Motorola Bag Phone.

[Tyler Howell]

Motorola Bag Phone.
Techies,
I have an old Motorola Bag Phone model# 19066 W NASG.
This is 1997 vintage.
Before my local carrier forced me to go digital it was cooking pretty good.
I've already barrowed the antenna and power supply for other telecom projects.
I realize these are trade secrets but is there any way to use the 3 Watt Transmitter for better coverage in the remote areas I'll be living in?? A shame to waste all this good techie stuff
These phones are still popular in remote areas and I even found some hackers who get them to work for WiFi???
The handset is used with marine band radios and industrial inter-com systems.
I'm an old sparky from way back, but not much good without a schematic.
Do you know any web sites that mess with these things? I Googled Bag Phone and found mostly resellers.

Moving to the country

TIA

[Robert Mickley]

Try the howardforums. or try googling bag phone hacking.

[Daniel Rabinovitz]

Tyler
Maybe your bag phone will talk to my bag phone?
I still keep it in one of my cars, so that we can call 911 and get help, if needed.
But alas, as with everything, it may be obsolete for that also.:confused:
Daniel :)

[Jim Becker]

Tyler, there are repeater systems available that can help with reception in your home if there is at least some reasonable level of signal outside. I've never heard of using an older system for that purpose, however...
-----

Dan, it's unlikely that you'll be able to use the analog phone for much longer even for 911. A pre-paid utility phone is a decent idea for a replacement--just check that the time doesn't have to be used within a certain period of time. Some are set up that way, and some don't expire.

[Mitchell Andrus]

I have a cell repeater in my house. A large antenna goes outside, the small one inside. I'm getting a bar added to the signal when it's on - sometimes two. They aren't cheap.

Try here:

http://www.cellphonemall.net/wireless/store/accessorydetail.asp?id=43626&phoneid=555

Mitch

[Tyler Howell]

Thanks Guys.
I hate to let all this go old "American Tech:rolleyes: "
Go to waste.
Have to put it in the same pile with my Bata, 8 track, HP calculator.

[Jim Becker]

Wireless Extenders makes two units that are less costly, but you have to pick the right one for the frequency your local provider AND tower are supplying. I just send the one I bought to a coworker as my provider's records were incorrect about the local tower...it's on 850mhz and the booster I bought was for the 1900mhz bands based on the available documentation on the cell site. But $250 is better than $500!

[Charles McKinley]

Hi Jim,

Predict that within days of the new one arriving the tower will be upgraded to the 1900 mhz you just got rid of. :(

How would the directional antennas connect to the phone?

I may or may not have reception based on where I am in the yard and what direction the wind is blowing. :(

[Jim Becker]

Chuck, the repeaters do not connect directly to the phone. They take in the outside signal via an antenna, boost the signal in the "little box" somewhere in your home at least 30-35' away from the outdoor antenna and then rebroadcast the signal through a smaller antenna....kinda a "mini-cell". It's a passive system that will work with any carrier as long as the frequency band is correct for your closest cell tower and service type. (CDMA or GSM). Some of these support both the lower "cellular" bands (850mhz) as well as the PCS (1900mhx) bands. Some only support one, like the unit I was attempting to use.

One other promising technology is what I'll call a "personal cellular gateway" that provides a mini-cell in your home/small office that communicates via broadband to your provider. This requires that the provider be on-board to support the gateway. I believe that one major GSM carrier is playing with the technology. This is the kind of thing I'd love to have...it would be perfect to solve the real problem at my address: very low signal due to the terrain. Our home sits in the lea of the mountain that the cell tower is on, but we are sheilded from the cell site by the big hunk of limestone that makes up the mountain. Go 500' in either direction on the road and you have five bars of signal. In our driveway, you have two, but it's usable. In the house...sometimes you have one or two, but can't effectively talk. (part of our house is 18" thick stone (also limestone) and there is plaster over wire lathe in that area, too. But even the wood frame is enough to attenuate the signal enough to make a cell phone unusable indoors.

[Mitchell Andrus]

I am also in a valley and have plaster and wire lathe walls. One bar without the repeater. Three of us have cells in the house (when college kid is home) so $500.00 for a unit that works is fine with me. Over four years without a dropped call. These units were originally designed for luxo yachts...

