Path: utzoo!utgpu!news-server.csri.toronto.edu!cs.utexas.edu!usc!zaphod.mps.ohio-state.edu!casbah.acns.nwu.edu!accuvax.nwu.edu!nucsrl!telecom-request From: john@icjapan.info.com (John Higdon) Newsgroups: comp.dcom.telecom Subject: Re: Cellular Phone Signal Propagation Characteristics? Message-ID: <16086@accuvax.nwu.edu> Date: 15 Jan 91 12:13:32 GMT Sender: news@accuvax.nwu.edu Reply-To: John Higdon Organization: No Hills, No Cows, Tokyo JAPAN Lines: 27 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 40, Message 8 of 11 In article <72173@bu.edu.bu.edu> dave@westmark.westmark.com (Dave Levenson) writes: >At 70 miles range, you may well be able >to receive the setup channel which is transmitting at a hundred watts >or more. >[Moderator's Note: My question is why would there be such an extreme >difference in output from the cell versus my output? What point is >there in having the cell talking to a unit which can't get back to it? None, and there isn't. While cell sites generally run more power than a mobile, the whole point of cellular is the non-interference of alternate or distant cells and running megapower from a site would defeat that just as much a high power from a mobile. Dave is correct when he points out that there are many times when you may have indication of service when indeed you can't make a call, but there are many reasons for that. The most common is that the mobile has a much less efficient transmitter/antenna combination than the site, or that it is a 0.6 watt handheld with no ground plane vs a well set up vehicle installation. Personal experience has been that my handheld frequently shows service available but refuses to connect to a site, where my truck phone almost always can make a call if service appears available, even in the most out-of-the-way desert rural areas.