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REPLACEMENT ANTENNAS
INTRO
Lost, bent, broken or simply looking a little
the worse for wear, the aerial on your mobile phone is the critical link with
the outside world. Rick Maybury looks at the strange world of replacement
antennas
COPY
You could write a book on the psychology of
mobile phones. They’ve had a tremendous effect on everyone’s lives; even those
who don’t yet have one exhibit a range of unusual behavioural tendencies when
they’re in earshot of a ringing phone. It’s interesting to note how quickly
their attitudes change when they eventually succumb...
People’s reactions to mobile phones are
largely understandable. Those who have them appreciate the facility to stay in
contact, those without frequently regard phones and their owners with
suspicion, distaste and yes, dare we say even a little envy; but try explaining
this: several engineers and dealers we know have told us quite independently
about a number phones they’ve seen, with teeth-marks on the aerials!
Old Sigmund would have a field day with this
one. Of course it might just be that mobile phone owners are very busy people;
when confronted with a ringing phone, and only one spare hand, they pull their
retractable aerials out with their teeth. Good idea, but that doesn’t explain
the marks seen on fixed ‘stubby’ aerials. It could just be the kids, they love
to play with mummy or daddy’s phone. Then again it might have something to do
with the shape; er, well, that’s what a bloke down the pub told us... Engineers tell us the shape has nothing to
do with deeply rooted childhood memories or fixations but is determined by the
nature of the radiating element, and the need to put a knobbly bit on the end,
to stop people poking theirs, and other peoples, eyes out.
Before we talk ourselves into some dark,
disturbing corner, we’d better explain where all this is leading? A seriously
chewed-up aerial tip is just one of the many and varied reasons there’s such a
steady demand for replacement antennas. Other, even more plausible excuses
include breakages and the inevitable bends. They’re usually caused by
forgetting to retract the antenna before slipping it into a back pocket and
then sitting on it. There’s nothing more unsightly than a wonky whip... It’s
also surprising -- so one of our dealer friends tell us -- how many people
manage to loose their aerials. Owners of mobile phones are renowned for
being fiddlers, and sooner or later
everyone tries to unscrew the aerial on their mobile -- to see how it fits --
some never get it back properly and the aerial drops off...
REPLACE OR REPAIR?
The subject of replacement antennas arose
when we discovered a crack in the retractable whip on one of our test phones, a
venerable Motorola 5200. This aerial had never been straight, and the numerous
attempts to try and straighten it resulted in a serious fracture. Eventually
this seriously sad-looking excuse for an aerial, failed altogether and flopped
over every time it was pulled out. Coincidentally a similar fate had befallen
the whip on a Nokia 2110 we occasionally use for accessory testing, at some
point it had been bent, and efforts to remove the kink had only made matters
worse.
The first question that needed answering was,
how easy is it to replace a mobile phone antenna, after all it’s not something
they usually cover in the instruction books? We decided to confine our
investigations to three popular makes and models. For fairly obvious reasons
they included the Motorola 5200 and Nokia 2110 and for good measure an Ericsson
237 which has something of a track record for lost aerials.
REMOVAL
There’s a knack to removing the aerial on a
Motorola phone. First you have to unclip the little plastic shroud. There’s
probably a special tool to do this, but in the absence of one a thumbnail or
penknife has to suffice. Slide it under the cover, and gently prise the cover
off, taking care not to scratch the casing. Once its clear the clip that holds
the aerial and helical coupler in place has to be pulled out. It’s held by a
couple of small plastic latches, so the side of the case has to be eased aside,
or the base of the module pressed slightly, to release the catches. The whole
assembly can then be pulled out. The replacement presses in easily, the only
point to watch out for is to make sure the metal contact pin is correctly
aligned with the hole inside the top of the phone.
The aerials on Nokia 2110s are held in place
by a threaded collar. They can be fiendishly tight and a lot of people resort
to undoing them with screwdrivers, or scissors, which often results in a badly
scratched case, and a gouged hand. The trick is to use a little tool, that is,
or should be, supplied with replacements. This slots into the groove in the top
of the collar, so it can be easily loosened. Fitting a new antenna is simply a
reversal of the removal process.
The stubby little antennas on Ericsson phones
are a simple push-fit, and because there’s plenty to get hold of, they’re not
at all difficult to remove. That may explain why there’s such a steady demand
for replacements.
In many cases replacement antennas are
identical to the factory-fitted aerial, in fact we’ve discovered that quite a
few of them are made in the same factory as the originals. There’s not a lot to
go wrong, so performance shouldn’t be an issue, but it is, and we’ll come to
that in a moment. On some phones there’s an alternative to the standard-issue
item, this is certainly the case with Nokia and Ericsson phones, where the
usual retractable or stubby aerial can be replaced by a longer fixed ‘rubber
ducky’ type antenna; we’ve discovered
that in some cases they can range, directionality and consequently the
reliability of contact.
