1834 lines
74 KiB
Plaintext
1834 lines
74 KiB
Plaintext
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Here is another issue of private line! Thanks again.
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THIS IS THE TEXT OF PRIVATE LINE NUMBER 5 -- VOLUME 2, NO. 1
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This issue contains four photographs and 16 illustrations,
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including some nice exploded diagrams of COCOTS. Send me $5.00 if
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you want the hardcopy version. My address is:
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private line
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5150 Fair Oaks Blvd. #101-348
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Carmichael, CA 95608
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$24 a year for 6 issues. Price goes to $27 on July 1, 1995.
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Mexican and Canadian subscriptions are $31 and overseas
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subscribers have to pay $44 :(
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I. Editorial Page
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II. Updates and Corrections
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III. Cell Phone Basics, Part 1
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IV. The Roseville Telephone Museum
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V. Telecom Related Magazines and Newsletters
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I. EDITORIAL PAGE
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1. Damien Thorn has agreed to be the technical editor for
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private line. Damien has written for Tap and 2600. He now writes
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a great column called Full Duplex Communications for Nuts and
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Volts. Damien brings more than 15 years of practical, hands on
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hacking experience to private line. Let me explain a little about
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what he'll be doing for the magazine and what it means to you.
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2. Damien won't be checking every technical fact in my
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writing or in this magazine, any more than I will check on his
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writing. Instead, he'll help me with questions that I can't
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answer. I can't tell you, for example, which cell phones are the
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easiest to work on and why. He can. I can tell you in general
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about cell phone theory and operation but I can't tell you much
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about real field experiences. He can. His advice will help me make
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fewer mistakes and keep private line more interesting and more
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practically grounded. In addition, he's also open to the idea of
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writing a column on a regular basis. I am very happy that he has
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signed on.
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3. What will this magazine cover in the future? I intend to
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write general pieces about specific subjects. An issue on PBX's,
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one on outside plant equipment, another on business telecom
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equipment and so on. I will not write any specific hacking pieces
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myself. That's for any reader of the magazine to do. I could put
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two months of effort into a piece about hacking ROLMs but what
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good would that do someone who doesn't know about PBX operation to
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begin with? Someone that doesn't know a port from a pier? Reader
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submitted articles may be as specific as you like. But I'll keep
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my pages and my articles oriented toward beginners.
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4. Today is January 1, 1995. The start of a new year. It's
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odd to think that these words won't be read until March. In
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reality, my deadline is only three or four weeks before the cover
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date. But you have to get each page done when you can. It's one of
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many oddities that I am dealing with for the first time. Magazine
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distribution is certainly another. A newssrack for a small
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magazine is like a consignment stand. Practically every magazine
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will be bought the real question is how many. You're doing well
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if 25% of your magazines go unsold. I explained the costs of
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producing private line last issue but I didn't figure in the cost
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of returns. Instead of $1.18 a copy, therefore, the true cost is
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more like $1.47. Quite a difference. On the positive side, it
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looks like I'll have at least 1200 copies printed up of this issue
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instead of 600 for the last. That will lower the per unit cost
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quite a bit. On the other hand, the better cover for this issue
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will make costs go up. And first class mail rates have also gone
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up. Oh, well. It feels like I am reinventing the wheel in learning
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all these things. When I don't have the time to learn them to
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begin with. What's a solution?
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5. Well, the solution might be easy if I had a great deal of
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money. I could hire staff and advertising people. Then I'd go back
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to writing and research. But I don't have the money nor would I
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really want to change the character of the magazine by hiring a
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paid staff. Perhaps a better idea might be to organize a loosely
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structured publishing house for alternative technical magazines.
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Six or seven 'zines using the same printer to lower costs, sharing
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the same advertiser list and promoting each other's magazines with
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free ads in each others publications. Nothing too formal or
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involved. More like an association. No dues or fees. We could all
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keep in touch with fax machines, the mail and the internet. A
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quick check of Factsheet5 reveals several technologically oriented
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magazines: 2600, 2600 Connection, 3W, Short Circuit and
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Historically Brewed. Throw in all the electronic zines on the net
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that don't go into hardcopy and you've got quite a few people who
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aren't in the mainstream writing about tech. I don't have the time
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to explore this right now but feel free to write if you have any
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thoughts along this line. Lastly, I want to thank all my new
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readers, especially those subscribers who signed up without seeing
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a copy of private line first. That takes faith. In return, I'll
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try to put out the best magazine I can, something with articles
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you'll be interested in. The mailbox and the electronic door are
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always open . . .
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Tom Farley
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Carmichael, California
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privateline@delphi.com
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II. UPDATES AND CORRECTIONS
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6. The internet patent connection got turned off for a few
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weeks in January. Try it again if you were disappointed before.
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Internet Multicasting Service and the Patent and Trademark Office
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were apparently involved in a turf war, with the PTO doing the
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instigating. There's hope, though, for the future. Bruce Lehman,
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commissioner of the Patent Office, told the IEEE Spectrum that his
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agency intends to put the entire patent collection online by the
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end of the decade. Hot damn. That means the text of all patents
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dating back to 1790. Wouldn't it be possible, however, to get text
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and illustrations at a web site? The patents are simple black and
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white line drawings. Speaking of web sites, I didn't include the
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PTO's in last issue. It is: http://www.uspto.gov/
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7. Def Con III will be held at the Tropicana Hotel in Las
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Vegas on August 4th, 5th, and 6th. Speakers will talk on the
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fifth and sixth. Get there. The Tropicana Hotel is located at 3801
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Las Vegas Blvd. South, Las Vegas, Nevada, 89109. Rooms are $65 for
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a single or a double Monday through Thursday. Rates climb to $90
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for a single or double from Friday to Sunday. Ask for the Def Con
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III convention to get those rates when you call. The Tropicana is
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at (800) 4689494 or (702) 7392448 (Fax). Yes, Dark Tangent knows
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that those rates are expensive. That's why he encourages everyone
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to keep track of developments as the con draws near. Keep up on
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details and you'll find cheaper motels, people to drive with or
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people to crash with. The ftp site is: ftp.fc.net /pub/defcon.
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Subscribe to the mailing list by sending email to the following:
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majordomo@fc.net. Put the following statement in the body of your
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message: subscribe dcannounce. This will put you on the mailing
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list and you will receive updated information on a regular basis.
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DT's voice mail is 07008264368 from a phone with AT&T LD. His
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email address is dtangent@defcon.org. There's also a bulletin
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board at Alliance Communications +1 612251 2511. Or write him at
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2709 E. Madison #102, Seattle, WA, 98112. That will also get you
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on a list. I do not want any excuses from any of you for not going.
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You have the whole spring and summer to save up. You have months
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and months to schedule an entire week off. Which is what you'll
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need to really enjoy yourself. And you will enjoy yourself. I
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won't be speaking but I will ask Dark Tangent about setting aside
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an hour or two for telephone talk. Anyone interested in that could
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just show up at a certain place at a certain time. No big deal. I
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wrote at length about Def Con II in private line #3. Please,
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please try to get there. I'll be writing a little more on this as
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the con draws near.
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8. I just got a copy of Public Communications Magazine. It's
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the trade magazine that covers customer coin operated telephones
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most. A careful reading clears up many mysteries surrounding the
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wiley COCOT. Even the ads are interesting. The inside cover of the
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November issue, for example, has a Mars Electronic International
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ad that shows their MS16 electronic coin validator. It's an
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electronic beastie that checks each coin deposited into a COCOT.
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While these units were originally designed to guard against fraud,
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some telcos have been installing them in an apparent attempt to
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prevent red boxing. Unlike a COCOT, a telco payphone doesn't check
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every coin deposited during a conversation. It usually just checks
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the initial deposit. It can't do much more since it's just a dumb
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box of relays. No memory or intelligence. It sends tones to the
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central office to indicate a coin deposit. A red box simulates
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those tones. A coin validator can help stop this if added to a
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telco payphone. There are other ways for a telco to stop red
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boxing. One of my readers reports that GTE in some parts of the
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midwest has gone away from ACTS or automated coin toll service.
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They're now routing 1+ calls to the operator. You can still try
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boxing but you lose your anonymity. Public Communications also
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mentions some other interesting things. Ever notice the housing on
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these COCOTs? They look like a telco brand (W.E.) but cheaper?
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Quadram Telecom probably makes them. And who supplies the boards
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for these so called smart phones? The boards that let the COCOT
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total coins, rate calls and provide an ACTS like voice to tell you
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how much they are ripping you off for? Leading suppliers are
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Protel, maker of the BB and 2000 board, Intellistar, Elcotel and
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Intellicall. These fit on a chassis as illustrated on page 48.
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And the locking mechanisms? The most sophisticated is from Medeco
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High Security Locks, Inc. It's part of a whole system of key
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management. Check out the March 7, 1994 issue of Design News for
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more information on this coin box lock. Look for this system to
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come into wider use in the future.
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9. Speaking of the future, the telephone industry is going
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nuts over debit cards. And I mean nuts. Even Teleconnect is going
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overboard. Public Communications and Telecard World are fueling
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the fire but it is the private payphone owner and the card seller
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that will shove these things into our lives. What's worse is the
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talk of putting debit card payphones in a neighborhood near you.
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No coins accepted, thank you. Coinless phones were limited before
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to airports, train stations or highway rest stops. Places where
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you had lots of other phones to choose from or no other phones at
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all. One example is Ameritech's LobbyLine indoor coin phone. You
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call with a calling card or debit card. Or you call collect or
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bill to a third party. The present debit phones, though, are being
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discussed as a replacement to the omnipresent COCOT. The reason?
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Pure greed. Protel's president, Jerry Yachabach, says that more
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than 70% of the cost of maintaining payphones is due to coin
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related functions. He reasons that the industry should find a
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substitute for coins. Great. His comments go along with pictures
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of two expensive looking credit card phones. No doubt Protel will
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make big bucks by selling these things. And what about the rest
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of the trade? What do they think? Eric Stebel, Managing Editor of
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Public Communications, nearly drools when he writes "And talk
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about vandalism and theft switching to a debit card payphone
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would virtually eliminate that. When was the last time you heard
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of someone blowing up a payphone just for the fun of it? No, most
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vandals have an ulterior motive to get to your payphone's coin
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box. And just think of the float money your company could make off
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of lost or unused cards. Heck, some people would even buy your
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debit cards as a collectible and never use them." Hey, Eric, float
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this! Let's go over some of these terms.
