mobile phone sensitivity and antennas

Not many have an external aerial socket these days but there are a few that have a cradle which has an inductive connection. We've got a couple of cradles with inductive antenna connection, power connection and data connection in different vehicles for our Nokia phones which work well. The cradles are quite often made by 3rd parties like Force which are generally cheaper then the brand name ones from the big manufacturers like Nokia.

Samsung S5510T has an external antenna socket and patch leads are available for it. We have one of its predecessors (Samsung A411) and it works well, although light on features.

If you have the Motorola Defy, presumably you are on a plan rather than pre-paid. The Samsung is available with prepaid. It might be prudent to check with Telstra whether a prepaid phone will work with a post-paid SIM. You would think it would, but that is not the case with mobile broadband (pre-paid SIM won't work with at least some modems on a plan)

You could try an inductive coupling with the Motorola and see whether that makes a difference. (See RF Shop for more information. They are very helpful too.)

Hi Mel

I use a Samsung C5220 blue tick , $89 at Dick Smiths , through a patch lead to a 7 db aerial mounted on the roof and this works very well. Don't know what features the phone offers as we only use the basics. We also have a sat phone mounted in the cab with an external aerial also on the roof to ensure good communications

Cheers Teza

I just bought a Defy - when I was doing my reseaqrch a month ago it was listed as a 'blue tick' - when did they say it was a mistake ?

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A blue tick is not related to sensitivity.

A blue tick , means it can have an external antenna connected.

Many phones with Blue tick have less sensitivity than ones without , but when you connect an antenna they give you the range which is intended to roughly coincides with phone companys reception chart.

The cheap samsungs mentioned above have an external connection & coincidentally good reception.

But aerial connection is a bit iffy and subject to coming loose if used a lot and makes the phone harder to pick up and use.

If you go to Jaycar the have an inductive antenna stick on pad that has a patch lead on it. I am going to try it for my Testra Next G internet that I can't get reception for at a RAAF Base in Brisbane.

G'day Mel D'
I purchased two new Samsung's just after the blue tick business started, as we live in a rural situation with dodgy reception was assured by salesperson they would work. Surprise surprise they didn't.....took them back to the shop ....they didn't want to know about it. Struggled on for a couple of months eventually got the 'bleeps' rang Telstra they sent a tech out to our home, he was here for over an hour driving around the property checking signal strength he agreeded it was pretty ordinary. He gave me the name of a Telstra person to call which I did, explained story to him, told him about the other Telstra guy coming out & checking signal strength. Long & the short of it.....original contracts torn up full refund on eveything I had spent on phone purchase & repayments & credit for half the calls made....very happy.
Ended up with two new ZTE T6, very happy with them & Telstra now. Telstra didn't even want the 'old' Samsungs' back.
If you bought a phone with a blue tick for the reason of better reception in rural situations & Telstra pull or remove the blue tick from a particular phone I think you would have a case for complaint. Ring & speak to someone in the mobile area in Telstra explain your case, DONT scream & shout (not saying you would) at them & see how you go.
I hope you get a suitable outcome like I did!
Reply 5 of 7

Slightly off the topic.. last year i found that in a fringe area for Optus i could get considerably improved reception just by holding the phone (with no aerial connection) against the base of the external antenna.
However since the antenna is on the roof rack i did get a few "looks" standing on the rear bumper bar.
Another form of inductive coupling?

cheers Simon

I have a cradle and external antenna connected to my Iphone. I can highly recommend the cradle which is a "Bury " brand. It has passive external antenna connection ( FME ) and power plug. It can be plugged into a lighter or power outlet socket, or hard wired. It is a smart charger so it will not over-charge the phone. The cradle is an excellent design for 4wd operation as it securely locks the phone in place. The new model 3G antenna I'm running was supplied to me free of charge, by "MobileOne" as I was involved in field testing it for them. I tested it for them for many weeks in many locations and situations, and the conclusion I came to, was that it was only of marginal benefit in fringe and semi-remote areas. In suburban areas, I found that there was no advantage over the phone's internal antenna.
Capt.

I bought a ZTE T6 for exactly the same reason and get great reception with it directly connected to a big external antenna. To get Internet capabilities I tether my laptop to the ZTE via bluetooth for a full Internet connection.

You can do this with most netbooks (ultra-compact laptops), Apple iPad, and most Android tablets (there are plenty of these going cheap now, check these eBay search results for some options).

The best setup would be an iPad tethered to a ZTE T6 directly connected to an external antenna.

Cheers,
Dave

The Defy used to be the only Bluetick Smartphone – at a total contract cost of $1176

Now the Blackberry Torch is the ONLY Bluetick Smartphone – at a total contract cost of $3096 !!!!!

The Defy is no longer rated as BlueTick.

Coincidence ???? . . . or a Marketing ploy ?

To save endless debates about peoples' view of the meaning of Bluetick, here is the definition that Telstra has publicly committed itself to -

"The 'Blue Tick' symbol identifies handsets recommended for rural handheld coverage. It's displayed in Telstra Shops and Dealers and on this website to help you choose the right mobile to get the best coverage for your specific location."

Telstra Bluetick


Don't confuse Regional and Rural coverage -

"Regional - Those areas in and immediately around major regional centres and towns

Rural - Those areas outside metropolitan and regional areas, within the Next G® network coverage area."

We have just purchased Motorola Defy and are needing to find a car kit/cradle for it that will allow a passive connection from the phone to an aerial to boost reception. Has anyone been able to track down one ?? I have now called about 6 telstra / phone shops and have had no luck.