[pct-l] cellphone

[Phil Baily]

In 2005 I walked from the northern edge of Crater Lake National Park 
to Mt. Hood. There was no reception along the way, except at a few 
points where I was on a hill with an open view to a town. If you go 
slightly off trail to Elk Lake Resort, there is reception if you 
stand in precisely the right spot near a corner of the restaurant 
building. (The people inside will tell you where to stand.)  I also 
had good reception at Mt. Hood.

Pieces



At 01:38 PM 1/22/08, Brian Lewis wrote:
>"A couple thoughts- Having a triband phone was really useful (Strd signal,
>Digital, and Analog). The analog signal carries a lot further than any other
>type of signal, so thats what I was using often. Also, having a way to force
>analog signal was great because sometimes a weak digital would be there, and
>leftto auto-detect, the cell would attempt to use the digital signal and it
>was too weak at that distance to connect."
>
>
>Note that the analog system will be shut down in just over a month (Feb 18th
>2008):
>http://tech.yahoo.com/blogs/raskin/17134
>http://blogs.techrepublic.com.com/wireless/?p=171
>
>Does that mean there's equivalent digital coverage now in all locations that
>used to be served by analog?  Dunno, but I doubt it.   If I had the battery
>power, I'd consider trying to check at various points this year and list the
>coverage available from my carrier, but battery power is likely the rub
>there.
>
>Well, that and the tedium of periodically turning on the thing and counting
>the number of bars.  Even looking at the number of bars doesn't always turn
>out (for me at least) to be a perfect predictor of quality of service, and
>I'm definitely not planning to hike 2660 miles with the constant mantra of
>"Can you hear me now? Can you hear me now?"  <g>
>
>I think it would be helpful though, if those thru-hikers that are bringing
>cell phones would periodically log what reception they get when they do
>happen to check --- cell company, location, signal strength.  If enough of
>us did that, someone could collect and aggregate the info, ask for updates.
>Not as essential as a water report (!), but it's something that folks are
>curious about every year.   It wouldn't have to be anywhere near complete,
>but it might be nice to know that at a minimum, I can likely get service X
>miles down the trail from where I am now at a known spot.
>
>
>
>         Brian Lewis
>
>
>
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