Wilson electronics makes an adapter that will plug into the external antenna jack under the back cover. I tried it, and it worked great... until I disconnected it. Then the internal antenna would no longer work. It's like the act of plugging it in destroyed the phone's ability to use its internal antenna. It would work when I reconnected the external antenna, but when I disconnected it, the phone would only get any signal strength when I was right under a cell tower.
Anyone else try one of their adapters with the Captivate? If so, what were the results?
-nfs
Sent from wherever I was when I sent it.
I had no idea that input jack was there until you said anything. What happens if you switch airplane mode on and off after the disconnect of the adapter?
nappent said:
I had no idea that input jack was there until you said anything. What happens if you switch airplane mode on and off after the disconnect of the adapter?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I don't remember if I tried it, but it was restarted many times. I would think that power cycling the phone would have essentially the same effect.
Sent from wherever I was when I sent it.
I saw this but never had the courage to try it. Did you pull the battery and try the 3 button fix?
photo please?
This should clarify things
TommyZee said:
photo please?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
It's the round gold connector at the bottom right of the SIM card. The adapter (FME on the other end) is available here:
http://www.wpsantennas.com/359919-samsung-captivate-galaxy-s-antenna-adapter-cable.aspx
After one BAD experience, I'm not eager to try again. I was sort of hoping that my experience was a fluke and that other people had been more successful.
Why?
capnoob said:
I saw this but never had the courage to try it. Did you pull the battery and try the 3 button fix?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Never occurred to me to do that, since the phone booted and it would work when very near a cell tower.
This struck me as either a defect in manufacture, or a design flaw... either in the phone or in the connector. I suspect it was mechanical in nature, and that once the act of connecting the adapter disconnected the internal antenna, something caused it to stay disconnected.
I wonder if this might have happened?
Read the part under "How To Know If a Cellular Yagi Will Work With Your Phone"
http://www.ehelpfultips.com/how_to_use_cell_phone_yagi_direc.htm
capn1 said:
I wonder if this might have happened?
Read the part under "How To Know If a Cellular Yagi Will Work With Your Phone"
http://www.ehelpfultips.com/how_to_use_cell_phone_yagi_direc.htm
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hello,
I was using a dual band antenna without an amplifier, so there should not have been too much SWR. I've used this antenna for years with another phone AND an amplifier without problems.
The evidence clearly indicates that phone's transmitter was not burned out due to too much SWR or anything else, because it would still work just fine when reconnected to the external antenna. Ditto for the phone's receiver section; it worked fine whenever it was connected to the external antenna. Once connected, thereafter the signal bars went to zero when it was disconnected. Also, as I mentioned, the phone would still function normally, if I was VERY near a cell tower.
The only conclusion I can make is that the connector was designed to disconnect the internal antenna when an external antenna is connected. Somehow the connector or the electronics failed to ever reconnect it when the external was disconnected.
Sent from wherever I was when I sent it.
try reflashing a modem
It's NOT a firmware problem
I know you guys are trying to help, but it's not a firmware problem. It's a hardware problem. I was just trying to see if anyone else had a similar experience. I just talked with Wilson Electronics, and the guy I spoke with acknowledged that the connector or board can be damaged on the Captivate. He also volunteered that they don't recommend direct connection with that phone. Well, that's kind of odd, since I only learned of the connector by calling them up and asking which one to use with the phone.
Even though I did not buy the adapters from them, I bought them on the recommendation of one of their people, so I have contacted them to get my money back. We'll see; they haven't responded officially yet. I suppose I can contact the vendor, but they were not the ones who told me it would work...
They have another way to inductively connect the phone. The only problem is that my old amplifier won't work for that. I'll have to get a model 801201 instead of my old 812201 which will run another $250 or so, with a cradle and/or velcro attached inductive connector.
comdei said:
try reflashing a modem
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Well guess what!!?? You are in luck!!!
Theres something you can do with hardware problems..
CALL SAMSUNG
your phone is under 1 year old. you have a warranty. call them. flash to stock . and get it replaced then
Why don't you try reflashing the modem or rom? People are offering you solutions and you seem stuck on it being a hardware issue. A rom or modem re-flash takes a few mins of your time. Not to start anything but I do support for a living and it bugs the hell out of me when people jump the gun and won't try other solutions.
I am stuck on the evidence as to what the nature of the problem is. Did you read what I posted previously?
