Why Cell Phones Are Important When Observing

I went out tonight (July 5) with some members of my astronomy club to our
dark sky site. A couple of us were talking, when, around 12:20 AM we heard
a loud BOOM!, saw a flash, and wondered what the HELL was that?!? Then we
saw an enormous plume of black smoke to the northeast, and flames that were
at least 20 feet high. I grabbed my cell phone and called the sherrif's
office and reported what we saw. It turns out that some damn fool set off
some sort of explosive in a port-a-potty. This wasn't more than a half mile
from us, we were all thankful that it was such a dewy night, with everything
soaked, and that the idiot hadn't taken it into what passes for their mind
to toss something our way.

On 2008-07-06, John Nichols wrote:
I went out tonight (July 5) with some members of my astronomy club to our
dark sky site. A couple of us were talking, when, around 12:20 AM we heard
a loud BOOM!, saw a flash, and wondered what the HELL was that?!? Then we
saw an enormous plume of black smoke to the northeast, and flames that were
at least 20 feet high. I grabbed my cell phone and called the sherrif's
office and reported what we saw. It turns out that some damn fool set off
some sort of explosive in a port-a-potty. This wasn't more than a half mile
from us, we were all thankful that it was such a dewy night, with everything
soaked, and that the idiot hadn't taken it into what passes for their mind
to toss something our way.

No kidding. I was getting set up to show the public the
Moon at a public event at the Adventure Science Center in
Nashville when there was an automobile accident in front of
us on ramp between I65 and I40. Someone was able to call
emergency services right away.

Bud

On Jul 6, 11:42 am, wrote:
On 2008-07-06, John Nichols wrote:

I went out tonight (July 5) with some members of my astronomy club to our
dark sky site. A couple of us were talking, when, around 12:20 AM we heard
a loud BOOM!, saw a flash, and wondered what the HELL was that?!? Then we
saw an enormous plume of black smoke to the northeast, and flames that were
at least 20 feet high. I grabbed my cell phone and called the sherrif's
office and reported what we saw. It turns out that some damn fool set off
some sort of explosive in a port-a-potty. This wasn't more than a half mile
from us, we were all thankful that it was such a dewy night, with everything
soaked, and that the idiot hadn't taken it into what passes for their mind
to toss something our way.

No kidding. I was getting set up to show the public the
Moon at a public event at the Adventure Science Center in
Nashville when there was an automobile accident in front of
us on ramp between I65 and I40. Someone was able to call
emergency services right away.

Bud

Boy, I wonder how anyone existed even before the cellphone addicts
took over? How many accidents have been CAUSED by idiots on
cellphones not paying attention to their driving? Kind of makes these
modest examples of cellphone value pale by comparison.

"John Nichols" wrote

....... I grabbed my cell phone and called the sherrif's office and
reported what we saw........

Unfortunately cell phones don't work at the remote sites I observe from. One
that particularly bothers me is Cherry Springs State Park in PA. Some people
have limited phone service, or at least text service. I have none, and now
PA Parks is going to take out the pay phone that is there, leaving me
helpless if my auto dies or there is an accident. It also removes my
'life-line' to my family when I stay there for a few days to a week. On the
other hand, lots of people don't like cell towers in wilderness areas.

George N

"George Normandin" wrote:

Unfortunately cell phones don't work at the remote sites I observe from. One
that particularly bothers me is Cherry Springs State Park in PA. Some people
have limited phone service, or at least text service. I have none, and now
PA Parks is going to take out the pay phone that is there, leaving me
helpless if my auto dies or there is an accident. It also removes my
'life-line' to my family when I stay there for a few days to a week. On the
other hand, lots of people don't like cell towers in wilderness areas.

Sounds like you need a satellite phone! :-)

In article ,
George Normandin wrote:

"John Nichols" wrote

....... I grabbed my cell phone and called the sherrif's office and
reported what we saw........

Unfortunately cell phones don't work at the remote sites I observe from. One
that particularly bothers me is Cherry Springs State Park in PA. Some people
have limited phone service, or at least text service. I have none, and now
PA Parks is going to take out the pay phone that is there, leaving me
helpless if my auto dies or there is an accident. It also removes my
'life-line' to my family when I stay there for a few days to a week. On the
other hand, lots of people don't like cell towers in wilderness areas.

George N

Try to connect an external antella to your cell phone, and choose an
antenna that is as sensitive as possible.