We’ve gathered together a representative
selection of replacement antennas. To judge how easy they are to fit and how
well they’re made. We also carried out a series of simple operational checks, comparing the signal strength
readings of the replacement aerials with the originals. We’re not making any
serious scientific claims for this method, though it did show up a few
anomalies, as we’ll see in a moment.
Price-wise most of the antennas we’ve looked
at sell for between £10 to £15. Be warned, that can easily double if you go for
the phone manufacturer’s own replacement. They’re quite expensive for what they
are, some of them are no more than a inch or so of wire inside a rubber cover,
others are a little more elaborate. Perhaps the price will encourage owners of
mobile phone users to take good care of their aerials!
Finally, a few words about the instructions
that accompany replacement antennas. There weren’t any, at least not on the
samples we tried! One company’s packaging helpfully suggested that if the existing antenna couldn’t be
readily unscrewed, without using force, they should ask their supplier for
assistance, but that was about it. The lack of instructions supplied with these
products -- and a lot of other accessories -- is a serious problem that the
cellphone accessory industry would do well to address, but that’s another,
long-running story...
ALLGON B3231.1
Slightly longer replacement for the standard
stubby, a small increase in directionality
Make/model ALLGON
B3231.1
To Fit Ericsson
237/337
Typical price £12
Ease of fitting 9
Performance 9
WC Rating 95%
Contact Allgon
Ltd, telephone (01530) 510013
ALLGON B3237
Can you spot the difference? We couldn’t, a
100% replacement for the original.
Make/model ALLGON
B3237
To Fit Motorola
200/7200
Typical price £15
Ease of fitting 7
Performance 9
WC Rating 95%
Contact Allgon
Ltd, telephone (01530) 510013
ALLGON B3230.1
‘Rubber ducky’ alternative, a very slight
improvement in signal strength noted
Make/model ALLGON
B3230.1
To Fit Nokia
2110/2010
Typical price £12
Ease of fitting 7
Performance 10
WC Rating 98%
Contact Allgon
Ltd, telephone (01530) 510013
GRM Nokia 2110
Virtually identical to the standard
retractable, with performance to match. Extra points awarded for removal tool
and very reasonable price
Make/model GRM
To Fit Nokia
2110
Typical price £10
Ease of fitting 9
Performance 9
WC Rating 98%
Contact GRM
Ltd., telephone (01253) 773177
HAMA 000109
Fairly ordinary stubby, a slightly loose fit
on one of our samples. No change in performance
Make/model HAMA
000109
To Fit Ericsson
337
Typical price £12.99
Ease of fitting 8
Performance 9
WC Rating 93%
Contact Hama
PVAC Ltd., telephone (01256) 708110
HAMA 0001000
Near identical replacement for standard
aerial, no change in performance
Make/model HAMA
000100
To Fit Motorola
5200/7200
Typical price £12.99
Ease of fitting 7
Performance 9
WC Rating 94%
Contact Hama
PVAC Ltd., telephone (01256) 708110
HAMA 000106
Almost indistinguishable from the original,
no change in performance
Make/model HAMA
000106
To Fit Nokia
2110
Typical price £12.99
Ease of fitting 8
Performance 9
WC Rating 97%
Contact Hama
PVAC Ltd., telephone (01256) 708110
ORA RE237
Quarter-wave whip replacement for helical
original, slightly more directional
Make/model ORA
RE237
To Fit Ericsson
237
Typical price £9.99
Ease of fitting 9
Performance 7
WC Rating 95%
Contact Ora
Electronics (01296) 415445
ORA TM52
The whip is a slightly loose fit when
retracted, performance unchanged
Make/model Ora
TM52
To Fit Motorola
5200/7200
Typical price £9.99
Ease of fitting 7
Performance 9
WC Rating 90%
Contact Ora
Electronics (01296) 415445
ORA RNOK1
Another ‘rubber ducky’ alternative, a slight
increase in signal strength noted
Make/model Ora
RNOK1
To Fit Nokia
100/101/121/TP4
Typical price £9.99
Ease of fitting 8
Performance 9
WC Rating 96%
Contact Ora
Electronics (01296) 415445
TWINCHOICE EA237BR3
Standard stubby, no change in performance
Make/model TWINCHOICE
EA237BR3
To Fit Ericsson
237
Typical price £15
Ease of fitting 9
Performance 9
WC Rating 95%
Contact Twinchoice
Ltd., telephone 0181-503 2613
TWINCHOICE QA2110BE
More ornate tip, tool supplied, performance
unchanged. Also available with ‘wood’ finish tip, to suit replacement case
Make/model TWINCHOICE
QA2110BE
To Fit Nokia
2110
Typical price £15
Ease of fitting 9
Performance 9
WC Rating 95%
Contact Twinchoice
Ltd., telephone 0181-503 2613
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Ó R. Maybury 1996 2803
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