sf wrote:
> On Sun, 12 Aug 2007 13:55:53 -0400, "Edwin Pawlowski" >
> wrote:
>
>> <sf> wrote in message ...
>>> On Sun, 12 Aug 2007 11:47:58 -0500, Omelet >
>>> wrote:
>>>
>>>> The unused cell is an older, used Motorola that was given to me by a
>>>> concerned mentor on tx.guns. He felt strongly (and rightly so) that
>>>> anyone that carries a gun should carry a cellphone. At that point in
>>>> time, I had not gotten a cellphone so when I finally got a new one, I've
>>>> continued to carry the other one fully charged and "off" just in case of
>>>> emergencies.
>>> so you're paying for two carriers and two phones?
>> You can have a dozen phones all for no cost and on the same carrier. You
>> just can't turn them on all the time. I've heard, but not verified, that any
>> phone is capable or connecting to 911, even if you don't have a carrier.
>>
> I'm still unclear how you'd use an old phone when the number has been
> ported to your new one.
>
>
If its GSM you would use the activated SIM from your current phone, if
it is CDMA you would change the ESN on the carriers website.

911 is a separate thing. Every cellphone is charged a fee to allow 911
calling on an unactivated phone.

On Sun, 12 Aug 2007 14:18:55 -0400, George >
wrote:

>If its GSM you would use the activated SIM from your current phone, if
>it is CDMA you would change the ESN on the carriers website.
>
I only know what a sim is (my phone doesn't have one).... all the rest
is greek to me.

>911 is a separate thing. Every cellphone is charged a fee to allow 911
>calling on an unactivated phone.

She's using the other one just for 911? I thought she talks on it
too.



--

A husband is someone who takes out the trash and gives the impression he just cleaned the whole house.

"Omelet" > wrote in message
news
> In article >,
> "Dee Dee" > wrote:
>
>> "Omelet" > wrote in message

>> Thanks for the information. We're doing it. We just got new cell phones
>> the
>> last couple of months, so the other are quite functional.
>> 'Be Prepared'
>> Dee Dee
>
> I'd keep one of the old ones charged.
> Just keep it "off". The battery charge lasts for months, or so I have
> found so far. I check it's charge periodically.
> --
> Peace, Om

DH has been charging it - I guess for the reason he says it's better to
keep it charged that let it run down completely. I think there are
different theories about this.
Yes, he does check it -- good advice.
Thanks.
Dee Dee

"George" > wrote in message
...

>>
> Every cellphone user pays a monthly fee for the "free" 911 that is
> available for unactivated phones.

I overheard a conversation once about them collecting old cell phones to
hand out to women who were going to spousal abuse groups, or maybe the ones
that lived in the hostels or whatever the name is. I thought that was a
very good idea for doing something with some old phones.

But I had never thought about it for myself out on the road -- it's an
excellent idea.
Dee Dee

In article >, sf wrote:

> On Sun, 12 Aug 2007 11:47:58 -0500, Omelet >
> wrote:
>
> >The unused cell is an older, used Motorola that was given to me by a
> >concerned mentor on tx.guns. He felt strongly (and rightly so) that
> >anyone that carries a gun should carry a cellphone. At that point in
> >time, I had not gotten a cellphone so when I finally got a new one, I've
> >continued to carry the other one fully charged and "off" just in case of
> >emergencies.
>
> so you're paying for two carriers and two phones?

No.

Just one.

The unused cell' is not in service, but you can call 911 from ANY phone,
even a locked one. It just has to hold a battery charge.
--
Peace, Om

Remove _ to validate e-mails.

"My mother never saw the irony in calling me a Son of a bitch" -- Jack Nicholson

In article >, sf wrote:

> On Sun, 12 Aug 2007 13:55:53 -0400, "Edwin Pawlowski" >
> wrote:
>
> >
> ><sf> wrote in message ...
> >> On Sun, 12 Aug 2007 11:47:58 -0500, Omelet >
> >> wrote:
> >>
> >>>The unused cell is an older, used Motorola that was given to me by a
> >>>concerned mentor on tx.guns. He felt strongly (and rightly so) that
> >>>anyone that carries a gun should carry a cellphone. At that point in
> >>>time, I had not gotten a cellphone so when I finally got a new one, I've
> >>>continued to carry the other one fully charged and "off" just in case of
> >>>emergencies.
> >>
> >> so you're paying for two carriers and two phones?
> >
> >You can have a dozen phones all for no cost and on the same carrier. You
> >just can't turn them on all the time. I've heard, but not verified, that any
> >phone is capable or connecting to 911, even if you don't have a carrier.
> >
> I'm still unclear how you'd use an old phone when the number has been
> ported to your new one.