I tried that last summer when I was out hiking in the very northernmost
part of Sweden, where large areas lack cell phone coverage. Through
that arrangement I was able to connect far outside the areas officially
listed as being cell phone covered. Up on mountaintops the coverage was
best of course - down in valleys I was often without cell phone coverage,
despite that external antenna.

So how good was the connection with the external cell phone antenna?
In several situations where I got no connection at all without an
external antenna, I got a "medium" signal strength indication with the
external antenna.

The external antenna gains its sensitivity by being strongly directional.
This of course means you must point the external antenna in the right
direction, or else you won't get any connection. There are two ways
to solve that problem: either find the direction in advance to the
nearest cell tower you can use, so you know where to point the antenna.
Or be prepared to spend some 10-15 minutes to scan around the horizon
and see if you find any signal which is strong enough.

Another issue is polarization: while radio and TV broadcasts usually
are horizontally polarized, comm radio is usually vertically polarized,
and this includes cell phones as well. This matters since you must
rotate the Yagi antenna correctly to maximize your signal.


Another alternative is to use a satellite telephone. They are much
more expensive of course, but if it would save your life one day, it
could still be worth it.



--
----------------------------------------------------------------
Paul Schlyter, Grev Turegatan 40, SE-114 38 Stockholm, SWEDEN
e-mail: pausch at stjarnhimlen dot se
WWW: http://stjarnhimlen.se/

On 2008-07-13, Tom Jarrett wrote:

"George Normandin" wrote:

Unfortunately cell phones don't work at the remote sites I observe from. One
that particularly bothers me is Cherry Springs State Park in PA. Some people
have limited phone service, or at least text service. I have none, and now
PA Parks is going to take out the pay phone that is there, leaving me
helpless if my auto dies or there is an accident. It also removes my
'life-line' to my family when I stay there for a few days to a week. On the
other hand, lots of people don't like cell towers in wilderness areas.

Sounds like you need a satellite phone! :-)

A few months ago I had great success sending morse signals back
and forth 12 miles with green laser pointers pointed skyward...
could probably get further than that if you wanted.

--
Andrew Smallshaw

"Paul Schlyter" wrote

Unfortunately cell phones don't work at the remote sites I observe
from......


Try to connect an external antella to your cell phone, and choose an
antenna that is as sensitive as possible.

I tried that last summer when I was out hiking in the very northernmost
part of Sweden, where large areas lack cell phone coverage. Through
that arrangement I was able to connect far outside the areas officially
listed as being cell phone covered. Up on mountaintops the coverage was
best of course - down in valleys I was often without cell phone coverage,
despite that external antenna........

Paul,

I'll have to give that solution a try. I suppose I could even make my own
directional antenna. Since some folks have cell service at Cherry Springs, a
directional antenna would probably work. I can get service in a small town
about 8 miles away, but that's a long hike just to make a phone call!

Closer to home (southern New York) I find that my cell phone does *not*
work on mountain tops. Others have told me that that is because the cell
towers are pointed down into the valley.

George N

"George Normandin" wrote in message
...

"John Nichols" wrote

....... I grabbed my cell phone and called the sherrif's office and
reported what we saw........

Unfortunately cell phones don't work at the remote sites I observe from.
One that particularly bothers me is Cherry Springs State Park in PA. Some
people have limited phone service, or at least text service. I have none,
and now PA Parks is going to take out the pay phone that is there, leaving
me helpless if my auto dies or there is an accident. It also removes my
'life-line' to my family when I stay there for a few days to a week. On
the other hand, lots of people don't like cell towers in wilderness areas.

Hi George,

Would have answered earlier, but I've out of two until today. I certainly
sympathize, I suppose the justification for pulling the pay phone is cost?
(Or vandalism?)

How far away would you have to drive to be able to use your cell phone?

"John Nichols" wrote

Unfortunately cell phones don't work at the remote sites I observe from.
One that particularly bothers me is Cherry Springs State Park in PA. Some
people have limited phone service, or at least text service. I have none,
and now PA Parks is going to take out the pay phone that is there.....

...... I certainly sympathize, I suppose the justification for pulling
the pay phone is cost? (Or vandalism?)

How far away would you have to drive to be able to use your cell phone?

John,

At the Cherry Springs Star Party the state ranger mentioned pulling the
pay phones at all PA state parks because of the cost, plus they require a
lot of admin effort and they don't see this work as contributing to their
"mission". I think it's about 7 miles or so to get a good signal. That's
only a short drive, but a long walk! Also, driving off the observing field
at night at Cherry Springs, at least when it is clear, is highly
discouraged. I'm going to try a directional antenna as a solution.

George N