Somewhere in this forum, I thought I read that the shorter antenna was better than the longer one on the 7135. So when I got my replacement three weeks ago and it came w/the longer antenna, I swapped it out w/the shorter antenna that came on my original unit, which had been by far the best receiving phone I'd ever owned. Now it seems the reception is pathetic by comparison. I drop calls everywhere, I have trouble getting signals, and most maddeningly, the phone drops signals as I dial a call: Suddenly it starts searching when it should be dialing. Should I not have swapped out antennas? It would seem so, but I was reading so many posts (which I now can't find) from people who were complaining about how bad their reception had become once they got the longer antennas. What's the truth here?

Thanks.

Use the standard OEM antenna, if there is one thing with this phone is it seems quirky with anything but OEM hardware. Software some 3rd party stuff works (actually quite a bit) and some does not.

By the way what the searching may be is the onset of the dreaded SRCP - there is plenty of posts on this site with info on that. Hope that is not the case, but if you put on the OEM antenna and it goes away, you dodged a bullet! Good luck.

That's the point: Both of the antennae are OEM, the short one the original antenna, the long one the antenna that came out w/newer hardware. And in fact, the older unit with its original short antenna went SRCP on me while it was receiving much better than this unit has done since I got it (that's why the original unit got replaced). So I'm still wondering whether the short antenna or the long antenna is better, or whether they modified more than the antenna when they produced the long one (although a related post with Kyo's FCC petition says the antenna is the only material change to the unit).

OK - I understand now, don't have any experience with the shorter antenna, I have have had good luck with the longer ones.

Make certain that you have the antenna base screwed in completely using the antenna tool or a very small screw driver. I had that problem when my phone was new. It came from the factory with a loose antenna. Once tightened, it works great.

As with other things . . .size really doesn't matter!

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Krazman - "IT MAY BE THAT YOUR PURPOSE IN LIFE IS TO SERVE AS A WARNING TO OTHERS"

What is the difference between the short and long antennas? I ordered a spare antenna and got a Kyocera part that was identical to the antenna that came with the phone except for the top part which extends out of the phone when the antenna is completely collapsed. That part (I call it the "nub") of my new spare antenna is a little smalled in diameter and only about half as tall. Otherwise the antennas are identical. I started using the replacement antenna because of the smaller nub, and have not seen any difference in performance. Another person I know who has a 7135 broke his nub off getting out of an airplane seat. It appeared that the nub was only empty plastic in any case. On my antennas it would seem that the nubs are only for grasping to extend the antenna.

The principal difference, nearly as I can tell, is the distance the tip of the antenna protrudes above the case of the phone. I haven't read where there's anything in the tip of the antenna, although the FCC petition (see above) does mention something about a longer helix. If you pull your antenna out of the phone, there isn't much below the thread except a place for the stem of the antenna to retract, so I would figure that tip has some significance.

And yes, I take a screwdriver (or some other implement) and make sure the antenna is fully screwed into the phone. The problem isn't there (although I did have that problem initially w/the first phone, until I screwed that antenna down with, of all things, a fork: a couple of tines line up nicely with the slots in the antenna thread and screw that bugger down real well).

Combining the information about the Kyocera FCC petition with what I can physically observe on my friend's broken antenna, leads me to conclude that electrically and performance-wise there is really no difference between the two antennas. I think that the nub was changed just for ease of use when extending the antenna. So, the remaining question is which came first - the short one or the long one?

Original 7135 had the short one. This was the first Alltel release. The long one didn't appear until the 71352 (about the time VZW released it). There were both antenna versions on the 71352. I had a 7135 purchased 3/03 with the short one. Last year the Alltel mgr. in my town fried my 7135 trying to skip some steps upgrading the firmware. He "bought" me a new 71352 the next day. It also had the short one.

A search for "antenna" will bring up those very old threads from Smartphonesource web site (which was merged with this web site a long time ago) in which this was discussed in great detail. The issue of which is best was also discussed at length. The verdict was no difference.

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Krazman - "IT MAY BE THAT YOUR PURPOSE IN LIFE IS TO SERVE AS A WARNING TO OTHERS"

Thanks for the info and history. It all seems to fit together and leads to the conclusion that the antenna to use is the one you prefer for whatever reason. I prefer the small nub since it seems less likely to get broken. But if it does, I will go back to the original antenna and not worry about it.

I got my "short" antenna from Original Wireless just a couple of weeks ago. Evidently they have a stock of early parts which, for me, turns out to be a good thing. I also got a spare battery which is in the phone now. I hope it is not one of the early batteries that was recalled due to a tendency to explode.

Thank you one and all. That seems to bring me back around to the point, which is that the current phone w/the short antenna has pathetic reception compared to the previous phone w/the same short antenna, so I guess I need to snag my contact @ VZW and have him get me another phone. Do you agree?

I agree. It doesn't sound like your antenna is at fault. I don't know if this would help, but you might try *228 option 2 to see if this update helps your reception. It's free and it only takes 30 seconds of your time. If that doesn't help, you should call your rep for a new phone.

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Krazman - "IT MAY BE THAT YOUR PURPOSE IN LIFE IS TO SERVE AS A WARNING TO OTHERS"

Thanks, Krazman. Can't hurt. Just did it; we'll see how things work.

As a matter of interest regarding the difference between the "long" and "short" antennas, the person that broke his antenna on the airline seat (see my previous post to this thread)looked at the broken "nub" and said that there was a helical wire in it. So, it appears that the antenna nubs do have a helix in them and the "long" antenna might have a longer helix in it. If this is the case, the new "long" antenna might be able to receive weaker signals when it is collapsed that the old "short" one. Since I normally extend the antenna when using the phone, I would not expect to see much difference between the two antennas, except possibly a difference in the number of signal strength bars when the antenna is collapsed and in a marginal signal area.

The shorter antenna gives me better reception. Go figure.