Static During Phone Call - MDA, XDA, 1010 General

Ok, this is a weird one:
I have a powered mount from Seidio, but whenever I try to use my phone in it, I get a horrible static interference that is just loud enough to be very annoying. If I put my finger up to the antenna, it goes away, which makes me think its EMI that I'm grounding, and if I take the antenna off (I have one of those T-Mos that has a removable antenna - not by design, just by crappy glue) and the spring off from underneath, the interference goes down substantially. Anyone have an idea on fixing this problem?
Thanks.

I like 'em weird...
I would not use the unit without the antenna spring: you're possibly causing the unit to transmit at maximum power (because it's going to report low receive levels to the network) into a badly matched antenna, possibly causing damage to the final stage of transmitter, and/or causing abnormally high RF levels to hit the receive filter, the receiver or any other parts inside.
I'm not familiar with your 'powered mount'. And what exactly does the interference sound like? I can't easily imagine 'static' as in a white-noise or pink-noise hissing sound or high-frequency clicking or cracking. Is it the normal GSM 'whining sound' (with the characteristic 'whaaa, whamanap, whamanap, whamanapnap' when you hang up?). If so, try shielding the power (and possibly audio) wires from the antenna. Aluminum foil, pieces of metal, anything goes.

Related

Signal

Does anybody have an EVO 3D and they can just hold the phone completely still and watch the bars fluctuate from full bars, down the no bars and then anywhere in between? I can be sitting 10 feet from my airrave and it still does it.
Yeah my e3d has adhd too. I know it's not connecting to different towers because theres only one close by and in your case the air rave
I had changed phones because I was missing phone calls and stuff. I had never noticed the fluctuating bars like that until last night.
I can't remember where I read it but I read someone state that the E3D's antenna is at the bottom of this phone and might suffer the same signal loss issues as the original iPhone 4 (as in if you hold it a certain way, you lose signal). But I'm not entirely sure on the accuracy to that.
You're absolutely right. the antennae is at the bottom (really stupid) so whenever I hold my phone it drops at least three bars
Mine does this even when I'm not holding it. Spaz phones.
Sent from my HTC Evo 3D.
mine will do it when i dont have the airave hooked up at the house. mine is due to being in an overlap area of about 5 towers and the phone is constantly switching towers since they all roughly deliver the same signal strength at the house. When i have my airave plugged in i have no problems. it always stays hooked to the airave,
THEGAMEPLAY94 said:
You're absolutely right. the antennae is at the bottom (really stupid) so whenever I hold my phone it drops at least three bars
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I am not really sure what you mean, [the antenna is at the bottom]. The antenna runs from the top of the device on the lower part of the motherboard down to the bottom, but it isn't like the antenna is actually at the bottom only.
It doesn't matter where the antenna is at in a device. There was a comment that was made that does have a slight amount of validity. I don't know if you guys have any knowledge of physics specifically electromagnetics, but I would like to do a little briefing for everyone, including those that have no knowledge of electromagnetism. I will keep this explanation as simple as I can without leaving out the most important details needed to have a good idea of the fundamentals of antennas, receiving and transmitting "signal". I will leave out the complex details like how it works on a subatomic level, because in this case it just won't be necessary to know that amount of detail to understand exactly what is happening on the macro level (ie our phones).
Transmitting and receiving "signal"
So, when you apply electricity to a conductive substance; copper wire, certain metals, etc the electric current produces electromagnetic radiation (radio waves). When electromagnetic radiation (radio waves) are applied to conductive substances it produces electric current in that substance. So, a cell tower uses electricity to produce the radio wave, the radio wave reaches the antenna of our cell phone, that produces electricity in our cell phone's antenna [which is just a thin copper wire inside the phone], the current that was produced by this process is amplified by the phone's hardware, and that electricity is sent to the speaker, or input/output system of the phone to process the electricity into data, and used to display webpages,download pictures, or whatever else you were intending to do at that time. So that is an oversimplified account of what is happening with the signal.
Antennas
Now to understand a little more about what may cause a particular phone, or cell tower, or the communication between the two to function at a standard lower than what we were expecting or hoping for we must now know a little about antennas. Antennas transmit, and phones receive via the science I gave above about electromagnetism.
Antennas transmit electromagnetic radiation (radio waves) in a direction that is perpendicular to the substance that the electricity was ran through. For a cell phone to receive and transform that electromagnetic radiation into an electric current the antenna has to be in a position that is perpendicular to the incoming radiation (radio waves). The figure below shows electric field (blue), magnetic field (red) and the black in the center will represent a cell tower transmitter, or antenna inside our phones.
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Most cell towers nowadays have multiple transmitting antennas that will transmit signal in 360 degrees, and in multiple directions on an XY axis.
SO, in conclusion because of the way cell towers are PHYSICALLY designed, the will transmit and receive electromagnetic radiation (radio waves) that are going, and coming in from all three spacial dimensions. So if you have your phone vertical, horizontal, angled, upside down, etc the phone will transmit and receive signal the same way efficiently.
