That phone uses the old AMPS-800 cellular standard. It predates even the 2G CDMS/GSM stuff.
The last service in the US was discontinued in 2008, and has since been discontinued in much of the world.
It actually uses the same frequencies as modern LTE stuff, but it won't talk to any current towers. Turning it on is probably not the best idea from an interference perspective -- at this point it's basically nothing more than a mostly ineffective jammer.
AMPS was the best. Signal in the middle of nowhere, guaranteed. No one cared that it may have required a 5 foot trunk antenna, but you could always get a call out. It just worked, and it worked beautifully.
Also analog if I recall correctly.
We were on amps to the very end. Probably made one of the last calls too when they flipped the switch.
Now we're sitting here watching Ebay for Iridium phones at a less than new price but might as well get a new one at this point
Yup. Analog. Unencrypted. Good old fashioned FM voice.
Some congressman or other got caught doing something embarrassing when someone recorded his call on such a system.
That's why those two windows in the 800 MHz band are blocked on scanners sold in the US. All comms on those lines are long since encrypted, but the law remains on the books because some idiot in congress thought the best way to secure the signal is to outlaw receivers.
That phone uses the old AMPS-800 cellular standard. It predates even the 2G CDMS/GSM stuff.
The last service in the US was discontinued in 2008, and has since been discontinued in much of the world.
It actually uses the same frequencies as modern LTE stuff, but it won't talk to any current towers. Turning it on is probably not the best idea from an interference perspective -- at this point it's basically nothing more than a mostly ineffective jammer.
AMPS was the best. Signal in the middle of nowhere, guaranteed. No one cared that it may have required a 5 foot trunk antenna, but you could always get a call out. It just worked, and it worked beautifully.
Also analog if I recall correctly.
We were on amps to the very end. Probably made one of the last calls too when they flipped the switch.
Now we're sitting here watching Ebay for Iridium phones at a less than new price but might as well get a new one at this point
Yup. Analog. Unencrypted. Good old fashioned FM voice.
Some congressman or other got caught doing something embarrassing when someone recorded his call on such a system.
That's why those two windows in the 800 MHz band are blocked on scanners sold in the US. All comms on those lines are long since encrypted, but the law remains on the books because some idiot in congress thought the best way to secure the signal is to outlaw receivers.