Cell_Phones_101

Cell Phones 101 Each day about 30,000 people in the United States sign up for and start using a cellular phone. Therefore it is likely that you or someone you know has a cell phone and uses it on a regular basis. They are such great gadgets - with a cell phone you can talk to almost anyone from just about anywhere, because about 80% of the U.S. has coverage (Dang). But have you ever wondered how a cell phone works' One of the most interesting things about a cell phone is that it is really a radio- an extremely sophisticated radio, but a radio nonetheless. A good way to understand the sophistication of a cell phone is to compare it to a CB radio or a walkie-talkie. A CB radio is a simplex device. That is, two people communicating on a CB radio use the same frequency, so only one person can talk at a time. A cell phone is a duplex device, so it uses one frequency for talking, and a second separate frequency for listening (Dang). A CB radio has 40 channels. A cell phone can communicate on 1,664 channels. Cell phones also operate within cells and phone, cell, phones, radio, base, city, one, channels, cells, station, people, frequency, control, cellular, cb, anonymous, using, power, mtso, about, transmit, system, signal, low, each, because, watts, two, time, strength, stations, someone, sid, same, range, perhaps, office, new, move, miles, listening, knows, frequencies, digital, device, dang, channel, central