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I had an external antenna mounted to my roof rack on my 4WD and it worked pretty well in extending range on the old network with my old phone. It gave me the ability to hold onto a signal for probably 50km further than folks i was travelling with in other vehicles. It did not boost my transmission much but i could get messages out ok. Unfortunately the new networks 3 and 4G do not seem to have phones where this is feasible. I can't find a new network phone with an external antenna jack. Maybe there are in-car booster boxes but i have not checked on them, and if they exist would be beyond my budget.
My alternative was to buy an InReach satellite messaging unit, which allows sat messages to be sent to any mobile phones aka sms, and it provides an emergency SOS feature that alerts the Canberra co-ordination centre (like an EPIRB), providing GPS co-ordinates and alerting authorities. I carry that with me when i go away to places like Bretti ( which is out of range of the Gloucester phone tower). I have sent sat messsages from there and it works ok. You need to suscribe to a plan, from $19.95 per month. My kids insist i have something like that as my health is not the best these days. I would love to have a sat phone but can not justify it.
For Astrofest, maybe consider hiring a Sat phone. They can be rented for short periods and seem cost effective in that way.
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