in-building repeaters for i305's on iden(nextel)

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eboe
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in-building repeaters for i305's on iden(nextel)

Post by eboe »

our field techs use moto i305 nextel units and we have a few problem buildings where they can't get a signal. does anyone have any experience with in-building repeaters for this? i'm looking for a good brand. i've seen Wilson, but don't know anything about them. good or bad? any suggestions or advice would be appreciated.
"In the beginning of a change, the patriot is a scarce and brave man, hated and scorned. When his cause succeeds however, the timid join him, for then it costs nothing to be a patriot." - Mark Twain
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N4DES
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What radios do you own?: APX,XTS2500,XTL2500,XTL1500

Post by N4DES »

Part 90 is very clear that only the carrier can deploy BDA's. If you still want to, it will be at your own risk.
eboe
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Post by eboe »

I was not aware of that, but I do know that my administration has tried to get Nextel to install this system. From what I gathered, Nextel is unwilling to spend the money on us. Perhaps they have given us consent to do this, but nonetheless, I will make my supervisors aware of the regulation.

That being said, is the Wilson amp ok or is there a better one I should be looking at?
"In the beginning of a change, the patriot is a scarce and brave man, hated and scorned. When his cause succeeds however, the timid join him, for then it costs nothing to be a patriot." - Mark Twain
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N4DES
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What radios do you own?: APX,XTS2500,XTL2500,XTL1500

Post by N4DES »

I've head both positive and negative results with the "consumer grade"
BDA's. It would be safe to say that the performance had a lot to do with the installation i.e. spacing between the antennas, how many square feet they were looking to cover, how many users it supports at one time.

There are a lot of variables so it will probably be hard to get an exact answer to your question.
eboe
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Post by eboe »

yeah, i can understand how a bad install can turn good equipment into useless garbage. i guess the real question is about the equipment itself. you may have answered that just by saying you've heard mixed results. the fact that it can work good in some installs implies that if done right, it's good stuff. oh btw - do you happen to know the exact section of the part 90 regulation that says only the carrier can deploy BDA's? I'd like to be able to find it in the regulations and show my supervisor in black & white that we definately need to work WITH Nextel on this one.

thanks.
"In the beginning of a change, the patriot is a scarce and brave man, hated and scorned. When his cause succeeds however, the timid join him, for then it costs nothing to be a patriot." - Mark Twain
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N4DES
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Joined: Thu Dec 25, 2003 7:59 am
What radios do you own?: APX,XTS2500,XTL2500,XTL1500

Post by N4DES »

spareparts
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Post by spareparts »

eboe wrote:Do you happen to know the exact section of the part 90 regulation that says only the carrier can deploy BDA's? I'd like to be able to find it in the regulations and show my supervisor in black & white that we definately need to work WITH Nextel on this one.
Section 90.219 should point you in the right direction. BTW, we are giving Nextel the boot shortly. They basically refused to pay for BDA's for my employer, even after I borrowed an iDEN servcie monitor (General Dynamics R2600) to verify signal strenth.

Martin
eboe
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Post by eboe »

thanks guys. we've considered ditching nextel too. i think the problem is they've grown too accustomed to the direct-connect. but now that nextel isn't the only kid in town with PTT, maybe they'll finally do it. who knows. Anyway, thanks for the tip on part 90. Gonna show that to them today.
"In the beginning of a change, the patriot is a scarce and brave man, hated and scorned. When his cause succeeds however, the timid join him, for then it costs nothing to be a patriot." - Mark Twain
rsqemt911
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insight

Post by rsqemt911 »

i have a little experience with the iden BDA's ... my buddy lives on the river and had 0 signal strength which annoyed the crap out of us ... then one day he said if you put your phone on the window sill in his kitchen you get a nextel signal but no bars ... got me thinking

i got the wilson 37db in car BDA, wilson trucker antenna, and a wilson stealth antenna

you need to mount the outside antenna where you get the best signal (-75 or higher is optimal)

if you put your phone in trace mode and check tx/rx status you can see where the best signal is ... in my case we put it right ouside the kitchen window

then we ran the stealth antenna as far as we could away from the outside antenna. you have to have a minimal distance of like 15 feet or else it will cause signal echo

our phones went from no signal to 4 bars ... worked like a charm ... only problem was it is has a VERY weak range ... you have to place the phone on top of the stealth antenna for it to get the signal ... we just lay our phones on top and if we get a call or a DC we just talk with the antenna in our hand up against the phone

i am upgrading the amp to a 60db today and will probably replace the inside antenna with a dome in the future as well as upgrading the trucker antenna to a yagi eventually

i'll report back on how well it works :c)
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Post by /\/\y 2 cents »

Eboe

It makes no sense to invest any money in a serious BDA setup since iDEN 800Mhz customers will be transitioned over to 1900 CDMA (Sprint Ready-Link) with 1 1/2 - 2 years tops there will be no choice in this. Then your BDA will be on the wrong frequency band. The Nextel reps will tell you elsewise obout he switchover but I would have one of their DIRECTORS put it in writing and see what happens. Most who work for this company are not in control and will tell you anything to activate you a unit that is planned for obsolesence. Eboe if you put a Simplex base station at each school and plug it into a PC with my free software you will have crystal clear audio w/ rugged 2 ways and not have to spend any money a month since it will travel over the LAN you own. Act like a real organization and own a radio system so you are not controlled by corporate interests.

Steve
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