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Old 05-14-2004, 09:45 AM   #3
RockyMtnRay
TrailManor Master
 
Join Date: Jul 2001
Location: Colorado Springs, CO
Posts: 816
Default Re:"Smooth Talker" cellphone amplifier reviewed by TrailerLife

[quote author=dcrdark link=board=1;threadid=1762;start=msg13581#msg13581 date=1084535979]
Hey Rocky,
I was interested in your post about the "Smooth Talker". Have you had a chance to try it out yet?

[/quote]

As a matter of fact, I did buy this system and tried it on a recent trip to Great Sand Dunes National Monument and Lathrop State Park, both in southern Colorado.

At the Sand Dunes campground I was around 20 miles from the closest cell transmitter and barely able to get one bar of signal strength on my cellphone (Motorolo V60C). With the Smoothtalker hooked up, that signal strength went up to 5 bars...a huge increase. For some reason (possibly the type of arrangements that Verizon (my carrier) has with other carriers) the phone switched into Analog Mode before the call went through...but it was an extremely quiet, noise free analog signal (nearly as good as digital).

Later at the Lathrop SP campground (which is around 10 to 15 miles from the nearest cellphone antenna), I again could only get one bar of signal strength with just the phone's built in antenna...and when I tried a voice call, the phone went into Analog Mode with a very noisy connection. After I hooked up the Smoothtalker, I again got 5 bars of signal strength and the phone was able to find a good digital signal so it went into Digital Mode. Using the phone as wireless modem for my computer with the Smoothtalker hooked up was wonderful...it connected to an Earthlink POP (point of presence) faster than it ever had before when I've used the cellphone as a modem and the transmission/receive was so error free that the transfer rates were simply great.

I bought the system with the standard 2 inch mast antenna on the larger (3 inch) magnetic mount and also got a 26 inch mast antenna to swap with the 2 incher. The 2 inch antenna is best for the 1900 Mhz band (digital) but the 26 incher allegedly has higher gain for the 800 MHz band when you really want to reach the horizon in flat terrain. With the 2 interchangeable antennae and all the various other parts and pieces, the total charge was $407...but that did include overnight Fedex shipping.

So far I'm exceedingly pleased with the system but I haven't yet tested it in really mountainous terrain...will post another followup in a couple of months after I've used it in a variety of locales here in Colorado. It's kinda pricey for just casual, recreational phoning but for someone like me who really needs to stay in touch (both by voice and internet) while camping in the boondocks, it's more than worth the price.

P.S. My real name/nickname is "Ray" and not "Rocky"...the "Rocky" and "Mtn" parts of my signature are just adjectives (rather than nouns/names) to indicate I'm a guy named Ray who lives/plays in the Rocky Mountains of the western US.

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