Database Users

alu case / proporta

I dropped my xda 1 twice and had to get it repaired. For my xda2 I tried to get a good, secure solution to cover it.
Proporta seems to have a perfect alu case, but I heard that there is a problem with the gsm/gprs connectivity in the closed case.
After getting the info, that there is no cutting in signal strength, I ordered a propota and got on saturday. It does really cut minimum two bars of signal strenth, that means in some areas there is no more signal at all ( in my home for example) and the xda is constantly searching a connection...
But there is a whole in the back beside the camera whole. This is meant for the connection of an external anntena.. So would it be possible to get a connector for that anntena and ad a selfmade thin anntena on the alu case from proporta. I´m absolutly double lefthanded concerning technical things: can anybody tell me if this might be possible and get a good signal in the closed alucase???

Link to proporta case
Do you have the link to the web-site- I have been looking for a secure case
Thnks

never had a prob with signal on my properta aluminium case for xda 1 :\

That's because the XDA I has a dirty great external aerial, whereas the XDA II has a built in one. Hence when you completely enclose it in aluminum it kills the signal.

i dont think it kills signal they wouldnt design a case that does that...
you can put a 3310 inside a metal tin and still ahve signal so it shouldnt effect an triband phone

Have a look at the many posts on these forums, and over at Tekguru, from people who own the Proporta case, including myself, and most say that it definitely does reduce signal strength. It doesn't actually kill it, but it reduces it by a good 2 bars, and lets face it if you're with O2 that's enought to kill it in most circumstances.
I can only report my own findings, but as far as I'm concerned it DEFINITELY reduces signal strength.

Rogh Case for XDAII
I only have an XDA I, but:
Send me a few XDA IIs and I'll make a super tough custom case for you. The material will be Kevlar* fiber reinforced plastic with a little carbon fiber reinforcement here and there. A case like that would cut absolutely no signal stength but withstand your girl stepping onto it with the heel of her stilettos or dropping it on the floor. For a few more XDA IIs I'll make it withstand driving over it in your car as well.
How much would you be willing to pay for such a case, in case you don't have any surplus XDA II to send me?
Martin Kopplow
* similar to the stuff they make bullet proof vests of, but not as flexible.

I have the proporta alu case for both my XDA and XDA II - no signal problems on either devices when in the closed case.
Jon.

These cases are now being sold through o2 store's.
We got 5 in today and there great well reccomended

What price, they are selling for 19.99 on ebay UK.

There going for £24.99 and there the same ones they eb=ven have the company name properta on the insdie.
We only got them today so I doubt any store has them on the shop floor so go in and ask for them
The manager did our ones for £10 so i'm happy.

I just received a message that Innopocket will do the aluminum case for the MDAII/XDAII as well. they will add them to their website today.

My XDA II Porporta Aluminium Case does not reduce my radio signal strength at all either.....Bluetooth remains the same.... :roll:
One thing to note about the Proporta Aluminium Case, the screw which goes onto the caseing itself for usage with the belt clip losens over a period of time casing the unit to drop off from your belt. Do take note of that. I had mine dropping off even though i was sure i had the screw really tight in the case itself :lol:

Hi,
I´ve cut a windows in the case to see who is calling. Signal strenght now is as good as w/o case.
regards
Wolfgang

Nice work
I also have to do some modification on the proporta case, because if you want to use the headphone, the plastic cover is in the way. so i have to make it a bit bigger in the cover

xtac said:
My XDA II Porporta Aluminium Case does not reduce my radio signal strength at all either.....Bluetooth remains the same.... :roll:
One thing to note about the Proporta Aluminium Case, the screw which goes onto the caseing itself for usage with the belt clip losens over a period of time casing the unit to drop off from your belt. Do take note of that. I had mine dropping off even though i was sure i had the screw really tight in the case itself :lol:
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I have put a drop of Loctite on the threads so when tightened it will never come loose.
But I never use the darn thing now as it kills off the signal completly. 2 bars at the best of time round here.
Might be interested in the kevlar idea if it looks cool. Thats the reason I have an Alu case cos it looks cool.

