Cell phones

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moonbounce

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Last Thursday I was in a Bell store getting a card for my cell phone. While waiting, I overheard a conversation between another customer and a Bell employee. The bell emplyee was telling the customer that "Bell has moved all cell phone activities into the digital system". I thought to my self hhhhmmmm, I was listening to cell phone conversations up until the week before.
Ehen I got home I turned the radio on and scanned the 880 to 894Mhz band ( 870mhz to 800mhz was already dead long time). The scanner ran for 3 days and nata not a peep.
Another era has ended. Wonder what they will do with that band now?

Correction on the band of 870 to 880 Mhz was dead along time ago
 
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kayn1n32008

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Bell Analog Cell Service

Yup i know Bell is in the process of eleminating analog cell service here in Alberta... My Party Chief used to have an ancient 3 watt bag phone, up untill it quit working about two month ago (in the bush and lo and be hold no signal one day). calling bell was pointless all they told us was that later this year all analog service was going to be ended. i survey in the oilfield and it was a good thing that i had my TELUS MiKE phone (as it was a week of screwing around with the 10-4 sanyo phone we got sent to us, some bs about issues switching the account from analog to digital service) or we would have been up sh*t creek with out a paddle (no way to get help in an emergency)

there was no notice from bell, the bag phone worked one morning and then puff nothing at noon the same day... and bell customerservice was useless, they could not provide any answers at all, besides that later in the year the analog service was being terminated.

i have been a telus (both PCS and MiKE) customer for many years. out here in alberta coverage is usually not an issue untill you get off the beaten track, usually just a phone is ok but where i work it is almost required equipment to have a higain external antenna, with a 3 watt amp.

Yup it is the end of an era, but it is just way too inefficient to provide analog service now a days, besides the fact that i donot think that there are any phones that retail nowadays that have analog anymore.
 

mikewazowski

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Wonder what they will do with that band now?

Uh, use it for cellphones?

Where do you think they've stuck all those new fangled digital cellphones that everybody is walking around with?

They've been happily coexisting beside the old analog channels for years now. Now that analog is gone, they can assimilate the rest of the band.
 

moonbounce

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Slicewizard, I did correct the frequency range in my original post, sorry for the error.

Mike you posted

Uh, use it for cellphones?

<< are you saying that the "new fangled" digital cellphones are operating in the same freq. range 770 to 894mhz? If so why do I not pick them up even if they are digital, I would hear something would I not?>>

Where do you think they've stuck all those new fangled digital cellphones that everybody is walking around with?

<<I thought those new digital phones were in the 1900mhz range, and higher>>

Thanks for the info I am slowly fading out of the scanning scene, so I don't keep up much.

They've been happily coexisting beside the old analog channels for years now. Now that analog is gone, they can assimilate the rest of the band.
 

davidmc36

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there was no notice from bell, the bag phone worked one morning and then puff nothing at noon the same day... and bell customerservice was useless, they could not provide any answers at all, besides that later in the year the analog service was being terminated.

I saw in a Wiki around 2 years ago that analog was going the way of the Dodo. Rogers took theirs down a long time ago. The US had a mandate that reqd them to keep it up until this past FEB. No such thing in Canada but Bell kept it going anyway until recently. I got a letter from Bell this past spring telling me my bag phone would soon be useless and offering a hardware credit to upgrade to digital. I just got a booster for the car and the house. Pumps the .5 watt up to 2.
 

vabiro

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To be honest, I am surprised that any AMPS (Analogue Cell Phone) was still working at all. Both Rogers and Bell had scheduled the turn-down of AMPS service ages ago.

There were some issues with CDPD devices in Western Canada that hadn't been transitioned to X1 or GPRS/EDGE. Many of these were in the public safety or oil patch, so they kept AMPS running longer than expected.

That discussion was going on in early 2007.

Cheers
Victor
 

moonbounce

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Uh, use it for cellphones?

Where do you think they've stuck all those new fangled digital cellphones that everybody is walking around with?

They've been happily coexisting beside the old analog channels for years now. Now that analog is gone, they can assimilate the rest of the band.

Mike

What band do you mean? There is absolutely nothing going on in the old 870 to 894MHZ band, it is completely dead. You are saying they coexisting beside the old analog channels, if you are talking about 870 to 894 wouldn't we hear digital noise, I don't hear anything?
 
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N_Jay

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What band do you mean? There is absolutely nothing going on in the old 870 to 894MHZ band, it is completely dead. You are saying they coexisting beside the old analog channels, if you are talking about 870 to 894 wouldn't we hear digital noise, I don't hear anything?
What are you listening with?

Remember, most of the newer digital cellular formats are much wider bandwidth than most receivers.
 

moonbounce

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What are you listening with? I was listening to them with an old Pro 2006.

Remember, most of the newer digital cellular formats are much wider bandwidth than most receivers.

Yes, but at what freq. 1900mhz? My point was they are completely gone from the 870 to 894mhz band that's all. TIA.
 
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N_Jay

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What are you listening with? I was listening to them with an old Pro 2006.

Remember, most of the newer digital cellular formats are much wider bandwidth than most receivers.

Yes, but at what freq. 1900mhz? My point was they are completely gone from the 870 to 894mhz band that's all. TIA.

Can you tell me what you expect a 1.25MHz wide CDMA carrier in the 870 MHz band sounds like on your Pro 2006?
 

mikewazowski

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Yes, but at what freq. 1900mhz? My point was they are completely gone from the 870 to 894mhz band that's all. TIA.

No, they are not completely gone from the 869-874Mhz band.

They are just digital now. Same modulation as what they are using on the 1900Mhz band.

Unfortunately, your scanner does not have a setting which will allow it to hear the very wide bandwidth used by the new fangled cellphones.

Just because you can't hear it, doesn't mean it's not there.

I have no problem hearing it but then again, I have a receiver designed for receiving such signals.
 
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N_Jay

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No, they are not completely gone from the 869-874Mhz band.

They are just digital now. Same modulation as what they are using on the 1900Mhz band.

Unfortunately, your scanner does not have a setting which will allow it to hear the very wide bandwidth used by the new fangled cellphones.

Just because you can't hear it, doesn't mean it's not there.

I have no problem hearing it but then again, I have a receiver designed for receiving such signals.

Mike, you took all the fun out of it. ;)
 

davidmc36

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To be honest, I am surprised that any AMPS (Analogue Cell Phone) was still working at all. Both Rogers and Bell had scheduled the turn-down of AMPS service ages ago.

There were some issues with CDPD devices in Western Canada that hadn't been transitioned to X1 or GPRS/EDGE. Many of these were in the public safety or oil patch, so they kept AMPS running longer than expected.

That discussion was going on in early 2007.

Cheers
Victor

My bag phone worked up until I canceled in August.
 

davidmc36

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If analog cellphone service is no longer provided, why are scanners and receivers still "cell blocked" in the 869 - 894 MHz. band?

They just dropped it this summer here in Ontario and NB. Not likely they will change the regs any time soon anyway. I suppose analog is still working in some places.
 
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N_Jay

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If analog cellphone service is no longer provided, why are scanners and receivers still "cell blocked" in the 869 - 894 MHz. band?

Because politicians do stupid stuff quickly and the rest takes time.

(When was the last time you heard of an obsolete law being taken off the books?)
 
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N_Jay

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They just dropped it this summer here in Ontario and NB. Not likely they will change the regs any time soon anyway. I suppose analog is still working in some places.

I don't think you guys ever had the law up there.

You just suffered because your too small a market for your own product so you are stuck with US laws.
 
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