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- 04-15-2005, 12:50 PM #1Tim923Guest
Pic:
http://www.usatoday.com/tech/product...ll-phone_x.htm
Does anyone remember how costly the minutes were on the early
commercial cell phones of the '80s, just out of curiosity?
› See More: 1980s cell phones - how costly were the minutes
- 04-15-2005, 03:08 PM #2BruceRGuest
Re: 1980s cell phones - how costly were the minutes
Oh yes, I remember the AMPS days well. My first cellphone was a $3500
car mounted unit with a shoebox size unit in the trunk and the control
head bolted to the center console. I also had a brick phone for a short
while before the MicroTAC (the first flip phone) was released. Back
then, in Los Angeles, the per minute price was 45 cents/min PLUS long
distance of 25 cents/min for LD calls on top of a monthly fee of $45
which included NO minutes. If you were roaming, which usually meant
anywhere outside of the metro area, the price was either 95 cents/min
for a different carrier or "only" 69 cents/min if it was your same
carrier PLUS 25 cents/min long distance for both incoming and outgoing
calls.
Cellphones were for those who had a true business use and a company
willing to foot the bill. They were considered quite a status symbol and
you knew if a car had one from the little pigtail antenna mounted on the
rear window. Wannabes started installing just the stick-on antennas so
people would think they were cool/wealthy.
Given the ravages of inflation over the last 20 years, those prices
would be almost double in today's dollars. Sure makes today's prices
look good!
Prior to AMPS (Advanced Mobile Phone Service) which was the first
cellular system, there was MPS which had just 11 frequencies available.
The phone would scan for an available frequency and try to grab one when
you wanted to make a call. Each frequency handled one call at a time -
that's right, a grand total of 11 people (if all the frequencies were
active) could make a mobile call in a given market at one time!
From:Tim923
[email protected]
> Pic:
> http://www.usatoday.com/tech/product...ll-phone_x.htm
>
> Does anyone remember how costly the minutes were on the early
> commercial cell phones of the '80s, just out of curiosity?
- 04-15-2005, 05:53 PM #3Tim923Guest
Re: 1980s cell phones - how costly were the minutes
>Oh yes, I remember the AMPS days well. My first cellphone was a $3500
Wow, hilarious. Did the brick phone work well? Could you walk with
it all over the city without it going in and out? How well did it
work on trips across the states and thru rural areas?
- 04-15-2005, 06:11 PM #4Tim923Guest
Re: 1980s cell phones - how costly were the minutes
>Oh yes, I remember the AMPS days well. My first cellphone was a $3500
Just out of curiosity, would one of those "brick" Motorolas from '84
still work today if one paid for a plan?
- 04-15-2005, 06:52 PM #5BruceRGuest
Re: 1980s cell phones - how costly were the minutes
The brick phone worked so well that, believe it or not, they're still in
demand today (just check ebay!). The best thing about them was that you
could use them to hammer nails and still get calls. They were quite the
status symbol in their time and you could proudly make it the
centerpiece of your table at a restaurant. Service was pretty good given
the analog system it worked on. I pretty much limited my use to the
Honolulu business districts where using a car just wasn't necessary most
of the time.
When in LA, I used my car phone. In airports, calling cards from
payphones were the order of the day as cellphones were just too costly
to use when a landline option was handy. Also, anybody with a Radio
Shack scanner could listen to both sides of a cell call so security was
non-existent.
When the MicroTAC "Communicator" came out, I was the first to jump on
it and replaced my carphone with a cradle for the flip phone. Everybody
thought that was the coolest thing on earth and that too became THE
fashion accessory. Black was the "Executive" model color and all others,
including mine, were charcoal. The original MicroTACs came with a now
unheard of 3 year warranty.
Then came the StarTAC and again, I was all over it like a new suit - I
just always have to have the smallest phone available. I remember
getting a call at a charity dinner I was attending and having everyone
gather around to check out my new phone. For 10 seconds I felt like
Bond - James Bond. It was an unexpected result to say the least.
You know the rest of the story - the v60/v60i, then the v600 and now
the Razr which is the first phone I've been happy with since giving up
the StarTAC.
From:Tim923
[email protected]
>> Oh yes, I remember the AMPS days well. My first cellphone was a $3500
>
> Wow, hilarious. Did the brick phone work well? Could you walk with
> it all over the city without it going in and out? How well did it
> work on trips across the states and thru rural areas?
