Nextel Walkie Talkies Still Work!
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- čas přidán 6. 12. 2023
- Turn your old Nextel cellphones into walkie talkies.
The Nextel network officially shut down in 2013 leaving thousands of cellphones abandoned. Newer Nextel phones (possibly only the Sprint Nextel phones) can be turned into a walkie talkie using Direct Talk.
Motorola Nextel i1000plus
Motorola Nextel Sprint ic502 buzz
Motorola Nextel Sprint ic502
Source:
RadioReference.com
Instagram @RadioCheckk
Email Radiocheckaz@gmail.com
Man this is what I had on 9/11 and because the government took over the cell networks (Plus all the traffic) you couldn't make cell calls BUT the Nextel nationwide network was up and running and I could reach out to all my friends and family to check in and make sure everyone was safe. Such a great tool.
We still use our nextel phones 2 way to this day. I miss nextel when u could get stuff done no matter the distance. Now we get about 2 miles or so range between our 2 shops but still love the 2 way feature. At one time running 2 contracting companies i kept informed and up to date on anything and everything going on. Now calling sucks and texting is a joke. Just my 2 cents.
They were absolutely a much faster way of communicating. Same with businesses still use two way radios; fast and convenient to have everyone hear the message being broadcasted. I think I'll have to put a video of which way of communicating is faster 🤙
I supplied Nextel phones to all my sales reps back in the day. My final bill before switching to AT&T was $14,000. 😂
Sheesh. I mean we all knew it was expensive and Nextel knew they could charge because they were the only ones with that feature at that time.
I miss the Nextel days
Absolutely the best days 👍
Nextel is still around. It’s ran by T-Mobile
I miss my old i730 I remember you could put songs as a ringtone man I miss the old days
We are still maintaining our iDEN Melody system to this day. Hopefully we get a new system soon but it still works
I’m glad making these iDEN work is still a thing going into 2024.
Interestingly enough, Motorola actually used that technology to build their DLR, and later DTR FHSS radios.
I remember seeing the DTRs come out shortly after. I am sure it influenced DMRs 🤙
I liked this feature back in the day, as you said texting wasnt cheap or really a thing. These were very convenient and the range was limitless going through the cell towers. Motorola has a series of 2 way radios using this technology and also uses spread spectrum frequency hopping. They have models that are kinda between a cellphone and a radio in the design. You can talk to groups of radios or indivduals and its not monitorable on a scanner. I use them these days. They have a little more power and range than these old phones and more useable features. They are still making the Motorola newer model radios, but the model I have which was d/c just a few years ago you can still get batteries and accersories for them, another reason I went with them, batteries and chargers will give you trouble trying to keep those old phones running. Since you are a Motorola fan you will love the Dtr series, should check them out, you will ultimately prob spend about the same or less than keeping those old phones going.
Thanks. I will definitely move on to the DTR radios next. I have a few in que.
Thank you for your reviews. They are informative and helpful.
The frequencies that the Nextel network had used were re-allocated by the FCC to public safety use. Also those devices weren’t allowed to transmit at more than 6/10th of a watt so when you do your range tests pull those antennas up. And because of the extremely high frequencies that they are on your range will be very adversely affected by any obstructions between devices.
I'm looking to buy two Direct Talk capable phones but I'm curious about the sound quality. I know you used the i1000 plus which I'm familiar with. I owned many of the older Nextel phones too, so I know they were all very loud. Do you feel that the ic502 flip is just as loud? I'm curious because on Ebay I noticed the i355 non flip is more expensive and you can actually see the rear speaker making it "appear" to be just as loud as the i1000 plus. What is your opinion/advice?
Nextel also offers a feature on some of their phones, marketed as DirectTalk. The technology uses the 902 MHz to 928 MHz ISM band and provides ten Frequency-hopping spread spectrum channels for an off-network push to talk communications between individual phones that are not necessarily in range of wireless towers.
Yep. I worked for corporate for years. Almost every single one of my customers had no idea they had this free feature built in to most of the 3 digit series phones. ( minus the i530, 730 and maybe 1 other) They kept mixing direct connect up with direct talk and didn’t know they were 2 different networks and it’s free. It still works today. It’s basically a free 2 way radio that’s great for warehouse or a construction site. I have 2 i576 as emergency phones in case cellular goes down during a hurricane etc.
