Cellphone Towers/Transmitters

[Shel_B]

There is an app you can download that shows what tower you are hitting. The one I hit is about 15 miles away.

@Chris142 ... Is this the app?

Network Cell Info Lite is for anyone looking to improve their mobile experience and achieve their strongest cellular and Wi-Fi signal strength. This app also shows users which cellular tower they're connected to along with stats on the history of their signal strength.

 

[alarmguy]

Cell signals tend to travel in straight paths. You can be in the low part of a community and have terrible signal vs someone higher up on the same block of homes.
Also the way the tower is set up. Its signal can reach further depending on how it's set up. Meaning you can be right near a tower and have 3/4 bars but move a 1/2 mile to a mile down the road and have 5 bars.

Water absorbs radiation/radio frequencies. But you should have better signal with no obstructions UNLESS the cell tower antennas are not optimized for the water. Meaning, concentrating their aiming and spectrum to the surrounding land instead of bodies of water. Thats key, if they arent concentrating facing antennas toward any particular area or very limited, the signal will be very low. The cell antennas are mostly all directional.

 

[Chris142]

I'm currantly hitting a tower on the other side of Hesperia

 

[MolaKule]

I have noticed that on windy days that my cell service is less reliable. Are signals affected by the wind?

No, but they are affected by moisture.

Current Cell phone Frequencies are around 2.1 GigaHertz, WSR-88D (NEXRAD) weather radar operates in the "S" band at 2.8 GigaHertz.

https://training.weather.gov/wdtd/courses/rac/documentation/rac20-introduction.pdf

Fog and rain can reduce cell phone communication distances because moisture reflects this SHF signal.

Again, any sane boat operator on the ocean or large lakes should have a Maritime Radio aboard and not rely on short distance cell service alone.

"Maritime radio frequencies are used for communication at sea. The VHF maritime mobile band consists of channels operating in the frequency range 156.000 MHz to 162.050 MHz1. The most important VHF channel frequencies are VHF Channel 9 and Channel 162. There are three marina channels: 1 Channel "M" (157.850 MHz), 2 Channel "M2" (161.425 MHz), and 3 Channel "80" (157.025/161.625)3. Channels 8, 67, 72, and 88 are used only for ship-to-ship messages, while channels 1, 7, 9, 10, 11, 18, 19, 63, 67, 72, 79, 80, and 88 are used for public correspondence."

For example: https://www.wholesalemarine.com/uniden-um435-fixed-mount-vhf-radio-black/

https://theantennafarm.com/shop-by-...marine-antennas/13465-morad-vhf-156-hd-detail

 

[alarmguy]

No, but they are affected by moisture.

Current Cell phone Frequencies are around 2.1 GigaHertz, WSR-88D (NEXRAD) weather radar operates in the "S" band at 2.8 GigaHertz.

https://training.weather.gov/wdtd/courses/rac/documentation/rac20-introduction.pdf

Fog and rain can reduce cell phone communication distances because moisture reflects this SHF signal.

Again, any sane boat operator on the ocean or large lakes should have a Maritime Radio aboard and not rely on short distance cell service alone.

"Maritime radio frequencies are used for communication at sea. The VHF maritime mobile band consists of channels operating in the frequency range 156.000 MHz to 162.050 MHz1. The most important VHF channel frequencies are VHF Channel 9 and Channel 162. There are three marina channels: 1 Channel "M" (157.850 MHz), 2 Channel "M2" (161.425 MHz), and 3 Channel "80" (157.025/161.625)3. Channels 8, 67, 72, and 88 are used only for ship-to-ship messages, while channels 1, 7, 9, 10, 11, 18, 19, 63, 67, 72, 79, 80, and 88 are used for public correspondence."

For example: https://www.wholesalemarine.com/uniden-um435-fixed-mount-vhf-radio-black/

https://theantennafarm.com/shop-by-...marine-antennas/13465-morad-vhf-156-hd-detail

Even more effective than a marine radio might be iPhone 14 and above for emergencies in addition to marine.
Marine radio is limited to under best conditions of around 20 miles. Typically the horizon. An iPhone 14 or later can use satellite. Having both would be the best of all worlds unless you have a true satellite phone and a EPIRB

 

[mk378]

A VHF radio will connect you immediately and directly to the Coast Guard and most ships and boats nearby. The USCG has listening stations along all coasts, so coverage is not an issue unless you are far offshore.

 

[Quattro Pete]

No, but they are affected by moisture.

Current Cell phone Frequencies are around 2.1 GigaHertz, WSR-88D (NEXRAD) weather radar operates in the "S" band at 2.8 GigaHertz.

https://training.weather.gov/wdtd/courses/rac/documentation/rac20-introduction.pdf

Fog and rain can reduce cell phone communication distances because moisture reflects this SHF signal.

Again, any sane boat operator on the ocean or large lakes should have a Maritime Radio aboard and not rely on short distance cell service alone.

"Maritime radio frequencies are used for communication at sea. The VHF maritime mobile band consists of channels operating in the frequency range 156.000 MHz to 162.050 MHz1. The most important VHF channel frequencies are VHF Channel 9 and Channel 162. There are three marina channels: 1 Channel "M" (157.850 MHz), 2 Channel "M2" (161.425 MHz), and 3 Channel "80" (157.025/161.625)3. Channels 8, 67, 72, and 88 are used only for ship-to-ship messages, while channels 1, 7, 9, 10, 11, 18, 19, 63, 67, 72, 79, 80, and 88 are used for public correspondence."

For example: https://www.wholesalemarine.com/uniden-um435-fixed-mount-vhf-radio-black/

https://theantennafarm.com/shop-by-...marine-antennas/13465-morad-vhf-156-hd-detail

If you're on a non-commercial boat and just want to chit chat with another non-commercial boat, which marine channels can you use? I've found various sources with conflicting information on this...

https://copradar.com/marine/channels.html

 

[PandaBear]

https://dgtlinfra.com/cell-tower-range-how-far-reach/

Spectrum	Low-Band	Mid-Band	High-Band
Frequencies	600 MHz 700 MHz 850 MHz	2.5 GHz C-band and CBRS 3.45 GHz	24 GHz 27.5 to 31 GHz 37, 39, 47 GHz
Cell Tower Range	Up to 25 miles (40 kilometers)	1 to 12 miles (1.6 to 19 kilometers)	50 to 2,000 feet (15 to 600 meters)
Coverage	Wide	Moderate	Limited
Capacity	Low	Medium	High
Locations	Rural / Suburban / Urban	Suburban / Urban	Urban / Dense Urban

 

[vavavroom]

Where I live a weBoost is almost necessary if I want to be reachable at all time. I would estimate that it generally doubles the range of the signal.

 

[Sedin26]

In the 3G days I stayed at a farm for about a month that was around 30 miles from the tower. We were down in a valley so didn’t have line of sight.

I had a signal outside but could never get it to work. No signal inside. However, I discovered that there was a specific window where I could hang the phone from the casing, essentially having it hang in the middle of the inside of the window, and I could reliably make calls on speaker.

 

[brandon9715]

I have noticed that on windy days that my cell service is less reliable. Are signals affected by the wind?

Leaves have a definite impact on higher frequencies.

 

[ripcord]

I have noticed that on windy days that my cell service is less reliable. Are signals affected by the wind?

Probably not wind itself, but if there is a lot of dust in the air there is a measurable and sometimes significant impact on wavelengths used for cell phone transmissions. Rain, too.