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10. The most common form of debit card is the prepaid long
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distance calling card. Or talk and toss. Industry types call it
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centralized debit card technology. You pay for a certain amount of
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long distance in advance at a retail store. In return you get a
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card. Such as the "AT&T PrePaid Calling Card" available at Office
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Depot. It has an 800 number and a calling card number on the back.
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The pictures on the front, in part, drive collector mania. These
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can be anything from Satan to Santa. Let's say you want to call
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Germany. You call a number like 1800357 PAID. Your call is routed
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to a PBX somewhere. Industry favorites for prepaid cards are the
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NACT LCX 120C from National Applied Computer Technologies and the
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Harris Digital Systems 20/20 switch. Harris has an entire system
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called Protocall to handle prepaid debit cards. Their 20/20 switch
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is called a NGC for some strange reason when it's part of
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Protocall. In any case, the card seller's switch gets your call.
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What then? Next step is to enter the calling card number. Could be
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anything. Like 533 442 5968. The automated attendant tells you the
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value on your card. It then tells you to dial your number. Your
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call now goes out from the PBX to the Federal Republic. The robot
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comes back on after your call to tell you how much you have left
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on your card. You're now free to make another call or hang up.
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It's a pretty neat system and you can't beat the anonymity when
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you're calling from a payphone. The Tonya Harding Gang did have
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their toss and talk card calls monitored. But that's because the
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FBI was already watching.
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11. What are the economics of all this? Here's a quotation
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from December's Teleconnect. This article had the happy title
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"Cash Cow": "Imagine you have a 100 store chain. You sell one
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$20 prepaid calling card per day per store. You bring in $60,000
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a month. ($3,000 cards). You sell calls for 35 cents a minute.
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Your call cost is 24 cents a minute. 15% of the cards are not
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active (breakage). Your first month's operating margin is
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$24,000. Your first year's operating margin is $486,300. Where
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does the 24 cents a minute come from? You pay seven cents a
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minute for inbound 800 calls. Eight cents a minute for calls
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going out. Staff and space two cents. Equipment is five cents.
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Printing of cards is half a cent. Dedicated T1s [the leased line
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running from the telephone company to the switch] are one and a
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half cents a minute. The name of the game is volume. Without
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volume you can't get your prices down enough." Well, you know that
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AT&T can get costs down. Yet they charge 60 cents a minute for a
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call within the United States on their card. Much of that must go
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to places like Office Depot that actually sell the card. But it's
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still an expensive service. Remember, too, that a one minute and
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one second call will get you dinged for two minutes. The other
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kind of debit card is one with a magnetic stripe. You swipe these
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in the reader of a debit card payphone. Many countries have this
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service. Some telcos are playing with it now. Want to call home
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from the Quickie Mart? Buy a card from the store or go to a
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vending machine. Just like a BART card. Calls go directly to their
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destination once the payphone approves the card. The Public
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Utilities Commission in each state will probably require that 911,
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800 numbers and 10X codes can be dialed without a card. Whether
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the COCOT actually allows those calls is another story. You may
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also hear about a debit card with an integrated circuit built in.
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This is chip technology. The chip itself maintains the account
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balance of the card. VISA and Mastercard are coming out with these
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soon. You'll be able to make small transactions of all sorts,
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including phone calls. I think, though, that calling them debit
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cards is wrong. Chip cards are based on credit and not on money
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put up front. That makes them a credit card and not a debit card.
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12. I will be printing letters in upcoming issues. Tell me if
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you don't want your name printed. I want to welcome
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CONSUMERTRONICS aboard as private line's first paid advertiser.
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I've heard many good things about John Williams' company and I am
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happy to have them along. Speaking of advertising, my rates are
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now $100 for a full page, $50.00 for a half and $25.00 for a
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quarter. See what you missed by not signing on earlier? All
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subscribers get free classified ads of twenty five words or less.
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Thanks again to all my new subscribers!. I now have 39 paid
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subscriptions! Life is good. . .
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III CELLULAR TELEPHONE BASICS, PART 1 -- BY TOM FARLEY
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13. Welcome to the world of cellular telephony. It's a
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fascinating place. Used phones prices are falling rapidly. It's
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time to experiment or at least to read up. Let's look at the big
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picture first. Telephone over radio is nothing special or unusual.
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Long distance radio telephony dates back to at least 1927, with
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the introduction of overseas service on short wave between the
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United States and Great Britain. AT&T and the British Postal
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Office put that project on the air after four years of
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experimenting. They expanded it later to communicate with Canada,
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Australia, South Africa, Egypt and Kenya as well as ships at sea.
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This service had fourteen dedicated channels or frequencies
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eventually assigned to it. The main transmitter was at Rugby,
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England. [1] Cables and satellites have replaced radio telephone
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for nearly all long distance use but many ships still use it.
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Radio amateurs on short wave still handle noncommercial telephone
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calls over short wave. These patches often handle emergency
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traffic.
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14. Local, noncommercial radio telephony has also been going
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on for years, possibly since the 1950's. Enterprising radio
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amateurs wired simple telephone interfaces to their base stations
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long before any direct connection to Bell System equipment was
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allowed. These home built kits preceded today's sophisticated
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autopatches. An autopatch is, essentially, a remotely controlled
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phone. You activate and control one from afar with your radio's
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DTMF keypad. This could be a 6 meter, 2 meter, 70 cm or even a 1.2
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GHz handheld or car mounted rig. You can then make calls from
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anywhere that you can key up the autopatch.
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15. Car mounted mobile telephones carried out local
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commercial traffic for decades. Companies like Motorola still make
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them. It's an excellent choice for areas not well served by
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cellular. Cellular service may cover 90% of urban areas, but it
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only reaches 30% to 40% of the geographical area of America. Many
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people refer to mobile telephone by just saying IMTS, which stands
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for Improved Mobile Telephone System. It's the newest form of
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mobile radio. [2] Most IMTS equipment operates in the UHF band. A
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centrally located transmitter and receiver serves a wide area with
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a relatively few frequencies and users. It's the same concept that
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taxi fleets and tow truck companies use to dispatch vehicles. Most
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areas allow you to dial out directly from your car, however, there
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are still places where the operator comes up on frequency to place
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the call for you. [3] A single customer could drive 25 miles or
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more from the transmitter, however, only one person at a time
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could use that channel.
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16. This limited availability of frequencies and their
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inefficient use were two main reasons for cellular's development.
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The breakup of the Bell System in 1984 allowed real cellular
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development to begin. The key to the system is the concept of
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frequency reuse as depicted in the upper right. Let's look at
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that as well as some basic cell phone theory.
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II Basic Theory and Background
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17. Cell phone theory is simple. Executing that theory is
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extremely complex. Each cell site has a base station with a
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computerized 800 megahertz transceiver and an antenna. This radio
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equipment provides coverage for an area that's usually from two to
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ten miles in radius. Even smaller cell sites cover tunnels,
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subways and specific roadways. The amount of area depends on
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topography, population, and traffic. The MTSO decides which cell
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and which frequencies in that cell should carry your call. How
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does it do that?
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18. Your telephone's signal strength declines or
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increases as you move toward or away from a tower. The nearest
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base station constantly reports this signal strength to the MTSO.
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The mobile switch transfers your call to another cell when your
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signal level drops to a predetermined point. This handoff usually
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occurs automatically when the switch determines that another
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cell's transmitter can provide a better, stronger connection. You
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may drive fifty miles, use 8 different cells and never once
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realize that your call has been transferred. Let's look at some
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basics of this amazing technology.
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19. The FCC allocates frequency space in the United States
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for many services. Some of these assignments may be coordinated
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with the International Telecommunications Union but many are not.
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Much debate and discussion over many years placed cellular
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frequencies in the 800 megahertz band. The FCC also issues the
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necessary operating licenses to the different cellular providers.
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Cellular development began in earnest after the Bell System
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breakup in 1984. The United States decided to license two carriers
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in each geographical area. One license went automatically to the
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local exchange carriers. The LECs. The other went to an
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individual, a company or a group of investors who met a long list
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of requirements and who properly petitioned the FCC. Cellular
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parlance calls these LECs wireline carriers. Each company in each
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area took half the spectrum available. What's called the "A Band"
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and the "B Band." There's no real advantage in having either one.
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The nonwireline carriers usually got the A Band and the wireline
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carriers got the B band. Depending on the technology used,
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however, one carrier might provide three times the connections a
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competitor does with the same amount of spectrum.
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20. Cell phone frequencies start at 824.04 MHz and end
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at 893.7 MHz. [4] That's 69.66 megahertz worth of radio frequency
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spectrum. Quite a chunk. By comparison, the AM broadcast band
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takes up only 1.17 megahertz of space. This band, however,
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provides only 107 frequencies to broadcast on. Cellular may
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provide thousands of frequencies to carry conversations and data.