I picked up a lot of i560s, 325 and 365s a couple years ago because they were a bargain. Purchased some old Nextel sims off eBay and worked right out of the box. I made sure to set the start-up to Direct Connect and that was it. I initially looked into extending the range but gave up given how dated all the info on them was. Perfect for SHTF communications, especially good with the FHSS spectrum it uses. Unwritten hailing channel is 10-4.
I just picked up an i836 & i830, both phones work they do each have a Sim card, when turn on it just says no service… how can I get these two phones to work to use the walkie-talkie feature ?
@@O4L. Unfortunately, the i836 & i830 are not DirecTalk compatible.
@@rollingcode3 thanks
I still remember my Nextel number. I had the i880 to there blackberry. Even had Bloomingdale’s i90 and i95cl miss them phones. And the black ones u have are hybrid they ran sprint and Nextel. And spouses to work with out signal.
Yes the i95cl! I remember those Bloomingdale's ones!
The Nextel walkie talkie portion use's 800 Mhz ISM Band which is license free
I believe 900ISM.
Yes! ISM is 900 mhz - 2.4 ghz and 5 ghz. Thanks for the view 🤙
No their cellular service for the walkie talkie feature used 800mhz. These are not Nextel phones, these are Motorola phones, and they were used with multiple cell carriers. All of these phones had the normal IDEN walkie talkie service, but the Motorola Direct Talk phones also had 900mhz radios so you could use them as walkie talkies without service. 900mhz radios by law require frequency hopping, so the direct talk phones can only communicate with other direct talk phones. There was around 20 or 25 Direct Talk models. They made several styles. Some were flip, some looked like rugged walkie talkies, and they even made an Android model. The Android model was actually the first and for years the only Android phone without a touch screen. The Android model is the 886. Probably the most advanced model was the i765 and i765is. The i765/765is looks just like an actual walkie talkie
@@chrisgullett4332
You are right sir. I sold Nextel on the corporate level for 4 years. The radio was 900mhz. The phones he has in this video are sprint ic502 not Nextel. They were a hybrid that put nextels 900mhz together with sprints cellular which I believe was 800mhz. Thats why when you used a Nextel near your car radio it interfered. Radio used 900mhz also and so did Nextel.
my grandfather and uncle have a pool company and i remember early 2000's he had this phone and so did all the guys he employed it was amazing to experience even when i was so young 😭
They were definitely convenient and fun 😁
I was a big Nextel fan and was so sad to see it go. A few years ago I found out about Zello which is pretty close to having Nextel back, but for free this time. I even bought a couple of network radios due to their very loud speakers. I was wondering if you use Zello, what your thoughts are, and if you would ever make a video about it. I know it's not traditional two way radio, but it's similar.
Being a tow truck driver for 12 years starting in the beginning of the 2000's, who was dispatched using Nexel phones. The chirp causes me to get anxiety j/k......sorta Cool video
I wonder how much these are limited to line of sight, also, can you connect headphones/earpiece to them? Even a mic?
I’d be curious also how it works in a store versus outside or across a campus.
Lastly is it possible to increase/augment the antenna to improve range?
I definitely have plans to test it out in a large building and outdoors. See how much obstruction makes a difference. I does have an earpiece but not sure if its just for hearing and talking on a phone call. I'll have to see if they sell earpiece that let's you push the walkie talkie button and talk 🤙 Thanks for watching!
Can nextel be used with the boost mobile walkie walkie phones? Cause i will get one online thatbis still unopned and just get me a Simple mobile sim and connected as a prepaid just to chat if anything
There is a iDEN radio system. I’ve seen it in a hauling company. They had a iDEN base station. I would love to have a full iDEN radio system
Someone said the Motorola DTR radios are iDEN and perhaps a repeater can be used. Not sure how accurate that is but definitely something new to research. Thanks for watching 🤙
I still have all my nextels from the early 2000s from the i1000 work chirp to the i90 that looked like a Nokia with chirp then the i730. I legit have maybe 12 nextels that’s still function in short range.
Some of them have the feature but it wasn't activated depending on provider. There's a cable and software you can get to enable it. I think it was called "Iden Carrier RSS". worth a shot!
