Uses for old analog cell phones? [Telecom]

Is there anywhere in the US other than the Gulf of Mexico system that still provides analog signal? Not as far as I know.

R's, John

***** Moderator's Note *****

I don't know if they're actually used: the organization might just sell them to recyclers and buy phone cards with the money. Anyone out there know?

Bill Horne Temporary Moderator

(Please put [Telecom] at the end of your subject line, or I may never see your post! Thanks!)

I don't think there's any analog service left in the western world. Part of the reason is because those cell phones operated in the 800MHz band and now the trunked radio systems for public safety occupy those frequencies, with some encryption I might add.

There are requests for all cell phones by various charitable groups.

But can they still use analog phones and accessories? Even for parts, since the phones are so old are the parts obsolete?

My library had a soldiers' donation box for DVDs. I had a commercial videotape (VCR VHS) to donate, but they didn't want it because it was VHS, not a DVD. It seems VHS tapes and tape players are not wanted by anyone anymore. (And they tell me cassette audio tapes are equally obsolete, players are no longer made).

P.S. I keep forgetting about the [telecom]. Sorry about that.

This is true, but the encryption piece has nothing to do with public safety moving to 800 MHz. Over aggressive salespeople are pushing radio systems many municipalities simply do not need and convincing them they need to encrypt their communications because of terrorism. Of course encryption drives up the cost of the radio systems significantly which only means more commission for the sales team.

I'm an occasional writer for the radio hobby magazine "Monitoring Times". I also run a YahooGroup for central Texas radio monitoring. In my part of the world only the small Leander PD encrypts everything. I won't name him, but I heard from a Cedar Park (a city adjacent to Leander) police officer who says he's very hesitant to respond to a mutual aid call in Leander because he has no way of knowing what's going on. Information has to be passed from the Leander officer to his dispatch, to the Cedar Park dispatch, back to him. He can at least monitor Austin PD and the sheriff's department because they're in the clear.

I understand why agencies would want to encrypt some of their communication. I have no problem. But using encryption exclusively puts the citizens and emergency responders (police, fire, EMS) in the dark.

John

Nope. The current GSM and CDMA service in North America uses the same frequency bands they used to use for AMPS. The public safety bands are close by in the 800MHz range, but different.

R's, John

Sure. The AMPS system is still alive and kicking. US Cellular hasn't killed it yet on their networks. They will not activate any new analog service though, they only support existing analog customers. I'm not sure how much longer they will do that, but there are still a few analog users out there. I'd be surprised if there was more than 2 or 3 analog channels available on each site.

The address for email submissions has changed: if you submit posts via email, send them to telecomdigestmoderator atsign telecom-digest.org. If you submit posts via a newsreader or Google groups, you don't need to change anything.

I was looking at the Verizon coverage map and notice that the map is keyed for their digital CDMA network and analog coverage. Analog coverage (and I have no idea what Verizon handset still uses analog) appears to be small areas in places like the western border of Nebraska at the Colorado line, chunks of New Mexico, etc.

Their US coverage map can be found here:

The key shows red for digital coverage, pale orange for analog coverage, and white for no coverage. You can zoom in on specific areas.

Possibly their marketing department has never updated the map.

The address for email submissions has changed: if you submit posts via email, send them to telecomdigestmoderator atsign telecom-digest.org. If you submit posts via a newsreader or Google groups, you don't need to change anything.