From: Phil.Kane@nov.shmovz.ka.pop   
      
   On Tue, 23 Jan 2018 13:17:28 -0800 (PST), hancock4@bbs.cpcn.com wrote:   
      
   >Not sure what you mean by "clustered".   
      
   With all due respect - I don't mean to be obnoxious but I have worked   
   as a professional in the communications industry for about 60 years so   
   I will try to explain the distinction.   
      
   Cellular technology relies on a cluster of several radio channels at   
   any specific site.  These sites (cells) are spaced such that a   
   specific communication can be passed from one cell to the next one   
   allegedly (I stress that word) seamlessly so that many connections can   
   be accommodated at any specific site.  The mobile  phone gets to use   
   the next available channel while in that cell, but when the connection   
   is handed off to the next cell, it gets the next available channel in   
   that cell, which may not be the same one.  The user is (usually)   
   blissfully unaware that this is happening.  This is known as a   
   "trunking system", developed for Motorola by Bernie Olsen, who retired   
   from Motorola and now works as a senior consultant for my engineering   
   firm.   
      
   >However, the radio telephone   
   >service offered on the railroads was indeed a precursor to cellular,   
   >that is, a telephone service on board a moving vehicle that could   
   >connect to any landside telephone.   
      
   What you were describing was a well-known (and expensive) service that   
   Ma Bell offered as Mobile Telephone Service (MTS) after WW-II (using   
   manual connection via "The Mobile Operator") and later as Improved   
   Mobile Telephone Service (IMTS) which permitted the subscriber to dial   
   directly.  This used a limited number of discrete channels that did   
   not "hand off" but remained the same for the duration of the   
   communication.   
      
   In later years, other companies offered the same type of service as   
   well.  These Radio Common Carriers (RCC) eventually were absorbed by   
   Nextel which merged with and became today's Sprint now using   
   "standard" cellular technology.   
      
   >They advanced the technology when the put phones on the Metroliner   
   >since that had automatic handoff, which is what cellular utilized   
   >(except much smaller cells).   
      
   Not really - they just used the same IMTS technology that motor   
   vehicles had been using for almost two decades.   
      
   >AFAIK, the PRR service was for internal railroad communications,   
   >not telephone calls for the public.   
      
   In the pre-WW-II era they did have what was called Inductive   
   Radiotelephone, an experimental system on the electrified NY-WAS line,   
   that could be interconnected with the pubic telephone system through a   
   PRR manual switchboard operator.   
      
   Hope that I haven't confused you too much.   
      
   Phil Kane   
   Beaverton, OR   
      
   --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05   
    * Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)