Sportcat 200 Mods.

[moonbounce]

I have been looking to find a mod to recieve cell phones. All the mods i have read about say to cut a resistor just above the" u" the word uniden on the processor uc1147. Well my processor is a uc2408a, and there is no resistor above the "u" in uniden. Am I out of luck, or should I be looking elsewhere. I can get the cell phones on the image freq. TIA.

[DamnDirtyApe]

You won't find help here on that topic. I'm new at this but I believe it is illegal to modify a scanner to receive cellular communications.

[moonbounce]

It is not illegal in Canada. Sorry about the dual post, I didn't think the last one got posted.

[N_Jay]

Originally Posted by moonbounce

It is not illegal in Canada. Sorry about the dual post, I didn't think the last one got posted.

You do realize even with the mod you will not hear much? Right?

You will only hear analog transmission in the same area you are in.
There are fewer and fewer analog phones in service any more.
If they hand-off to a new cell, sector or channel you would have to rescann to find the conversation again.

A digital scanner will not help, as all the cellular formats are completle different than P25 digital.

A trunking scanner will not help as all the channel control formats are completley different than any of the trunking formats.

[DamnDirtyApe]

Originally Posted by moonbounce

It is not illegal in Canada. Sorry about the dual post, I didn't think the last one got posted.

<--- Verizon Wireless field tech

However this board is in the USA and it is illegal here. I'm sure there are boards in Canada that you can find the info from, as the poster above said. Most phones are digital now, GSM, CDMA, TDMA and some other formats anyway.

[moonbounce]

It was on this site that I got the original mod that isn't for my Sportcat 200. Anyway, I also have a pro 2006, modified for cell, and I hear more than enough cell phone comms to keep me busy, I really don't listen to them anymore as they are really boring, it is more out of curiosity, I was wondering why the cell phone mod for the sportcat 200 that I keep reading about was not for my sportcat.
Kinda makes you wonder why it is illegal to monitor this band in the USA when supposedly all cell comms are digital and are up in the 1900mhz range. Could it be that the cell phone itself is digital for the purposes of text messaging, cameras and all the other paraphernalia that comes with the phones these days. My understanding is that the voice part of the call can and is routed over digital frequencies when available, or when in a digital area, otherwise it is analog. Just my thoughts.

[N_Jay]

There are still a few areas where a digital phone will revert to analog, but even the phones built in the last few years don't have this feature any more.

If you are on a digital system/cell then all the communications, messeging and VOICE are digital.

There are still plenty of cell sites on 800 MHz as well as the 1900 MHz.

As for the "Why", well I guess this is one case where the USA is more of a "Nany State" than Canada.

Its probably bad law (my opinion), but it is still the law.

[moonbounce]

Thanks to all.
Just one last thought. When ever I go to any cell provider, they will show you on a map where you have to be in order to use the digital aspect of the phone. If you are not in these areas and "IF" you have a tri- band phone or a Bi- band phone then you will be able to access the digital network. If all you have is a digital phone, you are out of luck. As I was told by the phone company, " it just isn't cost worthy to make all areas digital.

[N_Jay]

Originally Posted by moonbounce

Thanks to all.
Just one last thought. When ever I go to any cell provider, they will show you on a map where you have to be in order to use the digital aspect of the phone. If you are not in these areas and "IF" you have a tri- band phone or a Bi- band phone then you will be able to access the digital network. If all you have is a digital phone, you are out of luck. As I was told by the phone company, " it just isn't cost worthy to make all areas digital.

Tri-band and Bi-Band are not good descriptions for cell phones.

You need to look at both the band and the mode.
You can have a 1, 2, 3 or 4 band GSM phone, but it will not have analog.

TDMA phones are typically 800 or 800/1900, and may or may not have a third modeof 800 analog.

CDMA phones are 800, 1900, or 800/1900. Some (fewer and fewer all the time) have analog on 800.

No iDEN phones have analog, and I don't think ang GSM have analog.

[DamnDirtyApe]

Originally Posted by N_Jay

Tri-band and Bi-Band are not good descriptions for cell phones.

You need to look at both the band and the mode.
You can have a 1, 2, 3 or 4 band GSM phone, but it will not have analog.

TDMA phones are typically 800 or 800/1900, and may or may not have a third modeof 800 analog.

CDMA phones are 800, 1900, or 800/1900. Some (fewer and fewer all the time) have analog on 800.

No iDEN phones have analog, and I don't think ang GSM have analog.

Dual-band is what the best reference to those phones would be. Tri-mode , dual band.

TDMA is digital, called Time division multiple access and does not have an analog mode. TDMA is available in both 800 and 1.9 flavors.

CDMA is Code division multiple access and has both 800 and 1.9, and you are correct there are fewer phones these days that even include analog on 800, Sprint PCS leads the phone lineup with the lack since their network is completely analog-free. Their roaming parters such as VZW do have analog and there are still many places in the USA which do not have coverage at all (and may never).

IDEN does not have analog and is a derivation of CDMA (in a very convoluted way) and GSM is strictly digital with flavors in 900/1800/1900 depending on what part of the world/USA and what provider you are on.

I work for VZW and I have been asked more than once about scanners and cell phone handsets. I once had a SC150 I think it was and it would get the images back before we even had digital on our base stations. We actively try to get customers off their old analog phones when we can for several reasons, battery life, base station capacity, overall operating costs and a superior call experience.

[TippeTrunker2]

Ok. Now, how do I get the digital buzzing out of all the speakers in my house everytime my GSM phone updates and just prior to getting a call?

[N_Jay]

Originally Posted by DamnDirtyApe

IDEN does not have analog and is a derivation of CDMA (in a very convoluted way)

iDEN is a convoluted derivation of GSM, not CDMA.

GSM and iDEN are TDMA formats (not to be confused with the specific format of digital cellular which goes by the common mane "TDMA")

iDEN today has no CDMA aspects.

[DamnDirtyApe]

I think we've all wandered a bit off-topic now and partly my fault. *sorry* *ducks*

[N_Jay]

Originally Posted by DamnDirtyApe

I think we've all wandered a bit off-topic now and partly my fault. *sorry* *ducks*

No problem, but maybe a few people learned a few things along the way.

[Al42]

Originally Posted by TippeTrunker2

Ok. Now, how do I get the digital buzzing out of all the speakers in my house everytime my GSM phone updates and just prior to getting a call?

Same way you get down off a duck - you don't.

Sorry about that , but if you have speakers that pick up your GSM phone the only thing you can do is change to shielded speakers. Or consider it a bonus that you get a pre-ring notification that you have an incoming call.

[N_Jay]

Originally Posted by TippeTrunker2

Ok. Now, how do I get the digital buzzing out of all the speakers in my house everytime my GSM phone updates and just prior to getting a call?

Shield what need to be sheilded, ground what needs to be grounded. Use ballenced lines where posible.

Have fun, and be glad you don't have an iDEN phone.