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Message:I did some more research after my post of 14 March. It MIGHT be possible to still use the Motorola "Black Box" with a mobile phone and the Sharp "side-car" modem. My original source of all my equipment and tech advice on this was AT&T Wireless. They will no longer activate a phone that will work with the black box, and tell me such a phone cannot make a data connection using their system, even if activated. But it turns out there MIGHT be other providers that MIGHT support the black box and an ANALOG phone. It all depends on exactly what mobile services are available where you intend to use the box and phone. You will need to visit with them to find out if it's possible or not. You will probably not get solid answers from the typical sales person, only from their tech support staff. Motorola's official marketing name for the "black box" is: "THE Portable Cellular Connection" (yes, "THE" is CAPS). It was usually sold as part of a "RJ-11 Cellular Data connectivity kit". The box itself is more correctly called a "Cellular Interface Box" and is labelled with Motorola Part No. "SLN 3032A". This interface works with virtually all RJ-11 devices (fax machines, credit card verifiers, laptop and PDA analog modems, etc.) The MOST IMPORTANT thing about it as far as getting it to work is that it uses the old "AMPS analog cellular" network, which has been phased out of all national networks. So these boxes may be useless in the very near future, if they are not already. The box was sold with optional AC power supply (Motorola part "SPN4076A") and DC power supply (Motorola part "SLN9465A"). The box contains a rechargeable NiCad battery pack which can be removed so an off-the-shelf 9-volt alkaline battery can be used if necessary. At least 3 different cables were sold to connect the box to various Motorola phones. The cable between the box and the RJ-11 plug of the modem is simply a common telephone cord. I found to use the box for any length of time I had to be rapid-charging the phone at the same time I was on-line. That meant doing a bit of hacking on the charging cradle so the phone would fit in it with the cable for the box attached. It wasn't pretty but it worked. Check Canyon River Cellular ( http://canyonriver.com/accessory_motorola.html ) for information on the interface box, cables and compatible phones. I wouldn't buy without first knowing FOR SURE the phone could be activated for both voice AND DATA transmission, and knowing what the rate to use the analog system for data transfer would be. Good luck!
Link: Canyon River Cellular
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