Will have to learn more about iDEN. I'm very interested to see how an iDEN codeplug works and what you can do with it. Thanks for watching! 🤙
I remember that was some dangerous software. I saw websites get shut down for posting links and how tos in it. Motorola came after individual users. Rss-carrier.rar
What is the range on this. And can you do this with any nextel phone.
Do you think the blackberry 7520 would work
T-Mobile actually has a ptt plan and they do use it with the Nextel name.
if I remember correctly the repeaters could run in Isolated Site Operation
I didn't think it was possible to build or use a repeater for iDEN?
Ahah! You hit it on the head! Nextel works on a similar order as what my baofeng ham gmrs does. That’s what I thought I was getting out of this video.
VOIP.
Could you have chosen a better camera angle to record?
I had a bunch of old Nextel direct talk phones and they will work as walkie talkies. I don’t know where you’re getting your info about SIM cards, but mine did not require specific Nextel cards. I used old att and T-Mobile sims and they worked fine. The range is probably around a half mile direct line of sight. That was in some semi dense Pennsylvania woods. Both phones have to be in direct talk mode. As for the sim, mine only needed any sim to work. There was no cellular or texting, just walkie talkies. Save your money. This is an expensive project as the batteries and chargers are obsolete. If you’re going to continue with this experiment, stay away from the flip phones as they had lesser range and battery life. That’s just my suggestion. I still have mine, and most are still working. I keep them at my hunting camp and every year, they always power on, but the battery life is quickly degrading. Good luck.
I still use a sonim xp5800 push to talk phone. Looks almost like the old Nokia bricks.
I worked for Nextel from 1998-2001 we were all given the latest model it was my first cell phone and it was AWESOME!!!
I always wanted one of these phones but they were never available in my area. If I had gotten one I would not have had anyone to talk to because at the time US Cellular was the only company that provided service to our area then in the early 2000s Verizon came to town along with AT&T. Back then you had to worry about roaming and minutes. I knew all the tricks with the Motorola StarTac.
not sure where your looking i just googled motorola bk70 batteries & a crapload of places came up-- looks like there still making them or in stock
As I said, it is difficult to find new, not difficult to find the actual battery. The risk is buying a used battery which lessens the life span of the battery not to mention could deteriorate and damage the phone. It's not like I can head over to the store and pick one up.
@@RadioCheckk = hey ok just thought id send some input -- sorry i even replied -- have a good new year
Nextel was fun, but had coverage limitations.
I've actually never had coverage problems in fact was always able to use direct connect when I couldn't make a phone call. Thanks for watching! 🤙
I don't miss that chirp. Woke up many nights to check the phone to find out it wasn't the phone.
That was the fun. Beeping someone late at night 😂
MDC 1200 ANGERS PEOPLE...
Can you connect different Nextel phones together?
That will be a test coming up. I believe you are asking if different phone models can connect using Direct Talk.
Yes I'm glad nextels still work what about the boost mobiles I wonder if those still work
I read that the boost mobile didn't come with the feature "Direct Talk" and possibly doesn't work. I'll have to find a few and check 🤙Thanks for watching!
@@RadioCheckk oh ok thank you
Baofeng radios are easy to get and programmable to add FRS gmrs frequencies so it is way too easy for someone to eavesdrop. Iden now is difficult to intercept.
Very easy to intercept. Digital models are a little hard to eavesdrop on and iDEN even more. Thanks for watching!
I bought like 10 of the yellow construction ones off eBay like 5 years ago for this same purpose got frustrated couldn’t get them to work & gave up
I've read that they would need to have an activated but inactive sim card to work. Not sure if yours still had the sim card. Also, I read not all phones had the Direct Talk installed on them.
I have a question how far can you still use the radio?
I actually posted a video of me testing them out around town. Take a look when you have a chance. I think it was around 2-3 miles with high rise buildings. Thanks for watching!