- 04-15-2005, 06:55 PM #6BruceRGuest
Re: 1980s cell phones - how costly were the minutes
You could still use it with carriers that support the old analog service
such as Verizon, Cingular and other original 800 MHz licensees. Not
sure, but I think analog will be gone within a few years.
From:Tim923
[email protected]
>> Oh yes, I remember the AMPS days well. My first cellphone was a $3500
>
> Just out of curiosity, would one of those "brick" Motorolas from '84
> still work today if one paid for a plan?
- 04-15-2005, 07:34 PM #7Tim923Guest
Re: 1980s cell phones - how costly were the minutes
>You could still use it with carriers that support the old analog service
>such as Verizon, Cingular and other original 800 MHz licensees. Not
>sure, but I think analog will be gone within a few years.
Did anyone in 1984 guess how cheap and widespread cell phones would be
in 2005? Not even certain sci-fi movies from the '80s and early '90s
seemed to guess it.
- 04-15-2005, 09:03 PM #8BruceRGuest
Re: 1980s cell phones - how costly were the minutes
There was already talk of digital with discussions about CDMA vs TDMA
and how that would help meet the demand but I don't think anyone guessed
that they would become as pervasive as they have or that they would be
cheap enough to give to kids. For a company to give somebody a
cellphone meant that they were a REALLY valuable and important person -
sort of like a key to the executive washroom (a perk that is totally
gone now).
From:Tim923
[email protected]
>> You could still use it with carriers that support the old analog
>> service such as Verizon, Cingular and other original 800 MHz
>> licensees. Not sure, but I think analog will be gone within a few
>> years.
>
> Did anyone in 1984 guess how cheap and widespread cell phones would be
> in 2005? Not even certain sci-fi movies from the '80s and early '90s
> seemed to guess it.
- 04-16-2005, 06:22 PM #9CharlesHGuest
Re: 1980s cell phones - how costly were the minutes
Tim923 wrote:
>>Oh yes, I remember the AMPS days well. My first cellphone was a $3500
>
> Just out of curiosity, would one of those "brick" Motorolas from '84
> still work today if one paid for a plan?
I don't think anyone will activate an analog-only phone anymore. OK,
maybe possibly in Alaska. If you have one from years back still
activated, it will still work fine. I retired my Motorola 550 flip just
last year.
- 04-18-2005, 07:24 AM #10Craven MoreheadGuest
Re: 1980s cell phones - how costly were the minutes
"BruceR" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
> Oh yes, I remember the AMPS days well. My first cellphone was a $3500
>
snip
> Prior to AMPS (Advanced Mobile Phone Service) which was the first
> cellular system, there was MPS which had just 11 frequencies available.
That was IMTS, not MPS. It stood for "Improved Mobile Telephone System",
and operated in the VHF frequency range - 152 - 154 MHz.
Previous to IMTS, was MTS, a 11 channel system that did not scan for an
available channel. The user had to select a unused frequency.
> The phone would scan for an available frequency and try to grab one when
> you wanted to make a call. Each frequency handled one call at a time -
> that's right, a grand total of 11 people (if all the frequencies were
> active) could make a mobile call in a given market at one time!
>
>
>
> From:Tim923
> [email protected]
>
> > Pic:
> >
http://www.usatoday.com/tech/product...ll-phone_x.htm
> >
> > Does anyone remember how costly the minutes were on the early
> > commercial cell phones of the '80s, just out of curiosity?
>
>
- 04-18-2005, 10:44 AM #11Guest
Re: 1980s cell phones - how costly were the minutes
On Fri, 15 Apr 2005 21:34:33 -0400, Tim923 <[email protected]> wrote:
>Did anyone in 1984 guess how cheap and widespread cell phones would be
>in 2005? Not even certain sci-fi movies from the '80s and early '90s
>seemed to guess it.
Hell's Bells, Heinlein wrote about saddlephones (BETWEEN PLANETS) and implanted
phones (PUPPET MASTERS) in the '50's.
- 04-18-2005, 01:11 PM #12
I remember when everybody call wireless phones mobile phones. I heard the term cell phone from time to time. It was not until 96 did I hear the term cell phone all the time. The big 1 Watt brick phones or 3 watt car phones are probably becoming a collectors item.
