Database Info

GPS Fix ? or placebo

Ok well my GPS was working super good when i first got phone. I guess i was the lucky one. So great time to start getting rooted,bloat removed,,etc..
But GPS did stop working even after all the tweaks still nothing.
So i fixed it. take your metal plate "back cover" off.
On back of plate you will see 2 silver spots also on back of phone there are 2 pins "contacts" that should touch those spots. On my phone the one closest to sim was not touching after bending up "SLIGHTLY" to correct the problem and then placing cover back on everything was perfect "superfast GPS locks". placebo effect? maybe but i thought i'd share the info.

strange but maybe helpful

I noticed my contact didn't stick up very far, either. Unfortunately, after I bent it upward enough that it is surely making contact now, I don't notice any GPS (or compass) improvement. Did you happen to take your battery out or power off your phone while doing this?

yes everything was shutoff "just incase"
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I897 using XDA App

Landscape WiFi test failed!

HTC death grip on the WiFi connection,
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t2UKRE2_FSw

There is a problem with the link.

ARC X12 said:
There is a problem with the link.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
i have sent the video to HTC, i'm waiting for their answer for this issue,

I've only noticed this when holding in in an awkward position to purposefully test for this "issue". Its like when people were complaining about the "loose hinge" on the G2, you don't notice it in daily use unless you're looking for it

Ohnoes another "Death Grip" thread... Can't really see how using theese grips is nice usage of the phone. Looks weird but that's my opinion. Don't seek out the problems if you usually avoid them...

Flippy125 said:
I've only noticed this when holding in in an awkward position to purposefully test for this "issue". Its like when people were complaining about the "loose hinge" on the G2, you don't notice it in daily use unless you're looking for it
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
the test was conducted when I had full signal, next to the router, how about when you have one bar of WiFi signal? we should get instructions from HTC how to hold a phone in the landscape mode.
How to hold the phone in landscape mode? with two fingers?

ARC X12 said:
There is a problem with the link.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
link fixed
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gEP3vP520i4

If I'm near my router, and I grip the entire phone with both hands as tightly as I can, the wifi strength does not change.
Obviously there is some sort of antenna fault at work here, I can only cause attenuation if the signal is weakened (like a few concrete walls inbetween the phone and router, or a great distance away). This is all very confusing to say the least.

lol, everyone should stop squeezing the like a tit

dantes1 said:
link fixed
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gEP3vP520i4
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I tried the exact same grip in this video the most my WiFi would drop is 1 bar if that. So idk I can't replicate the death grip
Sent from my HTC Sensation 4G using XDA Premium App

Same problem in the exact same position with mine while I am in my appartment.
Full signal but when I use my phone in landscape mode (the way he holds the phone in the video is exactly how I hold it everyday) I loose signal and I can't browse.

Dwin-d said:
Same problem in the exact same position with mine while I am in my appartment.
Full signal but when I use my phone in landscape mode (the way he holds the phone in the video is exactly how I hold it everyday) I loose signal and I can't browse.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
we should try at half signal to see , holding in normal position in landscape mode.
let me know how it's yours in this case

I can one up all you chaps, I have hands free death grip. WiFi almost never works at all, which is fun sitting here at work with a weak 2g (edge) signal.

Omg people it is not a problem All phone have this death grip in a way some more than others like the iphone. Geez people Every time a new phone comes out everyone tries they're hardest to find a problem and then blow it way out of proportion like the g2 hinge problem.. *sigh* sorry about the short rant its just like man really most of the phones problems are PICNIC.. k now.. now.. now I'm done
Sent from my Htcclay's SuperCM7 G2 using XDA App

Why would someone venture into the Sensation subforum and read a thread about death grip just to rant about threads like these? It's the weekend, don't you have something better to do with your time?
Sent from my HTC Sensation 4G using XDA Premium App

This stuff is good so that consumers can make an informed choice about purchasing expensive and complicated devices. I keep wanting to buy this phone, so I am glad I can find what my potential experience may be. I thank the community for all their efforts.

