Older guys - did you have a "bag phone" in the 80s? - Page 2

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[ARCHIVED THREAD] - Older guys - did you have a "bag phone" in the 80s? (Page 2 of 4)

Posted: 11/26/2016 6:53:37 AM EST

[#1]

I recall travelling for work and getting ok'd by my boss to "rent" a cellphone at the airport for my business trip.

Seems crazy now, but 20 years ago it was an option at the rental car booth.

Posted: 11/26/2016 6:54:45 AM EST

[#2]

Big Motorola bag phone. Still have it.

Posted: 11/26/2016 7:14:21 AM EST

[#3]

Yea and I was also dating a sales rep for them

she was fun and who ya callin old MOFO

Posted: 11/26/2016 7:29:13 AM EST

[#4]

went right from the beeper to the star-tac. We was playa

Posted: 11/26/2016 7:33:23 AM EST

[#5]

I can remember my uncle having one. He was a bigwig at the Detroit Free Press back in the day. That dude always had and still does have the latest tech gadgets.

Posted: 11/26/2016 7:35:04 AM EST

[#6]

I had the brick.

Posted: 11/26/2016 7:36:39 AM EST

[#7]

I had a scanner that could listen to cell phone calls. And to cordless phone calls. I didn't do it, because it's illegal, but I knew it could.

Posted: 11/26/2016 7:37:56 AM EST

[#8]

I did have one and it was stolen from my truck. The oddest thing about it was, the truck was parked on the street
in front of my house. The thieves removed the back window, didn't break it, removed it and walked the glass up
my driveway and leaned it against the garage wall. When I came out in the morning I couldn't figure out why someone
stole the back glass out of my truck.

Posted: 11/26/2016 7:40:20 AM EST

[#9]

My dad still has a couple of them sitting in the barn. I tried to throw them out but he says that he paid $2500 for them and he's not throwing them out.

Posted: 11/26/2016 7:44:27 AM EST

[#10]

I had all of them. Bag phone, one mounted in my truck.
The brick, the flip and then some. Finally the iPhone.

Posted: 11/26/2016 7:47:42 AM EST

[#11]

I had a bag phone in 92 or 93. I think the plan had about 20 or 30 minutes of talk time each month.

Posted: 11/26/2016 7:48:36 AM EST

[#12]

I worked for a paging company in the mid 80's, we were the carrier for mobile phones, the ones that you either called the mobile operator over the air, give her the number and she would connect you, I had an RCA TacTec Portable back than, Later I had a Wilson mobile with a push to talk handset and finally a Glenarye mobile phone, it was a monster.

Our shop (2 way) has a few of those old moto bag phones, the old moto flip phones, and some other older gear, even an old Pulsar II head for the old IMTS system

Those were the days.

Posted: 11/26/2016 7:53:00 AM EST

[#13]

Quote History

Quoted:
Da fuck you callin OLD?

Yeah, had one, Motorola.

Hard mounted it in a pickup truck, with high gain verticle antenna on roof

View Quote

Yep. Only on a Jeep.

Posted: 11/26/2016 7:55:42 AM EST

[#14]

We had one. My grandpa had one until they stopped working, it was he only phone that had signal when we were out on our deer lease.

Posted: 11/26/2016 8:00:09 AM EST

[#15]

My first cell was a bag phone, got it in '94.

I think my first service was like 45 minutes per month.

Posted: 11/26/2016 8:04:08 AM EST

[#16]

This is what we grew up with........

Quote History

Quoted:
http://lh3.ggpht.com/_X6JnoL0U4BY/S8BMPKouS8I/AAAAAAAAXXQ/13kP5qVwGOg/tmp1294_thumb_thumb1.jpg?imgmax=800

View Quote

Posted: 11/26/2016 8:11:25 AM EST

[#17]

My Dad had a Technaphone in 88 or 89. He was an attorney, and I distinctly remember him taking a call in the duck -blind every now and then. He got the Motorola in 93 or so? Had a hands-free unit installed in all our cars, so he could switch it to whatever vehicle we were in.

Funny thing was, he never knew how to work any of the tech he bought, so I always had to come along to operate it for him!

Posted: 11/26/2016 8:26:35 AM EST

[#18]

Quote History

Quoted:
Da fuck you callin OLD?

Yeah, had one, Motorola.

Hard mounted it in a pickup truck, with high gain verticle antenna on roof

View Quote

This, I had one mounted in my truck the first week the cells were turned on in Houston. It allowed me to work almost anywhere !

