Frequency of Yagi? Cellular 850MHz?

[InJungle]

I purchased a small parabolic dish with a short yagi that was supposed to be for 850MHz to boost my cellular signal. It does nothing and I recently found a friend of mine had one mounted on a tower and he reported his did nothing either.

I wondered if maybe it was for a different frequency? If this is the case, I would like to know for what frequency it is for? And, with what antenna product can replace it with tuned to 850MHz to pick up cellular?

The dish is approximately 360mm in diameter. The distance of the elements(mm) from the dish are as follows: 120,155,190,225 It has two sets of elements. Is that for double band? The length of the elements are as follows: First set: 80,75,68. Second set: 120, 130, 140. This is my first post, and I attempted to upload a photo of my actual yagi mounted in dish antenna.

I searched extensively on the web and found only one similar dish yagi combination on a Chinese website. It was for satellite. Here is the URL, in case it will help. Attn Moderator, this is not an advertisement
http://www.aliexpress.com/item/whoe...box-packing-free-shipping-gift/540327157.html

 

[WA0CBW]

Well the link indicates the antenna is for GSM 2.4 Ghz. I doubt that it would work well at 800 MHz.
BB

 

[InJungle]

Thank you for your reply! I don't know if the link is the same antenna I have? It was the only one that resembled it. Can you determine by the appearance in my photo, or by the measurements between the elements what frequency range or thereabouts mine is? Is the tandem set of elements dual band?

 

[mmckenna]

That is an odd looking item. The product description says GSM then shows 2400 - 2483MHz. The connector shown in the photo on the website looks like an RP SMA. Keep in mind that GSM is a protocol used for cellular telephones and does not indicate the frequency. From the website you linked to, this looks like it's strictly a 2.4GHz WiFi antenna. The reverse polarity connector on the end enforces that idea, as those are common for WiFi access point antenna connectors.


So, I'll go out on a limb here and suggest that you purchased this from overseas from a website that is vague at best. You thought it was a cellular antenna, but it doesn't appear to be. It doesn't work for your cell phone, which is completely understandable based on the design. To add to the confusion, we don't have any details about how you interfaced this to your cell phone.
Who your carrier is and what country you are in will give us an idea of what frequency your cell phone operates on.
Understanding how you interfaced to your cell phone could help us out a lot.
There are certainly some cellular services up towards 2.4GHz, so it -might- work if your carrier is operating in those bands. If they are at 850MHz, then you have the wrong antenna.

 

[InJungle]

Thank you, too, for your prompt helpful reply! I want to emphasize that I did not purchase from the link that I posted, but it was the only thing on the web I could find that even seemed similar.

I am in Bolivia South America, the carrier is Entel Bolivia and the new radio base that was installed 3 years ago operates on 850 MHz. I purchased the dish in the photo I posted (not the one in the link) soon after on eBay USA. It was billed as an 850 MHz Cellular antenna and came with a smooth talker booster, which I connected between the antenna and phone.

It is interfaced via the cable (see photo) and connector through a smooth talker, connector adapter (don't remember the exact name? TNC?) and to my motorola m900 bagphone.

1. is there any way, looking at the length of the elements, and the distance between the elements, to ascertain what ballpark frequency band we are looking at (my posted photo, not the web link)?

2. anyone have suggestions on an antenna I could put at the focus of this dish to replace the yagi I have (if in fact it is not 850) ?

 

[InJungle]

i found actual antenna link!!

thank you to all the radioreference users for your thoughtful posts and expertise. i have found the actual product! at least the advertisement for it! can anyone tell me anything about it? why there are two rows of elements in the yagi? and, for what frequencies is it good for?

finally, if it is in fact for the right frequency or defective, what would i need to do to troubleshoot and fix it? or, what would i replace the yagi with to make the dish operational?

 

[InJungle]

I was so excited about sharing this, I believe I forgot to post the link!
YagiRef Multi-Band Yagi Antenna for the Sony Ericsson Z750a Z750c Z750i

Have a good weekend, all! Thanks for lettting me participate in this forum.