Detecting West Australian Gold
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Internet on the Gold Fields

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shorty
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Post by Rege-PA Mon 23 Jan 2012, 8:59 am

:?: Is it possible to use a lap top in the remote areas of WA and does any one do so? Seems it would be helpful to locate old mines and diggings.

Rege-PA


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Post by delapan Mon 23 Jan 2012, 9:07 am

i guess it depends on who your carrier is, telstra seems to cover most areas, even out in camel country climbing a small hill gave 3 bars and enabled to ring minelabe in SA, regards, gary
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Post by Bignuggs Mon 23 Jan 2012, 9:08 am

It would work if you are in a town but out in the scrub it won't, I've tried it. If you are lucky, ya mobile phone might work but you will do a bit of moving around till you get enuff bars to send a text message.
I'm with Telstra but it doesn't make any difference.

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Post by Guest Mon 23 Jan 2012, 10:32 am

The secret to bush mobile use is your mobile must have a "Blue Tick" rating, these are phones
with extended range capabilities and aside from a sat phone will give you the best range out there,
you also need to using the "Telstra next G" network also.
There are other brands of mobiles with blue tick rating, and they will have a circle with a blue tick
inside it on the box they come in.

I have a nokia N95 blue tick and can get reception at most areas here.
Lot of the bigger mines in WA have tesltra repeaters these days for their own staff needs.

As to your question Rege-PA, the laptop wireless internet dongles for bush useage can only get reception
in the same areas as mobile phones can, they use the same network to connect mate.

if passing through Kalgoorlie you can always park in the McDonalds car park to access their free
customer Wifi connection they supply for the trendy's who like to check their emails while
they eat their McCrap in a bun value meals Razz


Pete Cool

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Post by Flying kiwi Mon 23 Jan 2012, 10:41 am

hey mate,
I can get it to work most places i have a $70.00 prepay telstra cellphone (blue tick + must accept patch cable) this connects to laptop via usb cable, this then connects laptop to net, then a patch lead from cellphone to a big aerial on the bullbar. I am amazied at the coverage basically booms in within 60-80km of a cell tower which most minesites have one as well as most small towns
Here is a link to coverage map
http://www.telstra.com.au/mobile/networks/coverage/state.html
From my experiance if i drive to the top of a hill you will often get service outside these areas as well Cool

for navagation using google earth you can cache maps of area interested in then still use offline
Flying kiwi
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Post by Bignuggs Mon 23 Jan 2012, 11:12 am

Good stuff guys, I learn something new everyday. Nokia N8 with black tick and I get into the yellow areas of the map, explains a lot.

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Post by Guest Mon 23 Jan 2012, 1:36 pm

Talk to Telstra about their larger whip-type aerial. I have one for my laptop and I get 5 bars anywhere I use it in Vic. From memory they are about $110.

Robert

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Post by Narrawa Mon 23 Jan 2012, 5:19 pm

Get a directional yagi antenna, and you'll do well on both mobile and internet.
Many available on the net, just type into google internet yagi antenna or mobile yagi antenna.

http://www.ebay.com.au/itm/15-ELEMENT-YAGI-ANTENNA-16-dBi-TELSTRA-BIGPOND-NEXT-G-MOBILE-PHONE-USB-MODEM-/300650583634?pt=AU_Computers_Networking_Accessories&hash=item46002bd652

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Internet on the Gold Fields Empty Build your own Yagi for the Telstra NextG network,

Post by Guest Mon 23 Jan 2012, 5:30 pm

Or if your a handy bloke here's a link to make your own Yagi for a lot less

Link

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Post by Waznme Tue 24 Jan 2012, 5:02 am


G'Day,

I have a GME AE915 aerial on my caravan and have only been to a couple of places where I did not get reception. It is just a mast type about 1.5metres long.

I have the old "blue toaster" modem, BP3-EXT, which was the first type I think, and by far the most reliable.

I use it at home as well and a few months ago made a Yagi aerial from bits and pieces I had around the shed. The "toaster" is only capable of about 4Mbps and I get that most of the time now. More than double the speed I was getting with a 2.4metre mast type (forget the brand)

When travelling in the van, I used to be able to plug the aerial into my mobile but my new one does not have a port. But I make my calls by VoIP anyway so if the "toaster" is connected I use that. I do not take a Yagi with me travelling but I know people who do, and it works very well. Only trouble is you have to have a fair idea where the tower is to point it at.