However: Because that is not the only thing that determines how much "signal" you have we can't rely on that to predict the quality of signal for a particular device, and network. The above explanation only illustrates proof that the antennas' location within the phone, and the way you hold your phone should have no bearing on signal quality. Some things that will affect your "signal" though:
Location from cell tower(s)
Frequency
Amount of traffic
(Important!) The amount of electromagnetic radiation from other technologies that could interfere with a cell towers' transmission
Transmitters electrical power
Receivers electrical power
Geographic factors like mountains, bridges, valleys, buildings, and if you are inside what the building is constructed of.
This bullet represents the plethora of other factors that can make your signal go catywampus.
Anyway, thanks for letting me ramble. Hope I helped someone, and someone learned something they didn't know. Otherwise ignore me.
Citing sources for images, and a few ideas incase I may have created something too similar to someone else' work.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cell_site#Radio_power_and_health
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cellular_network#Directional_antennas
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Antenna_(radio)
Sad Panda said:
I am not really sure what you mean, [the antenna is at the bottom]. The antenna runs from the top of the device on the lower part of the motherboard down to the bottom, but it isn't like the antenna is actually at the bottom only.
It doesn't matter where the antenna is at in a device. There was a comment that was made that does have a slight amount of validity. I don't know if you guys have any knowledge of physics specifically electromagnetics, but I would like to do a little briefing for everyone, including those that have no knowledge of electromagnetism. I will keep this explanation as simple as I can without leaving out the most important details needed to have a good idea of the fundamentals of antennas, receiving and transmitting "signal". I will leave out the complex details like how it works on a subatomic level, because in this case it just won't be necessary to know that amount of detail to understand exactly what is happening on the macro level (ie our phones).
Transmitting and receiving "signal"
So, when you apply electricity to a conductive substance; copper wire, certain metals, etc the electric current produces electromagnetic radiation (radio waves). When electromagnetic radiation (radio waves) are applied to conductive substances it produces electric current in that substance. So, a cell tower uses electricity to produce the radio wave, the radio wave reaches the antenna of our cell phone, that produces electricity in our cell phone's antenna [which is just a thin copper wire inside the phone], the current that was produced by this process is amplified by the phone's hardware, and that electricity is sent to the speaker, or input/output system of the phone to process the electricity into data, and used to display webpages,download pictures, or whatever else you were intending to do at that time. So that is an oversimplified account of what is happening with the signal.
Antennas
Now to understand a little more about what may cause a particular phone, or cell tower, or the communication between the two to function at a standard lower than what we were expecting or hoping for we must now know a little about antennas. Antennas transmit, and phones receive via the science I gave above about electromagnetism.
Antennas transmit electromagnetic radiation (radio waves) in a direction that is perpendicular to the substance that the electricity was ran through. For a cell phone to receive and transform that electromagnetic radiation into an electric current the antenna has to be in a position that is perpendicular to the incoming radiation (radio waves). The figure below shows electric field (blue), magnetic field (red) and the black in the center will represent a cell tower transmitter, or antenna inside our phones.
Most cell towers nowadays have multiple transmitting antennas that will transmit signal in 360 degrees, and in multiple directions on an XY axis.
SO, in conclusion because of the way cell towers are PHYSICALLY designed, the will transmit and receive electromagnetic radiation (radio waves) that are going, and coming in from all three spacial dimensions. So if you have your phone vertical, horizontal, angled, upside down, etc the phone will transmit and receive signal the same way efficiently.
However: Because that is not the only thing that determines how much "signal" you have we can't rely on that to predict the quality of signal for a particular device, and network. The above explanation only illustrates proof that the antennas' location within the phone, and the way you hold your phone should have no bearing on signal quality. Some things that will affect your "signal" though:
Location from cell tower(s)
Frequency
Amount of traffic
(Important!) The amount of electromagnetic radiation from other technologies that could interfere with a cell towers' transmission
Transmitters electrical power
Receivers electrical power
Geographic factors like mountains, bridges, valleys, buildings, and if you are inside what the building is constructed of.
This bullet represents the plethora of other factors that can make your signal go catywampus.
Anyway, thanks for letting me ramble. Hope I helped someone, and someone learned something they didn't know. Otherwise ignore me.
Citing sources for images, and a few ideas incase I may have created something too similar to someone else' work.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cell_site#Radio_power_and_health
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cellular_network#Directional_antennas
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Antenna_(radio)
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
All that may be true but I've seen over and over again at least a 10 dbm drop when I hold my phone in a normal position
It isn't impossible for you to be on a tower that is not using an omni-directional antenna or something. This shouldn't happen everywhere though, is this happening no matter where you are at?
I've tried this in multiple areas where I know on my evo i would have a strong signal....and my phone roams like crazy

