system@questor.wimsey.bc.ca (system administrator) (03/06/91)
I recently revived my interest in VHF mobile radiotelephone service in
the USA and Canada.
It all started when I called the local telco (GTE's BCTel), and asked
about it. I was informed that it was still available, but the CRTTC
(Canadian Radio Television and Telecommunications Commission) had
granted them permission to discontinue the service (!). (It turns out
they can only discontinue it if there is something else to replace
it ... presumably "cellular".)
One thing led to another, and another, until I had much of the
information I was looking for.
IMTS service is still very popular in the USA. It is almost non-
existant in Canada, however, where most of the VHF mobile radio-
telephone service supplied by the telcos is the manually-compatible MTS.
There was one curious anomaly that popped up: It seems that
Saskatchewan Government Telephones (SaskTel) now offers a province-
wide Touch-Tone dial service (over the existing MTS channels), called
"AutoPhone". This service offers:
- Direct dial calling to and from your car
- Last number redial
- Call forward
- On-hook dialling
- Conventional user in most North American areas
The coverage map shows a photo of what could be any standard cellular
handset with keys and a digital display on the back, labelled
"AutoPhone, ST4100".
I wonder what these guys are up to? Is it a hybrid scheme integrating
two non-compatible signalling systems on the MTS frequencies?
Certainly appears to be.
If anyone can enlighten me, I would appreciate it.
On another, but somewhat related matter, I am still the proud owner of
a now obsolete Motorola TLD1100 IMTS radiotelephone. When I got rid
of my old car, I did not manage to remove the transmitter housing and
the control/battery cable assembly. Can anyone tell me where I might
be able to get these parts cheaply (read almost free)?
Finally ... is anyone aware of a hand-held VHF IMTS portable (either
full- or half-duplex)? There are lots of frequency-synthesized VHF
hand-helds available which can be programmed to work with the telco
VHF radiotelephone service in a manual, dial-out only mode. Are there
any that can receive and send either MTS or IMTS signalling?
Steve Pershing, System Administrator
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