Jack Winslade <Jack.Winslade@f666.n285.z1.fidonet.org> (07/21/90)
My cellular carrier here is US West, which gives good coverage in the city and to the east and northeast. However, there are a couple places just southwest of Omaha where their signal drops out and I get the ROAM light from Centel, the other carrier in the area. The other day, for the heck of it, I switched the unit over to the Centel system and tried to get through. I received a line busy tone after the expected delay. It was strange, since I knew the number I was calling was not busy. I tried using the normal US West service, and found the line clear to ring. I switched back and forth a few times and tried a couple of other numbers. Same thing. I'm puzzled as to why Centel would return LINE BUSY, as opposed to ATB or some type of voice intercept, for the 'foreign' carrier here in the area. Another thing that has me wondering -- the manual for the phone (an older Mitsubishi) states that for the way it is programmed, it will first try the assigned carrier, but if no channel is available it will attempt to place the call on an alternate carrier, if available. I wonder if any busy signals I have gotten during 'drive time' over the past few years have actually been due to this. Good Day! JSW [1:285/666@fidonet] DRBBS Technical BBS, Omaha (1:285/666) --- Through FidoNet gateway node 1:16/390 Jack.Winslade@f666.n285.z1.fidonet.org