ChuckDeatonLife Member  Senior Member Posts:1110  
| 12/27/2008 9:14 PM |
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I recently changed to the G-1 from T-Mobile. And I am changing from a Nokia in vehicle system with a signal amplifier and external antenna to an in vehicle repeater with a signal amplifier and external antenna.
I have a repeater on the motor home along with a tower and antenna.
My phone is in a cradle, on an arm, that keeps it in reach and charged. I have bluetooth in my truck and I have several bluetooth earphones.
I use a web based calender and I use Gmail.
I carry a digital recorder that moves digital files to my computer. I carry a digital video recorder. I have several distos and a several digital levels.
Making money in any business is about accuracy and communications. Miss a call and miss a job. An old adage is "strike while the iron is hot" The newest gadgets are necessary.
"Prattling on and on about being an ass with experience doesn't make someone experienced. It just makes you an ass." Rod Buvens, Pilot grunt
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HuskerCat Veteran Member Posts:762 
| 12/27/2008 9:55 PM |
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And always have the Traveler's Choice discount credit card handy with the preferred grocery/hotel/pharmacist/liquor store loaded in the GPS. Not necessarily in that order.
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okclarrydVeteran Member Posts:954
| 12/28/2008 4:05 PM |
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I agree that gadgets are good and useful. And, some are necessary.
Everytime I get something I think is really hot, the next guy has one with a titanium crystal inner liner or a nuclear-irridium power supply or something.
The "gadget of the week" one-upsmanship can get pricey if you get caught up in it.
I only have one Disto and it's over 5 years old. It is just as accurate and useful as the greatest and latest. As a spare, I bought a Stanley laser for $99. It's just as accurate up to about 80 ft. Unless I'm measuring fences or inside a warehouse, it works just as good as the Disto.
I have a bluetooth earpiece that is comfortable enough to wear all day. I've tried the external antennas and boosters and only on two or three occasions have I noticed a difference. I have more issues with AT&T than I do with the phone and the antenna. And AT&T is the best I've found.
I have three digital cameras that are from Ebay that work just fine. They are all point and shoot style cameras and are sufficient to do the job at hand.
I've been in RV parks with the guys that have satellite dishes and can upload and download with them. Their lights are on when I turn mine off and theirs are on in the morning when I turn mine on. If they are making more than me, it's through hard work, not satellite systems.
Once I attain a certain comfort level with my gadgets, I pretty much don't get caught up in the "gadget of the week" stuff.
However,......................I am a sucker for new phones.
Larry D Hardin
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Tom TollModerator & Life Member Senior Member Posts:1865 
| 12/29/2008 11:17 AM |
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I too am a gadget guru, but it can get overboard really quick. Some things are play pretty's only. I use only that necessary to complete a job in good time and for accuracy.
Larry, what ear piece have you got. Mine is a Motorola and I cannot hear with it. I got big ears and cannot get the speaker close enough to my ear canal.
Success is not final, failure is not fatal: it is the courage to continue that counts.
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Tim_Johnson Member Posts:243
| 12/29/2008 7:24 PM |
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Tom,
I found this picture of Larry with his cell phone ear piece in place.
Tim Johnson
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| 12/29/2008 8:11 PM |
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I find AT&T best for phone service, but Verizon for air card internet. I used AT&T GPRS for a couple of years and found it slow. Maybe it is better now, but Verizon will be my provider until it fails to perform. Usually, we have both aircard and hotel or RV camp internet. Verizon almost always is the faster and crashes less often.
I used ipac PDA for years, but I couldn't wait for a phone with memory sufficient to do both. I bought a $500 Tilt phone with maximum memory card before IKE. It is heavy, user unfriendly, and the touch screen allows itself to be touched inappropriately by phantoms and spirits unseen. Sometimes it calls people without my knowledge. Other times, I get a call, but I touch the wrong button and I lose the call.
I now believe PDAs and phones should be seperate units. Sometimes you need to look at your PDA data while using your phone. Not easy to do with the Tilt!
My phone is smarter than me. I look forward to getting a simple phone as soon as I get $500 use out of the smart one. I want the next one to be on the same intellectual level and its owner.
Randy
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HuskerCatVeteran Member Posts:762
| 12/29/2008 10:47 PM |
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Now that just ain't right, and it isn't Larry. I know for a fact that he's right-handed and has much larger ears...otherwise Tom wouldn't have asked.
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Tom TollModerator & Life Member Senior Member Posts:1865
| 12/30/2008 11:48 AM |
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Tim, I don't think my Razr phone would work like that, besides, huge rubber bands are expensive.
Success is not final, failure is not fatal: it is the courage to continue that counts.
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okclarrydVeteran Member Posts:954
| 12/30/2008 7:10 PM |
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Ace Hardware has some really comfortable C clamps that work better than the rubber bands.
Just don't wear them in a lightning storm.
I have a Jawbreaker II with the Jabra ear gels. This thing weighs about an ounce or less and with the ear gels, without the ear hoop, it sits in your ear and never moves.
I have a drawer full of old phones and bluetooth ear thingys and this is the best I've found. The Jawbreaker and ear gels came from, you guessed it, Ebay, Walmart for the internet.
Larry D Hardin
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Tim_JohnsonMember Posts:243
| 03/26/2009 2:57 PM |
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Well, I let the slick talking salesman at the AT&T store talk me into an iPhone this week. I love it. I was one of you guys that just needed a "hello & good bye" type telephone. Not any more. All of my new claims either come through email or faxed to my email in box. It was nice yesterday to be 100 miles from the house and check my email and find a new loss about 1/2 way back to the house. The second claim paid for the phone. And yes, you can open pdf, word and excel documents on it. They are worth the money.
