Alpine Phones

[B Deleted_Beck]

Howdy

 

My phone is a POS. It's the "$100" phone your salesman pulls a string with his manager to get you for "free" when you sign up. I knew it was a POS when I bought it, but I was broke... now I am no longer broke.

 

I think I've concluded that the problem is with the output of the phone. On Adams, for instance, I had 3 bars, and my phone tried and tried and tried to connect from the summit, but couldn't get the call out. Never got a call out that whole trip, in fact. On Rainier, I get no less than 3 bars, sometimes even full signal, but getting a call out is sort of spotty. Hood, oddly enough, is hard to get a call out from anywhere, the summit most of all.... yet always have full bars. I'm obviously getting signal, just gotta get the signal out.

 

I have Verizon, which I switched to solely based on fellow climbers' recommendation for service in the alpine. What phones are you guys getting the best results with? I don't want to break the bank, but I'm willing to drop a pretty shiny penny for something that works good.

[keenwesh]

why do you need your phone in the mountains?

[kurthicks]

As I know it, cell networks prioritize the strength of signals they receive from phones. Meaning that you can "see" the network and get a signal, but almost every other user on the network is closer to a tower and gets a stronger signal...you get the bump and don't get to connect. Sometimes if you keep trying (redial), you'll be high enough in the current ranking to connect.

 

Good news is that if you get a signal, you should be able to connect to 911 if the need arises.

[B Deleted_Beck]

That may be true, but I still can't get calls out while other guys on the same network, with better phones, can.. and it's consistent.

[Drederek]

why do you need your phone in the mountains?

+ 1

[layton]

get off your damn high horses

 

phones are handy just like every other fucking piece of technology you use. create some fire, forge some knives, cut up some deer skins, and climb with vines and rocks for chocks.

[B Deleted_Beck]

I'm a family man and a business man. I guess you Beckeys are just pro-climbers and have no other responsibilities- but I don't get to shut the world off when I want to climb.

 

Let's stay on task here, gentlemen.

[Water]

Ben, you obviously need an archwood phone. call them up see what they have.

 

really aside it seems like people have great success with the various genius phones at least on the data-transmission side of things. buddies have done all their FB shiz from camp schurman on the east side of Rainier, all over hood, etc. I have an ancient flip phone and it sometimes does that struggling attempt at making a call even though it has service.

 

but i've seen really good success with those new genius phones. in all honesty doing the txt/fb/email route for family and biz is probably easier than voice, yea? also lets you compose your communication on your own terms vs at the moment of tenuous voice connection.

 

 

[AlpineK]

Lots of climbers have families and own businesses. You don't have to be a Beckey or pro climber. Leaving direct contact with the outside world behind has always been accepted as part of the routine.

 

Leave a trip schedule with your family. In an ideal world leave your cell phone in your car, but there are lots of emergency signalling options.

 

In the old days communication meant return to the car, drive to the nearest pay phone, and hope you have enough quarters for a long distance call.

 

Then again maybe I should get with the modern age, "Resistance is futile, you will be assimilated."

[genepires]

maybe a PLB or spot would be a better and more reliable option if the main issue is being able to call for help. (since you mention family as a reason for the phone)

[Andesite]

"Hello?"

"Hi Honey, it's me"

"Hello?"

"Can you hear me?"

"Hello?"

"Honey, I'm calling you from the top of the mountain"

"The what?"

"The TOP of the MOUNTAIN!"

"That's great Dear. We just got another call from the collection agency and Johnny came home from school with headlice. My car is sounding funny again and the darn dog hasn't stopped barking since you left."

"But I'm calling you from the TOP of the MOUNTAIN! Isn't that SO COOL!"

 

Signal lost...

 

"Maybe I need a new phone."

[Buckaroo]

You guys are missing the point, this is a business phone.

 

Before you purchase go on CNET.com and read the user reviews for the model.

 

I had good luck with a LG 8600 (razor copy) It was the best reception phone I ever had. Got a Razr Maxx smart phone now and it's not as good.

 

Also learn to use text. It will connect long before a call.

[B Deleted_Beck]

Lots of climbers have families and own businesses. You don't have to be a Beckey or pro climber. Leaving direct contact with the outside world behind has always been accepted as part of the routine.

 

Leave a trip schedule with your family. In an ideal world leave your cell phone in your car, but there are lots of emergency signalling options.

 

In the old days communication meant return to the car, drive to the nearest pay phone, and hope you have enough quarters for a long distance call.

 

Then again maybe I should get with the modern age, "Resistance is futile, you will be assimilated."

 

Futile indeed.

 

Nevermind.

Edited September 14, 2012 by Ben B.

[tvashtarkatena]

Sounds like somebody hasn't been laid in a while.

[G-spotter]

Satellite txtmsging from anywhere in the world!

