Celfi go R41 antenna

Brianvicki · Veteran Member

Celfi go R41 antenna

Brodie Allen · Guru

Plenty of magnetic mount wire antennas in various "heights" from Jaycar. mine

is about a meter long - just bends down if you happen to snag it (while

travelling slowly).

Just pop it on the roof of the car.

That means though that you have to take the CelFi unit into the car.

Might be a better idea to put a supplementary wire antenna on the van for use when travelling because you wouldn't want

the one on the TV antenna up!!! Just plug it into the CelFi in the van set-up.

Then just use the phone as usual - you are only a few meters away.

B

-- Edited by Brodie Allen on Wednesday 10th of April 2024 12:32:33 PM

Brodie Allen · Guru

One other thing - when I bought mine I had to get one for the house and subsequently
decided to get another for the van.

One is marked MOBILE the other STATIONARY.

Upon enquiry I was informed that the only difference is in the time it takes for the
STATIONERY one to switch towers while on the move.

May be different now. Check your settings in the CelFi and make sure you have the
right settings for the varying networks ie 3G 4G 5G or auto.

B

Brianvicki · Veteran Member

Thanks Brodie, the external antenna is taken care of, the car has a magnetic on the roof, van has one on the tv antenna, I have power in car and van, I will remove/unplug cables from Celfi in car, move Celfi to caravan, and plug the external antenna to receive Telstra signal.

it is the in the van I am looking at antenna options for the phone to pickup the signal from Celfi. the Car has stick on antenna, great in the car but not strong.

im looking at an antenna to go inside or external to the van with strong enough signal for the phones to access inside and outside the van. Hope this make sense.

Brodie Allen · Guru

If I understand you you want an antenna inside the van that emits a strong enough signal for all to work in the car?

If that is the case, I have done the same - the stick-on little plastic thing is ok for in the van only.

Replace it with a wire antenna from Jaycar and put it in an advantageous position in the van - maybe you have
a front window? mine is tucked in the front LH corner of the van but it is a Jayco so no metal to interfere.

The antenna will screw straight onto the CelFi.

To steady it from falling and provide a ground plane I have a piece of flat metal from the construction area
of Bunnings that the magnet on the antenna grabs and the squareage acts as a brace and ground plane.

$2-3 dollars zinc coated flat tin.

You will also enhance your phone reception in the van also. Those little stick-ons are for inside the confines
of the car only.

I can get 4 bars on my phone 20 meters from the van. Probably means everybody nearby can benefit?

B

-- Edited by Brodie Allen on Wednesday 10th of April 2024 05:21:05 PM

Brianvicki · Veteran Member

Thanks Brodie exactly what I am looking for, and the aerial would be cheaper from Jaycar, any chance you could give me a link to the aerial and also a picture of the van setup. We have a Windsor seka poptop 2018, so similar build to the Jayco.

I was rapt the new winsig aerial comes with a 5g aerial for picking the cell tower signal.

Brodie Allen · Guru

Here you go, BrianVicki.

This antenna has proven to be big enough - I have a number of them - if you
look closely enough you'll see a number 3 on the base. I did all sorts of tests
and I have a CelFi in the house and I use a 1-meter long ant. to cover all the
house and 'way out in the yard. (We have bugger all cel coverage here where
I live so I have installed a yagi on the roof that feeds that indoor CelFi.

I will send you a PM re this post that I have posted for the benefit of others, and

the PM in case you have retired from this thread and might miss it.

B

-- Edited by Brodie Allen on Friday 12th of April 2024 07:05:14 AM

Brianvicki · Veteran Member

Thanks Brodie Allen much appreciated, will have a look at jaycar.

Brianvicki · Veteran Member

Brodie, would you know if there is a difference in the type of antennas for input v output with the cel fi go?

Brodie Allen · Guru

Brianvicki wrote:
Brodie, would you know if there is a difference in the type of antennas for input v output with the cel fi go?