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This large number of frequencies and the large channel width
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required for each channel account for the large amount of spectrum
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space. For example, AT&T's Advanced Mobile Phone Service or AMPS
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uses 832 channels that are 30 kHz wide. It's the most common
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system right now. AMPS, though, has been replaced with NAMPS in
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crowded cell site areas. NAMPS stands for Narrowband Advanced
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Mobile Service. It's a Motorola technology. It produces 2412
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narrow channels. A NAMP's channel is 10 kHz wide. AMPS, NAMPS and
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Hughes' ENAMPS are all FM based, analog systems. Digital systems
|
|
like CDMA and TDMA provide even more channels in the same space.
|
|
CDMA, in particular, could provide 20 times the number of
|
|
frequencies that an AMPS system can. Let's back up a little before
|
|
we drown in a sea of acronyms.
|
|
|
|
21. I mentioned that a typical cell channel is 30 kilohertz
|
|
wide compared to the ten kHz allowed an AM radio station. How is
|
|
it possible, you might ask, that a one to three watt cellular
|
|
phone call can take up a path that is three times wider than a
|
|
50,000 watt broadcast station? Well, power does not necessarily
|
|
relate to bandwidth. A high powered signal might take up lots of
|
|
room or a high powered signal might be narrowly focused. A wider
|
|
channel helps with audio quality. An FM stereo station, for
|
|
example, uses a 150 kHz channel to provide the best quality sound.
|
|
A 30 kHz channel for cellular gives you great sound almost
|
|
automatically, nearly on par with the normal telephone network.
|
|
That's what's impressive about Motorola's NAMPS. The base station
|
|
uses a special frequency control circuit to keeps calls exactly
|
|
on frequency. No wavering or moving off frequency to destroy a
|
|
call's quality. Things should sound fine with this narrow band
|
|
_if_ everything is working right.
|
|
|
|
22. I also mentioned that the cellular band runs from 824.04
|
|
MHz to 893. 97 MHz. In particular, cell phones use the
|
|
frequencies from 824.04 MHz to 848.97 and the base stations
|
|
operate on 869.04 MHz to 893.97 MHz. 45 MHz separates each
|
|
transmit and receive frequency within a cell. That keeps them from
|
|
interfering with each other. Getting confusing? Let's look at the
|
|
frequencies of a single cell for a single carrier. Maybe that will
|
|
clear things up. For this example, let's assume that this is one
|
|
of 21 cells in an AMPS system:
|
|
|
|
Cell#1 of 21 in Band A (The nonwireline carrier)
|
|
|
|
Channel 1 (333) Tx 879.990 Rx 834.990
|
|
Channel 2 (312) Tx 879.360 Rx 834.360
|
|
Channel 3 (291) Tx 878.730 Rx 833.730
|
|
Channel 4 (270) Tx 878.100 Rx 833.100
|
|
Channel 5 (249) Tx 877.470 Rx 832.470
|
|
Channel 6 (228) Tx 876.840 Rx 831.840
|
|
Channel 7 (207) Tx 876.210 Rx 831.210
|
|
Channel 8 (186) Tx 875.580 Rx 830.580 etc., etc.,
|
|
|
|
(Each cell has at least 15 frequencies or channels)
|
|
|
|
23. The cellular network assigns these frequency pairs
|
|
carefully and in advance. The layout is confusing since the
|
|
pattern is non-intuitive and because there are so many numbers
|
|
involved. Don't get too caught up with exact frequency assignments
|
|
unless you want to go further. [5] Speaking of numbers, check out
|
|
the sidebar. Channels 800 to 832 are not labeled as such. Cell
|
|
channels go up to 799 in AMPS and then stop. Believe it or not,
|
|
the numbering begins again at 991 and then goes up to 1023. That
|
|
gives us 832. Why offset at all? Cellular is not like CB radio.
|
|
Citizen's band uses the same frequency to transmit and receive. A
|
|
push to talk setup. Cellular provides full duplex communication
|
|
like nearly all modern radios. It's more expensive since the
|
|
mobile unit and the base station need the circuitry to transmit on
|
|
one frequency while receiving on another. But it's the only way
|
|
that permits a normal, back and forth, talk when you want
|
|
to, conversation.
|
|
|
|
|
|
24. Some Important Frequency Terms Okay, so what do we do we
|
|
have? Three things: 1) Cell phones transmit on certain, dedicated
|
|
frequencies, 2) base stations transmit on certain, dedicated
|
|
frequencies and 3) a certain amount of bandwidth separates these
|
|
frequencies. Let's get even more specific. We call a cell site's
|
|
transmitting frequency the forward channel. A forward channel
|
|
contains everything you hear since it is the cell site that
|
|
transmits it. The cell phone's transmitting frequency, by
|
|
comparison, is called the reverse channel. There's more. Certain
|
|
channels carry only data. We call these control channels. They,
|
|
too, have a forward and reverse frequency. This control channel is
|
|
usually the first channel in each cell. It's responsible for call
|
|
setup. Getting confusing? Let's go back to our friendly cell site
|
|
for an example.
|
|
|
|
[TABLE]
|
|
|
|
25. The first channel is always the control channel for each
|
|
cell. You'll have 21 control channels if you have 21 cells. Calls
|
|
get setup on these. A call gets going, in other words, on the
|
|
control channel first. The MTSO then assigns a normal channel to
|
|
carry the conversation. The voice channels and the control channel
|
|
may handle signaling during the actual conversation. A single
|
|
call, therefore, involves two kinds of forward and reverse
|
|
channels. One for voice and data and one for data only. Makes it
|
|
hard to follow, doesn't it? But there are real benefits to
|
|
figuring it out. A phone's ESN number, for example, is only
|
|
transmitted on the reverse control channel. A person poaching ESNs
|
|
need only monitor one of 21 frequencies. They don't have to look
|
|
through the entire band. I'll use the terms reverse control
|
|
channel and reverse voice channel to keep these terms separate
|
|
from now on. One last point at the risk of loosing everybody.
|
|
You'll hear about dedicated control channels, paging channels, and
|
|
access channels. These are not different channels but different
|
|
uses of the control channel. Let's clear up the confusion by
|
|
looking at call processing. We'll start out with AMPS since it's
|
|
the most common system and because TDMA uses the AMPS protocol to
|
|
first set up calls. Even a CDMA carrier uses an AMPS system in the
|
|
background to carry calls from non-digital phones. We'll also
|
|
touch on a number of new terms along the way.
|
|
|
|
III Call Processing
|
|
|
|
26. Let's look at how cellular uses data channels and voice
|
|
channels. Keep in mind the big picture while we discuss this. A
|
|
call gets set up on a control channel and another channel actually
|
|
carries the conversation. The whole process begins with
|
|
registration. It's what happens when you first turn on a phone but
|
|
before you punch in a number and hit the send button. It only
|
|
takes a few hundred milliseconds. Registration lets the local
|
|
system know that a phone is active, in a particular area and that
|
|
it can now take incoming calls. What cell folks call pages. The
|
|
local system then notifies, in theory, the entire nationwide
|
|
cellular network that this phone has come on line. Registration
|
|
begins when you turn on your phone.
|
|
|
|
Registration -- Hello, World!
|
|
|
|
27. A mobile phone runs a self diagnostic when it's powered
|
|
up. Once completed it acts like a scanning radio. It searches
|
|
through its list of forward control frequencies, trying to pick
|
|
the one with the strongest signal. The nearest base station
|
|
usually provides that. The phone then transmits information to
|
|
identify itself on the corresponding reverse control frequency.
|
|
The mobile sends its phone number, its electronic serial number
|
|
and its home system ID. Among other things. The cell site relays
|
|
this information to the mobile telecommunications switching
|
|
office. The MTSO, in turn, communicates with different databases,
|
|
switching centers and software programs.
|
|
|
|
28. The phone gets registered with the local system if
|
|
everything checks out. It can now take incoming calls since the
|
|
system is aware that it is in use. The mobile then monitors a
|
|
paging channel while it idles. All idle phones monitor this
|
|
initial paging channel or IPCH. It's usually channel 333 for the
|
|
non-wireline carrier and 334 for the wireline carrier. [6] Only
|
|
larger systems have multiple paging channels. Again, this is a
|
|
data based, forward control channel, transmitted by the cell site.
|
|
What's different about a paging channel is that it cuts across the
|
|
entire cellular service area. It's transmitted by each base
|
|
station, even if that frequency isn't part of a cell's group of
|
|
fifteen or sixteen. A mobile first responds to a page on the
|
|
reverse control channel of the cell it is in. The MTSO then
|
|
assigns yet another channel for the conversation. But I am getting
|
|
ahead of myself. Let's finish registration.
|
|
|
|
29. Registration is an ongoing process. Moving from one
|
|
service area to another causes registration to begin again. Just
|
|
waiting ten or fifteen minutes does the same thing. It's an
|
|
automatic activity of the system. It updates the status of the
|
|
waiting phone to let the system know what's going on. The cell
|
|
site can initiate registration on its own by sending a signal to
|
|
the mobile. That forces the unit to transmit and identify itself.
|
|
Registration also takes place just before you call. Again, the
|
|
whole process takes only a few hundred milliseconds.
|
|
|
|
30. AMPS uses frequency shift keying to send data. Just like
|
|
a modem. Data's sent in binary. 0's and 1's. 0's go on one
|
|
frequency and 1's go on another. They alternate back and forth in
|
|
rapid succession. Don't be confused by the mention of more
|
|
frequencies. Frequency shift keying uses the existing carrier
|
|
wave. The data rides 8kHz above and below, say, 879.990 MHz. Read
|
|
up on modems and FSK and you'll understand the way AMPS sends
|
|
digital information. Data gets sent at 10 k bps or 100,000 bits
|
|
per second from the cell site. Quite impressive if we're talking
|
|
about a modem on a land line. But we aren't. Cellular uses a radio
|
|
link, a very high frequency signal that's subject to the vagaries
|
|
of its band. Things such as billboards, trucks, and underpasses
|
|
can deflect a cellular call. So the system repeats each part of
|
|
each digital message five times. That slows things considerably.
|
|
Add in the time for encoding and decoding the digital stream and
|
|
the actual transfer rate can fall to as low as 1200 bps. [7]
|
|
Remember, too, that an analog wave carries this digital
|
|
information, just like most modems. It's not completely accurate
|
|
to call AMPS an analog system. AMPS is actually a hybrid system,
|
|
combining both digital and analog signals.
|
|
|
|
Getting a Call -- The Process
|
|
|
|
31. Okay, your phone's now registered with your local system.
|
|
You get a call. It's just MCI security, wondering about all those
|
|
conference calls to the mideast. You laugh and hang up. As you
|
|
drive off to pick up another shipment of weapons, you marvel at
|
|
the process of getting a call. What happened? Your phone
|
|
recognized its mobile number on the paging channel. That's usually
|
|
the forward control channel. The mobile responds by sending its
|
|
identifying information once again to the MTSO, along with a
|
|
message confirming that it received the page. The system responds
|
|
by sending a voice channel assignment to the cell you are in. The
|
|
cell site's transceiver gets this information and begins setting
|
|
things up. It first informs the mobile about the new channel, say,
|
|
channel 10 in cell number 8. It then generates a supervisory audio
|
|
tone or SAT on the forward voice frequency. What's that?
