Startac Tri-Mode Antenna

Archived from groups: alt.cellular.motorola (More info?)

I have a Startac 7868W tri-mode phone with a bent antenna. I bought a
new one from Radio Shack, but after I tore it out of the package, I
saw that it said it was for an Analog phone. Is the antenna for the
7868W electrically different from the one used on an analog Startac
like the 6500? It would make sense that it is because of the need for
dual bands. Is that big shaft at the top an active element, or is it
just large to get hold of better?

I see a lot of inexpensive antennas on E-bay which state they are
compatible with both analog and tri-mode phones. They are not OEM,
and I wonder how they would differ from the Motorola OEM besides
esthetics.

Archived from groups: alt.cellular.motorola (More info?)

On 25 Dec 2004 16:26:05 -0800, "royc" <clouston@sprynet.com> wrote:

>Dick wrote:
>> I have a Startac 7868W tri-mode phone with a bent antenna. I bought
>a
>> new one from Radio Shack, but after I tore it out of the package, I
>> saw that it said it was for an Analog phone. Is the antenna for the
>> 7868W electrically different from the one used on an analog Startac
>> like the 6500? It would make sense that it is because of the need
>for
>> dual bands. Is that big shaft at the top an active element, or is it
>> just large to get hold of better?
>>
>> I see a lot of inexpensive antennas on E-bay which state they are
>> compatible with both analog and tri-mode phones. They are not OEM,
>> and I wonder how they would differ from the Motorola OEM besides
>> esthetics.
>
>I have used the Radio Shack replacement antenna as well as another
>aftermarket antenna on my wife's StarTAC 7868W. Both performed about
>the same as the original factory antenna on the 800 MHz band. At 1900
>MHz, her phone also operated OK, but the Radio Shack antenna may not be
>optimized for that band. Her experience at 1900 MHz is quite limited.
>Most of the network she uses is 800 MHz.
>
>Unless you predominately use the 1900 MHz band, I would install the
>Radio Shack antenna and not worry about it.
>
>Here's two other aftermarket antennas that claim to be compatible with
>the ST7868W:
>
>http://www.cellphoneshop.net/motstarlonan.html
>
>http://www.cell-phone-accessory.com/motorola/startac-replacement-antenna.htm
>Good luck,
>
>royc

Thanks for the info. The phone is used all over the western U.S., so
both bands are important.