Yes it is important, but so long as you go to a reputable supplier and tell them what it's

for you will have no trouble.

A substantial outdoor (reception) antenna is very important - the bigger the better so long

as it is tuned to the frequencies of the carrier you are using, but in my experience I have

managed with the one antenna for both Optus and Telstra. I think that they all fall within

a fairly similar frequency window so a bit of mis-match seems to be ok.

If you really want the best situation, you need a small yagi that you can point at the transmitter

directly. Some phones can be configured to become a reasonable signal strength meter or

you can buy a meter.

The internal seems to be lots less important since (I think it's wi-fi (somebody confirm this?)

and seems to work on just about anything - at least within the confines of the van.

If you can get a wire antenna for outside that will whip without destruction if you go under

trees etc at speed, you could leave it up all the time. I have a glass stick on a knock-down

base that has to be raised and locked and lowered and unlocked before moving. When the

antenna is in the horizontal position it is useless - haven't tried it pointing downwards but

that likely obviates the intention of the antenna anyway. And I need a few steps to get up

to the lock.

You don't have to raise the antenna all the time since there's an expanding Telstra availability

that covers a very useful percentage of the country anyway. Optus is a terrible waste of time if

you go remote at all. I'm always being asked by others with Optus can they come near and use

my transmitter/receiver for a call. Of course it's no problem or cost, so happy to oblige. They

sit outside and do their stuff.

That little internal antenna gives me about a 30ft radius outside and in the car (if the antenna is up).

It and all my other wire antennae were originally purchased for 2G and 3G - seem ok on 4G.

The antenna always speeds things up anywhere anytime - 'specially if mum, dad, kids all want

to browse at the same time.

The ideal situation would be a wire antenna about a meter long secured to the front or rear of

of your van and just leave it there all the time. It will whip out of the way if you forget it.

Just remember that if there is NO signal then you cannot "pick it up" and amplify nothing to

something.

I have never been without messaging at least but internet video and sometimes searches are

slow to broken when nobody about has anything at all.

Hope that helps.

B

-- Edited by Brodie Allen on Sunday 5th of May 2024 08:18:19 AM

Brodie Allen · Guru

Just remembered your opening post mentioning that you have a 5G antenna on your TV allready.

I'm wondering why you don't use that? Maybe 5G is not compatible with the 3 and 4G that are
the best for long range reception?

It is a very small antenna - can't be very much in gain and anyway, 5G is a very fast but extremely
short range facility. Not recommended for countries like Australia out of city areas. In fact, the longest
range service was 2G ! It was good in one respect in that while you downloaded a search there
was time to go get a coldie!!

My advice would be to forget it and replace it with a longer 3-4G antenna.

Solves your problem of having to put a side-mounted stick on the van!! Beaut!

B

B

Brianvicki · Veteran Member

Thanks Brodie, the information is valuable.

Did more thinking on what I want to do, when we are camped up, the car is always next to the van so my thought was to remove the 5g antenna from the van and fit it on the roof of the car. When parked up , unconnect the internal stick on antenna in the car, and use the 5g antenna on the car.
In that situation, I have the magnetic antenna pickup the cellular Telstra signal. And use the 5g antenna for our devices.. as we sit outside the van most of the time or keep van door open ?

This saves me moving the Celfi from car to van. Running a cable through the poptop etc.

Brodie Allen · Guru

You shouldn't need an antenna in the car to copy from the CelFi. The radiating antenna inside the van should easily reach the car.

B

StewG · Senior Member

I use a Cel-Fi Go booster (4G) that is mounted inside the caravan. The external whip antenna is on a telescopic pole about 6 metres high and gets stowed when travelling. The external antenna cable feeds through the caravan wall to screw into the booster. The internal antenna sits on the wall inside the van. I have never bothered to use the Cel-Fi while travelling in the car because I can enjoy peace and quiet if out of range and besides that, the Cel-Fi is only a booster that makes a very weak signal stronger. If you are truly out of range, the booster will not help.