"Rob" wrote

I'd be happy to slow my Grumman Tiger momentarily down to freeway
speed if it meant I could have a live look at the RADAR picture.

The altitude is the primary problem. Sitting on the ground, you may be only
hitting a couple, or a few cell towers. One is going to be a lot stronger,
so it is a easy choice, which one is receiving your call. Once you are a
few thousand feet in the air, you could be hitting dozens of towers, and
they all have to vote and decide who is going to take your call. All of the
other towers you are hitting must also block out the exact frequency that
you are on, so nobody else can use it. That cuts down on the capabilities
of the system, in a hurry.

It has been said from others here, that the PCS phones that some are saying
are legal to use, seem to have very poor connection abilities, once you get
above a couple thousand feet. It seems like the antennae has a radiating
pattern that keeps the signal much closer to the ground.
--
Jim in NC