I have the proporta Al case and it drops at least 2 bars when it is enclosed too. I also had the idea of a flexible thin antenna attached to the back of the case but I can't seem to find the details on the external antenna connector.
If the external antenna connectors are proprietary, why doesn't O2 release the connector? How can a company advertise having the ability to connect to an external antenna if the plug is not available to fit the socket? Does anyone know if the antenna connectors are the same between xda2 and iMate?
It gets even more annoying when it has been out of range for a few minutes and it gets lazy and decides to stop trying to reconnect to GSM and seems to crash the radio stack.

snowdude said:
I have the proporta Al case and it drops at least 2 bars when it is enclosed too. I also had the idea of a flexible thin antenna attached to the back of the case but I can't seem to find the details on the external antenna connector.
If the external antenna connectors are proprietary, why doesn't O2 release the connector? How can a company advertise having the ability to connect to an external antenna if the plug is not available to fit the socket? Does anyone know if the antenna connectors are the same between xda2 and iMate?
It gets even more annoying when it has been out of range for a few minutes and it gets lazy and decides to stop trying to reconnect to GSM and seems to crash the radio stack.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I too have been looking for the connector for months now, with no luck.
I have also noticed once the phone is out of range for a few minutes, it never bothers to try and reconnect. I am hoping the new firmware will fix this.

I have just installed the new radio stack et al. It may lower the chances of the stack crashing or giving up trying to connect, but I doubt it will provide greater coverage.

it's a nice case mod that one though i would prob put in some windowish thing to protect the screen if it fell on a sharp corner

Does the Metal Case Reduce Signal Strength?

:?:
I don't know if Telstra is having a bad week or if my metal case is reducing signal strength.
Does anyone else have a metal case for their XDAII and has noticed poor coverage?
Thanks..
ps. yeah I am normally with Optus, I'm using a work sim card while on call.

I will be recieving my metal case this week, so il keep u posted. Got a program that shows the network coverege in %, so il use it to check.

I have read in several posts that the signal strength is weakened up to 40% using the Proporta metal case.

skenliv said:
Got a program that shows the network coverege in %, so il use it to check.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Can you share the name of this software with us?
I have very bad reception at home. I wish to check the coverage around here.

Yes, i can confirm that it does reduce strenght. This is the reason i have order the new vaja case (www.vajacases.com)

This is an interesting question? I've just purchased my XDA II with some accessories including the metal case - with a Proporta.com label inside. Not sure if this is the one you are referring to but last night I went for a drive in my car. The XDA II was sat in a car holder back to front because the nob that connects to your belt gets in the way. Anyway, my wife called me 5x times whilst I was driving and the phone did not ring at all!
Having said that, I have just come across this forum, read your comments about this and done a test - testing signal strength before and after the case was fitted.
No case: signal strength 2/3
with case: signal strength 2/3
So I don't really know if the case is reducing the signal strength at all, but last night was wierd to say the least! Anymore comments about this would be appreciated.

I was going to use My|Phone´s signal function, and then remotely connect to the XDA II and see what the signal is when the case is closed, and then compare it to when i have it taken out of the case.

I used My|Phone for a bit, and there was a difference between out of the case, in the case and with flap open, and in the case with the flap closed.
Strangely the signal strength was all over the farm, but on the whole i would ahve to say it appeared to be lower in the case.
I love the security the metal case gives me, but I hate how i always have to open the flap to see what is happening with my call etc.
I'm going to look at getting a clear hard plastic case when they are available locally.

How have you all found using the leather case that comes with the XDAII ? I used mine for a day or so but liked the look of the metal one more. My only concern with the leather case was the locking clip, it looked like it could snap off easily?

Yes it does reduce the reception.
I have the proporta aluminium case and it does, but not too much.
Unless you are in a really bad reception area, it shouldn't effect you.
Before I bought it (ebay) I made sure with the seller that if it was going to effect my reception bad enough to miss calls or something I would get my money back.
I'm happy with it.

