Many of you know, that going up into the mountains to pan for gold, you loose your cell phone signal about 3 miles out of Tellico Plains.  Well, there is a work around to this issue that many do not know.

When I was testing things out, I found a lot of cool features on phones I did not have. Instead of buying an expensive phone plan, I used pre paid sell phones to test each kind to see where I got the better signal, as well as testing out their features.

If you do not want to get stuck in a data plan, but want a phone with GPS to help find your favorite gold prospecting spots, then get a pre-paid cell phone from one of the many providers with the GPS feature on it.   There are several out there to choose from now days, and tons of providers around. 

I used an AT&T prepaid cell phone with GPS and it worked real well.  I would go find a good spot,then mark it in my phone so I could find it again. You do not need phone service to be available to get the GPS feature to work for you. It works from the satellites, just like the ones for your car do.

This was the best feature of the phone.  I didn't have to have it on a contract, I got it for about 65 bucks, and never bought minutes for it.  I could use the internet with a wifi signal, and there are many places on the mountain to get a wifi signal from, so that was no problem once I started locating them.  

With the wifi feature, again, no cell signal is needed, and you can contact home via email if you need, or check up on work, and contact your gold prospecting buddies to help you carry out all the gold you found.  Or, get them to come out and help you find it. 

Not to mention, almost all phones have a camera built into them now.  So you can take pictures and send them to yourself via email when you get home. 

All this an more, from a phone with no contract and limited cell signals at best.  Also, don't forget, even without minutes available, almost all phones will dial 911 now days. Even the prepaid cell with no minutes ever bought for it will do that.  But you will need a cell signal to do that. 

If you want to learn more about prepaid cellular plans and at&t prepaid cell phones, as well as many other brands, follow the links as I post them below.  I will do a full write up on each kind I tested, and many others that I have read about, to give you as much info on prepaid cell phones as I can. Hopefully it will help you find more gold, and feel more comfortable being away from home and work for longer periods of time. 

Prepaid cell phones, and gold prospecting?

Yep, it's a new world out there. Don't miss out on the tools that can help you find more gold. 

Prepaid Cellular info links:

AT&T prepaid cellular phones

Alltel prepaid

Boost mobile, prepaid phones

Metro PCS prepaid

US Cellular Prepaid

T-Mobile prepaid cell phones

Liberty Wireless prepaid cell phones