Ken,

I also saw the TV advertisement.  No knowledge, so I checked out the reviews on line at:  < http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,2817,2409698,00.asp >  The bottom line is that for the unit to work, your phone has to be in the cradle, not in your hand.  Also it is expensive at $90 to $100. depending on store.  With our Verizon service, we did not have any problems on the Loop.  Also, with the Verizon MyFi for our computer, iPad and iPhone, we have had excellent connectivity.

John and Judy Gill
Delaware River Sail & Power Squadron, D/5
Two J’s V, a 36 ft. Carver Mariner
Slip E-26, Sassafras Harbor Marina, Georgetown, MD
AGLCA Life Members, Gold Flag Loopers
AGLCA  Harbor Hosts for the Northern Chesapeake Bay
USPS Life Members & CPS-ECP Members
eMail:  < jjgill@twojscom.com >
Website:  http://www.twojscom.com/GreatLoop/

---=============================

On Feb 9, 2013, at 10:55 AM, k t wrote:

This topic was thoroughly delved into some years ago, but just to bring
up one point to prevent any expenditures that don't satisfy, I will
relate one point. Don't ask me how I know this.

The cell phone amplifiers (and there are numerous) work by acting as a
retransmitter/receiver relay, and they do work pretty well. However,
buying on that would work fine in an automobile doesn't mean that it
will work in your boat. In an automobile, the antenna that comes with
these will be mounted on the cars roof and thus has the necessary
benefit of the RF shielding of the metal car roof. So, why is this
important? Well, here is the issue.
(a) The "Sleek" has two receivers and two transmitters inside it. One
R/T pair "talks" to your cell phone.
(b) The second R/T pair "talks" to the cell tower with both a louder
voice (i.e. more milliwatts power) and a better antenna (on top of your
boat and bigger than in your cell phone), hence the better range.

However, if you don't have the benefit of the automobile shielding, then
the transmitter of the second R/T pair (cell tower R/T) may very well
blast back into the receiver of the first R/T pair (cell phone R/T) and
lock the system up with feedback. You can liken this to a PA audio
system when the microphone gets too much feedback from the speakers and
creates a horrible squeal.

There are really only two ways on a fiberglass boat to avoid this. Some
of the cell phones (like some older Nokias) had an actual RF connection
and this could be coupled to the amplifier directly with shielded wire.
That is pretty uncommon now. The second way was to use a small inductive
coupling. This is what I had to change to on my system that was made by
Digital Antenna. In this case, it is like a tiny antenna that is
connected right up against the phone (I used velcro). It may be that the
Sleek uses this inductive coupling approach and this is the reason for
their cradle, -- and if so it may work fine. Once I got this setup on my
boat, it did make a big difference and worked well. So if I were you, I
would make sure that "Sleek" know that the application would not have
the benefit of the cars roof shielding.

Just some info for whatever it is worth. Currently selling at 2-cents
but willing to bargain.
Ken Bloomfield
m/v Tellico Lady

On 2/9/2013 10:55 AM, k t wrote:

We also had the www.DigitalAntenna.com set up. When necessary to improve
signal, I set my cell phone next to the small interior antenna and then used
my blue tooth headset. Worked exceptionally well.

Bob

Bob DeGroot, M.Ed., DCH
Sales Training International
(281) 367-5599 (800) 551-7355 (713) 876-8787 (Cell)
www.SalesHelp.com

-----Original Message-----
From: Great-Loop [mailto:great-loop-bounces@lists.trawlering.com] On Behalf
Of Ken Bloomfield
Sent: Sunday, February 10, 2013 10:59 AM
To: great-loop@lists.trawlering.com
Subject: Re: GL: Wilson Sleek

This topic was thoroughly delved into some years ago, but just to bring up
one point to prevent any expenditures that don't satisfy, I will relate one
point. Don't ask me how I know this.

The cell phone amplifiers (and there are numerous) work by acting as a
retransmitter/receiver relay, and they do work pretty well. However, buying
on that would work fine in an automobile doesn't mean that it will work in
your boat. In an automobile, the antenna that comes with these will be
mounted on the cars roof and thus has the necessary benefit of the RF
shielding of the metal car roof. So, why is this important? Well, here is
the issue.
(a) The "Sleek" has two receivers and two transmitters inside it. One R/T
pair "talks" to your cell phone.
(b) The second R/T pair "talks" to the cell tower with both a louder voice
(i.e. more milliwatts power) and a better antenna (on top of your boat and
bigger than in your cell phone), hence the better range.

However, if you don't have the benefit of the automobile shielding, then the
transmitter of the second R/T pair (cell tower R/T) may very well blast back
into the receiver of the first R/T pair (cell phone R/T) and lock the system
up with feedback. You can liken this to a PA audio system when the
microphone gets too much feedback from the speakers and creates a horrible
squeal.

There are really only two ways on a fiberglass boat to avoid this. Some of
the cell phones (like some older Nokias) had an actual RF connection and
this could be coupled to the amplifier directly with shielded wire.
That is pretty uncommon now. The second way was to use a small inductive
coupling. This is what I had to change to on my system that was made by
Digital Antenna. In this case, it is like a tiny antenna that is connected
right up against the phone (I used velcro). It may be that the Sleek uses
this inductive coupling approach and this is the reason for their cradle, --
and if so it may work fine. Once I got this setup on my boat, it did make a
big difference and worked well. So if I were you, I would make sure that
"Sleek" know that the application would not have the benefit of the cars
roof shielding.

Just some info for whatever it is worth. Currently selling at 2-cents but
willing to bargain.
Ken Bloomfield
m/v Tellico Lady

On 2/9/2013 10:55 AM, k t wrote:

increase cell phone signal strength significantly.  Anybody out there have
any personal experience with this product ?

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