Cell Phone Amp... Paying For Itself

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Feb 6, 1998
11,667
Canadian Sailcraft 36T Casco Bay, ME
So where we are anchored tonight there is zero phone or data reception with Verizon. I can't even get a 1X signal, even standing on the boom. So tonight is one of those nights where Mr. Wilson (our cell phone amp) is paying for himself..:D Nice to be able to do some work and check in here....

Currently getting three to four bars of 3G and had zero cell capability before turning it on....Thanks Mr. Wilson..:)
 

xsiddr

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Jun 14, 2009
34
BENETEAU 361 Worton Creek, MD
Hey Maine , too hot to be on the boat right now. We have weak reception on the Chesapeake. What Wilson setup are you using.
Thanks
Bob s/v Kaylic
 
Jun 6, 2006
6,990
currently boatless wishing Harrington Harbor North, MD
Doesn't this violate at least one of the golden rules MS?
You are on a sail boat why? to get some (not boat related) work done????
I'm putting you on my prayer list.

Seriously "even standing on the boom..." Addiction is a terrible thing
 

njsail

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Feb 18, 2010
216
Bavaria Ocean 40 CC Forked River
I'm not sure if I should envy you for actually being in a place without cell coverage or pray for you for needing cell service. We have a Wilson on our boat and sadly I've never really had to use it - we have saturated cell service down here. Every now then I will flip the switch just to see if it's working. I need to convince the admiral it's time to cut the dock lines and go on a quest to find an anchorage with no cell service.

Then again....all it takes is one of those X class solar flare's and we might find out...no travel needed. Mr Wilson....meet Mr Murphy.

Enjoy the peaceful anchorage Maine....
 

Tim R.

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May 27, 2004
3,626
Caliber 40 Long Range Cruiser Portland, Maine
3G service where I am. Used mainly for Pandora music.
 
Feb 6, 1998
11,667
Canadian Sailcraft 36T Casco Bay, ME
Doesn't this violate at least one of the golden rules MS?
You are on a sail boat why? to get some (not boat related) work done????
I'm putting you on my prayer list.

Seriously "even standing on the boom..." Addiction is a terrible thing
Ah but Bill i was sitting in the cockpit, off cruising and chose to do some reading and invoicing.. where were you when you posted.......? I rest my case...;)

I guess I should have been braiding some baggy wrinkles to not violate a golden rule.....?

P.S. Under sail right now off Small Point, ME.. Yep i do like my technology...:D
 

BobT

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Sep 29, 2008
239
Gulfstar 37 North East River, Chesapeake Bay
Yes, please post Mr. Wilson's specifics. There are quite a few options. Mobile Pro? Hard wired? Antenna?
Data junkies want to know!

Thanks.
 
Feb 6, 1998
11,667
Canadian Sailcraft 36T Casco Bay, ME
Yes, please post Mr. Wilson's specifics. There are quite a few options. Mobile Pro? Hard wired? Antenna?
Data junkies want to know!

Thanks.
Will do later, dodging lobster pots and trimming sail right now....
 
Jun 2, 2004
149
Beneteau 393 Lake Texoma, Texas
MS-glad to hear that your Wilson amp is working great. I am a great fan of Wilson's product line, but for the audience, they don't work magic in alll areas. At our marina, we have excellent 4G data coverage, but terrible voice coverage from most of the major wireless providers in our part of the world (including Verizon, AT&T and Sprint). My dock is located directly under a bluff that creates a block for our signals. No one, including an engineer for a major telecom provider who has a boat on our dock, can explain why we get such outstanding 4G (LTE) coverage but crappy voice capabilities. We installed a Wilson dual band 65 DB Pro unit with an external antenna mounted 25' above the deck and dual internal radiating antennas. We purchased the unit in as a complete package (amp, antennas, antena mount, cables, lightning arrestor, etc) from a local enterprise that does a booming business with this product. Unfortunately, at the end of the day, no visible improvement in ability to maintain voice communications within a boat located no more than 25' from the internal antennas. This is not a hit on Wilson, as they perform remarkably well in many environments. That said, it is not the magic bullet in all environments. Also, to Wilson's credit, they took the unit back with no questions asked and apologized that it did not help our situation. Great company to do business with.
 
Jan 22, 2008
423
Catalina 30 Mandeville, La.
These types of devices play havoc on wireless networks. They are a major source of interference when not properly installed. The biggest mistake people make is not separating donor and sever antennas. The amplifier will pick up it's own signal and begin to oscillate across the entire band. This raises the radio noise floor ( this is the base-line lowest signal that telephones and aircards have to overcome to be heard by the cellsites). They are known as bi-directional amplifiers. I have found one of these in use by a contractor doing an expansion at a local oil refinery. They had setup a temporary office and had the two antennas about 3 feet apart from each other. It was causing major interference to a vast area and affected hundreds of other users. This is why the carriers do not like these devices. It has nothing to do with wanting to make the money off of selling them.

Wilson makes pretty good one's as far as consumer grade goes. There are others out there that are total crap though. Some of the Wilson models claim to have protections against over-powering nearby cellsites and oscillation detection circuits. The professional grade devices like this have much better performance and safeguards against interference. The number one thing is those are installed and setup by engineers who will determine what is necessary for a particular application with the least effect on other users. On the other hand, the cellsite systems are setup to force the mobile device to reduce or increase the power out as needed and even installations with high gain directional antennas are kept within reasonable bounds. This isn't always the case though, as in the oscillating signal.
 
May 11, 2005
3,431
Seidelman S37 Slidell, La.
Just the opposite

When I anchor out, one of the things I look for is no cell phone signal. Really don't matter much though, most of the time on the boat, I leave cell phone off. Who needs one of those?
 
Jun 21, 2004
37
Oday 25 Sodus Bay, NY
Funny, when I read the headline, I thought you were turning at the weather mark....that is what we call Mr. Wilson on my boat.
 
Feb 6, 1998
11,667
Canadian Sailcraft 36T Casco Bay, ME
Answers, we need answers! Please?

Sorry was out sailing again....

This is what we use.. They could have updated versions today but this was the state of the art when I bought it a few years ago..

# 811210 Signal Boost Cellular/PCS Amplifier
# 301130 - Marine Mount Antenna
# 952350 - 50 Ft of LMR400 Antenna Wire
# 971108 - Amp to antenna connector
# 971107 - Cable to amp connector
 
Jan 22, 2008
423
Catalina 30 Mandeville, La.
The updated versions would include 700Mhz LTE 4g for ATT & Vz. The antennas will be different too.
 
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