Originally Posted by
Tigger4Me
There is one thing that I'm not sure of Globaliser. Do I take it that a mobile phone is able to adjust the output power of a signal in accordance to the proximity of the receiving station? So a closely located picocell would draw a weaker signal than a more distant cellular mast. If that is so then I didn't realise that a cell phone had that capability. That would make sense as then when on the ground it would only locate the nearest mast rather than bang out a signal at max strength only to possibly be picked up at several masts.
That's exactly it. With a picocell on board, the handset will only transmit at its minimum power, thus minimising the possibility of RF interference. It's therefore restricted to a tiny fraction of full power.
If the picocell is not there, then the handsets tend to pump out at full whack, which can be about 2W IIRC.