Back in the day of AMPS you could get 60-70 callers on one tower. Today in digital 500-1200 callers per tower depending on digital tech. and ammount of wireless spectrum in MHz.The best provider gives you a plan with the minutes you need at the right price. The coverage that you need to make calls all the time.
- 04-18-2005, 07:39 PM #13JerGuest
Re: 1980s cell phones - how costly were the minutes
Craven Morehead wrote:
> "BruceR" <[email protected]> wrote in message
> news:[email protected]...
>
>>Oh yes, I remember the AMPS days well. My first cellphone was a $3500
>>
>
> snip
>
>
>
>> Prior to AMPS (Advanced Mobile Phone Service) which was the first
>>cellular system, there was MPS which had just 11 frequencies available.
>
>
> That was IMTS, not MPS. It stood for "Improved Mobile Telephone System",
> and operated in the VHF frequency range - 152 - 154 MHz.
>
> Previous to IMTS, was MTS, a 11 channel system that did not scan for an
> available channel. The user had to select a unused frequency.
>
RCC carriers were a tad cheaper than IMTS, but $.60 - $2.00/min wasn't
out of the realm of possibilities, depending on whether it was VHF or
UHF, local or roaming, long distance charges were additional.
IIRC, originally, I had a GlobalStar suitcase VHF Radio Common Carrier
(RCC operator assisted w/voice ID) 10-watt 7-ch. unit (only 5 ch
worked), then a Moto TLD-1100 RCC (75 lb. trunk mount) on 20-watt 13-ch.
VHF and roamed all over the U.S. with it. Then MTS happened, so I
upgraded the VHF to MTS, and upgraded it again to IMTS, and added
another IMTS for 7-ch. UHF (local only) happily dialing all my own
calls. Then, alternators and batteries became a regular service item.
I augemented those two with a Moto PT-400 2-ch. 10-watt RCC VHF portable
w/charger on my old service - special saddle bag for horse travel on the
north farm. Cellular happened in '85, so an Oki 401R AMPS
(non-extended) replaced both TLD-1100s shedding 150 lbs. of trunk weight
and I had the helper shocks removed and retired the alternator
technician. I also retired the PT-400 and got a Moto DynaTAC 8000X
brick. Then TDMA, and now GSM. Woo Woo!!
All mobile phones back then had standard desk-type handsets with a
button in the middle to operate the transmitter when necessary. On RCC,
you simply punched each channel button listening to be sure the channel
was open (no conversation), and if it was clear you pressed the handset
button (locking the xmitter on for full-duplex) and hollered "Operator?"
If you were in-range and an operator was available, they answered with
their system ID and asked for yours. You say your number and the number
you needed dialed, they opened a manual billing ticket and dialed the
number. Some would even monitor your call to be sure you didn't use any
bad words, and would tear down the connection and close the ticket when
you said your ID again and the word "Clear" - yes, they had to monitor
to know when you were finished. At that point, they'd acknowledge the
end of the call, the radio signal would drop out and open-channel noise
(no squelch) would be heard. Jamming your handset back into the
spring-loaded cradle reset your phone to idle receive-ready mode.
Inbound calls were also operator-assisted, someone would call a special
number for the RCC provider, the operator would answer, take the mobile
number requested, and would try to find you on their system by dialing
your 4-digit number. When your phone rang, you yanked the handset out,
pressed the handset button to lock it in 'talk' mode (full-duplex), and
ending the call was the same riff-raff. If your caller didn't know
where you were, they could call around to every RCC system in the
country trying to locate the one you were in range with. If they were
lucky...
Virtually all mobile phones back then used really loud FSK (Frequency
Shift Keying) audio tones to control all radio signalling and control
functions, and listening the that crap could drive you nuts. If you
were desperate to make a call, you simply monitored someone elses call
until they were "clear" and you try to seize the channel again before
someone else did. Sometimes you bumped heads with someone and the
operator had to sort it out. RCC providers offered messaging services
which amounted to the predecessor of Post-it Notes pasted to the heel of
the operator's shoe, assuming she didn't lose it in on her pee break.
AFAIK, all RCC carriers also offered operator-assisted tone-n-voice
paging services, so they stayed busy with all those stick notes. This
concludes our trip on Nostalgia Avenue. If you feel you've missed
anything along the way, just call 8311 and leave a sticky. I'll return
your call as soon as I figure out what a Send button is.
--
jer
email reply - I am not a 'ten'
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