Just to make everyone feel better, my DHD also loses some wifi signal if I hold it near the top, left-hand corner (in portrait mode). However, until I started to see lots of threads about the issue on the Sensation (planning to get one) and actually started to look for an issue, it hadn't affected me one bit (in 8 months of having the phone).
Dave

theebest said:
Omg people it is not a problem All phone have this death grip in a way some more than others like the iphone. Geez people Every time a new phone comes out everyone tries they're hardest to find a problem and then blow it way out of proportion like the g2 hinge problem.. *sigh* sorry about the short rant its just like man really most of the phones problems are PICNIC.. k now.. now.. now I'm done
Sent from my Htcclay's SuperCM7 G2 using XDA App
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
i'm not trying to find the problems, you should go online in the landscape mode and then you ca talk, I have a G2 and love it by the way! Show me one phone that it's dropping the signal from full bars to none!
I expect a fully functional phone for $600,

dantes1 said:
i'm not trying to find the problems, you should go online in the landscape mode and then you ca talk, I have a G2 and love it by the way! Show me one phone that it's dropping the signal from full bars to none!
I expect a fully functional phone for $600,
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I went online on wifi in landskape mode holding the phone with 1 hand on each side. No visual drop on either wifi or phone signal. If i pack the whole back side with 2 hands the wifi drops 1 bar and i'm about 2.5meters below the router with a concrete floor in the way. So i don't really see your problem. If your phone drops from full to zero by holding it in landscape mode u must have a faulty device. Send it back for a fix or possible get a new one.

McT1980 said:
I went online on wifi in landskape mode holding the phone with 1 hand on each side. No visual drop on either wifi or phone signal. If i pack the whole back side with 2 hands the wifi drops 1 bar and i'm about 2.5meters below the router with a concrete floor in the way. So i don't really see your problem. If your phone drops from full to zero by holding it in landscape mode u must have a faulty device. Send it back for a fix or possible get a new one.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Same here. I think some of them have an actual wifi fault which exaggerates the death grip problem.

GPS Problems? Possible Hardware Solution

So I came across this (http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1101066) thread in the DHD forum the other day, and had mixed feelings about it. In theory it makes sense, but in practice it seems kind of scary. Anyway, I've had GPS issues on and off since I got my Inspire, sometimes it would work excellent, sometimes it would kind of work, sometimes it wouldn't work at all. I've tried every software solution I could think of (new radios, gps script, reinstalling locations, wiping EFS partition, etc), and I figured my problem had to be hardware, but I'd never seen a hardware solution offered until I came across this thread. First off I would like to say that I have not tried this fix yet, however I'm inclined to and here's why:
After reading this, I started thinking, "OK, so it's just not getting good enough pressure on the GPS antennae contacts, wonder what would happen if I tried to apply manual pressure?" So I launched GPS Test and watched it find 2 or 3 satellites, but didn't lock after about a minute. So I applied pressure to the battery flash/GPS cover, 1 finger on the top of it 1 finger on the bottom, making sure not to cover the hole. What happened? Immediately it found 9 satellites and locked to 20ft, showing better connections to the satellites than i've EVER seen. I let off the pressure and watched as the signal strength to these satellites dropped intensely, went back to 2 or 3 satellites, and lost the lock. I again applied pressure, got a bunch of satellites back and got an immediate lock.
Before I go about taking my phone apart and trying to fix these contacts from the inside, I wanted to see if applying pressure on the back flash/GPS cover improved anything for anybody else, or if it's just my imagination. Please report back

I havn't had any problems with my gps, but if the problem you are having is what I was having I would be cracking the phone open to fix it...
I dont mind taking things apart

My GPS works, but there's some disconnect between Navigation and the GPS, I sware. If I run Navigation by itself, then I lose signal 2-3 minutes after getting a lock. If I run My Tracks in the background, then it stays locked.
Sent from my Inspire 4G using XDA App