[Q] Anyone try this DIY WiFi fix?

Since it's the aluminum back that's supposedly blocking the signal, one could theoretically cutout or punch some small holes over the wireless device akin to the speaker port. Then since the back is so easily stretchable, get a protective skin and put it over top.
Thoughts?
Erusman removed the back of his Prime and then installed antennae that go through the back in order to improve WiFi and GPS performance. However most people haven't found any value with the idea of cutting up the back of their Prime since there is no guarantee that WiFi will improve by a significant amount, however it is 100% guaranteed that cutting a hole in the back of the Prime will void your warranty.
There are plenty of Prime's out there that have pretty good WiFi performance. My Prime's WiFi is nearly as good as my Windows laptop and more than good enough for everything I would ever need to do on my tablet.
If your WiFi isn't working well enough to meet your needs, return or exchange your Prime for one that is working better.
I've had 2 prime side to side and one gets better speed than the other connected to the same router and test ran separately. So IMO there's either faulty hardware or bad connection. Have you tried getting an exchange?
Sent from my Transformer Prime TF201 using Tapatalk
Cutting little holes will not help. A metal mesh or grid reflects radio waves as effectively as solid metal plate - this is even used in some radio telescopes. In order for the radio waves to come through you would have to cut a hole with size comparable to the length of the EM wave. WiFi wavelength is about 12 cm...
At last some real info in a sea of misinformation.
The only thing which will fix this and the gps issue is a good window with a non-conductive cover, or maybe a plug-in or screw-in antenna.
I am sure, though, that some of the preproduction models had some hardware issues relating to antennas, as well as the oft quoted "metal back" issue.
I, too am finding the WiFi performance acceptable, and the sheer flexibility and neatness of the rest of the UK package (tab +dock) has made me a firm fan of the ATP.
Shame about the GPS, though, as there are many google and Android apps which work with phones and GPS which could translate productively to the Prime.
FG (confirmed fan)
Ok thanks for the insight everyone. I now believe my original concept wouldn't work.
I'm curious if there's has been any confirmation of an improved signal by simply removing the back. Someone had said it could be as much a hardware issue as it is the back design.
My wifi is acceptable, it's about the same as it is on my Nexus One which I'd feel bad complaining about. Though it's not as good as my Macbook.
I was just trying to brainstorm some possible solutions. Maybe I'll look into the antennea.
Felisek said:
Cutting little holes will not help. A metal mesh or grid reflects radio waves as effectively as solid metal plate - this is even used in some radio telescopes. In order for the radio waves to come through you would have to cut a hole with size comparable to the length of the EM wave. WiFi wavelength is about 12 cm...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
So the plastic apple on the back of the ipad where the wifi is mounted is a gimmick? I find that a little hard to believe.
no, the apple cut out is big enough to let some RF through.
compact antennas and some serious amplification will do the rest. Look at the size of some of the antenna modules in other threads to see how small they are.
In fact look at how small the ipad antenna which is stuck behind the apple logo is.
the poster was right that a few small holes in a grounded plate would not let through enough juice to work.
That would amount to a Farady cage, which is used to screen RF signals, not let them through.
FG