Posted: 11/26/2016 8:28:06 AM EST

[#19]

Quote History

Quoted:
Yes I did! Replaced by a "brick phone"!

View Quote

this, LOL
yuck it up kiddo, we burned money like cannon fuse to have cell phones back then.

Posted: 11/26/2016 8:29:45 AM EST

[#20]

Had one in '97. Rocked it like a pimp.

Posted: 11/26/2016 8:32:10 AM EST

[#21]

Back in the late 70's early 80's ( and beyond) my Grandma worked for Bell Labs in Naperville Illinois. She was secret squirrel about her work.
None of us, even her youngest closest son who lived at home with her those years knew what she did. ( He now owns an IT company.

The best we could get out of her was that she " took programs and looked for ways to beat them"
She had an IBM locked in her spare bedroom, that she would telecommute with before I knew what the internet was. this was still in the 80's.

The other thing I found out was the day she came to our house with this "bag" in her front floor of her car. with a handset and red LED numbers. (reminded me of the Coleco football handheld LED game. not the size but the dots)
It was a "car phone" that she was testing.
My grandma had a stroke 2 years ago, and I never did find out what exactly she did over there.

if anyone could lend insight I'd appreciate it.

but yup... that was my bag phone experience.

My middle uncle spent the late 80's and 90's with a big brick phone on the side of his head, sadly and interestingly enough I heard he has a brain tumor. keep that in "mind"

Posted: 11/26/2016 8:37:02 AM EST

[#22]

I had one in the early 90's

Posted: 11/26/2016 8:38:35 AM EST

[#23]

I can only remember a couple of people having them in the late eighties, one of which was one of my college roommates. His dad had literally worked in the coalmines as a youngster, joined the army to get out of town, learned about radios during his time in and gambled $500 to buy a cellular frequency. That investment managed to turn into his parents owning 51% of Cellular One Northeast- that they sold our senior year making them instant multimillionaires (pretty sure they both had decent salaries then). The other guy I was friends with who had one also had a handheld brick type- the big white thing like you saw Sonny Crockett using on Miami Vice and he drove a new Corvette. His parents owned their own island off Maryland or NY (can't remember which). Both of them were good guys to have as friends, the later especially threw some epic parties. Cheers Eric and Big Dave.

First bag phone I had access too was for work in, IIRC, 1992. That and the old Motorola pager. I had one of those black Motorola phones pictured as well. With an external antennae they did a lot better than the current crop of phones. In fact I held onto my old silver Motorola 8 something or another for a long time just because it had a port for an external amplifier and antennae.

Posted: 11/26/2016 8:40:35 AM EST

[#24]

we did on ambulances for years. It worked better for sending telemetry.

Posted: 11/26/2016 8:43:12 AM EST

[#25]

I don't consider myself that old, and it was in the 90s for me. That fucker had some power, I think it had better reception than any phone I've had since.

Posted: 11/26/2016 8:46:13 AM EST

[#26]

In 88 IIRC the company had one that the managers could use when we were in the field. Also a pager.

Things have changed for sure.

Posted: 11/26/2016 8:48:19 AM EST

[#27]

settle a debate, my dad still has one of these and claims it can still be activated/used. I told him I dont think it could be.
who is right?

Posted: 11/26/2016 8:50:41 AM EST

[#28]

Yup. Bought it from a carpet installer who worked for my mothers company.

About 6 months later I found a joint under the actual phone part in the bottom of the "bag".

Posted: 11/26/2016 8:54:42 AM EST

[#29]

"poor" man's car phone....

Posted: 11/26/2016 9:01:47 AM EST

[#30]

I am 44.

I had a bag phone on 1993, but also had a pager. I kept the phone turned off due to shitty batteries and only used it if it was REALLY important.

Then when technology progressed, so did my phone, but I never would buy the absolute best due to cost.

The funny thing about this.

I AM STILL ROCKING THE EXACT SAME CELL NUMBER SINCE 1993!!!!!!

Posted: 11/26/2016 9:13:16 AM EST

[#31]

Still have it stashed away somewhere

Posted: 11/26/2016 9:13:23 AM EST

[#32]

Used one at work until about 2004. A couple of old pickups there still have the handset mount and electronics from dinosaur phones mounted in them.

Posted: 11/26/2016 9:15:02 AM EST

[#33]

No but my in laws had something like that.

