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DKS
Damn Kidney Stones

join:2001-03-22
Owen Sound, ON

DKS

Cellular Repeater Installation


Yagi antenna and pole mount

Downlead to entry
Click for full size
Cellular repeater
Click for full size
Interior antenna
I discovered that my cottage is in a cellular black hole at Sauble Beach. I tried working with Telus to make it work, but no luck. To I tried the cellular repeater solution. I used the Uniden U2 from Signifimobile. The kit contained the booster unit, all wiring, outside yagi antenna and inside antenna as well as grounding link. I bought the ground wire, ground plate and a 10 ft. antenna pole extension from The Source. Total cost was $600, including taxes. I also had to buy cable clamps, screws and made prodigious use of zip ties. I now get five bars inside and outside the cottage. Before I had No Service.

wasHighwire
@teksavvy.com

wasHighwire

Anon

That's cool. Here in the Barrhaven suburb of Ottawa, I can't get a usable signal either indoors or in my back yard on Rogers/Fido, even though they claim I'm in an "exceptional" area. This seems like a good solution. Thanks for posting.

DKS
Damn Kidney Stones

join:2001-03-22
Owen Sound, ON

DKS

For me there was a cost factor, as well. I have an unlimited call/text/hugely unreasonable amount of data on my cell phone with Telus. I saw no reason to spend $35/month plus installation of a land line with Bell and then pay an additional $50/month (plus $300 installation)for wireless internet. I will take the antenna down at Thanksgiving.
b_p_smith
Premium Member
join:2002-02-13
Merrickville, ON

b_p_smith to wasHighwire

Premium Member

to wasHighwire
For Barrhaven, you likely don't need something as extreme as a yagi on the outside. You can likely make do with a much smaller omni-directional at roof level.
If you're a Costco member, I noticed the Merivale store has a small/cheap unit with a teensy outdoor omni and an indoor "booster" that looked about the size of a wireless router for $300. That may be all you need.
I have the Signify setup at my house out in the boonies. I have a dual indoor antenna, but I don't really need the second. I love it. Full strength even in the basement.

Brad.

wasHighwire
@teksavvy.com

wasHighwire

Anon

I think I'll check out the Costco unit on Tuesday - thanks for pointing it out.

I sure wish Rogers would take complaints about signal strength seriously. Nobody on my street can get a Rogers/Fido signal indoors, and they refuse to believe us, claiming that since we're in an "exceptional" area, there's "nothing they can do." They won't even send someone out to take signal readings. And unlike US carriers that provide femto-cells, Canadian carriers have no such solution - you are on your own.

DKS
Damn Kidney Stones

join:2001-03-22
Owen Sound, ON

DKS

Click for full size
Inside wiring all cleaned up
Click for full size
Ground plate
Two more photos with the inside wiring all cleaned up and the ground plate installation.

BTC Kevin
join:2011-10-01
Nepean, ON

BTC Kevin to DKS

Member

to DKS
Does Rogers still have UMA calling?

When I lived in Peterborough I used a WIFI station in my home to connect to the Rogers telco network via UMA. Worked great when at home or on College campus.

DKS
Damn Kidney Stones

join:2001-03-22
Owen Sound, ON

DKS

said by BTC Kevin:

Does Rogers still have UMA calling?

When I lived in Peterborough I used a WIFI station in my home to connect to the Rogers telco network via UMA. Worked great when at home or on College campus.

No idea. I'm using Telus. Rogers has towers further away.
yyzlhr
join:2012-09-03
Scarborough, ON

yyzlhr to BTC Kevin

Member

to BTC Kevin
said by BTC Kevin:

Does Rogers still have UMA calling?

When I lived in Peterborough I used a WIFI station in my home to connect to the Rogers telco network via UMA. Worked great when at home or on College campus.

They still support it, but none of their newer devices have this feature.

BTC Kevin
join:2011-10-01
Nepean, ON

BTC Kevin to DKS

Member

to DKS
That is a shame. UMA used to be great at keeping signal when in basements or apartments with think walls.

DKS
Damn Kidney Stones

join:2001-03-22
Owen Sound, ON

DKS

I have found that the wind is strong enough to take down the mast. I replaced two carriage bolts on the J mount today with regular bolts and lock washers and then reattached the mast with 2x u bolts. It will come down in the fall for storage. I am very pleased with the results. Not a speed demon, but acceptable. And the iPhone personal hotspot gives me coverage across the property.

Inssomniak
The Glitch
Premium Member
join:2005-04-06
Cayuga, ON

Inssomniak

Premium Member

Standard 3 foot tripod for the pipe and yagi or yea the wind will rip that right off. Then you could leave the tripod and just take down the mast and antenna for storage.

DKS
Damn Kidney Stones

join:2001-03-22
Owen Sound, ON

DKS

said by Inssomniak:

Standard 3 foot tripod for the pipe and yagi or yea the wind will rip that right off. Then you could leave the tripod and just take down the mast and antenna for storage.

The J mount seems strong enough. The wind was pivoting the yagi, so I changed to U bolts. The U bolts will undo and the sealed cable disconnects at the J mount.
MaynardKrebs
We did it. We heaved Steve. Yipee.
Premium Member
join:2009-06-17

MaynardKrebs to DKS

Premium Member

to DKS
You should be grounding your antenna setup to the cottage common ground.

DKS
Damn Kidney Stones

join:2001-03-22
Owen Sound, ON

DKS

said by MaynardKrebs:

You should be grounding your antenna setup to the cottage common ground.

