what is this?

[marty]

just a quick question about my Q. what are the things in the following pictures? they are on the top inside of the trunk. it looks to be the same wire used for a tv and im just wondering what it's use is for... my guess was for the onboard carphone? its just a guess though.. thanks for the help.

[marty]

'nother pic of another wire

[Rex]

It's for the Cell phone option or something like that.

[Rex]

Oh, forgot to add, pretty much useless in todays technological world.

[marty]

heh yeah i know that the cell phone option is useless. too bad.

[Jesda]

Verizon is still taking AMPS analog subscriptions in some areas. You have to go through hoops but people are still doing it. OH, and its completely not worth it anyway.

[szh]

Verizon is still taking AMPS analog subscriptions in some areas. You have to go through hoops but people are still doing it. OH, and its completely not worth it anyway.

And, even then, they will only do it if you have been a real long-time customer, otherwise the hoops are pretty tough to reach. There is a strong corporate policy about this. We work closely with Verizon (one of our carrier partners) and get information from them on this regularly.

I used to have an Infiniti car phone in my 1991 Q45, and my boss still has one in his 1993 Q45a. Since I sold my 1991 Q back in 1998, I do not have to worry about it. In my boss's case, they pretty much told him that they would continue his analog account only because he had had it for so long (since 1993), but that they would not renew if he let it lapse or wanted to make his current digital handset have the same number (when I first got my car phone and a handset, GTE - now part of Verizon - used to allow two phones with the same number.) So he has one number for his car that he will keep till the Q is sold or falls apart under him!

FWIW, I would disagree with the "not worth it" since the phone was very nice for its time - the analog sound quality was excellent (even by today's digital standards). Totally integrated with the audio system, so it would automatically mute the music on receiving or making a call, etc. Built-in speaker in the arm-rest (in 90-93) or arm-rest compartment (94-96) and built-in microphone in the dash - the physical separation made for very clean speakerphone use.

Z

[Jesda]

Nifty! Didnt know about the auto mute.

[Jeff Williams]

Those are for the cell phone. I have the same wiring in my '94.

I have been thinking of using this antenna in tandem wiht the radio antenna, to see if I can leav it down all the time.

I miss my analog cell phone. It had much better sound quality that the digital ones.

My new AT&T system is prety good. I can switch from tower to tower, without getting cut off.

[szh]

Nifty! Didnt know about the auto mute.

Yeah! It was a really neat feature.

Z

[szh]

Those are for the cell phone. I have the same wiring in my '94.

I have been thinking of using this antenna in tandem wiht the radio antenna, to see if I can leav it down all the time.

Two observations: first, do you actually have the vertical cell antenna installed in the car (on the rear glass)? It was not normally done unless you bought the cell phone. Second, the cell phone antenna was optimized for use with 850MHz cell phones - it will not work as well as the FM antenna for FM (which is centered around 103MHz. So the FM antenna will work better and give you better gain, noise quieting, etc.Quote »I miss my analog cell phone. It had much better sound quality that the digital ones.[/quote]Definitely! Still true. Voices in analog cellular sound "just like the person". In digital cellular, the persons voice is digitized using vocoders that use "voice frequency" ranges to optimize the digitization for the bit rates they use. Including digital noice-reduction methods using the same shaped vocoder curves. So people sound different on digital phones - sometimes I cannot tell quickly who it is on the phone (very dependent on the person - some are easier!). Side by side comparisons always show analog voice quality being better. Of course, the carriers need the higher call efficiency (per MHz of bandwidth) of digital, so they are going to go there fully for sure. Oh, well!Quote »My new AT&T system is prety good. I can switch from tower to tower, without getting cut off. [/quote]Not wanting to start a digital cellular religion war (we are using both the TDMA and CDMA technologies at my work), but ... you will find that CDMA (as used by Verizon, Sprint, etc.) has superior handoff properties from tower to tower. This is because it is inherently built in to the technology that it can listen to multiple towers simultaneously over the full CDMA channel (which is 1.25MHz wide), so when signal fades from one tower, the transition to the other one is trivial. On my current CDMA service through Verizon, I have sustained over 60-70 minute conversations when travelling in a car (not driving) through dense urban areas - i.e., going through many towers and switches - without a loss of the call. This is not as easy with the TDMA (and even the new GSM cellular) that AT&T uses.

Z

[Jeff Williams]

Z, thanks for the info, I don't have the little cell antenna on my car. I like the antenna on the I30, it is in the rear glass. The reception is perty good. Infiniti/Bose/Clarion (or whoever built the antenna) must have a good booster.

I started out with Cellular One, in 1991, with the "bag" phone, then, in 1992, I had a "car" phone installed in my SE Maxima. I went digital in 1998, when Verizon took over. That was a crappy phone. I changed to Suncom, in 1999. Now Suncom is AT&T.

I like what I have, now.

[szh]

Z, thanks for the info, I don't have the little cell antenna on my car. I like the antenna on the I30, it is in the rear glass. The reception is perty good. Infiniti/Bose/Clarion (or whoever built the antenna) must have a good booster.

Yes! They also include two FM antennas in the glass and pick whichever one is providing better signal. It is the same in my M45 - no motorized external antenna that rises up (that can, and often does, fail over time!)Quote » I like what I have, now. [/quote] That is the most important thing! If you get good reception where you are, and good service from the folks when you call them for anything, then that is the way to go!

Z