Let me tell you a little more. At the time I had the problem, the phone was still on the factory firmware. The phone had never been flashed.
All the available evidence points to a hardware problem. The fact that the phone worked when in close proximity to a cell tower, that as soon as there was any distance between the tower and the phone there were no signal bars, but if I plugged the external antenna in there was immediately good signal...the fact that the connector manufacturer has admitted that their adapter could damage the board... I don't mean to be unapreciative, but I do support, too (a well a writing the software itself), and I've learned to really think about the available information when trying to deduce the nature of a problem, and it seems to me that you are stuck on a conclusion that the evidence doesn't support.
Besides, I am not looking for help here. As I wrote previously, I was trying to find out if anyone has had a similar experience. If my experience was a fluke, then I would have been willing to try connecting the replacement phone. See, the problem has been solved, but I don't want to have it again.
Now that the manufacturer has admitted that their connector could damage the board, I have decided to get a different type of amplifier which allows an inductive connection. That should prevent further problems of this nature. It's an expensive solution, but an antenna with a bi-directional amp is really useful when you are in a remote area with a faint signal. When the signal is too weak for that, it's time to use the ham radio... but that's another topic, and yes, I have been known to take my jeep off road... way way off the road.
nappent said:
Why don't you try reflashing the modem or rom? People are offering you solutions and you seem stuck on it being a hardware issue. A rom or modem re-flash takes a few mins of your time. Not to start anything but I do support for a living and it bugs the hell out of me when people jump the gun and won't try other solutions.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Sent from wherever I was when I sent it.
nfs_phone said:
Now that the manufacturer has admitted that their connector could damage the board, I have decided to get a different type of amplifier which allows an inductive connection. That should prevent further problems of this nature. It's an expensive solution, but an antenna with a bi-directional amp is really useful when you are in a remote area with a faint signal. When the signal is too weak for that, it's time to use the ham radio... but that's another topic, and yes, I have been known to take my jeep off road... way way off the road.
.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
So samsung admitted it is a known problem? Are you sending it in for warranty then?
Trusselo said:
So samsung admitted it is a known problem? Are you sending it in for warranty then?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I was referring to the manufacturer of the adapter, not the phone. Samsung was made aware of the problem when I was trouble-shooting the problem. The tech I was talking to blamed the problem on me for using third party accessories not authorized by Samsung. However, since I had been acting in good faith, he did authorize my sending the phone in for warranty repair. I don't know if they can be counted upon to always do that.
I am left wondering how often this problem happens. I used the antenna connector on the back of my Motorola V3xx thousands of times with no issues. It seems really odd to have just connected the Cappy once and suffered such a problem. One key difference is that I don't think that the V3xx disconnected the internal antenna when you connect the external one.
Sent from wherever I was when I sent it.
I've seen similar behavior when one of my foster kids mistook the antenna for a screw while disassembling a blackberry.
The antenna jack is a "normalizing " jack in that when you plug something in a circuit is disconnected and when you unplug it restores the circuit.
if there was a problem with the adapter and it applied too much pressure to the middle pin then it may not have normalized and you would only get signal if you sat under a tower.
This is exactly what happened with the poor blackberry.
Glad to hear Sammy is covering it with warranty, other wise you would have been the proud owner of the only door wedge that plays angry birds.
Sent from my GT-I9000 using XDA App
Interesting. Not sure I understand what you mean by normalizing nor"middle" pin, but it was pretty clear that the internal antenna was no longer connected. Of course the unit was not entirely useless as a phone, but the requirement of having to always have it connected to an external antenna to get it to work did make it a tad cumbersome to use...
pawadca said:
I've seen similar behavior when one of my foster kids mistook the antenna for a screw while disassembling a blackberry.
The antenna jack is a "normalizing " jack in that when you plug something in a circuit is disconnected and when you unplug it restores the circuit.
if there was a problem with the adapter and it applied too much pressure to the middle pin then it may not have normalized and you would only get signal if you sat under a tower.
This is exactly what happened with the poor blackberry.
Glad to hear Sammy is covering it with warranty, other wise you would have been the proud owner of the only door wedge that plays angry birds.
Sent from my GT-I9000 using XDA App
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Sent from wherever I was when I sent it.
I'd agree that it's a hardware problem, it may actually be that the internal antenna is burned out. I had a similar problem with the wifi on my old ipod.
