Borooloola

[YesTAM]

I wonder if there is an internet connection at Borooloola? DW has headed from the deep South to the deep North where he is going to have a very different customer demographic.:}

[Mainframe]

YesTam

Borroloola is one of the many "communities" with a population of more than 500,
therefore it has a Telstra CDMA cellular site AND a Telstra Next G cell.

Before you leave the deep south, migrate to Telstra, get a Next G phone.

You can access and display most Wx Radar sites on your Next G phone, something that will be of great interest to you up north.

The lightning displays are spectacular from the ground, and scary from the air,
up north! Your Next G phone will help you stay away from the stuff.

If, like me, you're a Nokia enthusiast, get a CDMA prepaid to tide you over until Nokia releases and telstra approves their Next G range.

If you have a laptop, get a next G broadband card (PCMCIA or USB), preferably the Australian Maxxon, not the Chinese ZTE.

As I have posted on the CDMA/Next G thread, you will have ground coverage at most communities, and in flight coverage almost everywhere at or above 8,000'.

And yes, Next G is up and running at Borroloola, in fact almost everywhere except Maningrida (October) and Laverton (NT).

There are no internet cafe's but you will be able to use a landline for dial up.
If you haven't got a laptop, you'll probably need one, just to use NAIPS.

Enjoy Borroloola, the pub is educational, and you'll sharpen your snooker skills.

Barramundi fishing is unbelievable, and if you need female company instead, there are schoolteachers and nurses.

Stay safe and enjoy the top end.

[YesTAM]

it ain't me thats gone, its DW, but thank you for your advice Mainframe.

[Dick Smith]

Mainframe, do you know if there is a Next G phone available that has a cradle which connects to an external aerial so it is hard wired in – like the earlier Nokias? My wife has Next G phone (it is the LG TU500) however the cradle only allows for a capacitive/inductive coupling to the external antenna, which is not as good as a hard wired plug and socket.

Also, can you advise the simple details of how to get the BOM radar sites up on the phone screen? Is it simple or should I spend a couple of days reading the instruction book?

[Chocks Away]

Wow. Hasn't Borooloola come along way, having cell. phones and i/net!:D
Such communities not so isolated now.
What I would have given for that, 15 years ago:}

[YesTAM]

Borooloola seemed sad when I visited it about seven years ago, signs warning that Kava, dope, and Alcohol would not be tolerated and suchlike. When I first visited it about 1986 it was not a bad place.

Escott cattle station is the place to go:p

[bushy]

And you could start an aluminium smelter, as there are about two million beer cans within about two miles of the pub.

[bushpig]

Borroloola is a great little place. There is fast internet (satellite) at the library which is just near the council office... roughly over the road from the pub in the next street. If you get a bit bored head down to Heartbreak Hotel at Cape Crawford (the Cape is not by the sea) and camp the night in their excellent camp ground, especially on backpacker night. They come through about twice a week from Cs to Dn or vice versa and are about 80% female occupied. The boys from McArthur River station will probably be there to and they are a good mob of blokes. There's heaps of things to do in that area its just a matter of attitude.

[Mainframe]

Dick and others,

here's a generic path into handheld Next G / CDMA Wx radar.

Nokia 6255 top of the line CDMA (you may need to have the Web browser enabled by Telstra)

Next G phones:

Select the Web browser, this takes you to the Telstra Bigpond website.

Scroll down to News and Weather , press select.
Now scroll down to WEATHERNEWS and select that.

Select Weather Imagery, then scroll to Rain Radar.
You will get options by state and region, select the Radar site you want.

You can also animate the display, just as you can on the BoM site.

Also available is both static and animated satellite imagery, great for cyclones, and for getting an idea about what’s happening along the track.

CAUTION / WARNING
DO NOT USE INTERNET Wx info to try to pick a path through ,
Only use it to gain an appreciation of where to avoid.

hope that helps.

As for External antennas, most are trending away from that, even Nokia.

The capacitive/ inductive coupling by Nokia for Nokia phones isn't too bad,
just like your through the glass coupling,
but times two with the coupling, handset adaptor and through glass adaptor, so expect some losses.

MF

[PLovett]

Don't get too romantic about Borroloola. The pubs closed except for accommodation and meals.:eek: Believe it lost its licence due to the number of fights. A not unrelated fact is that the number of medical evacuation flights has gone down substantially.

I've been there twice in the past week, there's no bleedin AVGAS at the moment either. :mad:

I can, however, recommend the Borroloola Guest House. Very comfortable and Trish cooks a mean meal.:ok:

[Continental-520]

Hey

If you head into the Library, just opposite the council office at BRL under that undercover area on the right hand side between the airport and the pub, the lady there (who looks really grumpy but is actually really nice) will most likely let you connect your laptop to the phone lines near the desk in there, free of charge.

The only pre-requisite is that you have a dial up facility/ISP set up on your computer.


520.

[Schmoostyler]

Yeah, and the library there has satellite internet with a couple of clapped out old comptuers that you can use for the time being. Next G is expesive if you want to download movies etc. which you'll probablly want to do because there aint much else out there. But i'm not sure if ADSL is there, some communities do have ADSL now which is sweet.

No avgas at boroloola? What the?