Sebastian_H wrote:
This goes a bit on a tangent, but has anyone experience with mobile phone connectivity in low-level flight? I have a GMA 245 audio panel waiting to be installed, which would enable me to do phone calls via Bluetooth, and I considered that writing down the phone number of the tower as part of the flight planning could have meant to call them up when NORDO and arrange something as another option in the big bag of tricks.
I was flying an aircraft back to my home base when the actual PTT button broke on the pilot’s yoke. No problem, the person sitting next to me is also a licensed pilot. That button also decided to fail in that moment. I then connected the phone to my headset (Zulu 2) and descended to 1400 feet AGL, googled the number for the Flugleiter and called him up, explained I was coming in NORDO and would be using the phone to call out my position, that although I couldn’t transmit, I could still receive.
It worked surprisingly well, even though it sounded weird to hear the Flugleiter call my downwind, base and final after each call as a precaution for any other traffic in the vicinity.
IIRC in certain areas the signal will work up until 3000 feet but in that area – relatively flat, open terrain – I could only get reception from 1400 feet or below. Apparently at higher levels the phone sees too many towers so won’t be able to choose which station to log into as multiple will have similar signal levels. Lower down, geographic elements such as hills or mountains or buildings will reduce the signal of certain towers meaning the phone can log into one base station….. At least that’s my understanding as to why mobile phones won’t connect at higher altitudes…
I had always understood that the reason reception is poor at altitudes was that the antennae were “tilted” downwards
Sebastian_H wrote:
This goes a bit on a tangent, but has anyone experience with mobile phone connectivity in low-level flight? I have a GMA 245 audio panel
It vastly depends on where you are and what equipment. In Europe I most commonly get voice capable connections up to about 3,000 ft, data on 5G a bit further up. Near bigger airfields in question and at the usual ‘2,000 ft entry route’ you should get coverage most of the times.
@Peter_Mundy: The older mobile networks used ground-covering antennas, while starting 4G and 5G they are more spherical – one reason the drone warriors discuss mobile networks for conspicuity.
Btw, I do have a PMA8000BT audio panel and used to couple the phone to it, but don’t do that any longer (unless PAX wants music or make a call). If radio is weak, in most cases you may have a power issue as well, so don’t want to drain power there. My way is coupling the phone to the BT headset (batteries included), not the audio panel.
It varies by country. Different countries have set up their networks differently as to whether to blacklist a device which is connecting to too many towers.
I had always understood that the reason reception is poor at altitudes was that the antennae were “tilted” downwards
Mostly it is due to client device blacklisting. For example over France you can have a strong GSM signal at FL100, but no functionality.