Yes the case reduces the reception a bit. But not that much. I have "the other" metal case. Not the one from Proporta but I can't remember who made it....
Don't forget that reception will sometimes change depending from the place were you are. There are several places on the road were reception is bad and sometimes I can be sitting at one place and have good reception and suddenly it is almost gone . This is the providers fault :evil:
Wouter

Well I went for a drive in the car today and my wife who was sat next to me rang my phone - Virgin to O2 network. I had the music on and the ring tone I set was too quiet. She rang the phone again, whilst the phone was in the metal case, and sometimes the phone would ring and other times not within a space of a few minutes or so. Upon taking the XDA out of the metal case and putting it back in the phone holder there was no problems!
It's a real shame as I like the case. I am considering taking it back now and using my leather case instead Plus, I can see the metal case getting marked very easily!

Im going to remake my aluminium case as i recieve it. Cut a hole får the screen and put in a plastic window.

I have made more than 40 tests with and without the metal case at several places.
I am using phonedashboard to show the signal level in %.
The metal case is ALWAYS reducing the signal level 15 to 30 digits.
In example I have placed my xda on a table without metal case and the signal level is 80%. Than I have placed the xda again with the metal case on the same place (i have marked the place) and the signal level ist 65 %.
I have made this procedure again and again to get enough data to compare.
Now I have a vaja case and no signal problems any more.
Frank

I wonder if removing some of the case near the antenna would help...
hmm.. I think I'll just get a plastic case...

where do you say that antenna is placed ?
i mean you could think that it's where it was on xda1 but
from this i cant say for sure
http://wiki.xda-developers.com/wiki/HimalayaHardwareOverview
not sure if you are talking about the external antenna connector but that would not help unless you connected an antenna to it
the antenna is inside the xda2 and is as long as the device
to 100% free it you would have to cut the case in 1/2

Now i recieved my Aluminium Case for the XDA II. Looks nice, but its very much more bulky than i thought. And the beltclip is a big JOKE, it hangs loose and bad! And besides, there is a belt clip included with the Proporta Alu Case. Just incase you are going to place an order...
Umm, im not shure if i am gonna be satisfied with it, dont quite like it.

One disadvantage of having an internal Phone antenna is that it is easily blocked. The aerial is inside the black plastic at the top.
If you put it in a pocket then it is important that you place it with the screen towards your body so the aerial is unobstructed for receiving calls.
When holding it during calls,it is important not to let your fingers cover the aerila if you are in a weak signal area.
Mike
Sydney Australia

One disadvantage of having an internal Phone antenna is that it is easily blocked. The aerial is inside the black plastic at the top.
If you put it in a pocket then it is important that you place it with the screen towards your body so the aerial is unobstructed for receiving calls.
When holding it during calls,it is important not to let your fingers cover the aerila if you are in a weak signal area.
Mike
Sydney Australia

well the antenna are never fully external
like on the xda1 only some of the antenna is external
it would most likely be internal aswell
for better reception

Aluminum case to amplify speaker

I am currently working on a case for the atrix that is milled out of a solid block of aluminum using a cnc machine that a will be air tight around the phone except where the speaker is on the phone there will be and a so called PORT for the sound to be forced throught that will be directed to the front of the phone using a port that will be front facing so you dont have to cup your hand around your phone to hear things, it also will have a kickstand if you all have any other ideas to incorporate into this aluminum case please feel free to post

Have you tried this with aluminum foil? You might save yourself some wasted effort.
I'm thinking such a case could have deleterious effects on some or all of the various bands of the RF spectrum. There are 3 RF based features on these phones. GPS is likely to be the most affected based on signal strength. Reduced range for both WiFi and cell is likely.
I may be wrong and hope I am. I am speculating as I have no idea where the various antennae on these phones are located.
OOPS, I forgot about Bluetooth.