Call and Microphone Issues

Has anyone had the issue when they call or receive a call and the person on the other end says that it sounds like your very far away. Does anyone know how to solve this, which mic is used when using the phone, is it the lower or upper mic?
A|ex said:
Has anyone had the issue when they call or receive a call and the person on the other end says that it sounds like your very far away. Does anyone know how to solve this, which mic is used when using the phone, is it the lower or upper mic?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Regular calls use the lower mic, speakerphone uses upper mic.
This sounds like the rubber housing on the lower mic isn't seated properly, and may be actually partially blocking the mic. You can try opening up the phone yourself and re-seating the housing... or if you are squeamish about these things, take it to a service center and have a tech do it for you.
Thanks i think it might be something with my lower mic, the case does have space around the mic its a NGP Ultra capsule. Tempted to make it a little larger or it might be i have clocked my phone too low when in call. speaker phone is perfect
A|ex said:
Thanks i think it might be something with my lower mic, the case does have space around the mic its a NGP Ultra capsule. Tempted to make it a little larger or it might be i have clocked my phone too low when in call. speaker phone is perfect
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I was talking about a rubber housing on the mic that is internal to the phone. Meaning to check this out, you would have to actually unscrew the housing and open the phone.
But since you have a case on, it is worth testing without the case to see if the mic quality on regular calls improves. If so, maybe the case is partially blocking the lower mic. But if you can already see the entire lower mic hole with the case ON, then this is unlikely to be your problem, and you may need to have the phone opened up to re-seat the internal mic housing.
I am going to test NR off if that does not resolve it i will take the case to bits and try the card trick

A no cost fix for the hiss noise problem

Got myself a DX, fell in love but due to the hiss I had to break up with it and returned it. Got myself a DXD (dual sim) hoping that the hiss noise would be solved, and fell in love once more, but sadly the hiss noise level was not noticeable improved.
Then all of a sudden I was struck with an idea. How would the noise be affected if I'd just applied some simple office scotch over the phone speaker? In theory higher frequencies should be more reduced by this than lower.
With little enthusiasm I applied some office tape covering the small holes + the bigger rectangular hole and called...
Guess what? The noise was almost not noticeable any more. I didn't believe my ears. I'm not surprised if you wont believe me, but try it, it wont cost you anything.
Offcourse You will loose some of the audio level, and also some of the higher frequencies, but I'd say it will not affect the frequencies of speech to any noticeable level.
So, there it is, a no cost fix for the most annoying shortcoming of this brilliant little phone.
Take a piece of tape, put it on a clean glossy surface such as glass. Use a scalpel to cut a suitable size and apply it. Press firmly. It will be almost unnoticeable. Just briefly use some alcohol and lint free cloth to remove the adhesive from the edges of the tape so it wont pick up dirt and it will last nice for quite long.
I've never been deeper in love, with a phone that is. I wonder if alcohol has anything to do with it.
In times where apps solves almost every problems, I feel very self-righteous regarding this hands on solution.
Any donations to support my audio quality development of the DX are much welcome.
Over'n out.
Cheers
Thank you for the wonderfull read haha
Might try this, although I am more bothered by the hiss over headphones... and this "fix" wont quiet work there I fear.

Super easy fix for rattling vibrator motor

open up your phone (check youtube on how to do that) and put some soft 1 millimeter thick sticky electrical tape on top of the round vibrating motor on the right side besides the USB-C connector.
I used this tape: https://www.amazon.de/gp/product/B01DUI4CF2/ref=oh_aui_search_asin_title?ie=UTF8&psc=1 It is 0,75mm thick self sealing electrical tape that is sticky on both sides.
The problem seems to be that the metal housing of the motor needs to be isolated from the metal back plate of the phone. metal on metal = rattling noise. No need to pull any cables. I left the fingerprint reader connection on while doing this fix.
Don't put to much tape on it though because it hardens with too much pressure on the back plate of the phone and the isolating properties are gone (rattles again)
Hope this helps someone who is looking for a solution for this. I could not find any real fix for this. The rattling noise was driving me nuts.
Thanks for this. I'll try it when I get the chance. It appears a small section of us have this problem, as I don't see many people complaining about it. The only fix I had ever used so far, was to flash a custom kernel with vibration intensity control and reducing it to around 70-ish strength.
KwesiJnr said:
Thanks for this. I'll try it when I get the chance. It appears a small section of us have this problem, as I don't see many people complaining about it. The only fix I had ever used so far, was to flash a custom kernel with vibration intensity control and reducing it to around 70-ish strength.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I am totally happy with my very stable B10 + LOS15.1 and I really did not want to go through another clusterf--- of flashery again. It is differently a bad design choice. The vibration motor almost touches the "roof", the aluminum chassis. they placed a tiny round "sponge" on the roof where it touches with the motor. I bet it just looses it's elasticity over time and the motor starts slightly touching the roof.

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