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Huh? / So, you bought a Cell Phone Booster? Watch out for wide-band RFI!
« on: July 09, 2022, 1919 UTC »
Since my AT&T coverage, as well as any other cell phone carrier, is very marginal, at best, at my home QTH, I bought the WeBoost #470144 Multi-Carrier, Multi-band, Cell Phone Booster. And, It works kind of like a satellite transponder. I am bouncing off of a hill to reach, not the closest, but the most accessible cell tower. If I were to try to do so direct, I'd be going through thick foliage, which sucks at 800MHz and above. However, in-house, I can make cell calls and not depend on hogging more DSL wifi bandwidth with VOIP, like I did with Verizon's Network Extender. So, from nothing, to usable cell signal. What's the caveat??? Wideband RFI from MW to 10MHz! Wipes-out the 75M band, especially. The treatment??? Ground the chassis of the WeBoost's duplexer / amp unit. That, and ferrite clamp both antenna ports and especially that switching 5VDC, 3.5A, power supply. That made 75M, 40M, and the MW Broadcast bands usable, again. So, if you get such a unit, it works as intended, but watch out for that RF hash from hell.
BTW, here's what I wrote to WeBoost about that, and their response:
"Carrier: AT&T
Description: Came across one big drawback on my WeBoost #470144 Booster, emissions of wide-banded HF Spurs from 1MHz to 10MHz. Fortunately, I have reduced these by up to 70% by grounding the chassis of the WeBoost unit itself and adding ferrite clamps to the power supply cables and both the INDOOR and OUTDOOR Antenna connectors. So, doable.
Hello,
Thanks for reaching out and letting us know. We will pass this information along to the appropriate department. "
Well, at least it doesn't sound like a blow-off. https://www.wilsonsignalbooster.com/weboost-470144-home-multiroom-signal-booster.html
BTW, here's what I wrote to WeBoost about that, and their response:
"Carrier: AT&T
Description: Came across one big drawback on my WeBoost #470144 Booster, emissions of wide-banded HF Spurs from 1MHz to 10MHz. Fortunately, I have reduced these by up to 70% by grounding the chassis of the WeBoost unit itself and adding ferrite clamps to the power supply cables and both the INDOOR and OUTDOOR Antenna connectors. So, doable.
Hello,
Thanks for reaching out and letting us know. We will pass this information along to the appropriate department. "
Well, at least it doesn't sound like a blow-off. https://www.wilsonsignalbooster.com/weboost-470144-home-multiroom-signal-booster.html