3 Inspires, no GPS issues at all, but it makes sense and doesn't look difficult at all. Go for it.

Well I tried it. I can't say if it was me applying pressure or me just getting lucky with signal and clear skies...but I locked to 7 very quickly and it found my location with in 20 feet here as well.
Interesting...
Sent from my Inspire 4G using XDA Premium App

cwhitney24 said:
Well I tried it. I can't say if it was me applying pressure or me just getting lucky with signal and clear skies...but I locked to 7 very quickly and it found my location with in 20 feet here as well.
Interesting...
Sent from my Inspire 4G using XDA Premium App
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
cool deal
not bad and it didnt seem that hard to do, keep checking on it to make sure for the next few days

cwhitney24 said:
Well I tried it. I can't say if it was me applying pressure or me just getting lucky with signal and clear skies...but I locked to 7 very quickly and it found my location with in 20 feet here as well.
Interesting...
Sent from my Inspire 4G using XDA Premium App
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Um, I just tried applying pressure and got 8 meter lock on inside my house. My GPS usually NEVER locks on, even outside in clear skies. Wtf.
Edit: And now it's working all the time. I love you.

It didn't hurt to apply pressure to the area where you said the gps contacts are. So I opened up gps status in my home. Let it try and find some satellites on its own. Nothing was happening for a few seconds. Then I applied pressure to where the flash is on our phones one finger above the flash and the other below the flash. It then fixes satellites on my phone. And when I let go the fixed satellites dropped and my radius grew. I tried applying again and then it went back and started to drop. So I let go and it went up so I think the contacts are contacting and now I'm just covering up the gps but it seems to work. So now when I want to use gps ill remember this trick.
Thanks
Sent from my Desire HD using XDA App

I pried out the flash cover and noticed that the antenna contacts on the cover were oxidized except for the part where the corner of the spring contacts landed. I scraped away the oxidation with a sharp object and bent the spring contacts up a little bit to make a firmer connection and I immediately got a boost in GPS reception. I dont' know what metal makes up the antenna in the flash cover but it sounds like oxidation builds back up again after a couple of months. I'll keep an eye on it and post an update.

This is perfect! I just did it, took about ten minutes. After reboot I just locked to under 60ft indoors during Hurricane Irene.
Thanks so much for this, now I can stop reading all these damn gps threads!
Sent from my Inspire 4G using XDA App

Another update: just locked to 24ft outside in less than 15 seconds.
Sent from my Inspire 4G using XDA App

GPS lock
Christ..I dont believe this.. I always have problems with Google Navigation getting satellite lock..and maps is usually like 1500-1600ft +or-... I did the pressure on the spots above and below the flash like you guys said... all of a sudden..boom! GPS lock inside my house..(never happens) and 9 satellites locked..(most I ever saw was 5 before when I was outside in a clear area.)..the GPS nav icon is almost on my house roof!

This issue puts it in perspective how bad the quality is on this device.
Sent from my Desire HD using XDA App

Wow can't believe there are this many people confirming this. I'll be adjusting my gps contacts in a a day or two and ill report back. Definitely seems like its gonna help a few of us anyway
signatures annoy me

I have actually noticed the same issues as you were describing. I have pushed on the back and waited and then found the signal got better. Then released the pressure and it got either worse or just stayed the same. Different results every now and then. I have also taken it apart and tried the DHD fixed that your describing and it worked excellent for a little bit then nothing. I'm returning it now to have HTC fix it. Probably the easiest way. Sucks not having a phone but at least they will give me a phone that does everything its supposed to. They were really nice about it too.

eryk4381 said:
I have actually noticed the same issues as you were describing. I have pushed on the back and waited and then found the signal got better. Then released the pressure and it got either worse or just stayed the same. Different results every now and then. I have also taken it apart and tried the DHD fixed that your describing and it worked excellent for a little bit then nothing. I'm returning it now to have HTC fix it. Probably the easiest way. Sucks not having a phone but at least they will give me a phone that does everything its supposed to. They were really nice about it too.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
This is a great thread. I fortunately do not have the issue on my device to where I need to mess with it, but experience tells me living in a somewhat temperate / rainly climate the contacts may oxidize / signal degrades over time. Good to know how to address it...I had an iPhone 3G I took apart at the end of its life. I had noticed the GPS was really sucking toward the end. Sure enough, plain old brown rust was evident on the GPS antenna contacts...

****, I wish I had known about this before I exchanged my Inspire at my AT&T store. I couldn't get GPS lock at all. It was a hassle, and I had all but narrowed it down to hardware, so this really makes sense.
The thread about my particular issues: http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1203133

Instant improvement to WIFI signal! by as much as 2-3 Bars!

