Cell Phones?

[cubevandam]

Just wondering.......I have a really nice older police scanner. Years ago I was able to hear cell phone calls in the 800-900.0000 freqs. Now it seems that many of those calls don't come up any longer. Did cell phones switch to a different freq. or something?

Thanks for any replies.......

Cube

 

[rckydenver]

Majority of all Cell phones now are all digital!!

 

[astrodanco]

Years ago I was able to hear cell phone calls in the 800-900.0000 freqs. Now it seems that many of those calls don't come up any longer. Did cell phones switch to a different freq. or something?

Yup, most new cellphones sold these days are digital (CDMA, TDMA, GSM, etc) only. Very few can do analog (AMPS or NAMPS). Many are also PCS phones using frequency bands somewhere up in the 1800 or 1900 Mhz area. Over on Verizon Wireless we still have our old LG VX4400 phones that will do 800Mhz analog either when a digital signal is unavailable or when specifically forced to do so (via setup or keypad function). Gotta have analog for those trips out into the backcountry. I should have kept my old three watt (!) Motorola bag phone.

 

[rckydenver]

Also, just to let know, (if you already did'nt know) even if you went out and bought a digital scanner you will not pick up the Cell phones, All scanner made today are Cellular Block...I have a Sprint pcs phone that uses 1.9 Ghz dig, 800Mhz dig, and 800Mhz analog....

 

[n8gni]

Also, just to let know, (if you already did'nt know) even if you went out and bought a digital scanner you will not pick up the Cell phones, All scanner made today are Cellular Block...I have a Sprint pcs phone that uses 1.9 Ghz dig, 800Mhz dig, and 800Mhz analog....

Not entirely true. ONLY scanners made in the us are cell blocked, maybe some other countries also. Most European and Asia countries are not cell blocked, not even Canada is blocked! This is not saying that the scanner digital schemes are the same as the cell phones.

 

[Starion]

My T-Mobile phone uses 1850–1910 MHz and 1930–1990 MHz for Global System for Mobile Communications in digital mode.

 

[Voyager]

Also, just to let know, (if you already did'nt know) even if you went out and bought a digital scanner you will not pick up the Cell phones, All scanner made today are Cellular Block...I have a Sprint pcs phone that uses 1.9 Ghz dig, 800Mhz dig, and 800Mhz analog....

Not entirely true. ONLY scanners made in the us are cell blocked, maybe some other countries also. Most European and Asia countries are not cell blocked, not even Canada is blocked! This is not saying that the scanner digital schemes are the same as the cell phones.

Actually, most scanners sold in Canada ARE blocked since they are made-for-USA models. Some are international models, though.

Joe M.

 

[millsdogg_69]

cell phones and cordless phones

no they arent i live in canada and i have a scanner made right hear in canada i hear ppl on cell phones and cordless phones just fine in the 800mhz range 902 and up u will find cell phones and cordless phonesd

 

[N_Jay]

Re: cell phones and cordless phones

no they arent i live in canada and i have a scanner made right hear in canada i hear ppl on cell phones and cordless phones just fine in the 800mhz range 902 and up u will find cell phones and cordless phonesd

What model scanner and what frequencies?

902 is cordless phones which are not blocked.

Are you sure it is teh cellular part of 800 you are listening to?

 

[nexus]

Okay children....

It doesn't matter if canadian scanners are cellular blocked or not. The simple fact is that most carriers in the U.S. are using digital modes in their phones and you're just not going to hear any voice in the spectrum anymore.

Once in a while you'll find some conversations but its nothing like it use to be 3 or 4 years ago. I have a European model Yupiteru MVT-7100 and it's 100kHz to 2000mHz no gaps. And in the US cellular bands there isn't jack to listen to anymore. It's almost nothing but digital signals. I might be able to pick up one or two conversations but it's just not worth even scanning any more.

 

[mikewazowski]

Take it from somebody in Canada, most scanners sold here are cellular blocked. They are the same scanners that are sold in the US because they are imported from the US.

Some shops do import scanners from Europe to get around cellular blocking but the majority of them are blocked.

As far as picking up an unblocked digital scanner to listen to calls, it won't work. Todays digital cellphones don't use the same digital technology that scanners can receive.

Doesn't matter too much as analog is quickly dying out. There's a lot less to listen to these days on cellular.

 

[KC4ZEX]

I am in rural Ky about 60 mi sw of Louisville there is still a lot of 800 analog here to listen to. Most digital systems revert to analog a lot of the time. The ones that don't you don't get much use of. Sprint and PCS are no good here. Nextel is marginal in some areas. All you need is one of the older scanners made before about 93. Alinco DJ580's Dual band hts work great.