|
|
|
|
32. An SAT is a high pitched tone that acts like a marker.
|
|
The mobile tunes to its assigned channel and it looks for the
|
|
right supervisory audio tone. Upon hearing it, the mobile throws
|
|
the tone back to the cell site on its reverse voice channel. We
|
|
now have a loop going between the cell site and the phone. This
|
|
verifies that the mobile is on the right frequency. No SAT means
|
|
no good. The cell site can fine tune the phone's reception with
|
|
the SAT. It can also use it roughly determine the phone's
|
|
location, since it takes a certain time for the signal to make a
|
|
go around. The cell site releases or unmutes the forward voice
|
|
channel if the SAT gets returned. It follows that by sending a
|
|
digital signal on the FVC. This signal alerts the mobile to an
|
|
incoming call. That action, in turn, causes the mobile to take the
|
|
mute off the reverse voice channel. The mobile sends an audio
|
|
tone to the cell site confirming that it got the alerting message.
|
|
The system then produces a ringing sound for your caller while
|
|
your phone rings. But let's go back to the SAT for just a moment.
|
|
|
|
33. I said that a mobile looks for the right supervisory
|
|
audio tone. AMPS uses three named frequencies: SAT 0: 5970 Hz,
|
|
SAT 1: 6000 Hz, and SAT 2: 6030 Hz. Three different markers. Why?
|
|
Spacing cell site frequencies carefully avoids interference. It's
|
|
the same way with SATs. Call setup is ongoing in each cell. Using
|
|
several frequencies makes sure that the mobile is using the right
|
|
channel assignment. It's not enough to get a tone on the right
|
|
forward and reverse frequency the system must get the right
|
|
channel and the right SAT. Two steps. Incorrect SATs cause havoc
|
|
in the cellular bands. This tone is transmitted briefly but
|
|
somewhat continuously during a call. You don't hear it since the
|
|
signal lasts less than 300 ms. and because it's muted during
|
|
transmission. The mobile, in fact, drops a call after a certain
|
|
amount of time if it looses the SAT connection.
|
|
|
|
34. Well, enough about the SAT. I mentioned another tone
|
|
that's generated by the mobile phone itself. It's called the
|
|
signalling tone or ST. Don't confuse it with the SAT. You need the
|
|
supervisory audio tone first. The ST comes in after that. It's
|
|
necessary to complete the call. The mobile produces the ST,
|
|
compared to the SAT which the cell site originates. The signaling
|
|
tone is a very high audio frequency tone that you can't hear.
|
|
Maybe your dog can but not you. It's 10 kHz tone. The mobile
|
|
starts transmitting this signal back to the cell on the forward
|
|
voice channel once it gets an alerting message. Your phone stops
|
|
transmitting it once you pick up the handset or otherwise go off
|
|
hook to answer its ringing. Cell folks might call this
|
|
confirmation of alert. The system knows that you've picked up the
|
|
phone when the ST stops. AMPS uses signalling tones of different
|
|
duration's to indicate three other things. Cleardown or
|
|
termination means hanging up, going on hook or terminating a call.
|
|
The phone sends a signalling tone of 1.8 seconds when that
|
|
happens. 400 ms. of ST means a hookflash. Hookflash requests
|
|
additional services during a conversation in some areas.
|
|
Confirmation of handover request is another arcane cell term. The
|
|
ST gets sent for 50 ms. before your call is handed from one cell
|
|
to another. Along with the SAT. That assures a smooth handoff from
|
|
one cell to another. The MTSO assigns a new channel, checks for
|
|
the right SAT and listens for a signalling tone when a handover
|
|
occurs. Complicated but effective and all happening in less than a
|
|
second.
|
|
|
|
Origination -- Making a call--
|
|
|
|
35. Making a mobile call uses many steps that help receive a
|
|
call. The same basic process. Punch out the number that you want
|
|
to call. Press the send button. Your mobile transmits that
|
|
telephone number, along with a request for service signal, and all
|
|
the information used to register a call to the cell site. The
|
|
mobile transmits this information on the strongest reverse control
|
|
channel. The MTSO checks out this info and assigns a voice
|
|
channel. It communicates that assignment to the mobile on the
|
|
forward control channel. The cell site opens a voice channel and
|
|
transmits a SAT on it. The mobile detects the SAT and locks on,
|
|
transmitting it back to the cell site. The MTSO detects this
|
|
confirmation and sends the mobile a message in return. This could
|
|
be several things. It might be a busy signal, ringback or whatever
|
|
tone was delivered to the switch. Making a call, however, involves
|
|
far more problems and resources than an incoming call does.
|
|
|
|
36. Making a call and getting a call from your cellular phone
|
|
should be equally easy. It isn't. Originating a call from a mobile
|
|
presents many problems for the user and the carrier. Especially
|
|
when you are out of your local area. Incoming calls don't present
|
|
a risk to the carrier. Someone on the other end is paying for
|
|
them. The carrier, however, is responsible for the cost of
|
|
fraudulent calls originating in its system. Most systems shut
|
|
down roaming or do an operator intercept rather than allow a
|
|
questionable call. I've had close friends asked for their credit
|
|
card numbers by operators in order to place a call. Can you
|
|
imagine giving a credit card number or a calling card number over
|
|
the air? You're now back at a payphone, just like the good old
|
|
days. Cellular One has shut down roaming "privileges" altogether
|
|
in New York City, Washington and Miami at different times. But you
|
|
can go through their operator and pay three times the cost of a
|
|
normal call if you like. So what's going on? Why the problem with
|
|
some outgoing calls? We first have to look at some more terms and
|
|
procedures. We need to see what happens with call processing at
|
|
the switch and network level. This is the exciting world of
|
|
precall validation.
|
|
|
|
37. We know that pressing send or turning on the phone
|
|
conveys information about the phone to the cell site and then to
|
|
the MTSO. A call gets checked with all this information. There are
|
|
many parts to each digital message. A five digit code called the
|
|
home system identification number (SID or sometimes SIDH)
|
|
identifies the cellular carrier your phone is registered with.
|
|
For example, Cellular One's code in Sacramento is 00129. Go to
|
|
Stockton forty miles south and Cellular One uses 00224. A system
|
|
can easily identify roamers with this information. The "Roaming"
|
|
lamp flashes if you are out of your local area. Or the "No
|
|
Service" lamp comes on if the mobile can't pick up a useable
|
|
signal. This number is keypad programmable, of course, since
|
|
people change carriers and move to different areas. You can find
|
|
yours by calling up a local cellular dealer. Or by putting your
|
|
phone in the programming mode. [8]. This number doesn't go off in
|
|
a numerical form, of course, but as a binary string of zero's and
|
|
ones. These digital signals are repeated several times to make
|
|
sure they get received. The mobile identification number or MIN
|
|
is your telephone's telephone number. MINs are keypad
|
|
programmable. You or a dealer can assign it any number desired.
|
|
That makes it different than its electronic serial number that we
|
|
discuss next. A MIN is ten digits long. A MIN is not your
|
|
directory number since it is not long enough to include a country
|
|
code. It's also limited when it comes to future uses since it
|
|
isn't long enough to carry an extension number either. [9]
|
|
|
|
38. The electronic serial number or ESN is a unique number
|
|
assigned to each phone. One per phone! Every cell phone starts out
|
|
with just one ESN. This number gets electronically burned into the
|
|
phone's ROM, or read only memory chip. A phone's MIN may change
|
|
but the serial number remains the same. The ESN is a long binary
|
|
number. Its 32 bit size provides billions of possible serial
|
|
numbers. The ESN gets transmitted whenever the phone is turned on,
|
|
handed over to another cell or at regular intervals decided by the
|
|
system. Every ten to fifteen minutes is typical. Capturing an ESN
|
|
lies at the heart of cloning. You'll often hear about stolen
|
|
codes. "Someone stole Major Giuliani's and Commissioner Bratton's
|
|
codes." The ESN is what is actually being intercepted. A code is
|
|
something that stands for something else. In this case, the ESN. A
|
|
hexadecimal number represents the ESN for programming and test
|
|
purposes. [10] Such a number might look like this: 82 57 2C 01.
|
|
|
|
39. The station class mark or SCM tells the cell site and the
|
|
switch what power level the mobile operates at and what
|
|
frequencies the phone uses. The cell site can turn down the power
|
|
in your phone, lowering it to a level that will do the job while
|
|
not interfering with the rest of the system. The SCM also tells
|
|
the switch if your phone is voice activated. That information, in
|
|
turn, affects the way the MTSO handles signalling a VOX phone.
|
|
|
|
40. The switch process this information along with other
|
|
data. It first checks for a valid ESN/MIN combination. You don't
|
|
get a dial tone unless your phone number matches up with a
|
|
correct, valid serial number. You have to have both unless,
|
|
perhaps, if you call 911. The local carrier checks its own
|
|
database first. Each carrier maintains its own records but the
|
|
database may be almost anywhere. These local databases are
|
|
updated, supposedly, around the clock by two much larger data
|
|
bases maintained by Electronic Data Systems and GTE. EDS maintains
|
|
records for most of the former Bell companies and their new
|
|
cellular spin offs. GTE maintains records for GTE cellular
|
|
companies as well as for the Cellular One group, a consortium of
|
|
many different companies. Dial tone will not be returned unless
|
|
everything checks out. They try to supply a current list of bad
|
|
ESNs as well as information to the network on the 27,000 new
|
|
cellular users coming on line every day.
|
|
|
|
41. A local caller will probably get dial tone if everything
|
|
checks out. Roamers may not have the same luck if they're in
|
|
another state or fairly distant from their home system. A roamer's
|
|
record must be checked from afar. Many carriers still can't agree
|
|
on the way to exchange this information or how to pay for it. A
|
|
lot comes down to cost. A distant system may still be dependent on
|
|
older switches or slower databases that can't provide a quick
|
|
response. The so called North American Cellular Network is an
|
|
attempt to link each participating carrier together with the same
|
|
intelligent network/system 7 facilities. Still, that leaves many
|
|
rural areas out of the loop. A call may be dropped or intercepted
|
|
rather than allowed dial tone. In addition, the various carriers
|
|
are always arguing over fees to query each others databases. Fraud
|
|
is enough of a problem in some areas that many systems will not
|
|
take a chance in passing a call through. Yet the fraud is fueled
|
|
in part by lax network security. It's really a numbers game. How
|
|
much is the system actually loosing? How much is prevention?
