the quantity, but the quality"

Registered: Aug 2000
Location: Alive and well on VisorCentral.com
Posts: 861

I live in the Boston area..

Where did you get your sticker and does it REALLY work? Exactly where did you put in on the minstrel?

I have to use a modified cell phone replacement antenna to get any signal whatsoever, the stub simply doesn't work for me. With the stub it's acts like it has no antenna.

Registered: Nov 2000
Location: Austin, Texas
Posts: 40

Wireless strength

The little sticker was purchased through Yahoo, someone had posted the address, but it was 15 bucks. I also swapped out my nub ant. for the one out of my LG phone. Together, I seem to get a fairly constant link. I placed the sticker on the side of the Minstrel that faces the Visor. It seemed to boost about 5-10 db's. I got it after reading the post from a guy in Oregon who spoke of it's greatness. It does seem to help when further away from towers.

Registered: Aug 2000
Location: Alive and well on VisorCentral.com
Posts: 861

Thanks for the info..

I am so far away from our "local" tower that I don't even see it or know where it is.. (there aren't that many places to hide..),, the nearest one I know of is well over a mile from my house (maybe 2 miles)..


It works great when I am at work (with the stub) as the tower is line of sight and about 15 minute walk away.

Registered: Nov 2000
Location: Austin, Texas
Posts: 40

I get a decent connection from work, perhaps 5 miles from the tower. I don't really know which tower is which or how many are in my area, except I happened to check my signal strength and couldn't beleive how strong it was. I looked around and saw the medium sized grey tower with many satellite looking dishes around it.

Registered: Aug 2000
Location: Alive and well on VisorCentral.com
Posts: 861

I made my own replacement "power" antenna for the "stub" for use at home. I bought a Samsung 1900/1000 antenna from Radio Shack, removed the antenna part (didn't help all that much anyway) and replaced it with a thin metal rod (bout 5 1/2 inches), the rod just fits the opening left by the old antenna part (snug fit, needed a few hammer taps to get it in fully) {into the threaded samsung base part}, check with a volt meter to make sure the new antenna is in electrical contact with the threaded base part, to protect the new antenna, I took a section of heat shrink tube and covered it. Want a good laugh, what was the rod made of? A spare bbq skewer rod my wife bought at the super market for $2 (a pack of 5)! Was perfect, thin, light weight and strong. My Minstrel works like a charm now.

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"One of the most important things you learn from the internet is that there is no �them� out there. It�s just an awful lot of �us�." -- Douglas Adams

Registered: Oct 1999
Location: Chicago, IL
Posts: 276

this is a joke, right?

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what?<br>

Registered: Aug 2000
Location: Alive and well on VisorCentral.com
Posts: 861

No joke.

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"One of the most important things you learn from the internet is that there is no �them� out there. It�s just an awful lot of �us�." -- Douglas Adams

Registered: Dec 2000
Location:
Posts: 62

Help me out. Use your stub antenna in a spot that is poor reception. Go to the Minstrel application and then to the menu bar "advanced" and "status". See what your RSSI reading is for the dB ( average since it will fluctuate).

Then put in the new antenna that you made and in the SAME PLACE see what kind of reading you get.

I also got the Samsung antenna from Sprint for free and used it without any significant improvement. I will try to modify it like yours.

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Jeff Schaffer
[email protected]

Registered: Aug 2000
Location: Alive and well on VisorCentral.com
Posts: 861

A stock Samsung antenna only helped a little bit.. with the "stub" in, here in my apartment, it is exactly the same as if I DON'T have any antenna..

With the new antenna the green bar goes up half way and I get a "lock" in a matter of seconds. The direction I face the Visor in does seem to matter with the new antenna, it seems a bit touchy about that still, but at least now I can actually connect!!.. (for the record I have a Prism, which is RF optimized, you may have an older VDX model that has known RF problems)


A few key points on modifying the Samsung antenna..

1. Start with a longer section of replacement rod than you think you need, as I am not any kind of E.E. I can only (as an EE buddy says) "hack away till I get it right.." at the correct length of the new antenna section, what I did was just put the new length of antenna into the socket to test it's performance before I tried to fit it into the threaded samsung base.. This obviously isn't the most stable situation since it will fall out easily, but it lets you fiddle with it till you have a length that works well for you.. I actually made up 3 different antenna sections and tried them out for a few days.. the 5 1/2" one worked best for me inside my apartment.

2. Once you have found a length that seems to work well, be careful when you insert it into the samsung base, you may want to use some oil or other lubricant if the fit seems real snug. I actually used a small (diameter) section of metal pipe to hold the threaded base while I tapped the rod in. This way I didn't damage the threads. Make sure the rod is in electrical contact with the threaded end or it won't work, I used a volt meter to check. I tested the "naked" antenna for a few days to make sure the length was working before I covered it in shrink wrap tubing.. (practice on a spare section of rod to get a feel for how much it will shrink), while the tubing is still warm, I slowly pulled off the end so that it "sealed" the tip of the antenna, when you look at it now you never would know what it started it's life out as!

All this evolved from the "tin foil" trick...

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"One of the most important things you learn from the internet is that there is no �them� out there. It�s just an awful lot of �us�." -- Douglas Adams

Last edited by EricG on 02-21-2001 at 04:27 AM