Well... i think it all depends on the case, really. I mean... look at the iPhone 4. Has that whole Antennagate issue... yet companies like ElementCase release the Vapor 4... an aluminum band that get's affixed around the phone, covering the coveted antenna band.

Kickstand yeee..
Looks like an amazing case the kickstand is huge +. If the sound changes even a little bit will be a disadvantage. Engraved styles is what you can add, some parts you can make glossy other brushed. As for assembly I'd like it to be two parts with screws like the vapor bumper, but for most people will be a drawback.Shouldn't be thick since the atrix is pretty thick already. And also have you tought of doing a battery door replacement to incorporate those things. If you are making them for sale I'd like to know because it sounds like an awesome case.

nikidorian said:
Looks like an amazing case the kickstand is huge +. If the sound changes even a little bit will be a disadvantage. Engraved styles is what you can add, some parts you can make glossy other brushed. As for assembly I'd like it to be two parts with screws like the vapor bumper, but for most people will be a drawback.Shouldn't be thick since the atrix is pretty thick already. And also have you tought of doing a battery door replacement to incorporate those things. If you are making them for sale I'd like to know because it sounds like an awesome case.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Atrix could stand to be thicker. Not too fond of the thinnest phone eva craze.
Iphone > galaxy s 2.

Lie the phone on an aluminum desk and watch your service fade away. I have an aluminum desk at work for drafting and I gi from 3 bars to no service at all if I set it on my desk. Pick it up about 6 inches and bame, 3 bars again. Im right in front of a window too. I have to put my phone up on my filing stand. Once phones went with internal antennas, metal casings had to go. Im pretty sure it will kill the signal at 3 bars and lower. Mill it out of abs and it will be a hot item. For those wanting a thicker phone, do a search for extended batteries. They come with a modified back case that's thicker to accommodate the fat battery. Almost an 1/8th to 1/4 inch thicker.
Sent from my MB860 using xda premium

Dirtburgler said:
Lie the phone on an aluminum desk and watch your service fade away. I have an aluminum desk at work for drafting and I gi from 3 bars to no service at all if I set it on my desk. Pick it up about 6 inches and bame, 3 bars again. Im right in front of a window too. I have to put my phone up on my filing stand. Once phones went with internal antennas, metal casings had to go. Im pretty sure it will kill the signal at 3 bars and lower. Mill it out of abs and it will be a hot item. For those wanting a thicker phone, do a search for extended batteries. They come with a modified back case that's thicker to accommodate the fat battery. Almost an 1/8th to 1/4 inch thicker.
Sent from my MB860 using xda premium
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Those fat batterys are horribly ugly. No one wants a fat block sticking out the phone. We want a little thicker door to make the phone feel more solid and look the same.

Conductive tape for better WiFi/GPS?

Someone on the inspire forum used conductive tape on top of their antennas to boost signal dramatically! Anyone know the insides of a500 know if doing this would help us cuz wifi sucks..?
Sent from my Inspire 4G using Tapatalk

Funny, I am going to be making some conductive glue in the next day or so. I was wondering what I should do with the leftover. I will consider putting some on the antenna just for kicks. maybe I can coat some paper and extend it a bit. If anyone has a good idea of how to implement it I might give it a shot. I'm certainly not a radio engineer type person, so I really don't know if there are any guidelines that I should follow. Like whether or not this will need direct contact with the core wire, recommended length/shape to match frequency, what matters, what doesn't, would a graphite conductor even work, etc. Keep in mind that the resistance will increase with length on this adhesive. I can double coat it and help some but there is no way to avoid this without embedding a wire. I already get a good signal but there's always room for improvement. And I need to open my case to fix a dented corner. Lucky I didn't break the glass when I dropped it on the pavement...
And if anyone believes that this is a bad/goofy idea please say so. I'd rather know not to try something and why than to waste the time.