|
|
Preventive measures may cost millions of dollars to put in place
|
|
at each MTSO. In any case, the outlook is not good for roaming.
|
|
Yet the ability to drive anywhere and call from anywhere was a
|
|
main reason to move away from the old mobile telephone system. You
|
|
used to have to call ahead to say that you would be visiting a
|
|
distant city. An operator then had to make arrangements for your
|
|
phone to be recognized by the local system. Well, Cellular One
|
|
throughout December and January of last year was asking visiting
|
|
cell phone callers to do just that before coming to New York City.
|
|
Such progress!
|
|
|
|
42. In the next issue I'll write a shorter article that
|
|
highlights TDMA and CDMA. I intend to have a resource list of part
|
|
suppliers and publications. I'll also bring you some current
|
|
information on cell fraud, including a look at Cellular Technical
|
|
Service's Project Blackbird, a radio "fingerprinting" system
|
|
designed to identify cloned phones. A similar system is being
|
|
turned on in N.Y.C so the article should be interesting . .
|
|
|
|
NOTES
|
|
|
|
[1] Hawks, Ellison. Popular Science Mechanical Encyclopedia:
|
|
How It Works Popular Science Publishing Co., Inc. New York. 1943
|
|
87
|
|
|
|
[2] Fike, John L. and George E. Friend. Understanding Telephone
|
|
Electronics SAMS, Carmel 1990 268
|
|
|
|
[3] West, Gordon. Mobile 2Way Radio Communications, Master
|
|
Publishing Company, Richardson, 1991 41
|
|
|
|
[4] Macario, Raymond. Cellular Radio: Principles and Design,
|
|
McGraw Hill, Inc., New York 1993 61 ISBN 007044301 A good book
|
|
that's fairly up to date and in print. Explains several cellular
|
|
systems such as GSM, JTACS, etc. as well as AMPS and TDMA. Details
|
|
all the formats of all the digital messages. No CDMA About
|
|
$40.00.
|
|
|
|
[5] Cellular Security Group is advertising free cellular frequency
|
|
charts. You may want to call first. They're at (508) 7687486. The
|
|
address is 106 Western Avenue, Essex, MA 01929. Sending a few
|
|
dollars may help . . .
|
|
|
|
[6] Damien Thorn "Cellular Telephone Programming: Focusing on
|
|
Fundamentals" Nuts and Volts Magazine (December, 1992) 23
|
|
|
|
[7] Noll Introduction to Telephone Systems 123 (I've lost the cite
|
|
on this one I'll have it next issue)
|
|
|
|
[8] Thorn, ibid, 2 see also "Cellular Lite: A Less Filling Blend
|
|
of Technology & Industry News" Nuts and Volts Magazine (March
|
|
1993)
|
|
|
|
[9] Crowe, David "Why MINs Are Phone Numbers and Why They
|
|
Shouldn't Be" Cellular Network Perspectives (December, 1994) I
|
|
give all the information on Crowe's newsletter on page 52.
|
|
|
|
IV THE ROSEVILLE TELEPHONE COMPANY MUSEUM ------------------------
|
|
|
|
The Photographs on the Opposite Page
|
|
|
|
43. The upper left hand photograph shows the interior of a
|
|
typical magneto wall set. Turn a crank and you generate enough
|
|
power to signal the operator. Batteries provided the line current
|
|
needed to talk. Note the pad beneath the batteries used to soak up
|
|
the occasional acid spill.
|
|
|
|
44. The upper right hand photograph shows an Automatic
|
|
Electric, Type 1 test board that was one of four in service in
|
|
Roseville from 1956 to 1984. Tests of the local loop often
|
|
required one person at the test board and one person in the field
|
|
to actually perform the adjustments. Many coin line tests are
|
|
marked at this board.
|
|
|
|
45. The lower left hand photograph shows an operator toll
|
|
switchboard in use from 1959 to 1981. Local and long distance toll
|
|
calls were handled at this A.E. Model Type 31C cord toll board.
|
|
Several boards were in use at any one time.
|
|
|
|
46. The lower right hand photograph shows a detail of the
|
|
step by step switch. The entire mechanism is nearly six feet tall
|
|
by six feet wide. All photographs by Little Sheeba"
|
|
|
|
Text of Article -----------
|
|
|
|
"The notion of a museum springs from the passion for
|
|
collecting, which is deeply rooted in human nature. All
|
|
civilizations, from the most primitive to the most advanced,
|
|
share the desire to accumulate objects that are beautiful,
|
|
costly, rare, or merely curious."
|
|
|
|
47. The Roseville Telephone Company's museum in downtown
|
|
Roseville, California is a marvelous collection of telephone
|
|
technology. More than that, it reflects the history of an
|
|
independent, progressive telephone company. Any telecom enthusiast
|
|
should take the time to travel there, visit for an hour or two and
|
|
engage in wondering, reflection and curiosity. What will you find?
|
|
300+ telephones. 12 switchboards. A test board and a toll board.
|
|
Friendly telephone people to talk to. And best of all the pride
|
|
of the museum a working step by step switch.
|
|
|
|
48. Step by step or Strowger switches were the mainstay of
|
|
switching in rural and small town America for over forty years.
|
|
I've described stepper operation in previous issues but I never
|
|
thought I did a good job of explaining the process. Seeing one
|
|
work is a great way to understand it. A large, open case contains
|
|
the switch. Three phones are mounted on the left side of the case
|
|
and three on the right. You can call from one phone to the other
|
|
and in so doing observe all the action. Pick up a handset and go
|
|
off hook. A selector jumps into action as you start dialing. Watch
|
|
the wipers revolve as they search for a contact. Something's
|
|
moving with every digit you dial. Hang up and everything resets
|
|
itself with a satisfying clunk. Will you comprehend Strowger when
|
|
you see it? Maybe not. But you should see it anyway. A stepper is
|
|
like a Swiss watch with its insides revealed. You may not follow
|
|
the function of each lever, sprocket and cam but you can
|
|
appreciate its design and construction. And you can hear the
|
|
wonderful clicking, chattering sound that steppers make, the sound
|
|
that old switchmen get nostalgic about. The Roseville Telephone
|
|
Company people will happily explain its operation. They'll even
|
|
show you how the TraceaMatic works. It's a simple device once used
|
|
to trace calls on a step switch.
|
|
|
|
49. The magneto powered cord switchboard is also interesting.
|
|
Switchboards like these acted as a telephone company's central
|
|
office before automation. This board dates back to 1914, the first
|
|
year of RTC's operation. A small crank on the bottom right hand
|
|
side allowed an operator to ring a customer's phone. Let the RTC
|
|
people demonstrate how the board rings some of the phones on
|
|
display. Vary the cranking at the switchboard and you vary the
|
|
ring. That's important since RTC had more than ten subscribers on
|
|
some party lines. What Roseville Telephone called farmers' lines.
|
|
Each customer needed a distinctive ring, since it was the only way
|
|
each party could tell if the call was for them. Party lines lasted
|
|
until 1986 when the last open wire farmer line was retired.
|
|
There's a nice exhibit that tells the story. That display includes
|
|
square poles, insulators and samples of the wires. The two parties
|
|
on that retired line, by the way, had their old monthly rate
|
|
grandfathered in. To this day they pay less than $3.00 a month for
|
|
phone service.
|
|
|
|
50. There's 4,000 square of exhibit space at the museum. The
|
|
curator of the museum, Bob Parsons, says that Roseville Telephone
|
|
will expand this to 8,000 feet within just a few years. Some of
|
|
this new area will include outside plant equipment as well as a
|
|
working open wire demonstration. They're even going to outfit an
|
|
old telephone repair truck from the 1920's with a complete set of
|
|
tools.
|
|
|
|
51. Thinking of going? I've had friends from Stockton and
|
|
the San Francisco bay area say that it's well worth the drive.
|
|
Plan to spend an hour to an hour and a half in the museum. Have
|
|
lunch afterwards and help out the flood stricken economy. There
|
|
are plenty of antique stores in Roseville in case someone with you
|
|
gets bored. As well as one of the major train switching yards on
|
|
the West Coast. Speaking of antiques, Roseville has a dealer who
|
|
specializes in telephones. American Antiques and Collectables is
|
|
located inside the building at 106 Judah Street. The old phones
|
|
are expensive but you can handle them and look at them closely.
|
|
|
|
52. I tried to find out about telephone museums and
|
|
collections in the United States but I've come up with only a
|
|
small, incomplete list. Please write if you find something
|
|
interesting in you area. Local antique dealers might help you. Go
|
|
in to a large one and ask who collects telephones. A telephone
|
|
collector will know if there are any museums or displays in the
|
|
area. You might even be able to wrangle a tour of a private
|
|
collection. Want to know more? Fagen's A History of Engineering
|
|
and Operation in the Bell System: The Early Years 1875 1925
|
|
explains older phones and systems. It concentrates on Western
|
|
Electric equipment but it is still invaluable on understanding
|
|
early phones, PBX's, toll boards and switchboards.
|
|
|
|
53. Roseville is located 15 miles northeast of Sacramento,
|
|
California Take Interstate 80 to the Atlantic Street off ramp.
|
|
Head north into Roseville. Atlantic becomes Vernon downtown. The
|
|
address of the museum is 106 Vernon. It is open on Saturdays only
|
|
from 10 to 4. Look for the only building with a cell tower on
|
|
top.
|
|
|
|
V. TELECOM RELATED MAGAZINES AND NEWSLETTERS
|
|
|
|
54. Welcome to the telecom related magazine list of private
|
|
line. This is an update to the list that first appeared in issue
|
|
Number 5. I think it is the best magazine list on the Internet. I
|
|
hope to update this every two months or so. Addresses are for
|
|
subscriptions and samples. I didn't include editorial addresses to
|
|
save space. Quoted material comes from a magazine's masthead or
|
|
from a reader's comments. Let me know if you find any mistakes in
|
|
this list or if you find a magazine that I should be aware of.
