Hi Sean,
   Yes I agree and I bet it is capacitively coupled if it does in fact work.
A magnetic base of a mobile whip has no problems capacitively coupling into
the metal car through the paint.  Nobody would know for sure without
actually testing this out but a solid copper foil may ground out even better
than the stupid looking antenna element.  I'd give it greater than 50/50
that the entire thing is a total sham that could not be properly documented
in any way.  Why don't they publish the data proving them right??  I've seen
antenna scams before.  There was a guy who claimed to have patents and was
selling his junk to the military (or at least trying)  He had people pluging
in his small piece of junk into everything from satellite backpack radios to
medium power vehicle VHF radios.  NOSC in Point Loma even measured the
antenna in a hyperbolic chamber and exposed him scientifically.  All that
didn't slow down the herd of uneducated believers that refused to listen to
sound advise.  I would classify the stick-on antenna as a "placebo cellular
phone antenna".  It works in the minds of the people who need to justify
their purchase and feel better....or maybe it does work better?  Personally,
I would never modify my cell phone in the first place.  I've seen people
clip portable yagis into the windows of their car and talk from San Clemente
island back to the mainland on cells over 50miles.
Mike
----- Original Message -----
From: "Sean Breheny" <shb7@CORNELL.EDU>
To: <PICLIST@MITVMA.MIT.EDU>
Sent: Wednesday, August 29, 2001 8:59 PM
Subject: Re: [OT] Internal Antenna baloney!


> Hi Mike,
>
> For what you are saying to be true, the metal foil of the "internal
> antenna" would have to be connected (either directly or capacitively) to
> the phone's ground. I haven't seen one of these "internal antennas" but I
> don't see how it is coupled to the phone.
>
> Sean
>
>
> On Wed, 29 Aug 2001, Mike Kendall wrote:
>
> > My guess is that it does increase the performance of the antenna and
this is
> > why I'm saying it.  With a plastic bodied telephone and a whip that does
not
> > have a decent counterpoise (the newer units are going to have a fractal
> > antenna to allow transmission on cell phone bands and receipt of GPS
signals
> > to comply with the FCC requirement so the whip is not applicable with
them).
> > With the metal of the "battery antenna enhancer"....even if it was a
piece
> > of copper foil tape instead of the fancy looking geometric shape that
they
> > get to charge you for, there should be a better capacitive coupling into
the
> > hand of the person holding it.  My guess is that the cell phone user's
body
> > becomes a human counterpoise electrically equivalent to a very lossy
ground
> > on the marconi cell phone antenna (loaded whip) along with the fact that
the
> > first electrical part of that is the foil tape itself.  Half of a
Marconi is
> > the ground plane.
> > Mike Kendall
>
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