Waz

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Post by martinjsto Thu 03 Oct 2013, 11:05 pm

i know this is an old post but this is the only one i find with a search on Yagi.
I want internet whilst out bush so followed up on the Yagi links.
I have decided to make one for telstra and one for optus, telstra 3G requires a 850MHz] Yagi and Optus requires a 900 MHz.
I used pvc for the beam, 12mm aluminium rod from an old tv antenna and a FME adapter cable I have made to suit my wifes Samsung Galaxy S ext ant port to a standard tv areal to the Yagi's.
Iphones dont have a ext antenna port so the blue tick phones as suggested above or ones with ext antenna ports are best. (you can get docks with ext ant ports but they use wireless.
here are some pics of the telstra then the optus then the two together to compare the spacing for the elements between the two.
easy project really and I will test them in a few weeks when out detecting again and report the results.

the telstra 850MHz
Internet on the Gold Fields Img_0015

the optus 900MHz
Internet on the Gold Fields Img_0016

and the two together

Internet on the Gold Fields Img_0017

Martin

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Martin
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Post by Guest Fri 04 Oct 2013, 5:01 am

I have been using a Telstra prepaid next g stick for some time now, the type that you plug into the usb slot on the side of the laptop, I have made a 20mm pvc pipe tube, its about 700mm long with a joiner on the end and with a removable cap on the top of the joiner, the stick plugs into a 2+ mtr usb cable that runs down inside the tube and the stick lives in the top of the tube.

On the roof rack I have mounted a piece of tubing, the pipe slots into that and I run the cable into the car, its not a permanent fitting as it would get wiped out while driving about, it only takes a minute to set it up, the tube is waterproof so it can stay out in the rain as well if need be, when mounted up this puts the stick about 3 metres or so off the ground.

I can get connection to the internet in most areas, anywhere I can get phone connection I can usually get internet as well, for the most part anywhere from 40-80 klms from say Cue when out at Oliver's, Yalgoo from around Pinyalling Hill, Meekatharra from Nannine etc., you have to pick your spots sometimes as the higher you can get obviously the better the reception.

au-fever







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Post by Bignuggs Fri 04 Oct 2013, 6:50 am

You might like to check this out for the Galaxy S2. I got one for my phone. I haven't tested it yet but they tell me depending on line of sight, you should be able to get reception up to 70kms from the nearest tower.

http://www.telcoantennas.com.au/site/rfi-cd1250t-5dbi-elevated-feed-antenna




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Post by Jack-Tar Fri 04 Oct 2013, 6:56 am

They look the goods Martin, although you don't get much Optus out here. I'll be interested to see how the Telstra one goes.

Craig

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Post by martinjsto Fri 04 Oct 2013, 1:54 pm

that is an interesting and easy alternative au_gold, signal strength will always depend on line of sight and elevation irrelevant of the antenna design used although the Yagi is designed for the particular frequency of the provider and therefor i feel has an advantage over the omni antenna, same for direct hardwired antenna over wireless. i am not too worried on the internet speed as I also cache earth image before visiting the area, it would be handy to have internet but i really want phone communication if only by text message without the sat phone expenses. if I can achieve just this then I am happy. i have a telstra USB stick somewhere, i will dig it out and make one to test as well, thanks au_gold.
you know all they are Cliff is a length of coated copper wire at 1/4 or 5/8 or 1 or 2 ETC times the wave length with 2 X coiled sectioned to reduce length connected to a base. for $145 its a bit much, i could make one of those for less than $5. performance with 5db gain is not great, 14db or 15db gain is more like it.
thanks Craig, these are the first ones i have made and still have to to line up elements and glue in place but all connections good, i will let ya know how they go. optus is poor I know but just made one to see Very Happy 
from a fellow on the wirlpool forum....
and for a good read on the subject see link bellow.

Yagis in some circumstances can actually be better than omni antennas too. In some cases where your omni antenna can see signals from multiple sites that are all the same signal strength, your throughput can suffer because your modem will spend too much time changing cells due to minor fluctuations in signal level. The HSPA signal only works to one base station at a time (unlike 3G/NextG Voice) so constant cell changes have a negative impact on throughput. A Yagi can allow you to pick out just one signal and make it dominate over all others – reducing or removing cell reselection problems and hence improving throughput.

http://forums.whirlpool.net.au/archive/1138972
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Post by Bignuggs Fri 04 Oct 2013, 2:06 pm

Yes the antenna I got may not be ideal but here's the bit that got me thinking. Samsung do not advertise the port on the S2 or even using it.
Research says you can actually stuff the phone. Hmmmmmm
It is always personal choice.