|
|
|
|
55. Some of these magazines will give you free subs if you
|
|
take it third class and are "qualified" to have it. My advice is
|
|
to ask for a sub, fill out their form and let them make the
|
|
decision. Who knows? Maybe the magazine needs more subscribers so
|
|
that they can charge higher ad rates. I personally am always
|
|
willing to pay for a sample copy.
|
|
|
|
56. See what happens after you write in. Then start filling
|
|
out product information cards in the magazines that arrive. Be
|
|
specific. The trick is to get a low cost flow of information into
|
|
your mailbox. Really broke but still interested? Ask for their
|
|
writers' guidelines along with a sample. Or ask for a media kit.
|
|
Dummy up some letterhead at Office Depot and call yourself a
|
|
consultant if you have to. But I just use my real name. That's
|
|
worked so far.
|
|
|
|
2600: The Hacker Quarterly
|
|
|
|
General hacking. Some of the best telephone hacking articles in
|
|
print. 10 years worth of back issues available.
|
|
|
|
2600 Enterprises, Inc.
|
|
P.O. Box 752
|
|
Middle Island, NY 11953
|
|
(516) 751-2600
|
|
2600@well.sf.ca.us
|
|
|
|
Quarterly. U.S. and Canadian subscriptions: $21 individual and
|
|
$50. Overseas: $30 individual and $50 corporate in US Funds.
|
|
|
|
Advanced Wireless Communications
|
|
|
|
A newsletter from the Telecom group. They do say that they won't
|
|
charge for a sample. And they did send me a nice catalog of their
|
|
expensive publications.
|
|
|
|
Telecom Publishing Group
|
|
1101 King St. Suite 444, Box 1455
|
|
Alexandria, VA 22313-20555
|
|
1-800-452-8011
|
|
|
|
$492. Bi-weekly with a fax alert.
|
|
|
|
America's Network
|
|
|
|
Formerly Telephone Engineer and Management, a well respected
|
|
industry magazine. "I tried to find info for you on TE&M since I
|
|
used to get it free as a kid. Loved it! Looked for it on my last
|
|
dumpster mission. Alas, all I got from the spoils were a couple
|
|
issues of Telephony."
|
|
|
|
Advantstar Communications
|
|
131 West First Street
|
|
Duluth MN 55802-2065
|
|
|
|
Twice a month. $44 a year to United States addresses. A sample is
|
|
$4.95.
|
|
|
|
Antique Telephone Collectors Association Newsletter
|
|
|
|
A publication of the ATCA. It contains news of their organization
|
|
as well as interesting articles on the history of telephony. It
|
|
also has classified ads, some with pictures, from members looking
|
|
to buy and sell old phones, phone parts, books, phone memorabilia
|
|
and other collector items. Fascinating reading. The newsletter
|
|
comes free with your membership. Write for a sample as well as for
|
|
a membership application.
|
|
|
|
ATCA
|
|
Ann Manning, Office Manager
|
|
P.O. Box 94
|
|
Abilene, KS 67410
|
|
(913) 263-1757
|
|
|
|
The newsletter is monthly. Dues are $30 a year to U.S. members,
|
|
paid on a calendar basis. People joining mid-year pay pro-rated
|
|
dues of $2.50 a month. There is a one time fee of $5.00 for new
|
|
members.
|
|
|
|
AT&T Technical Journal
|
|
|
|
Not as technical as the old B.S.T.J. nor understandable as the
|
|
old Bell Laboratories Record., the AT&T Technical Journal does
|
|
come up with some fascinating articles. No. 73 was on AT&T
|
|
switches. The 5ESS-2000 and the 4ESS were both reviewed along with
|
|
a lengthy discussion of how cellular and PCS calls are switched.
|
|
|
|
Circulation Group, Room 3C-417
|
|
AT&T Bell Laboratories
|
|
600 Mountain Ave.
|
|
P.O. Box 636
|
|
Murray Hill, N.J. 07974-0636
|
|
(908) 582-4019
|
|
|
|
Six times a year. $55 domestic. $11.00 for single copies. They may
|
|
have two years of back issues available but some editions are sold
|
|
out. Best to write first for info on back issues and subscribing.
|
|
|
|
Bell Labs News
|
|
|
|
Nicely done tabloid sized, 6 page newspaper that's published bi-
|
|
weekly. Closed subscriber list. Limited to employees of AT&T . I
|
|
got a copy from a subscriber but you may want to try the person
|
|
below:
|
|
|
|
Linda Crockett, Editor
|
|
Room 3C-420 A
|
|
AT&T Bell Laboratories
|
|
600 Mountain Avenue
|
|
P.O. Box 636
|
|
Murray Hill, NJ 07974-0636
|
|
(908) 582-4739
|
|
attmail!crockett
|
|
|
|
Blacklisted! 411
|
|
|
|
"The Official Hacker's Magazine". A nicely done magazine out of
|
|
southern California. It's well worth looking for. You'll probably
|
|
want to subscribe if you enjoy 2600 or my magazine.
|
|
|
|
P.O. Box 2506
|
|
Cypress, CA 90630
|
|
(310) 596-4673
|
|
|
|
Quarterly. $20 a year. $5.00 for a sample.
|
|
|
|
Cabling Business Magazine
|
|
|
|
"The Only Telecommunications Copper and Fiber Optics Cabling and
|
|
Wiring Magazine for Voice, Data, and Image." These people seem a
|
|
little too eager to give you a subscription. Wouldn't even tell
|
|
me the price of a sample or sub over the phone. They insisted on
|
|
sending a free copy. In addition, the publication is very
|
|
practical and interesting. Write for this one!
|
|
|
|
Cabling Business Magazine
|
|
P.O. Box 496177
|
|
Garland TX 754049-6177
|
|
(214) 328-1717
|
|
|
|
Call Center
|
|
|
|
A call center is a place that takes a customer's calls. It might
|
|
be a catalog sales center or a cable TV company's order
|
|
department. Interesting enough to check out. "Ten Ways To Foil a
|
|
Hacker" was a good, non-hysterical article on fraud.
|
|
|
|
Call Center
|
|
1265 Industrial Highway
|
|
Southampton, PA 18966
|
|
1-800-677-3435
|
|
MCI Mail 627-4700.
|
|
Monthly. US: 12 issues for $14. Canada: $20.
|
|
|
|
Cellular Business
|
|
|
|
"This rag sucks and doesn't contain much more than fluffy press
|
|
releases from the manufacturers of phones and accessories. No
|
|
technical information, and they ran an article on cellular fraud
|
|
that was grossly inaccurate and belonged in a Sunday newspaper
|
|
supplement. I subscribed, and then refused to send them the $39
|
|
they wanted for a subscription. Just glossy garbage." Your
|
|
editor, though, thinks that it really is worth a look, they seem
|
|
to be getting better.
|
|
|
|
Cellular Business
|
|
Intertec Publishing Corp.
|
|
P.O. Box 12901
|
|
Overland Park, KS 66282-2901
|
|
(913) 341-1300
|
|
|
|
Monthly. $24 a year to qualified subscribers. Call for free
|
|
sample.
|
|
|
|
Cellular Marketing
|
|
|
|
Another publication that I haven't seen but one that David Crowe
|
|
recommends. He says it is trying to take on a more technical
|
|
focus. Write for a sample.
|
|
|
|
Argus Circulation Center
|
|
P.O. Box 41528
|
|
Nashville, TN 37204
|
|
|
|
$29 for a U.S. sub and $39 for a Canadian or Mexican subscription.
|
|
|
|
Cellular Network Perspectives
|
|
|
|
Expertly done, professional newsletter. David Crowe focuses on
|
|
networks, protocols and general cellular concepts, rather than on
|
|
exact technical details. It gives you the big picture without any
|
|
corporate slant.
|
|
|
|
Cellular Networking Perspectives
|
|
2636 Toronto Crescent NW
|
|
Calgary, AB T2N 3W1 Canada
|
|
(403) 289-6609
|
|
(403) 289-6658 FAX
|
|
71574.3157@compuserve.com
|
|
|
|
Monthly. $150 a year for small business and educational customers.
|
|
$250 otherwise. All back issues available He'll mail or fax you a
|
|
copy of "IS-41 Explained" if you like.
|
|
Computer Telephony
|
|
|
|
Driven by ads and corporations. Same folks as Call Center and
|
|
Teleconnect. Some interesting articles on occasion. A recent
|
|
article by Mitel predicts the death of PBX's as we understand them.
|
|
They're giving away subs so you might as well sign up.
|
|
|
|
Computer Telephony
|
|
1265 Industrial Highway
|
|
Southampton, PA 18966
|
|
|
|
1-800-677-3435
|
|
1015032@mcimail.com 70600.2451@compuserve.com
|
|
|
|
Electronic Design
|
|
|
|
A real find. Features articles occasionally on telecom. Goldberg's
|
|
article on PCS, for example, was a better read than a similar
|
|
article that ran about the same time in the expensive IEEE
|
|
Personal Communications.
|
|
|
|
Electronic Design, A Penton Publication
|
|
Penton Publishing Subscription Lockbox
|
|
P.O. Box 96732
|
|
Chicago, Ill 60693
|
|
|
|
Supposedly $105 a year. Write for a sample -- you should be able
|
|
to wrangle a free sub from them.
|
|
|
|
FCC Report
|
|
|
|
Another newsletter from Telecom.
|
|
|
|
Telecom Publishing Group
|
|
1101 King St. Suite 444, Box 1455
|
|
Alexandria, VA 22313-20555
|
|
1-800-452-8011
|
|
|
|
$591. They say they don't charge for a sample. People on the phone
|
|
are sometimes confused.
|
|
|
|
Fiber Optic News
|
|
|
|
Newsletter. "Covers management and marketing of optical fibers and
|
|
laser technology"
|
|
|
|
Phillips Business Information, Inc.