I was thinking that you could use small strips of aluminum tape (the kind that is used to seal furnace duct joints)
It is very sticky and you would have to use some Goo Gone on a Q-Tip to remove the adhesive from a small strip where the antenna contacts the tape.
I am going to try this once my plastic opening tool kit arrives from China.

dincdoes.me said:
Someone on the inspire forum used conductive tape on top of their antennas to boost signal dramatically! Anyone know the insides of a500 know if doing this would help us cuz wifi sucks..?
Sent from my Inspire 4G using Tapatalk
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I thought you sold your 500?
Considering the 500 uses the same hardware manufacturer for the antenna, I can say I get good Wifi in my flat. Even in the toilet.
GPS though, I need to be within 3 meters of a window, but that's understandable.

Moscow Desire said:
I thought you sold your 500?
Considering the 500 uses the same hardware manufacturer for the antenna, I can say I get good Wifi in my flat. Even in the toilet.
GPS though, I need to be within 3 meters of a window, but that's understandable.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I was gonna sell it but a family member held onto it for $200 till I paid em back so I did n having fun again
But.. who ever wants to extend their radio reach with out buying new parts i will be trying conductive tape. My inspire can get WiFi anywhere in my house my a500 looses a bar 10 feet away from my Netgear CG3000D ..
Something needs to work.. I'm tired of laying in bed like a contortionist
Sent from my Inspire 4G using Tapatalk

[GUIDE] How To Fix Squeaky Battery Cover!

Hi guys, I've owned an Xperia Play since July 2011, since then I've had some 'Battery Cover' issues. First, let's start off by talking about the battery cover itself, well actually there's not much to say. If you have an Xperia Play you already know the battery cover is very cheap, it's a large rectangular piece of plastic that covers the entire back on the phone, it's a pain to get it off and on at times. So not only it is cheaply made, it also has the tendency to start 'squeaking' or 'creaking' after a while. This simple issue can be fixed my ordering a new back piece to replace the old one, but note, if you swap batteries, swap SIM cards, swap SD cards, or anything that involves taking the battery cover off, it WILL, at some point in time, get worn out and slightly bent out of place. There's no escaping this problem due to it's design. In the past I've ordered about 3 Black battery cover replacements, and each one of them, after sometime, became creaky. Now maybe I'm just being picky but I REALLY hate picking up my phone and hearing that *squeaky* sound. It annoys the piss out of me. So I've came up with a way to prevent / fix this. What I'm about to guide you through is EXTREMELY simple and shouldn't cost you more than $2... ENJOY
SUPPLIES: Electrical Tape & Scissors
(1) Hold your phone to where the back is facing you, gently but firmly press all around until you've found your squeaky area. ( take a mental note of where this spot is )
(2) Remove the battery cover.
(3) Cut off a piece or two of electrical tape according to the size of the squeaky area, place the electrical tape on the inside of the battery cover where you took a mental note of.
(4) Put the battery cover back on! You're all done! No more squeaking!
It worked for me, it should definitely work for you! Try it out and post your results! Don't forget to *Thank* me!
(I've included a picture of what the results look like, lol I'm sure we all know what a piece of tape looks like on a piece of plastic but yeah here's one in case you don't!)

Thanks, no more squeaking!
I dont care about the squeaking that much, but still, u made my play better!

CyberScopes said:
Thanks, no more squeaking!
I dont care about the squeaking that much, but still, u made my play better!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Glad I could help! Sure beats spending $10-15 for a new back.

Yep. I used strong masking tape.
Sent From My Sony Xperia Play. Press the Thanks button for Fun.

I've replaced the battery lid a few times but I've never had the creaking problem. I wonder if it has something to do with the CDMA version not having the space for the SIM card.
Anyway, I do agree that they are poorly made. My first one developed cracks around the pry point and around the top even before I got a second battery. Obviously, battery swapping means I open it more often than most users, but I was EXTREMELY careful. Eventually I lost the corner next to the power button. On my replacement I made sure to never use the pry point without relieving pressure by pulling the corners too (usually unclipping them first). I also used a stick-on carbon-fiber protector from the day I installed it till the day I replaced it. It eventually formed a crack by the pry point too. Argh!