I know of a fellow who placed the collector antenna on a flag pole 40 or so feet off the ground. I assume precautions for lightning strikes are in place.

Mitch

[Joe Mioux]

Tyler:

I had the same phone....

those things were really good .... in there day....

I know exactly what you are thinking and feeling.....

turn it in for recycling

[Larry Klaaren]

When I was shopping for my cell phone the Cingular salesmen told me they had a repeater and "booster" in the building. They had a problem with people getting dropped calls when they tried out their brand new phone :rolleyes:.

Larry

[Al Willits]

I'm getting really poor reception with our home cordless system and connecting to the garage phone, wondering if one of these repeaters would work for that?
Its either that or run a new line out to the garage and use a different phone.

Al

ps....Tyler, wish I knew you had a 8 track, I'd of kept my Creedence and Iron Butterfly tapes....:)

[Jim Becker]

Al, no they would not help with your cordless phone. Very different frequencies. The celluar repeaters are specifically designed to work with the cellular frequencies AND signals.

If you are not using wireless system for your Internet service, the 2.4ghz phones extended range phones from Uniden and others generally have very good range. I previously used one of these and could go almost anywhere on our 4 acre property and still have signal. If you are using wireless for your computer system(s), then the 5ghz cordless is indicated...unfortunately, I find the range more constricted on them, but still usable for a few hundred feet.

[Jason Roehl]

Chalk it up to progress, Tyler. I'm on my 5th cellular phone. With the cost of replacement batteries (I notice a significant performance drop after 12-18 months), it's generally just cheaper to get a new phone every two years with a new two-year contract. The first phone was analog, and did ok, but not great. The last 4 have been digital, and ranking them in reception went about like this: 2,4,3,1. The first was powerful, but the batteries didn't last long, because it could still switch to analog at times. Then, as digital took off, but batteries were still relatively primitive, manufacturers turned the transmission power down on the phones, bottoming out at about 0.6W. I live outside my coverage area, and the previous 3 phones were just about unusable on my property, save for about 3 spots where I got a couple bars of signal--and the calls were only dropped about 50% of the time. My latest phone is now 2W, and I can talk on it freely while at home, and it's about 16 months old, so I'll probably upgrade next summer sometime.

[Al Willits]

Thanks Jim, I have a 2.4 gig from panasonic and it sucks, the old Sony cordless was twice the phone, but it didn't have multiple phone sets, so ya had to drag it out to the garage.

Chances are I'll run a wire out.

Al

[Jim Becker]

That's interesting Al, as my previous system was a multi-line, multi-handset Panasonic unit and the range was phenomonal...many hundreds of feet. The 5ghz Uniden mult-line, multi-handset system I use now has noticably less performance and range than the Panasonic system did, but I was having interference issues with the 2.4ghz system and had to change it out. (Another 'Creeker has the old system in use)

[Charles McKinley]

That would be me,

I really like my Panasonic. The one hand set didn't survive being used as a boat by my 2 year old though. The lower range on the higher htz systems bums me out as I will need to up grade one of these days and it was nice to not have to pull wires to the shop.

[Matt Meiser]

I use a Motorola 5.8ghz system at home and find that I get an acceptable signal to my shop which is is over 100 feet from the house. I think the steel ceiling, flourescent lighting, and the location of my shop electrical panel diminishes the performance but it is still good. We use the intercom feature as much as the phone for out there.

[Al Willits]

I get the range out of the Panny, but the minute I step into the garage it loses about 80% of its reception, the Sony kept much more.
If I stand at the doorway it works much better, must not like the garage.. :)

btw...is it me or does anyone else have the problem of SWMBO hitting the intercom just as you put all that glue on and have about 6 minutes to do 7 minute job??? :)

Al

[Jim Becker]

Ibtw...is it me or does anyone else have the problem of SWMBO hitting the intercom just as you put all that glue on and have about 6 minutes to do 7 minute job???

The best thing and the worst thing I did was teach the girls how to use the intercom feature in the phone system...as with you, the "timing" is always, umm...well...you know... ;) But at least I get more shop time now rather than having to do close "supervision"...:p