|
|
12051 Seven Locks Road
|
|
Potomac, MD 208564
|
|
1-800-777-5006
|
|
|
|
Weekly. 50 times a year. 10 pages. $697 a year. $37.50 for a
|
|
sample.
|
|
|
|
|
|
Full Disclosure
|
|
|
|
Glen Roberts puts out this interesting, newspaper like
|
|
publication. It deals with many electronic privacy issues but it
|
|
has some nice telephone articles from time to time. I see it only
|
|
rarely on newsstands. Ask your magazine dealer to order it through
|
|
Fine Print Distributors.
|
|
|
|
First Amendment Press, Inc.
|
|
8129 N. 35th Ave., Suite 134
|
|
Phoenix, AZ 85051
|
|
|
|
Monthly. $29.95 for 12 issues. Canadian subscriptions add $15.00.
|
|
For all other countries add $25.00 per twelve issues.
|
|
|
|
Global Telephony
|
|
|
|
Another one from Intertec. I haven't called for prices yet.
|
|
|
|
Intertec Publishing Corp.
|
|
P.O. Box 12901
|
|
Overland Park, KS 66282-2901
|
|
(913) 341-1300
|
|
|
|
IEEE Communications Magazine
|
|
|
|
Occasionally interesting telephone pieces. I read it from time to
|
|
time at a university libary.
|
|
|
|
IEEE Service Center
|
|
445 Hoes Lane
|
|
Piscataway, N.J. 08855-13311
|
|
(908) 981-0060
|
|
j.milizzo@ieee.org
|
|
|
|
Monthly. $23 to members, $135 to non-members, single issue copies
|
|
are $10 to members and $20 to non-members.
|
|
|
|
IEEE Personal Communications
|
|
|
|
"The Magazine of Nomadic Communications and Computing" Winter 1994
|
|
edition had lots of stuff on the development of PCS protocols.
|
|
Cutting edge information if you can understand it or afford it.
|
|
|
|
IEEE Service Center
|
|
445 Hoes Lane
|
|
Piscataway, N.J. 08855-13311
|
|
(908) 981-0060
|
|
e.wilber@ieee.org
|
|
|
|
Quarterly. $80 a year to non-members. A single copy to non-members
|
|
costs $20.
|
|
|
|
|
|
Innovations
|
|
|
|
This is Protel's own quarterly newsletter. They're the largest
|
|
COCOT maker in the country. It's small (4 pp) but well done and
|
|
it's free. Greg Hogan, National Accounts Manager, does a good job
|
|
explaining the NANP or North American Numbering Plan in issue 7.
|
|
Send a postcard requesting it to:
|
|
|
|
Teresa Frueh Blocher
|
|
Protel Inc.
|
|
4150 Kidron Rd.
|
|
Lakeland, Fl 33811-1274
|
|
|
|
BTW, she wants your name, company name, and your daytime phone
|
|
number. Yeah, right.
|
|
|
|
ISDN News
|
|
|
|
Another expensive newsletter from Phillips.
|
|
|
|
Phillips Business Information, Inc.
|
|
12051 Seven Locks Road
|
|
Potomac, MD 208564
|
|
1-800-777-5006
|
|
|
|
25 times a year for $597 a year. $35 for a sample. They'll send
|
|
you a free brochure on it if you want one.
|
|
|
|
Land Mobile Radio News
|
|
|
|
Newsletter. They'll send you a free brochure on it.
|
|
|
|
Phillips Business Information, Inc.
|
|
12051 Seven Locks Road
|
|
Potomac, MD 208564
|
|
1-800-777-5006
|
|
|
|
Weekly. 50 times a year. 12 to 14 pages an issue. $597 a year. $35
|
|
for a sample.
|
|
|
|
Local Competition Report
|
|
|
|
Another newsletter from Telecom.
|
|
|
|
Telecom Publishing Group
|
|
1101 King St. Suite 444, Box 1455
|
|
Alexandria, VA 22313-20555
|
|
1-800-452-8011
|
|
|
|
$425 yearly. Comes out every two weeks. They say they don't
|
|
charge for a sample.
|
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|
|
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|
|
|
|
|
|
Local Telecom Competition
|
|
|
|
Newsletter. They'll send you a free brochure about it if you want
|
|
it.
|
|
|
|
Phillips Business Information, Inc.
|
|
12051 Seven Locks Road
|
|
Potomac, MD 208564
|
|
1-800-777-5006
|
|
|
|
Bi-weekly. 25 times a year. 12 to 14 pages an issue. $597 a year.
|
|
$35 for a sample.
|
|
|
|
Microwave Journal
|
|
|
|
" . . . I get more technical info about the direction and
|
|
technology of cellular from one issue of RF Design News or
|
|
Microwave Journal than I could from a whole year of Cellular
|
|
Business."
|
|
|
|
Horizon House Publications, Inc.
|
|
P.O. Box 850949
|
|
Braintree MA 02185-0949
|
|
(617) 356-4595
|
|
|
|
Monthly. Domestic, one year, $67.00, two year $110, foreign $120
|
|
one year, two year subscriptions $230, back issues (if available)
|
|
and single copies, $8.00 domestic and $17.00 foreign.
|
|
|
|
Microwaves & RF
|
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|
|
Heavy duty publication for the radio engineer.
|
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|
|
Microwaves and RF
|
|
A Penton Publication
|
|
1100 Superior Avenue
|
|
Cleveland OH 44197-8101
|
|
(216) 696-7000
|
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|
|
Monthly. $60 for US subscriptions. Free to qualified individuals.
|
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|
|
Mobile Communications
|
|
International
|
|
|
|
Magazine. Haven't seen it.
|
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|
|
Central House
|
|
27 Park Street
|
|
Croydon CRO 1YD
|
|
+44 (0)81 686 5654
|
|
|
|
Monthly. 40 pounds UK, overseas 60 pounds ($120) per year.
|
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|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Mobile Data Report
|
|
|
|
Another newsletter from the folks at Telecom.
|
|
|
|
Telecom Publishing Group
|
|
1101 King St. Suite 444, Box 1455
|
|
Alexandria, VA 22313-20555
|
|
1-800-452-8011
|
|
|
|
$597. Every two weeks. They say they don't charge for a sample.
|
|
|
|
Mobile Phone News
|
|
|
|
Phillips Business Information, Inc.
|
|
12051 Seven Locks Road
|
|
Potomac, MD 208564
|
|
1-800-777-5006
|
|
|
|
Newsletter. Weekly. 50 times a year. $597 a year. $35 for a
|
|
sample. They'll send you a free brochure on it if you want one.
|
|
|
|
Mobile Satellite News
|
|
|
|
Phillips Business Information, Inc.
|
|
12051 Seven Locks Road
|
|
Potomac, MD 208564
|
|
1-800-777-5006
|
|
|
|
Newsletter. Weekly. 50 times a year. $597 a year. $35 for a
|
|
sample. They'll send you a free brochure on it if you want one.
|
|
|
|
Monitoring Times
|
|
|
|
Grove Enterprises, Inc.
|
|
P.O. Box 98,
|
|
300 S. Highway 64 West
|
|
Brasstown, North Carolina 28902-0098
|
|
|
|
Monthly. $21.95 in the U.S. and
|
|
$32.00 elsewhere. Newsstands.
|
|
|
|
Nuts and Volts
|
|
|
|
Arguably better than Popular Electronics at its height. Great ads
|
|
and even better articles. Damien Thorn's cellular articles were
|
|
especially good. I usually find Nuts and Volts at a ham radio
|
|
store. Write for a sample.
|
|
|
|
Nuts and Volts Magazine
|
|
430 Princeland Court
|
|
Corona, CA 91719
|
|
(909) 371-8497
|
|
74262.3664@compuserve.com
|
|
|
|
Monthly. 3d class: $17.00 a year or 2 years for $31. 1st class:
|
|
$34.00 for one year in the USA. $5.00 for back issues.
|
|
|
|
On the Line
|
|
|
|
"The National Publication of the California Payphone Association".
|
|
A regional publication that does cover national issues. Another
|
|
resource for COCOTs. No reader service cards but worth getting.
|
|
|
|
California Payphone Association
|
|
c/o On the Line
|
|
2610 Crow Canyon Rd., Suite 150
|
|
San Ramon, CA 94583
|
|
(510) 855-3880
|
|
|
|
Six times a year. $25 a year. Send $5.00 and you'll get a sample.
|
|
Or call them up and use your social engineering skills. . .
|
|
|
|
Outside Plant
|
|
|
|
Outside plant is an old telephone term for everything outside of
|
|
the switching center. It's a nice publication but I doubt you are
|
|
going to get a free sub -- I'm still working on them to give me a
|
|
discount or to trade subs.
|
|
|
|
Practical Communications, Inc.
|
|
P.O. Box 183
|
|
Cary, Illinois 60013-0183
|
|
|
|
One year $30 domestic, one year for Canadian addresses is $64 US.
|
|
|
|
Phone +
|
|
|
|
Another COCOT related magazine. A good place to get more
|
|
information on a hard to research topic. Write or call for a free
|
|
sample.
|
|
|
|
Phone +
|
|
Box 5400
|
|
Scottsdale, AZ 85261-5400.
|
|
(602) 990-1101
|
|
|
|
15 times a year for $50.00
|
|
|
|
Popular Communications
|
|
|
|
The "Telephones Enroute" column written by Tom Kneitel (K2AES) is
|
|
very good. Mostly product announcements regarding cellular
|
|
equipment but analyzed by someone who knows what they're talking
|
|
about.
|
|
|
|
CQ Publications
|
|
76 N. Broadway
|
|
Hicksville, NY 11801
|
|
(516) 681-2926
|
|
|
|
Monthly. Domestic rate is $21.50 You can get it from any magazine
|
|
dealer.
|
|
|
|
Premier Telecard Magazine
|
|
|
|
Another telecard magazine. I haven't seen it. I'd send at least
|
|
five dollars for a sample. Or call first
|
|
|
|
BJE Graphics and Pub., Inc.
|
|
P.O. Box 2297
|
|
Paso Robles, CA 93447
|
|
(805) 547-8500
|
|
|
|
A $30 subscription gets you the mag, two telecards and a telecard
|
|
calendar for 1995.
