Phone reception ideas on the water = more time on water.

[baitable]

Ok. been having a few thoughts. Turns out if I can monitor my phone, I can get away on more fishing trips. Yes i know the true appeal of fishing is lost but fielding calls is an integral part of my small business (and i'm sure many another on this site)

So heres the thought. Its between 75-80kms line of sight between Agnes waters 1770 and where i fish -essentially around Sykes and Fitzroy. Does anyone know of phone reception boosters? I'm guessing phone coverage is up to 30 kms outwards at the moment so will be looking for the remainder of the distance. Does anyone know how the boosters work or is this idea best left alone. I have also heard about the 4gx network which will run a lower frequency in future which may assist with extra coverage on the water...

Ideas peeps?????

[baitable]

Have also heard about the sattellite sleeves for i phones but that requires a different phone number and a plan to subscribe. Could this be the way to go i.e. divert calls to sat phone and make calls from sat phone???

[rexaway123]

I have sat phone
Only 30-40 month on plan
govt used to subsidise these 50% purchase when I got mine

some calls included and sms

as as backup too if radio goes down

[Aussie123]

With a good phone antenna on the boat you can get reception in behind Sykes but that's about all we have found out there.
For guaranteed service, you will need a sat phone or sleeve.
I think the sat sleeves are the best option as you can use all functions on the smart phone including a hotspot to other devices like a laptop or tablet for work purposes.

[scottar]

Sat phone (sleeve or otherwise) although expensive will be the best and most reliable. There are signal boosters available for mobile - they are illegal to sell domesticallyin both Australia and NZ. The company that sells/sold them has offices in both countries - Aussies order from NZ, Kiwis order from Aus. They are also illegal to use and apart from using an external antenna do not boost received signal strength. What they will do is have telstra hot on your tail if you forget to turn them off in a strong signal area as they more or less take over a tower. Have seen guys with direction finders hunting boats on the Goldy on a few occasions. Fine was $10G last I knew.

[ozscott]

External aerial and Telstra T phone with external physical patch lead port?

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[myusernam]

............

[Smithy]

Just bought a 8' Glomex aerial through TMQ. They have taken over the rights to Glomex again. I have the Telstra Tough Max phone and a patch cable and I now expect to get service everywhere I go up to 50Nm. My old aerial got me to the Noosa Canyons for texting and it was only a 3' stumpy antennae. In the interim I have bought a $54 eBay special 7db car aerial but it is so far proving hopeless.

[gofishin]

... and I now expect to get service everywhere I go up to 50Nm ...Is this just for the built up areas Smithy, with an abundance of cell towers etc?

What about places like 1770? We have occasionally got reception outside of Boult and I always wondered if an aerial connected to the phone would provide more chance of mobile reception out there.
Cheers
Brendon

[blairv70]

The other thing that will give you better range is if you change to a 700Mhz phone - low freq = more range

Most phones are now quad band so you should be ok

Also check out https://www.telcoantennas.com.au/site/category/products/all-antennas/list-frequency/700mhz for some ideas too pretty sure they do marine aerials

[scottar]

More chance but no guarantee. Your best friend is additional height which to a point the antenna provides. On a couple of the tugs at work they fitted an additional steering station in a small wheelhouse on the roof of the main wheelhouse with a void area below it providing an additional 4 metres or so of height compared to standing on the bridge deck. They became phone boxes when the boats were over west because half the time it was the only spot on the boat a phone would work from. The other issue that can arise in a small boat is that with the higher antenna gains usually associated with external antennas comes a more compressed radiation pattern - great provided you aren't pitching and rolling but can be problematic if you are.

[Andy56]

Satellite phone is the only viable option. 3G and 4G are in the microwave range. Line of sight only. Seeing as the horizon is about 50km, A bigger antenna will only give you more noise. Can't beat the physics guys.

[ozscott]

Telcoantennas is where I got my 3 foot RFI ozzy made antenna for the Telstra T96 phone. They do the patch leads too. Mine gets me more reception on the phone, no doubt. Cheers

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[The Mad Cat]

This is what I use, reception around 40nm offshore on most days.
https://www.telcoantennas.com.au/site/zcg-scalar-81dbi-telstra-next-g-marine-antenna


TMC

[goona]

Just saw this on Whats up Down Under. Looks the Goods. $888 to buy, $15 per month. Calls are 95c per minute, 50c per text and people calling you are charged at their normal rates. Would be a great addition to our Stanage Trips for that little extra bit of security and the misses to call me, but then again a week away with no contact aaahhh maybe not

http://smb.optus.com.au/opfiles/Business/PDFs/Optus_Satellite_SatSleeve_Flyer.pdf