I never even bothered changing the number. It's still a number out of
Houston.

It's there just for calling 911. Period.
--
Peace, Om

Remove _ to validate e-mails.

"My mother never saw the irony in calling me a Son of a bitch" -- Jack Nicholson

In article >,
George > wrote:

> Edwin Pawlowski wrote:
> > <sf> wrote in message ...
> >> On Sun, 12 Aug 2007 11:47:58 -0500, Omelet >
> >> wrote:
> >>
> >>> The unused cell is an older, used Motorola that was given to me by a
> >>> concerned mentor on tx.guns. He felt strongly (and rightly so) that
> >>> anyone that carries a gun should carry a cellphone. At that point in
> >>> time, I had not gotten a cellphone so when I finally got a new one, I've
> >>> continued to carry the other one fully charged and "off" just in case of
> >>> emergencies.
> >> so you're paying for two carriers and two phones?
> >
> > You can have a dozen phones all for no cost and on the same carrier. You
> > just can't turn them on all the time. I've heard, but not verified, that
> > any
> > phone is capable or connecting to 911, even if you don't have a carrier.
> >
> >
> Every cellphone user pays a monthly fee for the "free" 911 that is
> available for unactivated phones.

I don't. Not on that phone...

And even with the tracfone, I don't pay a monthly fee at all. Just the
service cards as needed.

And yes it works for 911. I called it once about a month or so ago when
I had a road emergency.
--
Peace, Om

Remove _ to validate e-mails.

"My mother never saw the irony in calling me a Son of a bitch" -- Jack Nicholson

In article >, sf wrote:

> On Sun, 12 Aug 2007 14:18:55 -0400, George >
> wrote:
>
> >If its GSM you would use the activated SIM from your current phone, if
> >it is CDMA you would change the ESN on the carriers website.
> >
> I only know what a sim is (my phone doesn't have one).... all the rest
> is greek to me.
>
> >911 is a separate thing. Every cellphone is charged a fee to allow 911
> >calling on an unactivated phone.
>
> She's using the other one just for 911? I thought she talks on it
> too.

I have two cells.
One with tracfone service, the other is not activated, just charged.

I can call 911 on the inactive phone, but nothing else.

And there is NO monthly fee on a tracfone! It's all pre-paid and you can
control the costs based on how much you use the phone's air time.

After it's activated etc. and you pay for the initiation (which is not
expensive) they end up running you around 10 cents per minute nation
wide.
--
Peace, Om

Remove _ to validate e-mails.

"My mother never saw the irony in calling me a Son of a bitch" -- Jack Nicholson

On Sun, 12 Aug 2007 15:03:22 -0500, Omelet >
wrote:

>In article >, sf wrote:
>
>>
>> so you're paying for two carriers and two phones?
>
>No.
>
>Just one.
>
>The unused cell' is not in service, but you can call 911 from ANY phone,
>even a locked one. It just has to hold a battery charge.

thanks for clearing that up!


--

A husband is someone who takes out the trash and gives the impression he just cleaned the whole house.

In article >, sf wrote:

> On Sun, 12 Aug 2007 15:03:22 -0500, Omelet >
> wrote:
>
> >In article >, sf wrote:
> >
> >>
> >> so you're paying for two carriers and two phones?
> >
> >No.
> >
> >Just one.
> >
> >The unused cell' is not in service, but you can call 911 from ANY phone,
> >even a locked one. It just has to hold a battery charge.
>
> thanks for clearing that up!

No problemma. :-)
--
Peace, Om

Remove _ to validate e-mails.

