Cordless phone range

[keymaker]

I need my cordless phone to be rock solid clear at 10 blocks by road, probably 5 as the bird flies.<p> Half a mile, In the city.<p>I know we had a big discussion on the 10 mile issue, but surely I can get 10 BLOCKS.. Right? I mean damn, All I want to do is save the $80+ per month a cellphone costs.. I'm trying to start a business and these little expenses are cutting me up here!

[keymaker]

PLUS! I want to keep my landline phone # which I've had since I was 14!<p> I can't afford a cell + landline!<p>I want to make it >>>ACTUALLY WORK<<< at 10 blocks..

[keymaker]

I remember now, the cops usedto use some sort of "repeater" here in town.. Problem is, I'd need alot of them and locations aren't available..

[bodgy]

Being a foreigner I have never quite grasped what distance a block is - so I take it its a mile square?<p>Anyhow cordless telephones - standard 27-30MHz have a guaranteed range between 10-50M approx from the base station (upto 30')has been known to work to 100'. New digital/long distance style upto 3Klm (total digital, Panasonic Two frequency phones about 1Klm) #Klm=2miles approx.
These distances are only guaranteed line of site no hills, bad weather or other interferences.<p>Not going to get anymore distance without <p>1) More transmit power<p>2) Better aerial (could try this with some impedance matching using an artificial ground plane type aerial)<p>3) Beefier power supply<p>I think I'd go the PMRP radio type - Uniden do them as do other manufactures and are licence exempt in most countries.<p>colin

[Chris Smith]

8 blocks = one mile.

[bodgy]

Aha is that an American mile or an Imp Mile and is a block a recognised ISO or AS or even a BS. <p>Now who's going to write the manual for -<p>? Blocks in a Chain
' '' 'Furlong
' '' Rod
' '' Cricket Pitch<p>Mind you I can't remember how many chains to a cricket pitch 22.5 or something - SCHOOL was soooooooo long ago!<p>sigh <p>bodgy<p>[ June 13, 2002: Message edited by: bodgy ]</p>

[keymaker]

no 12 blocks is a mile<p>
I wonder what would happen if I put a beefier power supply on the phone.

[larussell]

10 blocks to the mile in some parts of the country, 12 in others. In NYC blocks are rectangular, so the direction matters.<p>How about GPRS radios?

[Dean Huster]

In Oklahoma City, it averaged to around 13 blocks per mile. Oklahoma City is one of the few cities where danged near every street runs either east-west or north-south, so there're no curves to skew the block count and the entire area is set up with section roads. In Oklahoma, it's like living on a sheet of linear graph paper.<p>Dean

[Ron H]

Dean wrote:<p>"In Oklahoma City, it averaged to around 13 blocks per mile. Oklahoma City is one of the few cities where danged near every street runs either east-west or north-south, so there're no curves to skew the block count and the entire area is set up with section roads. In Oklahoma, it's like living on a sheet of linear graph paper."<p>Well, that beats living in the upper right corner of a sheet of log-log graph paper.<p>Ron H

[jhartsaw]

http://www.futurehorizons.net/surveill.htm
has plans for Cordless Phone Extender that might work<p>the add said ......... This modified cordless phone allows you to place telephone calls all around town. It has a range of up to 50 miles! It's a good alternative to cellular telephones as their calls and service are much more expensive. When using this device the price of calls will be the same as those made using your regular home telephone.

[bobsRAC]

That site is loaded with useless crap.

[keymaker]

They sell plans to "build an hbo descrambler"<p> I don't think I trust em<p>

[Alan87I]

http://www.wilsonelectronics.com/ These folks make a range extender antenna. I have sold a few , They work well with most phones. I have a older phone that works on 54 MHz I believe. I put a BNC connector in the base and run RG 58 to a 4 foot CB antenna on the roof, it better than doubles the range. I'm sure If I would use RG8 coax and a 6 meter mobile or base antenna witch would be closer to the 54 Mhz frequency I would gain even more range. Allan

[keymaker]

54mhz?! Never heard of such a thing!! Actually, I agree 100% wilson is the BEST... I remember the wilson 1000 CB antenna, Damn it was nice.<p>
Since CB radio is down around 27mhz, Hey, You did REALLY well with that antenna to double your range..<p>
This is really a great idea, Use a cellular phone antenna.. I think someone said that before but I paid no attention<p> It's a great idea!