|
|
|
|
private line
|
|
|
|
"A journal of inquiry into the telephone system" Okay, you didn't
|
|
think that I'd leave mine out, did you? The finest, self indulgent
|
|
nonsense about the telephone system in print today.
|
|
|
|
private line
|
|
5150 Fair Oaks Blvd. #101-348
|
|
Carmichael, CA 95608
|
|
privateline@delphi.com.
|
|
|
|
$24 a year for six issues. Goes up to $27.00 July, 1. $4.00 for a
|
|
sample. Back issues $5.00. Text of back issues are on line at:
|
|
etext.archive.umich.edu/pubs/Zines/PrivateLine
|
|
|
|
Public Communications Magazine
|
|
|
|
A hoot. COCOTs and more. The November, 1994 issue featured an
|
|
article on how raising a local payphone call to $.35 will benefit
|
|
everyone. Really. I got a free sample by calling the 800 line.
|
|
My sample came with a form for a free subscription which they did
|
|
give me.
|
|
|
|
Public Communications
|
|
P.O. Box 6246
|
|
Syracuse, NY 13217-7920
|
|
1-800-825-0061
|
|
|
|
Radio Communications Report
|
|
|
|
"For cellular phone information, my favorite is a weekly tabloid
|
|
called Radio Communications Report. It has every thing that
|
|
Phillips newsletters have (plus a lot more) at 1/10 the price.
|
|
It's also a lot better than the glossies like Cellular Business
|
|
for following current events in the business."
|
|
|
|
RCR Publications Inc.
|
|
777 East Speer Blvd.
|
|
Denver, C0 80203
|
|
1-800-678-9595
|
|
|
|
Semi-monthly. 1 year $39; 2 years - $59. Wouldn't tell me the
|
|
sample price -- insisted on mailing me a free copy.
|
|
|
|
RBOC Update
|
|
|
|
Worldwide Videotext
|
|
P.0. Box 138
|
|
Babson Park, Boston MA
|
|
(508) 477-8979
|
|
|
|
Monthly newsletter. $150 a year
|
|
|
|
Report on AT&T
|
|
|
|
Newsletter. "Reports on all activities of AT&T" Focuses on "AT&T
|
|
and its bloody turf battles."
|
|
|
|
Telecom Publishing Group
|
|
1101 King St. Suite 444, Box 1455
|
|
Alexandria, VA 22313-20555
|
|
1-800-452-8011
|
|
|
|
Twice a month. $697 a year with a fax alert. They say they will
|
|
send you a free sample if you are interested.
|
|
|
|
Satellite Times
|
|
|
|
Grove Enterprises, Inc.
|
|
P.O. Box 98,
|
|
300 S. Highway 64 West
|
|
Brasstown, North Carolina 28902-0098
|
|
(704) 837-9200
|
|
grove@mercury.interpath.net
|
|
|
|
Bi-monthly-- $19.95 in the U.S.
|
|
and $26.00 elsewhere .
|
|
|
|
State Telephone Regulation Report
|
|
|
|
Telecom Publishing Group
|
|
1101 King St. Suite 444, Box 1455
|
|
Alexandria, VA 22313-20555
|
|
1-800-452-8011
|
|
|
|
Twice a month newsletter. $535 a year. They say they will send you
|
|
a free sample if you are interested.
|
|
|
|
TeleCard World
|
|
|
|
"America's Leading Magazine for the Telephone Card Industry" Very
|
|
interesting. Your place to find O.J. calling cards. They'll send
|
|
you an old issue as a free sample.
|
|
|
|
Telecard World
|
|
P.O. Box 6246
|
|
Syracuse, NY 13217-7920
|
|
1-800-825-0061
|
|
|
|
$36.00 yearly for US subscriptions.
|
|
|
|
Telecom Gear
|
|
|
|
"The National Marketplace To Buy & Sell Telecommunications
|
|
Equipment" They focus more on used PBX and office equipment,
|
|
rather than telco equipment which Telephone International covers.
|
|
|
|
15400 Knoll Train
|
|
Suite 500 Dallas, TX 75248
|
|
(214) 233-5131
|
|
|
|
Monthly 3d class: $31 a year. They sent me a free sample when I
|
|
wrote for information.
|
|
|
|
Telecommunications: Americas' Edition
|
|
|
|
The best corporate telecom magazine that I've seen. Same group
|
|
that publishes Microwave Journal.
|
|
|
|
Horizon House Publications
|
|
P.O. Box 850949
|
|
Braintree, MA 02185-0949
|
|
telecom@world.com
|
|
|
|
Monthly. $67.00 a year US, $120 foreign, single issues are $8 US
|
|
and $17 for foreign.
|
|
|
|
Telco Business Report
|
|
|
|
Was Telephone Week. Another expensive newsletter from Telecom.
|
|
|
|
Telecom Publishing Group
|
|
1101 King St. Suite 444, Box 1455
|
|
Alexandria, VA 22313-20555
|
|
1-800-452-8011
|
|
|
|
Twice a month newsletter. $695 a year. They say they will send you
|
|
a free sample if you are interested.
|
|
|
|
Telecommunications Policy
|
|
|
|
Academic publication. Policy stuff and more. Explains and comments
|
|
on technology to non-engineer university types. Uses side margins
|
|
to footnote! Worth looking at but you'll have to search.
|
|
|
|
Turpin Distribution Services Ltd. Blackhorse Road
|
|
Letchworth. Herts SG6 IHN. UK
|
|
|
|
Nine times a year. Corporate subscriptions: 270 pounds to UK and
|
|
Europe, 285 pounds to the rest of the world. Individual: 90
|
|
pounds. (Specify Telecommunications Policy when ordering)
|
|
|
|
Teleconnect
|
|
|
|
Teleconnect is more practically oriented than most corporate
|
|
publications. Available through the Tower chain and at many
|
|
newsstands.
|
|
|
|
1265 Industrial Highway
|
|
Southampton, PA 18966
|
|
1-800-677-3435 70600.2451 @compuserve.com
|
|
|
|
12 issues for $15 -- Canada: $30. Retails for $4.00 a copy.
|
|
|
|
Telemarketing
|
|
|
|
"The Authority on Inbound, Out bound and Customer Service
|
|
Management"
|
|
|
|
Telemarketing
|
|
One Technology Plaza
|
|
Norwalk , CT 06854
|
|
1 -800-243-6002
|
|
|
|
Bi-monthly. $49 in the U.S. Call for a sample.
|
|
|
|
Telephony
|
|
|
|
Some value because it is timely and widely available. Guest
|
|
editorials are good. Lots of product announcements and self
|
|
serving press releases.
|
|
|
|
Telephony
|
|
P.O. Box 12976
|
|
Overland Park. Kansas 66282-9940
|
|
(312) 922-1408
|
|
4944254@mcimail .com
|
|
|
|
Weekly. $45.00 domestic. Single copies are $5.00.
|
|
|
|
Telephone International
|
|
|
|
"Published for buyers and sellers of telecommunications equipment
|
|
since 1985" This newspaper like publication has display ads and
|
|
classifieds. Caters to the telco crowd. Small but interesting
|
|
photos of GTD5s, DMS lOOs, etc. in the ads. This may be your best
|
|
chance of seeing some inside plant equipment. Fairly easy to get a
|
|
free sub.
|
|
|
|
Telephone International
|
|
P.O. Box 3589 -- Hwy. 70 N.
|
|
Crossville, TN 38557-3589
|
|
(615) 484-3685
|
|
|
|
Monthly. Domestic is $50.00 for two years if mailed first class.
|
|
Ask for a sample.
|
|
|
|
TeleProfessional
|
|
|
|
"Effective Marketing Via Telecommunications" I think that
|
|
telemarketing is a terrible thing but the technology involved is
|
|
fascinating. An easy one to get a free sub from.
|
|
|
|
209 West Fifth Street Suite N
|
|
Waterloo, Iowa 50701 -5420
|
|
(319) 235-4473
|
|
|
|
$39 a year. They were running a $10 subscription promo when I
|
|
called. And they happily sent a sample.
|
|
|
|
Voice Processing Magazine
|
|
|
|
"The source for applications of computer-telephone integration &
|
|
voice automation"
|
|
|
|
Advanstar Communications
|
|
131 W. Birst Street
|
|
Duluth, MN 55802
|
|
$39 for one year or $59 for two years. $4.95 for a sample.
|
|
|
|
Washington Telecom News
|
|
|
|
Phillips Business Information, Inc.
|
|
12051 Seven Locks Road
|
|
Potomac, MD 208564
|
|
1 -800-777-5006
|
|
|
|
Newsletter. Weekly. 50 times a year. 8 to 10 pages an issue. $597
|
|
a year. $35 for a sample. They'll send you a free brochure on it
|
|
if you want one.
|
|
|
|
Wireless
|
|
|
|
"For the corporate user" . Wireless is the future. This magazine
|
|
covers it well with nice articles on many aspects. Good reader
|
|
service cards.
|
|
|
|
Circulation Department: Wireless
|
|
Three Wing Drive, Suite 240
|
|
Cedar Knolls NJ 07927-1000
|
|
(201) 285-1500
|
|
|
|
Every two months (bi-monthly). Free to qualified subscribers. $30
|
|
to US subscribers and $36 for our Canadian and Mexican friends.
|
|
They did send me a free sample.
|
|
|
|
STILL LOOKING!
|
|
|
|
AT&T Technology,
|
|
Common Carrier,
|
|
Global Telecommunications,
|
|
Tele-Asia,
|
|
Telecom and Network Security Review, Telecommunications Journal of
|
|
Australia, Telesis,
|
|
World Wide Telecom,
|
|
Telekom Praxis,
|
|
Funkschau,
|
|
Commutations and Refutations,
|
|
Phillips' Telecommunications Review
|
|
Ericsson Review,
|
|
Siemens' Telecom Report
|
|
Northern Telecom Magazine
|
|
|
|
|
|
See you on the net!
|
|
|
|
Tom Farley
|
|
5150 Fair Oaks Blvd. #101-348
|
|
Carmichael, CA 95608
|
|
|
|
privateline@delphi.com
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
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|
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