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I enjoy your column
in PMY. Is there any way I can get a 3W digital and analog bag
phone for use afloat and also ashore? C.R., by mail
I’ve
got a buddy who’s snowbirding down the East Coast right now with
his old bag phone happily at hand. Isn’t it odd how “advances”
in cellular have left many boaters cherishing this rather clumsy old
technology? For those who’ve never seen one, a bag phone consists
of a full-size handset that lives in a soft case along with a separate
stubby antenna and a heavy battery able to support its 3-watt transmit
power. They were popular in the early days of cellular when antennas
were far apart, but they’re analog only and long out of manufacture.
I’ve heard boaters crow about buying old bag phones at yard sales
or on eBay, but the truth is that some cell companies will no longer
register an analog-only phone, and the FCC recently agreed to let analog
die altogether in due time.
To my knowledge no
one is making the digital equivalent of an all-in-one bag phone, but
I understand that even higher performance can be had by hooking your
mobile to an amplifier (2-watt maximum for digital), and then to a high-dB
marine antenna. Some of this equipment is designed for multimode phones,
which roam to analog when necessary, possibly increasing your coverage.
Shakespeare and Digital Antenna each market the gear and needed patch
cords. Apart from the fixed antenna, all the pieces are portable, even
bagable.
Got a marine electronics
question? Write to Electronics Q&A, Power & Motoryacht, 260 Madison
Ave., 8th Fl., New York, NY 10016. Fax: (917) 256-2282. e-mail: PMYElectronics@primediamags.com.
No phone calls please.
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