[BC] Early mobile phones

[Craig Bowman]

My dad had one from Gabriel Communications in Fort Lauderdale.  Augie 
Gabriel was a good friend of the family.  This might have had something 
to do with why I developed and interest in electronics.

Craig Bowman


John Holt wrote:
> Michigan Bell installed the first "dial" mobile system in Detroit in 1971. 
>  150 mHz.  The Motorola control had a big dial in the middle.  Michigan 
> Bell engineering chose a 5 double rack relay control system made by 
> Kellogg because they knew it would work and didn't trust the single rack 
> transistor system.  This replaced the manual system where you picked up 
> the handset and talked to the mobile operator giving your number and the 
> number you wanted to connect to.  These were really cells but much larger 
> then today with the lower frequency and there were many more receive sites 
> then transmit sites.
>
> We also had ship-to-shore for the Great Lakes at 2 mHz as well with three 
> different locations.  The second class operators had to log all SOS 
> traffic (as reported to them by the mobile operator) but most of it was 
> skip at night for the Gulf of Mexico which we reported to the Coast Guard.
>
> John M. Holt
> Director of Engineering and Operations
> WAMU-American University
> Washington, DC 20016
> 202-885-1242
> jholt at wamu.org
> http://www.wamu.org
>
> broadcast-bounces at radiolists.net wrote on 01/07/2008 11:46:30 AM:
>
>   
>> Ca. '70, a neurosurgeon who'd recently moved 'down from Boston' to 
>> Providence, with a gift for flamboyance - as RI bluestockings saw it
>> - generously 
>> demonstrated phone in his Porsche, which they well occupied.
>>
>>   Center hump mounted control head w/dial prominent, button row across 
>>     
> top of 
>   
>> unit. One could select quiet channel manually or unit would do so 
>> automaticaly. Doctor pointed out ROAM button, vaguely understood at 
>> time, something about 
>> working freqs in non-local areas. Aft mounted antenna cut ca. 152 megs,
>>
>>   Around this time, McSparran Hill, commonly called Tower Hill due to 
>> prominent wood fire tower, Routes 1 & 138, South Kingstown, RI,  Telco 
>>     
> Garage 
>   
>> featured newly constructed space diversity micro link to Block 
>> Island. This augmented 
>> site several miles south on Route 108, Pt. Judith Road, which also was 
>>     
> home 
>   
>> to Boston Marine Operator 2 meg receiver and possibly remote 
>>     
> transmitter. 
>   
>>  Tower Hill site also had wood pole sporting several 152ish antlers for 
>>     
> both 
>   
>> dispatch & mobile phones.
>>
>>  For a laugh, ca. '74, inquired as to car phone rates. Base was around 
>> 100/mo, calls extra as was install, if recall correctly. 
>>
>>
>>
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