OK, so I know i kinda just posted something along the following lines in another forum to try and help someone with a week wifi signal.
but after doing some research through the forums i noticed that it doesn't look like this issue has really been covered before. maybe because everyone has already noticed it,? and I'm the idiot for figuring it out later? or maybe some people dont really notice it, like i didn't at first.
But if you sometimes struggle from a weak wifi signal, you might be able to instantly increase you wifi strength by as much as 2-3 bars by doing 1 simple thing!...
what is this magical wifi booster you may ask?
its simple really, its as simple as watching the placement of your hand's while holding the device,
i know, i know it may be obvious to some of you but to some people like me who may not pay attention to something as simple as that, this information may help a noob or two...
you see the WIFI antenna on the G2X is located at the top of the phone. and by doing a simple experiment you can see the dramatic effect placing your hand near the top does, or even simply just placing your finger on the top which if your like me you probably sometimes do while playing video games, or while trying to hold the phone in one hand while using that secret app you have on your phone while in the bathroom at work... or you know whatever... and such,
but anyhow if you are connected to wifi you can see you WIFI signal drop as much as 2-3 bars just by simply placing your hand in the wrong position. or even from simply placing it on a desk or level surface. there really is an optimal position to hold the phone at the bottom. hope this helped at least someone..

korny647 said:
If anyone struggles from weak WiFi signal, you might be able to instantly increase your signal strength by as much as 2-3 bars by doing one simple thing!
What is this magical Wi-Fi booster you may ask?
It's simple really, just watch the placement of your hand's while holding the device.
You see, the Wi-Fi antenna on the G2X is located at the top of the phone.
(By doing a simple experiment you can see the dramatic effect placing your hand near the top does, placing your finger on the top, or even from simply placing it on a desk or any level surface. You can see your Wi-Fi signal drop as much as 2-3 bars.)
The best optimal position to hold the phone is at the bottom.
Hope this helped at least someone..
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Not to pick on you, but that was pretty painful to read.
This is good information for some, so i've created a cut and dry edition for all to read.
Hope this gets stickied!

Ya I was bored and just typed this up real fast. Guess ill preview it next time!
Sent from my LG-P999 using XDA

If your right next to the router it might not have such a dramatic effect. It will just go right through. But if the signal is weekend. By distance, or especially through a wall. It makes a big difference.
Sent from my LG-P999 using XDA

korny647 said:
If your right next to the router it might not have such a dramatic effect. It will just go right through. But if the signal is weekend. By distance, or especially through a wall. It makes a big difference.
Sent from my LG-P999 using XDA
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I am less than 10 feet away from my router and covering the top made it drop 2 bars.
Good find! Never noticed it before but it might be really useful when you are in those on the edge of connection moments!
Sent from my LG-P999 using Tapatalk

Yes, similar to cell reception. One can also turn the phone 90°, lay it flat, etc if the signal is weak and see if there is improvement.
Sent from my G2x running AOKP ICS

Tl;dr Don't cover the wi-fi antenna, which is at the top of the phone. You took wayyyyyy too long to say it.
Sent from my amazing LG G2x running Bionix Reloaded v1.4

Klathmon said:
I am less than 10 feet away from my router and covering the top made it drop 2 bars.
Good find! Never noticed it before but it might be really useful when you are in those on the edge of connection moments!
Sent from my LG-P999 using Tapatalk
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
That's why I wanted to do a quick write up.
But I was bored and I tend to ramble when I'm bored.
So Thnx to who cleaned it up.
" I think mine was funnier tho" if you a actually read thru it... lol :sly:
Sent from my G2X.
Rocking stock CM 7.2.0-RC1

theking_13 said:
Tl;dr Don't cover the wi-fi antenna, which is at the top of the phone. You took wayyyyyy too long to say it.
Yes I agree.
Sent from my amazing LG G2x running Bionix Reloaded v1.4
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Sent from my LG-P999 using xda premium

Yea I noticed I would drop a lot of bars if I was holding the phone sideways and watching a video.

