Path: utzoo!censor!geac!torsqnt!news-server.csri.toronto.edu!clyde.concordia.ca!thunder.mcrcim.mcgill.edu!snorkelwacker.mit.edu!apple!usc!ucsd!casbah.acns.nwu.edu!accuvax.nwu.edu!nucsrl!telecom-request From: john@bovine.ati.com (John Higdon) Newsgroups: comp.dcom.telecom Subject: Re: Cellular Phone Signal Propagation Characteristics? Message-ID: <15766@accuvax.nwu.edu> Date: 2 Jan 91 09:10:45 GMT Sender: news@accuvax.nwu.edu Reply-To: John Higdon Organization: Green Hills and Cows Lines: 28 Approved: Telecom@eecs.nwu.edu X-Submissions-To: telecom@eecs.nwu.edu X-Administrivia-To: telecom-request@eecs.nwu.edu X-Telecom-Digest: Volume 11, Issue 5, Message 1 of 11 Brent Chapman writes: > What are the propagation characteristics of cellular service? I was > under the impression that it was tuned to be strictly a short-range > (i.e., less than ten miles) system, and that in fact this short-range > characteristic is fundamental to making the system work (because > shorter range allows smaller cells, and thus more total callers by > reusing the same frequencies in more non-adjacent cells). How, then, > was I receiving service when I'm sure I was at least 60 miles from the > nearest cell? And what makes you think you were sixty miles from the nearest cell? I have watched, over the past several years, as the PacTel Cellular has been adding site after site to service the high desert area. There are a couple of sites near Barstow, as well as a couple near Victorville. Lately, the coverage has been improved on the Mojave to Barstow route via 58 by the addition of more sites. The main thrust has been the coverage of I15. It is now possible (unlike in the past) to carry on a continuous conversation from Newport Beach to some miles past Barstow on the way to Las Vegas. But take my word for it, there are cell sites involved. It isn't magic propagation. John Higdon | P. O. Box 7648 | +1 408 723 1395 john@bovine.ati.com | San Jose, CA 95150 | M o o !