"My mother never saw the irony in calling me a Son of a bitch" -- Jack Nicholson

Omelet wrote:
> In article >, sf wrote:
>
>> On Sun, 12 Aug 2007 14:18:55 -0400, George >
>> wrote:
>>
>>> If its GSM you would use the activated SIM from your current phone, if
>>> it is CDMA you would change the ESN on the carriers website.
>>>
>> I only know what a sim is (my phone doesn't have one).... all the rest
>> is greek to me.
>>
>>> 911 is a separate thing. Every cellphone is charged a fee to allow 911
>>> calling on an unactivated phone.
>> She's using the other one just for 911? I thought she talks on it
>> too.
>
> I have two cells.
> One with tracfone service, the other is not activated, just charged.
>
> I can call 911 on the inactive phone, but nothing else.
>
> And there is NO monthly fee on a tracfone! It's all pre-paid and you can
> control the costs based on how much you use the phone's air time.

On a prepay it is prorated as a part of the per minute charge. On post
pay there is an extra monthly fee.

>
> After it's activated etc. and you pay for the initiation (which is not
> expensive) they end up running you around 10 cents per minute nation
> wide.

Omelet wrote:
>
>
> >
> >
> > It helped to be pharmaceutically enhanced :-)
>
> Better living thru Chemistry... <G>
> --

Pot for the Beatles, acid for Hendrix and King Crimson, and mescaline for
Jethro Tull.

sf wrote:
> On Sun, 12 Aug 2007 14:18:55 -0400, George >
> wrote:
>
>> If its GSM you would use the activated SIM from your current phone, if
>> it is CDMA you would change the ESN on the carriers website.
>>
> I only know what a sim is (my phone doesn't have one).... all the rest
> is greek to me.

Sprint and Verizon wireless use CDMA which is basically a different
encoding system. Essentially each phone has an electronic serial number.
If you want to swap phones you log into your account (or call CS) and
pump in the ESN of the phone you want to use on the account you want to
use it on.

>
>> 911 is a separate thing. Every cellphone is charged a fee to allow 911
>> calling on an unactivated phone.
>
> She's using the other one just for 911? I thought she talks on it
> too.
>
>
>

Omelet wrote:
> In article >, sf wrote:
>
>> On Sun, 12 Aug 2007 13:55:53 -0400, "Edwin Pawlowski" >
>> wrote:
>>
>>> <sf> wrote in message ...
>>>> On Sun, 12 Aug 2007 11:47:58 -0500, Omelet >
>>>> wrote:
>>>>
>>>>> The unused cell is an older, used Motorola that was given to me by a
>>>>> concerned mentor on tx.guns. He felt strongly (and rightly so) that
>>>>> anyone that carries a gun should carry a cellphone. At that point in
>>>>> time, I had not gotten a cellphone so when I finally got a new one, I've
>>>>> continued to carry the other one fully charged and "off" just in case of
>>>>> emergencies.
>>>> so you're paying for two carriers and two phones?
>>> You can have a dozen phones all for no cost and on the same carrier. You
>>> just can't turn them on all the time. I've heard, but not verified, that any
>>> phone is capable or connecting to 911, even if you don't have a carrier.
>>>
>> I'm still unclear how you'd use an old phone when the number has been
>> ported to your new one.
>
> I never even bothered changing the number. It's still a number out of
> Houston.
>
> It's there just for calling 911. Period.

Did you ever test it to make sure it will work? Sometimes unactivated
phones won't connect even though they are supposed to. A friend had an
unactivated phone and it would register on the network but when she
tried 911 she would get ARN (American Roaming Network). It turned out
some of the old info wasn't completely reset and that confused the cell
network.

