Cell Phone Question

imported
#1

First off, no flames on this, please. The cell phone is NOT my choice. As many of you may know, I am having some immigration issues, and I am working hard to get Congressmen, Senators, and people of ‘importance’ involved in my case.

By doing this, I need to give them a way to contact me other than email. Thus the cell phone. Trust me, I would rather toss the thing off a mountain than carry it up one, but, well, you know, LNT and all that jazz.

So, does anyone know how AT&T does along the AT? By this, I mean in the towns, particularly in the south. I will probably NOT carry it, but I figured I would ask just in case. Thanks!

Peak-a-Boo

#2

Reception is hit and miss. Recharging the phone etc. If you have a cell, forward your calls to a know good address and/or check your voice mail when you pass a pay phone. You’ll pass a phone every few days if you really need one. Change your voice mail msg weekly to say when you’ll be available to return calls, etc.

Bushwhack

#3

As stated previously, reception was hit or miss and almost always a miss at shelters when I was section hiking Springer to NOC last spring. I’m a slow hiker and generrally saw others when they passed me, so what worked for me was when I was at ridge or bald, I would get well off the trail and check in. The only time I turned it on was to call out. My extra battery was 3oz and I never ran both down-Your results may vary. As with most things trail related, being corrteous to those around you goes a long way…Just my $.02

Clifford, big red dog

#4

I have an ATT wireless phone. It works fairly well in GA and NC. My home area extends all the way to Atlanta, so when I pick up Atlanta signals I dont even have to pay long distance or roaming. The best places for reception, are at the high points. And most of the GAps that have roadways thru them. And I want use my phonr around you If you dont floss your teeth at the picnic table while im eating.

Chef

#5

if you have a phone that gets analog and digital reception you will have better chance of it working, my digital only (no roam) phone doesnt work nearly as much as my partners dig/analog

mat

#6

Bramble says don’t even bother leaving the fone on. More for the reason of if you’re out of the digital signal range and it goes to analog the battery drain is triple. Eh, try it once a night and see if you get some signal. Order a pizza. :cheers

Bushwhack

#7

Make sure you get on the Bell Atlantic Network, and you’ll be able to get good reception in larger towns and on mountaintops all the way from Georgia to Maine. Bell Atlantic (I reckon they’re still called that) has a lot more cells than some of the other networks, whose cell towers tend to be more spotted in Metro area only.

Leave the phone off like Bushwhack and others have said because of battery drain problems. Set up your voice mail and check it once or twice a day. Otherwise leave the phone off and you should get several days, maybe a week or more without having to recharge your cell phone battery.

Get an updated phone so batteries will be easier to find. The older the model, the harder it is to find a battery for it. Many towns along the AT have Radio Shacks and the like where you can buy cell phone batteries. Carry your plug in charger with you and if you battery runs down, get a motel, take a bath, rest and plug the cell phone in to recharge. No need to carry an extra battery. The batteries last a lot time, just recharge it when you need too. The charging transformer is a little heavy to tote (about as heavy as the phone and battery together), but you’ll need to carry it so that you can recharge your phone when you need too.

I’ve probably spent more time on a cell phone talking than on a land line type phone back when I was in business big time and used them a lot. They work great, just understand them, leave them off when not in use, and let the technology work for you.

See you out there. :cheers

Maintain

#8

I carried a Panasonic phone on Cellular1’s network last year and only had signal near towns. The only thing is got used for was ordering pizza, but it kept the parents happy (which is why I had it.) Definitely leave the phone off unless you’re calling out. If you’re going to use a bounce box, you might be able to get away with bouncing the charger and carrying a spare battery. Another thing to remember is that sometimes those batteries don’t work well when cold, so if you know you’re going to need to use the phone, carry it in a pocket for a while to get it warmed up. Later!

          -S-

Skittles

#9

When I sectioned Georgia, not having a phone wasn’t an option for me either. You might say it was my most important piece of equipment - if I didn’t have it I couldn’t hike.

Here’s a strategy that worked for me: Set up a time period each day when you will try to call, say between 1 - 3 PM every day. That will put you out on the Trail, probably somewhere on a ridge, and the person you’re calling won’t be at lunch. Forget about gaps or valleys, if you’re in one just keep walking. When you get to a ridge or atop a mountain turn on the phone and monitor the signal. When you get a strong signal, follow it to a secluded spot and make the call. Worked every time, but Georgia has a lot of small towns near the Trail. My batteries easily lasted a week, but after 20 years of marriage our phone calls are pretty brief: “I’m ok, still on schedule, weather is the usual, luv u2, bye.”

One phone call was made below the ridge south of Woody Gap looking down a huge valley toward Dahlonega, I could see Spring and I was standing on it! There was a clear line of elevation where all the trees had leafed out below and all the trees above were still bare. Spring was working it’s way up the mountains and it had come exactly to the Appalachian Trail. I got a good signal and called my wife and tried to describe what I was seeing. Then, while I was talking, I took a picture to show her later. Another time after a big storm with tornados blew through, the quick call home kept her from worrying.

If I was thru hiking, I’d bounce the charger ahead. I used one of those pre-paid plans, TracFone, and had no problem with service.

Dances with Mice

#10

We saw several at Springer and early GA but by the time we got to VA only saw one between there and ME. We carried the prepay phone cards from WalMart, Grocery Stores, were ever we could by them. Had our answering machine at home (hooked to a battery pack like the one that goes with our computers)and were able to stay in touch every few days. Besides the problem with signals, they didn’t like to carry the battery charger!! When you start cutting out the labels in your shirt and only carrying two pairs of socks the phone, batteries,and charger go home. Good luck on your immigration. Oh, you don’t happen to have a pilots license do you?

Papa Smurf

#11

did a bunch of research on this last year- my verizon cellie got great reception from most mountaintops (i didn’t use it around others, tho- didn’t want to invade their wilderness experience), but crapped out in most of the towns along the way (in valleys, etc…) of the five companies i talked to in the asheville area, verizon was the only one who had any clus about how much reception their phones got in the mountains- two even refused to give me phones b/c of what i needed it for (hiking AT) don’t leave it on, of course, and insulate it (in socks, etc) in the colder temps, otherwise your display may freeze. oh yah- having your charger in your bounce box is a good thing, too- less weight, etc… good luck!

smokey

#12

Just out of interest, do any hikers use their phones to email their trail journal entries?

I realise the keyboards and screens are tiny, but now you can get those foldable keyboards as an accessory. Also, the camera phones tend to have much larger screens than used to be the case.

My Pocketmail has just turned up, so this is not really a live issue for me, but I wondered why you never hear of any other devices being used except Pocketmail.

Rick Bayley

#13

Wingfoot wouldn’t like you to bring your phone out on the trail. Therefore, you should just leave it at home.

Hoss

#14

Thanks everyone for your help! I think my final decision will be to leave the phone at home and just give these folx my parent’s number to call, if necessary. It saves on weight, on money, and on annoyance.

But thank you so much for all your input!

Peak-a-Boo

#15

I don’t have one myself. My sister does. We are doing the Presis this year. We plan to stand on top of Mount Washington, in front of the web cam, call someone at work from her cell phone, and have them capture our pic off the computer! Coming this year to my journal …

Harry Dolphin