wanttoknowaboutit
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Cell phone frequencies
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DaveNF2G
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There is no need. Cellphones in the other bands are encrypted, as the industry promised Congress that they would be in the original cell bands (a promise that was never kept).
jhooten
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There is no reason why those frequencies are still blocked. Analog Cell service died long ago. What we call cell phones today are not actually licensed as a voice telephone service, and operate on frequencies or modulation types few scanners cover.
doctordialtone
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Mission Accomplished!
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In more detail, the blocking of cell phones on scannersoccurred as a result of the ECPA (Electronic Privacy Act) of 1986. At that time, the only service was the 824-849 / 869-894 MHz clear analog service so that was what was blocked. Now those are digital and encrypted. Note that technically the other bands that came later that people loosely call "cell phone" bands are not termed such by the FCC, they are actually called things like "PCS", "AWS", "SMH", etc.
nd5y
Member
The carriers bought auctioned spectrum from the FCC in different market areas.
You can search the FCC database and find out which bands are used by which carriers where you live.
You can search the FCC database and find out which bands are used by which carriers where you live.
kayn1n32008
ØÆSØ Say it, say 'ENCRYPTION'
Or look at 600MHz to 3GHz in an SDR water fall. The 5, 10 and 20MHz LTE carriers are really obvious.
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n1das
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The block came as a last minute tack on to a telecommunications bill in 1992 that was sure to pass. ECPA'86 was already in effect but had largely backfired as it had a forbidden fruits effect.
My pet peeve about all of it is ECPA'86 and the cell block set dangerous and grave legal prededents that say banning radio receivers and regulating what people may listen to BASED SOLELY ON CONTENT is OK in a free society. It was part of a marketing ploy by the cell phone industry to help perpetuate an ILLUSION of privacy for uninformed customers. The last time I checked, radio transmissions are not guaranteed to be private (no implied privacy exists, nor is it reasonable for the party doing the transmitting to expect any) and the laws of Congress will not change the laws of physics.
Don't listen to anything I wouldn't listen to.
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n1das
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The only reason why the block still exists because Federal law still requires it for a scanning receiver to receive Part 15 certification.
My RF spectrum analyzer still has full "uncensored" frequency coverage...at least for now.
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MrThompson
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If you read up on the history you will find that Chuck Schumer was heavily involved in the ban.
jhooten
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wanttoknowaboutit
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Thank you for all the replies.
robertwbob
KE0WRU
that sums it up. Chuckie boy never did anything for us
The specific frequencies that were locked out of scanners were not just "cell frequencies", they were called the AMPS portion, and were the only portion allocated to cell phone use at the time, and the only analog cell frequenices (there were NO digital) and as such, those are the only frequencies they blocked out. When things switched over to digital, it was much harder if not impossible to decode so the only ban remained on the now deserted AMPS band plan/frequencies. One of the largest inconveniences to the dropping of those bands were all the AMPS analog OnStar systems in GM vehicles.
I remember in 1986 when I was installing Glenayre, Panasonic, Mitsubishi etc fixed in car cell phones, we were ripping out Motorola Pulsar II's etc.... MTS/IMTS VHF telephone, channels such as YJ, JK, etc listed here: Improved Mobile Telephone Service - Wikipedia and I can still remember dropping a Signetic S82S123 chip into the programmer to program each clients details... long before SIMS, we had NAM's, Number Assignment Modules.
Here is more info the AMPS band:
AMPS allocates frequency ranges within the 800 and 900 Megahertz (MHz) spectrum to cellular telephone. Each service provider can use half of the 824-849 MHz range for receiving signals from cellular phones and half the 869-894 MHz range for transmitting to cellular phones.
What is Advanced Mobile Phone Service (AMPS)? - Definition from WhatIs.com
Advanced Mobile Phone System - Wikipedia
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I have been wondering why there are no blocked frequencies (1 KHz to 2000 MHz continuous) with my Sdrplay RSP2 unit. The SDRUno software now includes scanning capability, will this now be an issue with the FCC?
I have the SRD Duo, great SDR's, you will have no problem, there is no longer a need to block out those portions as all the cellualr traffic has moved off those 800mhz frequencies and has gone to digital. There is no one there broadcasting in the clear that you could hear. They were very specific channelized frequencies with 30khz spacing.
The law is not pertaining to you having equipment tht receives those frequencies, it is spefically around "will not listen to celllular conversations"
In the early 2000's, technological change caused what no legislation could. The number of cell phones and the duration of calls had increased rapidly throughout the 90's as the cost of service decreased. Cellular systems soon were running short on available channels and also wanted to add new features like text-messaging, email, and internet access. The solution was to switch from analog FM to digital modes, which, coincidentally, could not be monitored on scanners. By 2004, approximately 80% of all cellular calls were digital. Virtually all calls are now digital except in a few rural areas. Cellular providers will no longer be required to even support analog cellular service in 2008.
Radio Scanner Guide - Part 9C: Cellular Phones and Scanner Radios
My first cellluar capable scanner was the Regency MX7000 made by AOR. I also had the 5000.. novelty at the times as they were great for Milair and I could get rid of my Bob Grove scanverter. Then I went to Pro-2004 etc.
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But what is the letter of the law for the radio manufacturers in the case of units like the Sdrplay?
The US was the only market where they blocked out frequencies. You could drive from Seatltle to Vancouver and buy the same radio marked "for export" with no gaps, but it was cheapter just to move a diode and restore it.
Here's a similar topic: https://forums.radioreference.com/t...lar-freq-range-on-scanners-still-needed.6453/
As a side note, that spectrum has been chopped and repurposed already probably more than once so thus no need to hardward restrict.... here's a link:
800 MHz Spectrum
Analog Service
Originally, FCC rules required all cellular licensees to provide analog service based on an analog standard referred to as Advanced Mobile Phone Service (AMPS). As of February 18, 2008, the requirement to provide analog service “sunset.” This means licensees are no longer required to provide analog service, but can continue to do so at their option.
Cellular licensees that stop providing analog service must either provide a revised cellular geographic service area showing (CGSA) or submit a certification stating that discontinuance of analog service will not result in any loss of cellular coverage throughout the affected CGSA.
800 MHz Cellular Service
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