I have the Motorola i930 I wonder if this will work, I always get sim card not recognized when canes on even though their isn’t one but after pressing ok the phone works fine
I've had trouble with mine to accept a different sim card. It says not original and to insert original. I'll have to keep trouble shooting I suppose
@@RadioCheckk the only method I heard that works is getting a red pocket SIM card or universal unlock SIM card I believe nano size & putting the unlock SIM card in first then sliding your actual SIM card on top ? I believe could be wrong but if you ever find a method for the i930 to work please make a video, you earn a Sub great work here 👍
Yes it will. I930 has direct talk feature. You need a 64k yellow Nextel card or a black 128k Nextel sim only. The 32k white/gray sims won’t work in the newer 3 digit phones like the i930
@@mickywinters8451 I’ll bought a 64k SIM card for the i930 it don’t work ? The SIM card was too big ? I called T Mobile Support & they even told me they couldn’t activate such an old phone lol I really wanna know how ppl in recent years got this phone re activated I’ll make a video on my page & show you it didn’t
Hey 👋 what SIM card are you using ??
The phones that are working are the original sim cards. I bought new sim cards for a few other phones but it didn't work. The phone says it doesn't match the phone it was set up with. You can find them on eBay.
I just ordered two from eBay hopefully 🤞 they work on my i776 Nextel and i836
@@tonyjones9766 let me know how that goes. I am curious to see if different (non original) sim cards actually do work with other phones. Thanks for watching 🤙
Hey did you have trouble charging one of your nextel phones ? Because the phones I ordered the battery is completely dead and i saw something on eBay saying that I would have to charge them for 12 hours for them to work again
@tonyjones9766 I did but it was because the charging port wasn't working. I ended up leaving the phone plugged in for a day and never charged. The phone didn't light up or indicate it was even charging. I just went ahead and bought a dock charger which worked fine
If I remember correctly you could extend range by having multiple users
As in walkie talkie to walkie talkie extending range?
Are you saying these will automatically form a mesh network? Basically these phones will work as repeaters?
That would actually be really freaking cool if they work like that direct talk is basically off-grid radio They have a radio built into them so you're not connecting to the cell towers you're doing point to point which is why they still work since point to point doesn't require towers or network
But I would be really interested if these things can actually auto form a mesh network so that you can daisy chain devices I could even see setting up devices you know with solar panels and batteries out in the field where you're going to be operating such as a rocket launch a flying field paintball field airsoft field anything like that where you have a large area you're going to cover if these things can actually form mesh networks that would be freaking amazing Lora does this but not with voice text only
@@RadioCheckkdude can you test this? Get a third one of those phones Make sure they all talk to each other have somebody with one phone and you drive away until you're at the limit of the range then dump someone out of the car with that phone and then you keep going and see if that second phone piggybacks to the third phone
@@RadioCheckkif this is actually the case here is supposedly a list of phones that are direct talk compatible
Nextel ic402
Nextel ic502
Nextel ic602
Nextel ic902
Nextel i275
Nextel i315
Nextel i325 (and i325is)
Nextel i335
Nextel i355
Nextel i365
Nextel i425
Nextel i455 (mixed reviews: some apparently have the feature disabled)
Nextel i560
Nextel i570
Nextel i580
Nextel i615
Nextel i670
Nextel i760
Nextel i776
Nextel i850
Nextel i870
Nextel i880
@@RadioCheckkyou said South mountain you don't mean South mountain in Edgewood New Mexico do you? You're not talking about Albuquerque as the city are you? I live in Edgewood!
It was basically a network version of gmrs radio minus the license requirement. That’s what I’m getting out of this video anyway.
Get a sdr receiver , I believe the correct software will decode digital
Will these work with the DTR 700s?
From what I read, DTR and iDEN are two different digital entities. Similar to DMR and P25 begin both digital but can't communicate with each other. We will have to put it to the test though! Thanks for watching!
Oh man! I've still got the RSS software to program those things from Motorola and I'll keep my mouth shut here but you can mod the crap out of those things The change, the compression ratio and many of the things
🤔 Now I am encouraged to research this
The good old days , I spent many many nights figuring out that software.
Shaniqua calls it The Chirp.
Can I buy a brand new one and get it to work with the old SIM card?
Unfortunately, when I tried that, it didn't work. When I read up on it on RadioReference.com, it said you will need the original sim card. Someone else left me a comment saying they are going to try it. We'll see if they have better luck!
No because phone companies to only support 4g compatible phones and up. These are 2g so they are no longer supported.
can use a sdr radio
Is the signal transmitted to the other phone scrambled or encrypted in any way?
From what I was reading, iDEN can't commonly be picked up from scanners essentially making it encrypted. Unless you have the right equipment which I don't think many do.
