Path: utzoo!news-server.csri.toronto.edu!cs.utexas.edu!usc!snorkelwacker.mit.edu!bu.edu!telecom-request From: system@questor.wimsey.bc.ca (system administrator) Newsgroups: comp.dcom.telecom Subject: MTS, IMTS, Motorola TLD1100. Message-ID: Date: 5 Mar 91 23:08:27 GMT Sender: news@bu.edu.bu.edu Organization: Questor::Free Internet/Usenet*Vancouver*BC::+1 604 681.0670 Lines: 58 Approved: Telecom@eecs.nwu.edu X-Submissions-To: telecom@eecs.nwu.edu X-Administrivia-To: telecom-request@eecs.nwu.edu X-Telecom-Digest: Volume 11, Issue 181, Message 3 of 9 I recently revived my interest in VHF mobile radiotelephone service in the USA and Canada. It all started when I called the local telco (GTE's BCTel), and asked about it. I was informed that it was still available, but the CRTTC (Canadian Radio Television and Telecommunications Commission) had granted them permission to discontinue the service (!). (It turns out they can only discontinue it if there is something else to replace it ... presumably "cellular".) One thing led to another, and another, until I had much of the information I was looking for. IMTS service is still very popular in the USA. It is almost non- existant in Canada, however, where most of the VHF mobile radio- telephone service supplied by the telcos is the manually-compatible MTS. There was one curious anomaly that popped up: It seems that Saskatchewan Government Telephones (SaskTel) now offers a province- wide Touch-Tone dial service (over the existing MTS channels), called "AutoPhone". This service offers: - Direct dial calling to and from your car - Last number redial - Call forward - On-hook dialling - Conventional user in most North American areas The coverage map shows a photo of what could be any standard cellular handset with keys and a digital display on the back, labelled "AutoPhone, ST4100". I wonder what these guys are up to? Is it a hybrid scheme integrating two non-compatible signalling systems on the MTS frequencies? Certainly appears to be. If anyone can enlighten me, I would appreciate it. On another, but somewhat related matter, I am still the proud owner of a now obsolete Motorola TLD1100 IMTS radiotelephone. When I got rid of my old car, I did not manage to remove the transmitter housing and the control/battery cable assembly. Can anyone tell me where I might be able to get these parts cheaply (read almost free)? Finally ... is anyone aware of a hand-held VHF IMTS portable (either full- or half-duplex)? There are lots of frequency-synthesized VHF hand-helds available which can be programmed to work with the telco VHF radiotelephone service in a manual, dial-out only mode. Are there any that can receive and send either MTS or IMTS signalling? Steve Pershing, System Administrator The QUESTOR Project: FREE Usenet News/Internet Mail; Sci, Med, AIDS, more Usenet: sp@questor.wimsey.bc.ca : POST: 1027 Davie Street, Box 486 Phones: Voice/FAX: +1 604 682=6659 : Vancouver, British Columbia Data/BBS: +1 604 681=0670 : Canada V6E 4L2