Dave C wrote:
"Skin back how far on the ends of the coax?"

I suspect the idea was to make a quick coaxial fipole at each end of the
coax.

One removes 1/4-wave of the plastic jacket at each end. Then one
carefully pulls the coax metal braid back over the remaining jacket as
far as it will go. You now have a coax 1/2-wave center-fed dipole at the
end of the coax where completed.

With a 1/2-wave dipole in a high-signal area directly connected to a
1/2-wave antenna in a low-signal area, energy is transferred from high
to low. Try it. It is cheap and it may work.

Best regards, Richard Harrison, KB5WZI

Thanks guys, I'm definitely going to try this with the "300-ohm TV
twinlead" coax, suggested above.

From this post, it looks like I'm going to be peeling back 1/4 of the
800mhz wave length. VZW apparently uses 800mhz only in southern
california.
http://groups-beta.google.com/group/...6990e159424da8

exactly right - That's what I was referring to


"Richard Harrison" wrote in message
...
Dave C wrote:
"Skin back how far on the ends of the coax?"

I suspect the idea was to make a quick coaxial fipole at each end of the
coax.

One removes 1/4-wave of the plastic jacket at each end. Then one
carefully pulls the coax metal braid back over the remaining jacket as
far as it will go. You now have a coax 1/2-wave center-fed dipole at the
end of the coax where completed.

With a 1/2-wave dipole in a high-signal area directly connected to a
1/2-wave antenna in a low-signal area, energy is transferred from high
to low. Try it. It is cheap and it may work.

Best regards, Richard Harrison, KB5WZI

I was actually thinking of a pair of biquad antennas, each at opposite
lengths of a run of coax--sufficient length to place one biquad outside
at a favorable location to hit a cell tower.
This is an example of a biquad I am speaking of:
http://www.nec2.org/wlan.htm

Once you have assembled your parts, should be able to get one up and
going in short time...

Warmest regards,
John
wrote in message
oups.com...
I searched the archives and found this question addressed but not
fully. I have a verizon cell with a dual-band radio 800/1900. I get
service everywhere except...my new apartment. Ofcourse, probably a
typical scenario. The second I walk into the apt, the signal drops to
nothing. Outside, I have full strength. My assumption is that it
must
be the construction of the building that's creating some type of
faraday cage.

The obvious solutions to my problem a
Buy a new phone from a different provider
Use a land line
Purchase a cell repeater for the 800/1900 freq (unsure which is being
used in my area but I will find out)
Connect an external antenna to the phone

Switching providers is not an option due to the fact that I've tried
'em and Verizon has the best coverage in my area...w/ the exception of
my apt.

I hate the idea of having multiple phone numbers so I dont want a land
line.

I am honestly considering the cell repeater but the cost is putting me
off. They cost around $500-700. I get the feeling this could be
built
for pretty cheap but I'm not an electrical engineer so ... Apparently,
they use them in my office building for sprint since our company has a
very large contract with them.

I'd prefer to remain wireless so an external antenna, unless it's
small
enough to strap to my flip phone(which I have been unable to find) is
out of the question.

What about a passive antenna? I know that traditionally they are
looked down upon and can even cause signal degradation but in my case,
the signal is VERY strong just outside. Is it a possibility? If so,
what size antennas should I purchase for the 800 or 1900 bands?
Obviously, I will have to figure out which is being used in my area
but
there must be a simple formula for the size. Also, coaxial type,
placement, etc?

I'm using the samsung sch-i600 smartphone with windows mobile 2002 on
the verizon cdma network. This phone is dual-band, digital. No
amps/analog.

Any other ideas?