The Spray Can Solution For A Weak Cell Phone Antenna Signal

[*Start My Best Jerry Seinfeld Voice*] What’s the deal with our addiction to spray products? Spray paint, spray cheese, pepper spray, butter spray, spray-on tans….it never ends! And how about the people who thought this stuff up and actually knew we would buy it?!

It’s like years ago there was a group of dairy executives in a smoke-filled boardroom somewhere trying to come up with their next “great idea” when all of sudden one of them jumped up out of his chair and proclaimed:

“I got it! Cheese from a spray can! That’s the money-maker!”[*End My Best Jerry Seinfeld Voice*]

Well, I never claimed to be the greatest stand-up comedian (or imitator of a REAL one), but I just couldn’t pass up the opportunity to reference my most favorite show of ALL time. Really though, we’re all “spray crazy.” I guess I’d chalk it up to ultimate convenience, but seriously, how hard is it to really slice up a block of cheese? At the very least, you can buy cheese pre-sliced!

Yeah, this is SOOOOOOO inconvenient…

Well, the fine folks over at Chamtech have supposedly invented an antenna signal booster that comes from, guess where……that’s right! A spray can! The “spray craziness” continues! For any gear hungry tech enthusiast, the big question really is if it’s as good a normal antenna?

While there is a LOT of skepticism about ANY product that promises very convenient, amplified wireless communication (e.g. the cell phone signal antenna booster stickers at your local drug store), these guys might be legit. According to their recent presentation at Google’s “Solve For X” event, their spray antenna material contains thousands of “nano capacitors” that “charge and discharge extremely quickly without creating any heat.”

Honestly, the needle on my personal skepticism meter (patent pending) started “topping out” when I watched Chamtech’s presentation, but my meter does generally run a little high. :) Also, they did actually show some real-world applications that are quite impressive. For instance, within 5 minutes, they were wirelessly transmitting information through a freakin’ tree to an aircraft 14 miles overhead!

They also improved the range of 2 standard antennas that were mounted on a communications airplane by 300%. Does this mean cell phone service and Internet connectivity will soon be commonplace on commercial flights??! I’m not quite sure how to feel about that… My gut feeling is we’re years away from picking up a bottle of “spray antenna” at our local grocer, but the potential of this new technology is very intriguing.