 

http://www.amazon.com/DeLorme-AG-008374-201-Satellite-Communicator-Earthmate/dp/B005N4B9AI

[OlympicMtnBoy]

I'm not sure there really are any good plain cell phones, they just aren't designed to be particularly powerful transmitters. Seeing bars means your phone can receive the signal from a powerful tower somewhere in the distance and doesn't have anything to do with if the tower can see your puny phone when you try to call. Probably a few situations where your low power call might be low priority, but I don't think a new phone will make much difference. Try reading reviews on reception but they vary a ton for most models (i.e. one review says it's great and the next says it's crappy).

 

If you see someone calling out there then ask what phone they have, I haven't found a huge difference. Texting does seem to work better than voice calls but still not reliable. It used to be that simple flip phones had better reception than smart phones due to less internal interference but I don't think that's universally true anymore.

 

I managed to get my voicemail and send texts from the summit of Mt. Stuart last weekend on my LG enV? (Verizon).

[Buckaroo]

My LG got consistent calls from anywhere line of sight of an antenna. Including Luna peak, Rainier and Stuart

[B Deleted_Beck]

My LG got consistent calls from anywhere line of sight of an antenna. Including Luna peak, Rainier and Stuart

 

What phone? I've had great luck with LG phones in the past, making me a fan.. but the last couple I've used have been POSs. I totally admit to being pretty clueless about these things, though, and don't have any idea what to look for beyond web and email interface

[tvashtarkatena]

I'm not sure there really are any good plain cell phones, they just aren't designed to be particularly powerful transmitters. Seeing bars means your phone can receive the signal from a powerful tower somewhere in the distance and doesn't have anything to do with if the tower can see your puny phone when you try to call.

 

A tower can signal your phone to boost its transmitting power when the signal is weak.

 

 

[rob]

I hear there is really good reception in the mountains near Pinedale.

[Dannible]

Last year when we tried the Pickets enchainment we wanted to have a phone with us in case of emergencies (because on a thing like that there will be no timely rescue from the outside), to check the weather, and to calm the nerves of our families. I went in the week before to try to cache some food (got turned back by moats) and while I was up there tried my phone. Below the Chopping Block I made a couple of calls and had good service. A week later up on the ridge (not very far away), we tried to call and text every day and didn't get a call out. It was a bummer because Sol's wife was really expecting a call. We bailed primarily for lack of food, but the phone thing and uncertainty about weather were some of the straws that broke the camel's back. If the phone worked, we might have seen that the forecast was good for over a week and kept at it.

 

I can think of a few of lives and/or limbs that have been saved in the last 5 years thanks to cell phones. I'd rather carry one now and then than watch my friend slowly die when it could have been avoided. Will Gadd wrote a good blog post about that. It's easy to feel like nothing bad will ever happen to you until something does.

 

 

[Jason4]

I think a few people are missing the point that having a phone that works where you are for work lets people leave the desk and get into the mountains more. I dont' see why anyone would have a problem with that. I know most would prefer to leave work behind but sometime I can weasel out early or take an extra day off as long as I'm availabe to take calls and answer questions. I'll deal with that to get outside more often.

Edited September 14, 2012 by Jason4

[rob]

I think a few people are missing the point that having a phone that works where you are for work lets people leave the desk and get into the mountains more. I dont' see why anyone would have a problem with that. I know most would prefer to leave work behind but sometime I can weasel out early or take an extra day off as long as I'm availabe to take calls and answer questions. I'll deal with that to get outside more often.

 

oh man, if I were ever on a climbing trip and my partner pulled out his phone to do some work email, I don't know what would happen. I'd rather he just stayed home and got his work done.

 

Anyway, if you're worried about calling in a rescue, stop fucking around with your cell phone and get a PLB. ~$300 and it will work anywhere, for free. The McMurdo is really light and you won't have to worry. Cell phones on climbing trips so you can also do work or chat with your girlfriend just so you can enjoy the false sense of security that comes from hoping you'll actually have cell coverage as your buddy is slowly dying? Meh. Or as Frank Booth would say, FUCK THAT SHIT!

[Andesite]

I think a few people are missing the point that having a phone that works where you are for work lets people leave the desk and get into the mountains more. I dont' see why anyone would have a problem with that.

 

As long as you don't have me on belay when that can't miss sales call comes through...

 

The point is not being missed. It's being argued against. One argument against is respect for others. I've been on a mountain top, enjoying the wilderness and the silence, when the sound of somebody's ringtone and the subsequent blah, blah, blah shatters all that. This 24/7 access is your choice, but please don't bring me along for that ride.

 

The OP probably didn't intend for this to become an argument about IF phones had a place in the wilderness. He seems to have decided that for him, they DO have a place. I also carry one, but try to restrict use to texting progress reports to concerned loved ones and emergencies.

Edited September 14, 2012 by Andesite

[G-spotter]

NO FD NO WTR. GTTNG COLD. MIKE HAS STPD BLEEDNG. HASNT MVD 4 HRS. SND HLP NOW.