Posted: 11/26/2016 9:15:10 AM EST

[#34]

Quoted:
Common, admit it. (I'm guessing many of the younger folks her have no f-ing idea what these were)

These were one predecessor to what might be considered as today's cell phones, and the poor man's way of having a car phone.

http://i954.photobucket.com/albums/ae29/littleredman888/il_570xN.556343206_1qhv_zpsgdlpfm7g.jpg

View Quote

Had one identical to that. Mounted it in my '88 Camaro.
21 years old... driving a new Camaro with a cell phone = pussy throwing themselves at me.

Posted: 11/26/2016 9:15:51 AM EST

[#35]

Yes, free nights and weekends.

Posted: 11/26/2016 9:16:22 AM EST

[#36]

Yep.

I've had a cell phone since they were first available, commercially, and haven't paid for a single one.

Pimpin' through the mall carryin' the bag phone......yeahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh.

Plus, you could warm up your lunch with it when in the field.

Posted: 11/26/2016 9:16:54 AM EST

[#37]

Sure, everybody had a A/N TA-312 in their tracks back then, why do you ask?

Posted: 11/26/2016 9:18:07 AM EST

[#38]

My dad did. But it was for work. Heck, my parents still don't have cell coverage at their house.

Eta- My buddy had one. Lack of service in our area made them useless to me.

Posted: 11/26/2016 9:18:25 AM EST

[#39]

Well damn, I didn't realize I was an "older guy" until this thread. I'm 37 and had a bag phone.

Posted: 11/26/2016 9:20:09 AM EST

[#40]

The old bag phones were great to have on a boat offshore because of the wattage. 3w>0.6w

Posted: 11/26/2016 9:20:15 AM EST

[#41]

I still have mine. If I wasn't at work I'd post a picture of it.

Posted: 11/26/2016 9:21:11 AM EST

[#42]

Nope. Didn't have a cell phone until the mid '90s when I was issued one.

Posted: 11/26/2016 9:26:25 AM EST

[#43]

Quote History

Quoted:
settle a debate, my dad still has one of these and claims it can still be activated/used. I told him I dont think it could be.
who is right?

View Quote

I don't think so; I seem to recall the old analog system was shut off in 2007 or so. Heck, the only reason I got rid of my Motorola 815 was because it would no longer connect on Verizon anymore.

<---- Not a phone guy so someone else should be able to provide a better answer.

Posted: 11/26/2016 9:27:23 AM EST

[#44]

First one was a Motorola CP-250 in about 92 or 93.

Posted: 11/26/2016 9:28:11 AM EST

[#45]

Yep, I had one. None of this "no signal" bullshit with it either!

Posted: 11/26/2016 9:32:59 AM EST

[#46]

Quote History

Quoted:
im35 and had one

View Quote

Same here, my dad had one issued from his company and it was fun showing it off to neighbors and friends
He still has it in a box somewhere and I want to show my son when he is older a piece of history

Posted: 11/26/2016 9:36:54 AM EST

[#47]

Quote History

Quoted:

I don't think so; I seem to recall the old analog system was shut off in 2007 or so. Heck, the only reason I got rid of my Motorola 815 was because it would no longer connect on Verizon anymore.

<---- Not a phone guy so someone else should be able to provide a better answer.

View Quote View All Quotes

View All Quotes

Quote History

Quoted:

Quoted:
settle a debate, my dad still has one of these and claims it can still be activated/used. I told him I dont think it could be.
who is right?

I don't think so; I seem to recall the old analog system was shut off in 2007 or so. Heck, the only reason I got rid of my Motorola 815 was because it would no longer connect on Verizon anymore.

<---- Not a phone guy so someone else should be able to provide a better answer.

yeah i didnt want to play my hand but thats what I told him. I worked for att for 4 years in tech support. I tried to explain it was all shut off but he doesnt believe me.

Posted: 11/26/2016 9:37:09 AM EST

[#48]

My dad had a HAM in the car and would use the local radio to phone links to call people.

Kharn

Posted Via AR15.Com Mobile

Posted: 11/26/2016 9:42:49 AM EST

[#49]

3 watts of analog goodness. They were used right up until the conversion of the entire system to digital by a lot of people due to the superior reception- especially in rural areas.

I was a salesman for these things in the mid ninties and people would bring them in for repair all the time refusing to upgrade because the handhelds were 1/2 a watt. IIRC.

In 1995 we were still installing hard mounted phones in cars.

Posted: 11/26/2016 9:45:00 AM EST

[#50]

Are you fuking callin me old...

[ARCHIVED THREAD] - Older guys - did you have a "bag phone" in the 80s? (Page 2 of 4)

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