I used an aftermarket charger which shorted something inside the device. Consequently, the battery would not hold a charge for longer than 15 minutes AND the it would not recognize a wifi signal, unless I held the ipod within inches of the router. Similar to what you experience with the cell towers, except on a smaller scale.
Good luck.
Burning out the antenna itself would require the kind of amperage generated by a lightning strike. Much more likely that even in your situation some circuitry connecting your antenna to the phone blew out.
In my case there was no overvoltage, just a mechanical connection. I think something just got bent beyond its ability to bend back from... I'm guessing here, but I can see a bar inside the antenna connector. When the center pin of the adapter is pushed into the connector, it will make contact with that bar (the bar is at the side of the opening at 90 degrees to the center pin of the adapter) and pushes it to the side to some extent. I am not sure, but I think that maybe it was pushed a tiny bit too far, and it wasn't able to spring back to its original position. I am assuming that when it is pushed to the side it causes the connection to the internal antenna to be disconnected and that its contact with the center pin of the adapter is the connection to the antenna. I am further concluding that if it doesn't spring back to its original position, that the internal antenna is never reconnected.
jwolfburg said:
I'd agree that it's a hardware problem, it may actually be that the internal antenna is burned out. I had a similar problem with the wifi on my old ipod.
I used an aftermarket charger which shorted something inside the device. Consequently, the battery would not hold a charge for longer than 15 minutes AND the it would not recognize a wifi signal, unless I held the ipod within inches of the router. Similar to what you experience with the cell towers, except on a smaller scale.
Good luck.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Sent from wherever I was when I sent it.
Hello, I have a GPS issue and I would like to ask some questions related to hardware connectivity etc, i will explain what happens first:
Since i got my phone, with the stock ROM i could never find any satellites. Right now i have Viper 3.7.7 with Alex-V kernel, and it's international version S-OFF.
I opened my phone and used a tester with in the back cover of my phone to see if the GPS antenna had connectivity. And it has.
I lifted the GPS connectors up a bit to see if it was a connectivity problem, however it did not work.
I used a tester and i realized there is no connectivity between the two GPS connectors, I do have connectivity between the 2 wi-fi connectors so i do not know if there should be connectivity between the gps ones as well.
I also used the tester with one of them, and it had connectivity with the rest of the phone metal stuff, but the other one hadn't.
I used a wire to connect both connectors and tested of I could find satellites, but again 0/0
I did not sold anything because I do not know if it is a soldering problem or not. Could anybody tell me if there should be connectivity between the two GPS connectors or what could I do to fix it? It is a hardware problem for sure. I have read a lot and watched a lot of videos but i think my problem is a little bit more specifil and i would need more information about how the connectors work.
Thanks in advance.
Ok, I've got a old Note 3 still chugging along. The USB port was starting to get so loose I was having difficulties even with new USB cords. So I figured I'd swap out the board as it's a pretty simple swap (or so I expected). This isn't the first time I've done internal repairs, boards swaps, etc.
I replaced the old charge port board with the new one, made sure the 3G antenna cable was re-attached, and fired up the phone. All seemed fine. The connections were good and the speakerphone and mic worked (one frequent complaint of bad replacement boards). But, I was on Wifi and didn't notice until the next day that... Mobile data would drop frequently, my phone would frequently go to 4G only (something I rarely saw previously, it's usually straight into 4GLTE here in Chicago) and mobile data was very unreliable. Frequently I'd lose all bars and even if it was showing 3bars and 4G (not LTE), I wouldn't have data. I rarely do calls so I'm not sure if calls would go through.
So I opened the phone again, and checked the connections. All looked good. I used my fluke to test continuity from the ground side of the cable on the motherboard through to the pins on the USB chargeboard (where they connect to the outer back case antenna). All continuous. Resistances are all very low, even on the old board. Still messed up data and cell signal. Hmm, the lower antenna is only the 3G connection I think. Perhaps I have a bad charge board after all. I swapped the original USB board back in, but it still had the same problem.
At this point, I'm not sure what the issue is (other than I have a big problem). Is it possible the antenna embedded in the rear housing is bad or was damaged during removal? I cleaned all the connectors multiple times (first with isopropyl, then with DeoxIT Gold). I have my previous Sprint Note 3, but I don't know if the 3G antenna would be compatible (perhaps it's close enough I could use it to test). Anyone have any ideas on what I could have missed?
Thanks!