[GreenKeys] Early Mobile Telephone equipment

[Duncan M. Brown]

Anyone with early mobile telephone equipment that you don't know what to do
with, the Antique Wireless Assoc. Museum would appreciate having it.  I
have put together a small display of IMTS & early cellular equipment for
the Museum, but we do not have anything prior to IMTS.


A little more history:

The first Bell System Mobile Telephone service began in St. Louis 17 June
1946 on on six channels (120 Kc spacing) in the 152/158 Mc band.  These
channels were later split into 60 Kc and then 30Kc channel spacings and
were given two-letter desiginations starting with "J" or "Y": JL, YL, JP,
etc. (were one of these letter groups the earlier pre-split channels?). 
There were plans to split the channels again into 15 Kc channels with "X"
designators: eg XJ, XK, etc.  This was never instituted in the US as the
Cellular channels were finally opened. (But they were in use in Canada in
1985.)

The Mobile Telephone Highway service started in 1947 in the Boston to New
York City corridor on 35/44 Mc. and used "Z" designators: ZO, ZF, ZH, etc.
As of 1985, there were still two dozen cities in the US using the Z
channels. These channels were shut down in about 1988.

In 1956, 12 UHF channels with 25 Kc spacing were made available in the
454/459 Mc band and had channel designators starting with "Q": eg QC, QJ,
QD, etc.

In 1953, AT&T proposed to the FCC a "broadband" mobile telephone system
operating in the 800Mc region. But it took until 1978 for the first
cellular test system to go on the air and not until 1983 for the first
commercial cellular system to go on the air (in Chicago).

IMTS started in 1964 with field trials in Harrisburg, PA.  It was initally
known as "Interim Mobile Telephone Service" ("interim" until cellular was
available).  When they realized that cellular was a ways off, it was
changed to "Improved".


Duncan Brown, K2OEQ

AWA Electronic Communication Museum
http://www.antiquewireless.org