Tim Johnson
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okclarrydVeteran Member Posts:954
| 03/26/2009 8:12 PM |
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I've been looking at the iphones and I would wager that it is my next phone. Too many goodies and gadgets to pass up
Larry D Hardin
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ChuckDeatonLife Member Senior Member Posts:1110
| 03/26/2009 8:54 PM |
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Hold on, hold on, fellow gadgeteers, there are several new phones in the pipeline with the Android operating system. These phones are associated with Google, Gmail and calender and Google Apps. I have the G1 and for business use I don't see how the Apple based phones could be better.
I have the G1 and a Google account, web based email and web based calender, and I wear it out. If you are working in the field it quickly becomes an indispensable tool.
The G1 with unlimited usage and internet is 125 usd a month.
Google is pushing out an operating system update that is due in April.
"Prattling on and on about being an ass with experience doesn't make someone experienced. It just makes you an ass." Rod Buvens, Pilot grunt
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| 07/28/2009 4:40 PM |
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This thread was started almost a year ago, so I'm not sure what the smart-phones could do then, but I got a BlackBerry a few months ago (after resisting the super-phone onslaught). I must say, it has been incredibly helpfull.
You can now open attachments (PDFs, Word Docs, Excel spreadsheets). I was handling claims for the Myrtle Beach fires, and I was on the ground handling claims as the fires were being pushed back. I was getting e-mailed the claims as they were coming in, and was driving to each one as it was reported. If I had my old phone, I probably would have just waited until I got back to my hotel that afternoon, seen the claims and then tried to call, which would have delayed the whole process. On at least 2 claims, I drove to the house without even calling the insured (these were all in one housing development), and the insured told me they were just about to leave town (many people came back right after the fires, but realized there was still so much smoke they wanted to leave again), and had I waited until the next day, I wouldn't have been able to inspect for a week or more.
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ChuckDeatonLife Member Senior Member Posts:1110
| 07/28/2009 8:53 PM |
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Put a zboost in-car yx230 Mobile repeater in your vehicle and extend the range of your new super phone. "Prattling on and on about being an ass with experience doesn't make someone experienced. It just makes you an ass." Rod Buvens, Pilot grunt
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| 08/27/2009 4:13 PM |
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When I am at a loss I leave the phone in the vehicle. If a contractor is there and gets a call, I politely request he turn off his phone. There are distractions enough when inspecting without calls. I just changed carriers and got a cool Qualcomm 3G from Verizon with qwerty keyboard for $20. I just took the pay per megabyte plan and I can access my emails for a couple of dollars a month. With 450 minutes I have my monthly down to $40 plus mgbs. Just a tip for those that aren't high rolling right now.
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Tim_JohnsonMember Posts:243
| 08/27/2009 9:15 PM |
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A question for Bob H or any other of you techie folks out there, "back in the day" we had the old 3 watt "bag phones" mounted in our trucks. They were of an anolog signal. You hand held devices are .6 watts. Does any carrier sell / support a digital 3 watt "bag phone" these days? I run the mountains of Arkansas and alot of time my I-phone does not get a signal.
Tim Johnson
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ChuckDeatonLife Member Senior Member Posts:1110
| 08/27/2009 9:37 PM |
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 http://www.repeaterstore.com/applications/car-truck-rv.html
I run one of these permently mounted in my truck. There is an antenna in the truck and an antenna mounted on the ladder rack. I have another similiar one mounted on the motor home. The repeater is inside and the exterior antenna is on a tower mounted to the motor home roof.
I haven't tried it in the mountains around Men or Hogeye but on the Lake Ponchatrain Bridge or the Lab at Cocodrie, LA it is a great improvement.
We use this one during Katrina with good success. It is mounted in the motor home. The antenna is outside, on a tower on the roof. "Prattling on and on about being an ass with experience doesn't make someone experienced. It just makes you an ass." Rod Buvens, Pilot grunt
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BobHVeteran Member Posts:759 
| 08/27/2009 10:10 PM |
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Posted By Tim_Johnson on 27 Aug 2009 09:15 PM
Does any carrier sell / support a digital 3 watt "bag phone" these days?
I don't know of a DIGITAL one. As you know, those were ANALOG and the cell companies gradually stopped selling analog, and a few years ago did the complete switch to digital.
I got my old bag phone in 1992 when I was doing a hurricane in Hawaii, kept it for many years. Great signal
Over the years I bought antennas from these folks and they are reputable: http://www.cellantenna.com
http://www.cellantenna.com/Boosters/cellphone_signal_boosters.htm">Here's an article from their site that speaks to your issue:
The Cell Phone Signal Boosters connect between your cell phone or car kit and the external antenna. They boost the signal level and power output of your cell phone to the maximum FCC approved limits. Currently most cell phones are only 250 milliwatt of power ( 1/4 watt). In the old days ( a few years ago) the Bag Phone was king and they used to put out 3000 milliwatts or 3 watts of power. The Cell Phone Boosters that we sell boosts your cell phone to the levels of the bag phones so that long distance and more reliable communications can be achieved. Used with out Magnetic mount and Glass mount antennas, they are great for the Car, Boat, RV, or Truck. Combined with our Yagi and Panel Antennas, these boosters provide reliable communication in doors to cell phones connected directly to them. Bob H
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