Cellphone Autopatcher
Have you ever found yourself planning an operation or an adventure in an area without cellphone coverage? It can be frustrating to have to drive or hike to a location with a cell signal just to find that it is a weak signal and calls are unreliable. Introducing, the Cellphone Autopatcher.
The Cellphone Autopatcher is an android application that allows you to connect your android phone to a radio and make phone calls remotely from another radio. Leave your phone and a radio somewhere with cell service that can be reached by another radio and you can now make phone calls well beyond the edge of the cell tower's coverage.
Autopatcher's are nothing new, but a cheap and portable autopatcher IS. There are many advantages to this and mobility is chief among them. Do you work with search and rescue in wilderness areas? This could make coordinating resources much easier and cheaper than using a SAT Phone. Are you an avid adventurer? This could save your life, with some practice and knowledge.
Any way you look at it, this is another useful tool in your tool bag that wont cost you an arm and a leg.
The idea for the Cellphone Autopatcher was conceived during a Search and Rescue. We were in a wilderness area outside of cellphone coverage and the Incident Commander needed to coordinate with a the flight crew of a helicopter and determine an LZ. We were lucky to have someone present with a SAT phone, but coverage with the SAT phone was spotty and it required the user to be standing in a certain place in a certain position to get it to work. We don't normally have a SAT phone and they are typically expensive to have and use. This got us thinking about an autopatcher, but we had only ever seen autopatchers on bulky, expensive repeater units. And, even then, a land line or bulky adapter was required. None of these things are available for deployment to the wilderness on a second's notice, at least not in a cost effective manner. The question that sparked it all was, "Why can't I just plug my phone into a radio and leave it where I have service?"
On that particular search, we were a 30 minute drive from a highway that had cell service. If we could only have had an autopatcher setup with a proper antenna and battery, we could have been using our own private, portable autopatcher for our mission.
After this rescue mission, we started to realize the applications of a portable autopatcher and started testing it as a preventative measure. What if we hiked into the wilderness but setup an autopatcher near by. The range could be extended with a crossband repeater or a fixed repeater (with permission from the owner), and it could be possible to do regular check-ins with family or friends or just keep it on standby in the event of an emergency. After the adventure, all would be taken down and stored for the next adventure.
Selecting locations for mobile repeaters and/or an autopatcher can be difficult and will take some practice. Also, there are laws to be observed and if a license or permission is required, make sure you have it. Make sure you are allowed to use the frequencies you are on and that they aren't used regularly by others (unless you have blessings from said others). Also, make sure your cellphone doesn't broadcast any noises or music that the FCC has expressly prohibited without proper licensing. Using the Do Not Disturb feature on your phone can be useful for this, just add this app as an exception (media).