mearle@pro-party.cts.com (Mark Earle) (01/14/91)
On several occasions, I've taken my Uniden GTS-4000 phone, and temporarily installed it in my work vehicle. This is a Chevy 1/2 van, with only front window and driver/passenger side windows. Otherwise, all metal. The CMT sits on a wooden work bench about three inches off the floor, with a "gain" rubber duckie (Radio Shack's $30 product, about one foot long). My 'normal' installation is a roof-mounted Antenna Specialist gain antenna fed w/low loss coax. Supposedly the "best" set up, compared to on glass antennas, antennas with RG-58 feedlines, etc. Well-in PRACTICAL terms, the phone on it's rubber duckie works as well as when on a "real" antenna. Typical: On I-37, I lose the "home" carrier at mile marker 90 with the "real" and with the rubber duckie it's at mile marker 88. Big deal! Similar observations at other "boundaries". Note, this is not ONE cell -- I'm not in that contest <grin> ... but only the point I lose "home" and have to use "roam" facilities. So, not much real difference. Note: this is on Southwestern Bell Mobile Systems, the wireline carrier. I incur no "roam" daily charge, but there is this 'penalty'. From 2000-0700 daily, plus all day Sat/Sun/Holidays, I pay 0.00 as the airtime rate. Peak is .38/min. BUT, when in ROAM, it's .38 24 hrs/day. So I try and be aware if I'm in ROAM, to the point of not letting the phone switch automatically. I want to KNOW when the higher evening rate is in force. Well -- at least compared to Higdon et all, I seem to have a reasonable rate. I posted this briefly before, but for summary/completness: Plan Rates $40/mo .38 P .00 OP $24/mo .38 P .21 OP $15/mo .58 P .58 OP $125/mo .22 P .22 OP Note: all but the $15/mo plan include call waiting, forwarding (conditional and immediate) and three way conference calling. Note: three way conference calling, and answering the call waiting beep, incur 2x the airtime rate (of course, on weekends, with the $40/mo plan, 2x 0 still = 0) Also offered are: Mail Service 1 4.95/mo 10 msgs/30 secs duration 72 hour retention Mail Service 2 9.95/mo 20 msgs/60 secs duration one week retention Pager Alert Feature $2/mo Incoming call restriction $5/mo Outgoing call restriction $5/mo Toll Restriction (no 1+) $5/mo Mr. Rescue $2.50/mo (gas/jump start) Detailed Billing Statement$2.50/mo (included in $125 and $40 plan "free") 911 and 611 (service) Free One time service activation fee $25 You are also billed as follows in some cases: If you make an outgoing call, and let it ring for longer than thirty seconds, you are nicked one minute airtime. If you leave your phone on, and have no forwarding in effect, AND the callee lets it ring more than thirty seconds, you are nicked one minute even if you don't answer. Follow Me Roaming works as expected. Folks calling a remote roam port Always get nicked for the LD call, because there is a "enter the mobile number you wish NOW voice prompt" so they'll get docked even if you don't answer. As above, you'll get nicked if in a roam city, the phone is on, and the callee lets it ring more than thiry seconds. Directory assistance: always billed at .40/call within SWB area. DA to your LD carrier for calls outside SWB are between you and them (mine is AT&T, .60/request). No "allowance". Airtime also applies if during Peak, so a local DA call costs at least 78 cents. Makes one keep the pocket minder up to date! Conditional forwarding: after three rings, the caller gets a voice announcement, "please wait, your call is being forwarded". The process takes about one minute! You are NOT billed airtime for conditional forwarding, nor for immediate forwarding, regardless of how long the callee lets it ring. Anyhow, that's most of the stuff I can think of for my particular service. Overall-it's great, much more flexible than the pager I used to carry, and fairly priced. Now, if that 0.00 airtime was 24 hours !!!!!!!!! or if it was .05/min, or something like that. My comments earlier regarding the "real" vs "rubber duckie" coverage, are for calls made-not simply when the roam light or no service are or are not on. I get indication of service about five miles before it is actually useable; but once "there" it's dead solid, no static or problems. mearle@pro-party.cts.com (Mark Earle) [WA2MCT/5] CIS 73117,351 MCI Mail to: MEARLE My BBS: (512)-855-7564 Opus 1:160/50.0 Blucher Institute, Corpus Christi State University [Moderator's Note: Ameritech does not have bad rates at night, and I am fortunatly grandfathered into a plan they no longer offer: Off peak hours (9 PM to 7 AM plus all day Saturday and Sunday the rates are ten cents for the *first three minutes* and ten cents per minute thereafter. It is less expensive than any payphone I've seen. Of course daytime rates under my (grandfathered) plan are 65 cents a minute, but then I rarely use the phone during daytime hours; why bother since I have oa phone on my desk in the office to use. PAT]
dave@westmark.westmark.com (Dave Levenson) (01/15/91)
In article <16050@accuvax.nwu.edu>, mearle@pro-party.cts.com (Mark Earle) writes: > Well-in PRACTICAL terms, the phone on it's rubber duckie works as well > as when on a "real" antenna. Typical: On I-37, I lose the "home" > carrier at mile marker 90 with the "real" and with the rubber duckie > it's at mile marker 88. Big deal! Similar observations at other > "boundaries". Note, this is not ONE cell -- I'm not in that contest > <grin> ... but only the point I lose "home" and have to use "roam" > facilities. I think Mark is saying that he gets switched from HOME to ROAM at approximately the same point regardless of which antenna he's using. Somehow, that is not surprising. One switches from HOME to ROAM when one's cellular telephone set discovers that it is closer to a cell belonging to a system other than the one it considers to be its home system. That should happen at the same geographic location every time, unless cells are being created or moved. The fact that it varies by a mile or two is probably the result of some granularity introduced by the timing of the periodic locate interval in the mobile unit. I think they typically re-scan the setup channels and re-determine which one is strongest every minute or two when they're idle. The mobile antenna choice probably affects overall signal strength, and possibly the directionality of the coverage, but not the relative strength of two neighboring carriers. Dave Levenson Internet: dave@westmark.com Westmark, Inc. UUCP: {uunet | rutgers | att}!westmark!dave Warren, NJ, USA AT&T Mail: !westmark!dave Voice: 908 647 0900 Fax: 908 647 6857