@@RadioCheckk So not encrypted but like a proprietary digital format that can only be decoded by the other phone?
Yes you got it! Awesome way to put it. 🤙
@@RadioCheckk Reminds me of those videonow players released by Hasbro back in the mid 2000s which used unencrypted but proprietary data for the videos. It played like an audio cd but normal players couldn't display the videos. Only the videonow player could display them because the video and audio data was encoded as CD audio and decoded into digital audio and video in real time by the player as it played.
👍👍👍
Fed went and bought nextel-e40
It’s delayed but it’s rather cool though.
I think the delay is because of the conversion from analog (voice) to digital. It's weird to get used to at first.
iDEN still works in South America
If I remember correctly receive all ment just listen mode and can't transmit while in mode
Thanks. I'll have to test that out when the next phone comes on. Thanks for watching.
Whats the range on these?
I've read that it's about 1-2 miles within a city. I'll be testing them myself this weekend 🤙
@@RadioCheckk great! I’ll bolo for that!
interesting thanks I will stay tuned for more videos about this
2 or 3 blocks in the city but on open spaces without interruptions of line of sight can work 2 or 3 miles
I have been doing this for a while too. The range in the city isn't impressive but it would work pretty reliably with a block or two.
Nextel was bought out by Sprint
Using 2 i580s as walkie talkies.
Nextel was fire the radio was on point but I guess not being able to listen in made it no good
Sprint moved the Nextel system up to 1.9 GHz to work in their licensed frequencies. As for these phones doing direct connect 2-way, if they are working in the 800 MHz band you could be interfering with some police departments in your area if they have not migrated down to 700MHz OR you could be interfering with the 850MHz section being used today for the world wide GSM standards. Not having proper information as to the exact frequencies used on these units it would be hard to determine if IDEN would interfere with the GSM standards. Batteries will be unobtainium, however if you carefully open the plastic pack without cutting into the cell pack, many times you can find the same bare cell of the same size and transfer the charging board to the new cell pack and then reseal the battery into the original plastic housing. Did this with a Motorola TimePort GSM phone as well an Ericsson T610. Use extreme caution and do the work outside, wear a plastic face shield and leather gloves when cutting into the pack.
From what I read, Direct Connect (cell tower connection) was on the 800 mhz. Direct Talk (radio to radio) was on the ISM band which is somewhere between 900 mhz to 2 ghz. I hear a lot of people say it can interfere but in my time of using radios, I've never seen a digital radio interfere with another digital radio especially on a different digital module. I hope to test that theory soon! Thanks for watching!
Emergency Responder systems needed that frequency range as it's penetration worked better in buildings 911 attack pretty much ended use on a broad scale
Sprint decided to just convert them to regular subscribers.
Interesting flashback I watched someone do a video on Satellite Dish card hacking
@@thinkIndependent2024 Satellite Dish card hacking video, that was me, glad you liked it LOL!
@@peterfairlie2296 It was a fun era I had Dish, Direct, Cable Box, and the first Cable Modem (Let's say proof of concept testing)
Not bad! I enjoyed the blast from the past as I too was a big Nextel fan!
A couple of thoughts:
You were saying iDEN correctly and you were also correct about it being on various 800MHz frequencies in a proprietary digital format. I knew right away your scanner wasn’t going to capture the frequency though because as you said, it would only work with what it knows such as analog, P25, etc., but I kept waiting… and waiting… and wondering why no TinySA?! It couldn’t hear anything because that’s not what it does, but you could have saw the frequency, the harmonics so you know if it’s “clean,” and get an idea as to the power.
Speaking of power, those specs should be available online somewhere, so you shouldn’t even have to figure it out!
Unlike GMRS, unless your S.O. also has a ham license, I am 99% certain that you won’t be able to use DMR without being licensed to a particular “business band” frequency. Of course you could go under an existing licensee if able to. So, you’d need to either both be licensed hams for DMR or use an allowed frequency in the “business band.”
Current FCC rules don’t allow texting on FRS/GMRS and they are fairly limited where they do allow it.
