Mobile phone coverage. Interesting but probably of no real use.

[Ian P]

Today I managed to make a mobile phone call (and had 3g) from an iPhone whilst stood on the “bridge” half way down Alum Pot.
Unfortunately the Pizza company don’t cover that post code !!
(I was using the phone as a camera and got a surprise message through).

 

[Steve Clark]

We had a similar experience when we were down there on a really hot evening in August this year. Whatsapp messages pinging through to several people in the group on the greasy slab.

Not sure if it's unusual or not, but we could clearly hear the train down in the valley which took us a while to figure out what it was. And overflown by some Eurofighters. Clear night, full moon, quite spectacular.

 

[JasonC]

Today I managed to make a mobile phone call (and had 3g) from an iPhone whilst stood on the “bridge” half way down Alum Pot.
Unfortunately the Pizza company don’t cover that post code !!

But what a great publicity stunt that would be - you order the pizza, then delivery guy labours up the track on his mountain bike and frisbees it to you from the surface! It's guaranteed to go viral on Tik Tok...

 

[cap n chris]

Wookey Hole Cave has WiFi throughout but not as far as the remoter parts or diving sections.

 

[pwhole]

I've had text messages come in at the top rebelay at Longcliffe Mine in Castleton, which is at least 13m underground, with the top 6m being 1m-diameter twinwall pipe. I am on Vodafone though

 

[Pitlamp]

We had a similar experience when we were down there on a really hot evening in August this year. Whatsapp messages pinging through to several people in the group on the greasy slab.

Not sure if it's unusual or not, but we could clearly hear the train down in the valley which took us a while to figure out what it was. And overflown by some Eurofighters. Clear night, full moon, quite spectacular.

Some readers will already know this story but in the mid 1980s when Notts II was discovered by diving through from Notts Pot, some very long trips were being done. On one of these we were using Bob Mackin's Molefone. One of the team asked the surface party to get him some minced beef from the shop before they closed. That's how "Mincemeat Aven" was so named. (His order was ready for him to make the planned curry when he finally got out.)

 

[Scud]

I remember when I helped with the digging of the Titan Entrance Shaft, I often got text messages coming through about ten metres down. On one occasion, I took a phone call at a similar depth.

 

[mikem]

Moisture in the atmosphere, including temperature inversions, can divert the radio waves:

How Weather Affects Your Cell Signal and Why It Matters

Using a phone outdoors? This is what you need to know to stay in touch.

www.outsideonline.com

 

[pwhole]

You can get an excellent signal in Peak Cavern Gorge - in the right spot. I took a couple of calls up here when rigging the lights for a gig, but didn't have a lanyard hole in those days so it was a bit worrying

 

[T pot 2]

In the mid 90s whilst digging open a lead in giants Northeast swallet I could listen to radio 2 on my Walkman
T

 

[andrewmcleod]

Allegedly you can get phone signal at the top gate to the Columns in OFD - that area of the cave is very shallow...

 

[Brains]

When there was access about 10n years ago:
Received several phone calls from the Cathedral in Box, and had texts come through under the golf course at the air shaft...

 

[Babyhagrid]

I was in Bull Pot of the Witches and a friend received a Snapchat call whilst we were climbing up the tight section towards the angel wing

 

[pwhole]

Once 5G is fully up and running properly I can imagine phone companies offering 'Coverage to 200m depth, guaranteed'

 

[mikem]

Also free microwaving...

 

[mrodoc]

It seems a bit risky taking your phone underground. I bet a few have been lost/destroyed already. And I go caving to escape from bloody phones having spent years at the end of them.

 

[Andy Walsh]

Today I managed to make a mobile phone call (and had 3g) from an iPhone whilst stood on the “bridge” half way down Alum Pot.
Unfortunately the Pizza company don’t cover that post code !!
(I was using the phone as a camera and got a surprise message through).

In the 1960-70s it was thought that radio could not work underground ,.one Red Rose member found long wave (ie Radio 4) did .On trips to Bull pot of the witches near the end he would turn it on very slightly !! What a lot of fun hard cavers would go ashen excuses to go out and the looked spooked--- when the radio appeared what a relief and the trip would carry on !
A few years later I think Bob Mackin said it goes 1/2 depth of the wave length through rock so when we did a distant dig in Lancaster Hole in the Far Pinnacle Streamway (after spooking the other 3 diggers )we enjoyed some good variety of music as well; as a good hot lunch (cooked with solid fuel tablets), from in my wet suit A cheerful day .

 

[Brains]

It seems a bit risky taking your phone underground. I bet a few have been lost/destroyed already. And I go caving to escape from bloody phones having spent years at the end of them.

Possibly so, but a lot of us routinely use them for photography. The quality is good enough for "socials" and memory making. Modern kit is relatively shock and dust resistant so not too bad a risk

 

[mikem]

Phones generally have better settings for photography in artificial light than most cameras, as so many people use them indoors

 

[Babyhagrid]

Possibly so, but a lot of us routinely use them for photography. The quality is good enough for "socials" and memory making. Modern kit is relatively shock and dust resistant so not too bad a risk

And phones are useful for taking photos of surveys for navigation underground (cheaper and easier than buying paper copies and laminating them). And the risk of damage isn't that great when they're in a Daren drum/pelicase.