Ham radio cell phone

Can you communicate to cell phones with a ham radio?

A: There are a few mobiles that include a DMR transceiver that can do that, although they are expensive.

Alternatively, you might consider a phone that supports OTG, and use an SDR app and dongle (external radio).

Update: I meant DMR, not DRM.

B: There are a few mobiles that include a DMR transceiver that can do that, although they are expensive.

Alternatively, you might consider a phone that supports OTG, and use an SDR app and dongle (external radio).

Update: I meant DMR, not DRM.

C: There’s a difference between operator privileges, a station’s authorization, and what the equipment itself is capable of. An amateur radio operator and station license (usually combined in the case of an individual Amateur Radio operator) doesn’t authorize use of equipment outside the amateur radio bands. Hence, using a ham radio to communicate to cell phones directly isn’t authorized.

There’s no restriction against an operator having equipment that’s capable of transmitting to other services. But cell phone frequencies, modulations and protocols are so very different and incompatible with ham radio communication that unless the person has a reason to have equipment that’s specifically designed to work on cell phone networks, communication between the ham’s equipment and cell phones is practically impossible.

Digital vs. Analog

All cell phones have now gone to digital, which in layman’s terms means that the signals travel on different, and highly secure, frequencies. It is worth remembering, too, that even if we don’t use them much anymore, landlines these days are just as digital as cell phones. Pretty much every question asked about cell phones, the answer can be applied to a landline as well. Digital is easier, safer, and for most technology, it’s par the course. It’s one of the few things some bring up as a negative in regards to ham radio. It’s become a bit of an old world technology, reminiscent of the 80s and 90s. Those first, blocky communication devices that resembled portable radios themselves rather than actual phones, were open to monitoring by nearby radio operators. Though, monitoring may not be the right word.

Signal-receiving Scanners

Back in the day when phones were analog, there were scanners that could pick up the frequency, meaning the operator could use that scanner to look for certain channels. Even back then, it wasn’t about trying to find a specific phone and monitor it constantly, then it was about turning on a radio and listening in on whatever happened to be on nearby. But as cell phones changed from analog to digital, new scanners would need to be manufactured to try and pick up those signals. For one, the manufacturing of those kinds of scanners was banned around the early 2000s. For two, digital comes with an entirely new field of encryption and security that scanners might never have been able to crack anyway.

Does amateur radio have other effects on cell phones?

There is a theory, likely untried as of yet, that if a very large ham radio was right next to a cell phone, it would completely fry the cell. Radios can be amplified up to 1500w, and such power transmitting next to a cell phone could burn it out. Evidence exists of several kinds of electronics that get fried when placed next to a radio. If you value your cell phone, though, you might not want to risk it.