That is on the other side of the cottage. It is grounded at the receiver input from the antenna to the ground plate.
MaynardKrebs
We did it. We heaved Steve. Yipee.
Premium Member
join:2009-06-17

MaynardKrebs

Premium Member

Never a good idea to have different ground potentials.
You're just asking for trouble.

DKS
Damn Kidney Stones

join:2001-03-22
Owen Sound, ON

2 edits

DKS

It meets the manufacturers specs. I asked. If you have a better suggestion than a long wire run, I'm open to that.
MaynardKrebs
We did it. We heaved Steve. Yipee.
Premium Member
join:2009-06-17

MaynardKrebs

Premium Member

Run 2 shorter wires and splice them?

cybersaga
join:2011-12-19
Selby, ON

cybersaga to BTC Kevin

Member

to BTC Kevin
said by BTC Kevin:

Does Rogers still have UMA calling?

They do, but back in 2010 they started charging $5/month for it. I loved using it while it was free. I didn't even notice it was gone until I suddenly didn't have signal in my basement one day.

»www.rogers.com/business/ ··· ss/wifi/

DKS
Damn Kidney Stones

join:2001-03-22
Owen Sound, ON

1 edit

DKS to MaynardKrebs

to MaynardKrebs
said by MaynardKrebs:

Run 2 shorter wires and splice them?

I have been told not to splice a ground wire. You saying something different?

Just checked the house electrical wiring ground. It's in the pump house, grounded to the water pipes. There is a pipe run within ten feet of the antenna ground, so can I run a short section of wire to that and clamp it to the pipe?
MaynardKrebs
We did it. We heaved Steve. Yipee.
Premium Member
join:2009-06-17

MaynardKrebs

Premium Member

That's not ideal but probably what you'll wind up doing.
Soil conductivity is probably different in the two locations - pump house is probably better because of probably pipe sweating and damper soil generally.

DKS
Damn Kidney Stones

join:2001-03-22
Owen Sound, ON

DKS

I can probably make that work.

Gone
Premium Member
join:2011-01-24
Fort Erie, ON

Gone to yyzlhr

Premium Member

to yyzlhr
said by yyzlhr:

They still support it, but none of their newer devices have this feature.

That's not correct. Anything Android supports it out of the box, Rogers just chooses not to utilize it.
Gone

Gone to DKS

Premium Member

to DKS
said by DKS:

I discovered that my cottage is in a cellular black hole at Sauble Beach. I tried working with Telus to make it work, but no luck. To I tried the cellular repeater solution. I used the Uniden U2 from Signifimobile. The kit contained the booster unit, all wiring, outside yagi antenna and inside antenna as well as grounding link. I bought the ground wire, ground plate and a 10 ft. antenna pole extension from The Source. Total cost was $600, including taxes. I also had to buy cable clamps, screws and made prodigious use of zip ties. I now get five bars inside and outside the cottage. Before I had No Service.

What frequencies does the repeater support? Supporting 700 and AWS would be nice for future-proofing, but you might be a year or two out before that matters.

Last Parade did something with his father's place here in rural Niagara not too long ago for wireless Internet. Instead of setting up an in-home repeater, he connected a yagi antenna directly to a USB dongle and pointed it to the nearest Wind Mobile tower. Went from useless to usable for net access and thus far has been far more reliable than any of the fixed-point WISPs.

silvercat
join:2007-11-07

silvercat

Member

said by Gone:

Supporting 700 and AWS would be nice for future-proofing, but you might be a year or two out before that matters.

Maybe something like the Wilson Electronics AG Pro Quint Selectable ?
»www.wilsonelectronics.co ··· lectable

But it would be very expensive..

TemporalFlux
Premium Member
join:2003-08-07
Ottawa, ON

1 recommendation

TemporalFlux to DKS

Premium Member

to DKS
The grounding here is just a "drain wire" for static buildup. It does not really matter what it's grounded to as long as its grounded (check local code).

Lightning requires a whole other mess of copper and yes, it should be bonded to the property ground to prevent different potentials if you are talking about a lightning strike. If bonding make sure to use something that will prevent the copper from oxidizing. You can use "silver solder" to bond or some sort of goo (I forget the name) to keep out air, water etc... For a lightning strike you want to make sure you have a wide solid strap of copper. If the lightning strikes at a high frequency it will only use the surface area of the ground wire (skin effect). Braided copper strap will introduce some capacitance but will still be much better than regular wire.

I have 3 x 2" wide solid copper straps going to 3 x 10' ground rods for my tower. Oh and that thing holding up the mast will just rip out. You need at least a 3' tripod for that. If you don't want it to wave around you will need 3 x guy wires or a 5' tripod and thick mast.

Take it from a Ham Operator

Disclaimer: Use this advice at your own risk. I am not a professional on this subject.
TemporalFlux

TemporalFlux

Premium Member

Just noticed the grounding plate. That needs to go down deep. Its not going to do anything there... You can get a ground rod and drive it in with a rotary hammer drill and a special SDSMax bit built for driving ground rods. Then attach the wire to that with some goop stuff to stop the oxidization.

DKS
Damn Kidney Stones

join:2001-03-22
Owen Sound, ON

DKS to Gone

to Gone
said by Gone:

What frequencies does the repeater support?

CDMA 850 and PCS 1900
DKS

DKS to TemporalFlux

to TemporalFlux
3' Channelmaster roof tripod is sitting in the truck, waiting better weather to install. The J mount will be replaced this weekend. Now grounded to the copper water pipes in the pump house. Yes, I know it only drains static.

TwiztedZero
Nine Zero Burp Nine Six
Premium Member
join:2011-03-31
Toronto, ON

TwiztedZero

Premium Member

Awesome setup, fantastic job!
Colour me impressed.