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Post by martinjsto Fri 04 Oct 2013, 2:26 pm

a good point cliff, only try this if you are competent in tools and electronics to some extent and accept responsibility for your own work.  
A lot of new phones dont have external ports for antenna and the research does says damage could occur even if one is fitted and used. they state this because the damage is to the port itself from incorrect attachment and bending the fine wires inside the port not the device itself. in fact all phones has an antenna port. the non external ones are located on the mother board of the phone for testing purpose. if there is not an auxiliary port on the mother board, then the inbuilt antenna can be unplugged from the mother board and an external one plugged in such as the Iphone 5 but that entails phone breakdown and mods and voiding warranties and not for the inexperienced.
even if tolerances are not adhered to in the manufacturer of the yagi it is only a receiver receiving high frequency microwaves and unless it is directly shorted or struck by lightning,  it will just not work well  and wont do damage to the phone.
it will be interesting to see the results cliff and after some fine tuning compare them to a commercial purchased antenna.
I use to make all my own very powerful ham radio and CB antenna many years ago as a hobby and these are the same principal.
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Post by Bignuggs Fri 04 Oct 2013, 3:01 pm

I totally agree with ya Martin. The port is there, but you have to be careful connecting. I did a lot of research before I bought the antenna but even then, like ya say, if you don't connect correctly then ya got problems.
I have read that Samsung will cover the phone by warranty if you do use an external connection via the port. But if they don't advise using it, then ya take ya chances.
If I stuff my phone, I won't complain about it as it was against the manufacturers advise.

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Post by Guest Fri 04 Oct 2013, 4:51 pm

u r goin bush to get away from the hussle and busell of city living and u still want to b connected --spare me..

If someone gets crook tell them to wait till u get back..

regards
oneday

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Post by martinjsto Fri 04 Oct 2013, 8:51 pm

lol oneday, yep its a bit loopy i know and your right, wife stresses if she cannot contact kids when planned, lol she went stir crazy when we got washed in for two days last trip and missed her planned call by a day. personally it would be good for earth images only and emergency. having the missus with ya has its pro's and con's but she's worth it..

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Post by shorty Fri 04 Oct 2013, 9:41 pm

http://www.thuraya.com/SatSleeve
Here's a gadget if anybody is interested, heard about it on the ABC the other night.
Chris
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Post by Jack-Tar Sat 05 Oct 2013, 8:33 am

Thanks Chris, that looks very interesting.

Jack-Tar


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Post by martinjsto Sat 05 Oct 2013, 10:17 am

that would be a good alternative Chris, looking on flea bay they are quite expensive and a sat phone is cheaper especially with the gov rebate. i wonder if they qualify also.

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Post by Bignuggs Sat 05 Oct 2013, 1:29 pm

I'm sure a lot of you have already seen this article about sat phones. If not, it's a good read.

http://www.exploroz.com/OntheRoad/Communications/SatellitePhone.aspx


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Post by Guest Mon 07 Oct 2013, 5:44 am

The other thing you can do if you really just want to be able to gain a bit more reception for your phone is make an extendable antenna mount that you can attach to the roof rack, I went through the process of trying a "yagi" for getting reception in fringe areas but found that it is very dependant on knowing the precise direction to point the thing in, I didn't find it very easy to setup so I went to the option of using an omnidirectional broomstick antenna instead.

What I did was the attach the broomstick to the end of a extendable tent pole, one of the galvanised type ones with the thumbscrew that locks it into place when extended out, running the cable down the inside of the pole, attached the pole to lower bar on the side the roof rack, with the base of the pole at the front and with a single bolt through the base for the pole through the rack bar for it to pivot on, above that I fitted another bolt on the top bar to lock it into place, on the pole I attached with a rivet one of those half saddles, so when you raise it up you can lock it into the upright position with the top bolt on the roof rack going through a hole in the saddle.

The antenna end of the pole runs along the side of the rack, using those plastic snap attachments to hold it in place when not in use, when you want to use it you simply slide the pole out to its full extension, lock it into place then lift it up to the upright position and then use the top bolt to secure it there, the antenna wire that comes with the broomstick antenna is very long so you have excess of it coming out from the bottom end of the extension pole, using a patch lead that screws into the end of the lead and plugs into the phone, I can attach mine to the phone directly or plug it into the car kit.

The antenna on the end of the pole and attached to the roof rack gets it up about 5/6 metres off the ground, it takes about 5 minutes to set up and is not dependant on being faced in the right direction at all times, I have been able to get reception in areas on the outskirts where I could not get reception with the car kit that has the antenna mounted to the bulbar.

You will however have to source a patch lead to suit your phone, also not all phones have the antenna plug port so you wont be able to use this set up anyway.

au-fever

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