SGS 4G, various roms, antenna probs

After I first pulled the back (7 screws and pop back plate off), I started noticing a situation where the antenna was only working at about 1/2 the strength it should. I have tested this on long trip runs. I have pulled the back a number of times to try to fix it.
Thought it might be a faulty coax so pulled that but continuity both center and shield and impedance 0.1nf for what that's worth (not much on a short length). I have stretched slightly and wiped all of the spring contacts, pulled the antenna lobe and examined it closely, poked and prodded, and emphasized attaching the backplate at the bottom first.
I can "fix" it by sticking a 1/2 wave (about 7.15cm) wire (from a twist-tie) into the antenna jack and snaking it under the battery. I may have fixed it on the last run, but I have also stuck the 1/2 wave in there just to be sure it doesn't fail when I need it.
The roms i flash are all working fine so I thought I'd post this to see if it hit a chord with any tinkerers!
(running on straight talk with the tmo SIM so hitting only the tmo towers)(speeds are fine, data works great)

So... what your saying is, our phone is so powerful at doing 4G that it beats the crap out of SGS3, so that's why the antenna is only using 1/2 of its "supposedly" power? What happens when we extend the strength of the antenna? Would we get better reception, especially in dead spots :'(?

I think what he was saying is with some cleaninging and tweaking you can get the full benefit of the antenna.
For reference I use to be into cb radio and a stock radio and antenna will not perform as well as one that has been optimized to its fullest.
Electronics are made in a mass manner and even tho they have quality control at some point production will take precedence over quality. Its not always intentional. When I was a younger man I was always told to look at the manufacturer build date. If it was a friday or monday avoid it. Most factory workers live for the weekends. And Mondays are recovery days and Fridays are IDGAF days.

I knew that but why would Samsung limit the antenna? Battery? Space?

sorry for delay, I've been out trying different things with it.
What I meant to say is that suddenly the radio/modem/antenna is not working like it should - I only get 1/2 to 1/4 of the input signal I should. I have no idea of output, of course.
I thought this happened after I took off the back plate, but I was in the process of flashing about 10 different roms (flashaholicism), so I don't know the cause. I felt I remembered the word "radio" on one of them, so I just went back to Heimdall stock and back up and thought I fixed it, but took a short run and it seems to find and not recover from black holes easily.(where the tmo coverage map says it's excellent)
So at the moment I am confused. At one point I thought I ran across different radios I could use for the SGS 4G so I'm off to look for that.

th3controller said:
I knew that but why would Samsung limit the antenna? Battery? Space?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
They are really limiting the antenna.
I will use the cb radio as a example again. With a standard mobile antenna your range is around 5 miles radius. Now if you use a base antenna and elevate it higher in the air your range will in crease even more.
With mobile phones the antenna is very small so they have to get creative with it. So like the op said he/she created a 1/2 wave booster it will allow a larger area of reflection.
During assembly there is a limited amount of uses on things. After using a solder iron for so long you have to clean/replace the tip. Certain amounts of "corrosion" and "dirt" are allowed before the item has to be rejected. It still meets the specs but with some simple electronics cleaner and such it will improve the connections.
Does that make sense?

I did take it back to stock again and stopped there and went for a walk, but , again, it did seem to be able to find black holes fairly easily.
i do find this complaint to be common. I noticed one comment in the dev thread, but a bunch for generic gal s. Still looking.
This is Boston and coverage is fairly good.
I only got this on the 24th Aug, and I don't recall it doing anything like that until a couple of days ago, though I could have missed it.
I can't find a list of radios for the t959v. Is there one? Thanks!
EDIT - found pointers in one of FB's posts
GB: http://sourceforge.net/projects/teamacid/files/fb/modems/cwm/
CM7etc: http://sourceforge.net/projects/teamacid/files/fb/modems/cm7_padded/

KrisM22 said:
I did take it back to stock again and stopped there and went for a walk, but , again, it did seem to be able to find black holes fairly easily.
i do find this complaint to be common. I noticed one comment in the dev thread, but a bunch for generic gal s. Still looking.
This is Boston and coverage is fairly good.
I only got this on the 24th Aug, and I don't recall it doing anything like that until a couple of days ago, though I could have missed it.
I can't find a list of radios for the t959v. Is there one? Thanks!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Look in this thread.
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1192436

eollie said:
Look in this thread.
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1192436
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
LOL - just found it there! Thanks! only 3 modems for CM. humph!