Omelet wrote:
> In article >,
> George > wrote:
>
>> Edwin Pawlowski wrote:
>>> <sf> wrote in message ...
>>>> On Sun, 12 Aug 2007 11:47:58 -0500, Omelet >
>>>> wrote:
>>>>
>>>>> The unused cell is an older, used Motorola that was given to me by a
>>>>> concerned mentor on tx.guns. He felt strongly (and rightly so) that
>>>>> anyone that carries a gun should carry a cellphone. At that point in
>>>>> time, I had not gotten a cellphone so when I finally got a new one, I've
>>>>> continued to carry the other one fully charged and "off" just in case of
>>>>> emergencies.
>>>> so you're paying for two carriers and two phones?
>>> You can have a dozen phones all for no cost and on the same carrier. You
>>> just can't turn them on all the time. I've heard, but not verified, that
>>> any
>>> phone is capable or connecting to 911, even if you don't have a carrier.
>>>
>>>
>> Every cellphone user pays a monthly fee for the "free" 911 that is
>> available for unactivated phones.
>
> I don't. Not on that phone...
>

You are right. Corrected version should be: Everyone who has a paid
cellphone account also pays for the "free" 911 service that is available
for unactivated phones.

> And even with the tracfone, I don't pay a monthly fee at all. Just the
> service cards as needed.
>
> And yes it works for 911. I called it once about a month or so ago when
> I had a road emergency.

In article >,
George > wrote:

> On a prepay it is prorated as a part of the per minute charge. On post
> pay there is an extra monthly fee.

No monthly fee for Tracfone.

Every time card I purchase, no matter what the time allowance, it
extends the service by 90 days.

The phone keeps track of the time left on the main screen, along with
the current paid minutes bank.

At the moment, my phone expires 06-28-2009. I originally bought the
phone back in May and with the minutes I use, it's running me under
$20.00 per month over and above the original purchase.

But I don't glue my ear to a cellphone all day like some people do. ;-)

Original investment was $130.00 and if you watch the promos, you can pay
around 10 cents per minute for actual air time.

I'm really sold on pre-paid phones. For those with irresponsible
teenagers, that might be the answer instead of monthly contracts. If
each kid is allowed one $20.00 card per month to use at their
descretion, it might teach them some responsibility.

If they want more time, they can purchase it themselves.

Most convenience stores, many grocery stores and Wal-marts carry
tracfone cards.
--
Peace, Om

Remove _ to validate e-mails.

"My mother never saw the irony in calling me a Son of a bitch" -- Jack Nicholson

In article >,
Dave Smith > wrote:

> Omelet wrote:
> >
> >
> > >
> > >
> > > It helped to be pharmaceutically enhanced :-)
> >
> > Better living thru Chemistry... <G>
> > --
>
> Pot for the Beatles, acid for Hendrix and King Crimson, and mescaline for
> Jethro Tull.

The Beatles also used acid, or so I have read... John Lennon in
particular.
--
Peace, Om

Remove _ to validate e-mails.

"My mother never saw the irony in calling me a Son of a bitch" -- Jack Nicholson

In article >,
George > wrote:

> > I never even bothered changing the number. It's still a number out of
> > Houston.
> >
> > It's there just for calling 911. Period, as a backup phone.
>
> Did you ever test it to make sure it will work? Sometimes unactivated
> phones won't connect even though they are supposed to. A friend had an
> unactivated phone and it would register on the network but when she
> tried 911 she would get ARN (American Roaming Network). It turned out
> some of the old info wasn't completely reset and that confused the cell
> network.

Ok, I finally worked up the nerve to test it. (I hate to call 911 if
there really is no emergency) and yes, it worked... :-)

No time, no activation, just a full battery charge.

The phone was blanked by it's owner before he mailed it to me.
--
Peace, Om

Remove _ to validate e-mails.

"My mother never saw the irony in calling me a Son of a bitch" -- Jack Nicholson

In article >,
George > wrote:

> >> Every cellphone user pays a monthly fee for the "free" 911 that is
> >> available for unactivated phones.
> >
> > I don't. Not on that phone...
> >
>
> You are right. Corrected version should be: Everyone who has a paid
> cellphone account also pays for the "free" 911 service that is available
> for unactivated phones.

Okay, I guess it's worth it. I finally just tested the unactivated phone
a few minutes ago, and it went thru to 911 with no problems, no delays...

Since I don't pay a Monthly fee on the tracfone, I guess it translates
into spent minute charges.

I have no problem with paying a "tax" for emergency calls for ANY fellow
human.
--
Peace, Om

Remove _ to validate e-mails.

"My mother never saw the irony in calling me a Son of a bitch" -- Jack Nicholson