An ideal (hopefully) solution for you to use at home would be to have a few Alexa devices around the house to just “call” each other. You could buy them starting at around $20! If you want more of a traditional radio solution maybe go with MURS bands since most non-business users have zero clue that they even exist. Think about it, when was the last time that you saw a MURS “bubble pack” on a store shelf?! The downside of course is that the FCC doesn’t allow encryption outside the amateur bands for “personal use.” It would be pretty low on anyone’s scanner ‘radar,’ if they’re checking at all though.
One last thought, Sprint killing iDEN was no surprise because they sadly bought up technologies for a while and put them on the chopping block after a few years. Another example: I liked WiMax A LOT, but Sprint bought it and killed it after a few years too. I thought it was a great internet solution, especially when you couldn’t get wired for some reason. They always killed off the good technologies!
Thanks for the comment. I had the feeling the scanner wasn't going to pick it up so I did it to prove it because someone would have made a comment that I could have easily used a scanner and blah blah blah. You are right about MURS but the hard part is not being able to find small enough radios that use MURS. I just a few MURS radios online but they wanted an arm and a leg because it was more "power" and that's only because it's VHF.
Thanks for watching 🤙
What "are the chances" your neighbors watch youtube?? 😮😂
😂 These are new neighbors anyway. We rarely talk nor do they know about my channel. We are good to go!
I never saw the point. You already had a cell phone capable of full duplex. Just call the person.
Cellphones didn't always have reception, and when that happened, Direct Connect had service because it was on a different system. If you've never used Nextel, you wouldn't understand the convenience and speed of the feature.
@@RadioCheckk , I had a friend that got those. I remember they had a $200.00 bill. I don't understand how it could operate without cell towers. If the tower is out, how does this direct connect repeat the transmission. Was it short range? Could I talk to another person 100 miles away? Or was it essentially a walkie talkie with a few mile range?
The video explained all of this. It had cellphone, direct connect, then direct talk. Cellphone worked as usual. Direct Talk used cell towers but on a different system called iDEN. Used cell towers as repeaters like ham radios do. Then direct talk which was phone to phone (like frs walkie talkies). Does this help further understand?
@@RadioCheckk , I think so. it played the odds that the IDEN portion of the tower wasn't also down. If it was, you'd get whatever range the walkie talkies would get without a repeater.
never understood the point of these, why not just make a phone call?
You don't always want a full conversation. Such as at construction sites or in warehouses. I just need to relay a quick message. And a walkie talkie is much quicker than opening up the phone to text someone. Plus they work where there isn't cell service which is a big deal
Before text messaging and email, all we had was phone in the field. As @davidm2232 said, the Direct Connect worked in areas where cell service was weak. It was quick and convenient. Thanks for watching! 🤙
Making a call could take up to a minute depending on the situation, and then you have to worry about voicemail.
You people who think like this “durrr urrrr just make a phone call” have never worked blue collar with multiple situations going on at one time using different pieces of equipment. Two way Radios are the best way of communication. Cell calls are a monumental waste of time in comparison
Typical network lag, thanks to VOIP..
Nextel Direct Connect compatible phones: Direct Talk Compatible Phones
The following phones do support Direct Talk.
Nextel ic402
Nextel ic502
Nextel ic602
Nextel ic902
Nextel i275
Nextel i315
Nextel i325 (and i325is)
Nextel i335
Nextel i355
Nextel i365
Nextel i425
Nextel i455
Nextel i560
Nextel i570
Nextel i580
Nextel i615
Nextel i670
Nextel i760
Nextel i776
Nextel i850
Nextel i870
Nextel i880.
Phones without Direct Talk
Nextel i265 (not supported)
Nextel i305 (not supported)
Boost i455 (mixed reviews: some do work)
Nextel i530 (not supported)
Nextel i710 (not supported)
Nextel i730 (not supported)
Nextel i860 (not supported)
Nextel i920 (not supported)
Nextel i930 (not supported)
PRO-series (not supported)
LX-series (not supported)
Z-series (not supported)
BB-series (not supported)
Zello
When I watched how Zello works, I noticed that it technically records your message then sends it all together. At least this was the case when they first came out. Nextel was actual live voice converted to digital and broadcasted in a few second. I will have to test Zello out now 🤙 Thanks for watching!
Yes it does that but if the other party is online its direct, with the benefit of being able to replay it. It works great and latency is nil, 200ms
Yes I’m a Zello fan as well.
The latest devices I have seen are Rapid Radios.
can use a sdr radio
can use a sdr radio