The other modems were too large iirc. The black hole you speak of is annoying. I will have full service just outside the local walmart super center. Inside I lose all service. Which pisses me off. If I am talking when I go in it is a crap shoot if I lose service or not. If I am talking on the phone and lose it I have to reboot to regain service once outside.

eollie said:
The other modems were too large iirc. The black hole you speak of is annoying. I will have full service just outside the local walmart super center. Inside I lose all service. Which pisses me off. If I am talking when I go in it is a crap shoot if I lose service or not. If I am talking on the phone and lose it I have to reboot to regain service once outside.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Huge thanks for that eollie!!! I'm not alone. With that thought I will play a bit with the other 2 modems, and then work on a better antenna.
The antenna is a folded loop with a lot of variations for all the frequencies. it is about 2" long. Just a peel and stick tape wrapped around that lozenge shaped thing that fits into the back plate.

Actually this is all a big psychological experiment - we are given phones and told to expect that they will work. Occasionally things are done to test us.
So I went out on a long bus trip to test modems. Too late I discovered that the one I go into recovery and flash, is not necessarily the one that shows up as the last 3 characters in the baseband. At least once I flashed K1D and later found I had KJ6. I was thinking that K1D was good, but I will have to run the test all over again. My rom for all these tests is the BHUNDVEN R8
Meantime I will spend the next few days with my SIM firmly planted in my Prism to try to get back to reality. At the moment I am simply thinking that the t959v is simply a phone with a weak antenna both for carrier freq and for gps, certainly not usable in a bus.
If I come back to this, I will be testing on stock, but I have to flash a kern to get CWM recovery (I have been using kernel-sms-kj6-v0.2.0-bml.zip) Will I be able to flash the unpadded modems after I flash that kern? or does that change life to CM?

I would flash bhundvens blastoff kernel.

eollie said:
I would flash bhundvens blastoff kernel.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks, I tried but it aborts.
I do the stock with java thing, root it, then I need a CWM recovery, so I SGS kernel do ...
well, first time I tried the blastoff kernel but it's too big, so did kernel-sms-kj6-v0.2.0-bml.zip but that CWM v5 doesn't like blastoff.
EDIT: never mind, I think I sussed it... we'll see!!!
nope. I'll post on the q&a for that

eollie, I finally got back to a nice simple rom using your rooted one-click and an unnamed rooted spiffy 2.3.6 that bhundven gave me. Now I can start playing with that plethora of GB modems!
(http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1828176&page=4 bottom of post #40 )

eollie said:
I would flash bhundvens blastoff kernel.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Just grabbed your one click that's got that in it! Thanks!!!

KrisM22 said:
Just grabbed your one click that's got that in it! Thanks!!!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The one click I have wifi is broken. I got started today attempting to fix this, but life took over. I do know what needs to be done it is just a matter of getting it done. This week is hectic, Im trying to help a friend out that has had some bad luck with vehicles and sadly android takes the backseat to these guys. Good friends are hard to come by and they are good people.

eollie said:
The one click I have wifi is broken. I got started today attempting to fix this, but life took over. I do know what needs to be done it is just a matter of getting it done. This week is hectic, Im trying to help a friend out that has had some bad luck with vehicles and sadly android takes the backseat to these guys. Good friends are hard to come by and they are good people.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
No prob! Def help friends! That's first!!! I just use bundhven's unnamed and that's fine.

Would a Antenna booster work? The sticker booster?
Sent from my SGH-T959V using Tapatalk 2

VillaCastana321 said:
Would a Antenna booster work? The sticker booster?
Sent from my SGH-T959V using Tapatalk 2
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
LOL - I wondered the same thing. I just got about 15 of them for $3. No change whatsoever.
I changed 2 things: re-joined both sides of the antenna, and changed from stock (with KJ6)(no x's) to bhundven's new kern and unnamed 2.3.6 and got some x's in the tunnel(with KH1). So now I have to separate one side of the antenna and try it again.(and again with the boosters in this configuration)