my profile | my password | search | faq & rules | forum home

» Film-Tech Forum ARCHIVE   » Community   » Film-Yak   » Cell Phone Antenna Booster (Page 1)

This topic comprises 2 pages: 1  2

Author Topic: Cell Phone Antenna Booster Barry Floyd Phenomenal Film Handler Posts: 1079 From: Lebanon, Tennessee, USA Registered: Mar 2000 posted 12-18-2002 04:13 PM                        Has anybody seen these things? They're like a sticker or a thin film of coiled wire that susposedly will "boost" the signal of your cell phone. Your susposed to put it on the back of the phone between the battery and the back of the phone. My question is.... do they work? I've got a Nokia 5165 phone with a fixed length "stubby" antenna, and get pretty poor reception when I'm down at the theatre site. Any comments would be good......  |  IP: Logged Joe Beres Jedi Master Film Handler Posts: 606 From: Minneapolis, MN, USA Registered: Nov 2000 posted 12-18-2002 04:29 PM                     Barry, I got one of those things for free when I bought a battery for my Samsung phone on Ebay. I never actually stuck it onto the phone, but put it into place to try it without unneccesarily gumming up my phone. It didn't seem to do a damn bit of good, but I didn't test it too extensively.  |  IP: Logged Ken Layton Phenomenal Film Handler Posts: 1452 From: Olympia, Wash. USA Registered: Sep 1999 posted 12-18-2002 05:35 PM                     They tested these on KOMO-TV4 in Seattle on their "Buyer Beware" segment of the 5:00 o'clock news a few months ago. They don't work!  |  IP: Logged Thomas Procyk Phenomenal Film Handler Posts: 1842 From: Royal Palm Beach, FL, USA Registered: Feb 2002 posted 12-18-2002 05:59 PM                     If they're selling it at 3am, if there's a 1-800 number to call, and if it's $19.95-but-wait-theres-more, then it probably doesn't work! =TMP=  |  IP: Logged Barry Martin Expert Film Handler Posts: 203 From: Newington, CT USA Registered: Jul 2002 posted 12-18-2002 07:59 PM                        One instance I was very glad for my employee discount at an electronics store. These things retail for 8-10 bucks, but cost me one dollar. I don't have a cell phone but had a friend who was always having troubles with his so I bought him one thinking "What the Hell, I'm out a soda if it doesn't work." Everyone is right, they don't work. I would love to see one example of good outcome, but have never heard of one.  |  IP: Logged Ray Brown Expert Film Handler Posts: 111 From: Dayton, WA, USA Registered: Sep 2002 posted 12-18-2002 07:59 PM                        I did a search on Google about a year ago when this so called miracle product came out and all the reviews pretty much said it was a piece of . I remember it was advertised on TV and sold at the local Staple's for $20. A quick Google search shows they are now running for under $5. I have that same same phone (along with just about everybody else around here) and it works great even when I'm not in site of a tower. You must be alonnnng ways away from a tower.  |  IP: Logged Nate Lehrke Master Film Handler Posts: 396 From: Denver, CO Registered: Oct 2002 posted 12-18-2002 08:22 PM                     I have a Motorola phone with Verizion( ). I bought one last year for $10 at Target( ) . I worked in brick theatres and usually had 1 or no bars. Once I put it in ,I had 2 bars most of the time. But, about 2 weeks later, the reception was back to normal. All in all, it was worth about as much as a bag of  |  IP: Logged Dave Macaulay Film God Posts: 2321 From: Toronto, Canada Registered: Apr 2001 posted 12-18-2002 11:23 PM                     I found a box of these for $2.00 (Canadian) at a surplus store and was looking at it (thinking "what a joke") when a fellow picked one up and talked about how he was an engineer and that flat printed antennae could be very effective and he thought it might actually work... so I got one. I stuck it on my ancient (for cell phones) phone - a Qualcomm thing that does both the analog and digital American standards. I don't know what increments the little signal level bars represent but within a stone's throw of a cell tower I got 1 or 2 bars and lost connection going into any building. I peeled off the "miracle signal booster" and immediately got 4-5 bars as had been normal. So it definitely does something to the RF field and may actually help some phones - not this one though.  |  IP: Logged Jeff Stricker Master Film Handler Posts: 481 From: Calumet, Mi USA Registered: Nov 1999 posted 12-19-2002 05:35 AM                     Snake oil!  |  IP: Logged Dave Williams Wet nipple scene Posts: 1836 From: Salt Lake City, UT, USA Registered: Jan 2000 posted 12-19-2002 09:08 PM                        I tried one of these things once. Best bet, try a real cell phone provider. They don't improve anything, and yes they could even interfere with your reception. If the engineers who design the phones didn't put them in, they probably don't help. After all, they are designing phones that get better reception, not worse. It is not to thier advantage considering that the competition in the cell phone market really is tight and wide open. Dave  |  IP: Logged Randy Stankey Film God Posts: 6539 From: Erie, Pennsylvania Registered: Jun 99 posted 12-19-2002 10:09 PM                     Here's a good one: a clothing manufacturer is planning to market pants that have a special pocket just for the cell phone. They even put "special shielding" in the fabric to prevent the radiation from causing damage to the wearer's gonads. When asked, the manufacturer (Levi Strauss) denies claims they are selling snake oil produtcs that prey on consumers fears. They say, "We are only selling products that people want to buy." THINK, man, THINK! If you put a cell phone into a shielded pocket, wouldn't that make it so you can't receive any calls? If you can't receive any calls, wouldn't it be easiser just to turn the phone OFF? If you turn the phone off, why do you need a shielded pocket for your phone? Of course, all of this presupposes that their stupid shielding actually WORKS!  |  IP: Logged Sean McKinnon Phenomenal Film Handler Posts: 1712 From: Peabody Massachusetts Registered: Sep 2000 posted 12-21-2002 05:20 AM                        Some 3am 800 number " But wait theres more " products work. My friend has one of those "SET IT AND FORGET IT" rotisserie chicken things and it makes darn tasty chikun' That should be the slogan for the Christie CA21 Automation "Set it and forget it!"  |  IP: Logged Steve Guttag We forgot the crackers Gromit!!! Posts: 12814 From: Annapolis, MD Registered: Dec 1999 posted 12-22-2002 11:00 AM                     I'll admit we are a proud owner of a Set it and Forget it machine by Ronco...the damn thing has worked flawlessly and effortlessly. Go figure. Steve  |  IP: Logged David Stambaugh Film God Posts: 4021 From: Eugene, Oregon Registered: Jan 2002 posted 12-22-2002 12:10 PM                        Don't forget the George Foreman grill! One of the most-hyped consumer appliances of all time, and actually a very good product!  |  IP: Logged Sean McKinnon Phenomenal Film Handler Posts: 1712 From: Peabody Massachusetts Registered: Sep 2000 posted 12-23-2002 04:17 AM                        Of course it is Dave it "KNOCKS OUT THE FAT!" I can never sleep when getting home from the theatre and see these damn things over and over. Sometimes I wonder what people who meake these infomercials are thinking like why have an australian guy trying to sell a Wok???  |  IP: Logged

All times are Central (GMT -6:00)

This topic comprises 2 pages: 1  2

Printer-friendly view of this topic

Hop To: Select a Forum: Category: Operations -------------------- Digital Cinema Forum Film Handlers' Forum Large Format Forum Ground Level Feature Info, Trailer Attachments & REAL Credit Offsets Category: Community -------------------- Film-Yak Film Handlers' Movie Reviews The Afterlife Bob Maar's Joke-A-Thon Category: Classified -------------------- Equipment and Supplies Wanted/For Sale Help Wanted/Seeking Employment Category: System -------------------- Software Beta Testing Forum

The Film-Tech Forums are designed for various members related to the cinema industry to express their opinions, viewpoints and testimonials on various products, services and events based upon speculation, personal knowledge and factual information through use, therefore all views represented here allow no liability upon the publishers of this web site and the owners of said views assume no liability for any ill will resulting from these postings. The posts made here are for educational as well as entertainment purposes and as such anyone viewing this portion of the website must accept these views as statements of the author of that opinion and agrees to release the authors from any and all liability.