Community Forums

Seajay · 01-11-2011, 06:30 AM

I am not sure if I have posted this before but I think it is worth a repeat if I have posted it on this forum.

While crossing Utah some time back we were at the mile marker 108 and managed to ''blow out the inside dual''. Large bang, much dust, wobbled around and made it to the shoulder all in one piece. Up the road about half a mile was a place to unload machinery so we limped in there and got out the CELL PHONE........ NO SERVICE..... I said Shux real loud and Willa informed me that saying ''shux'' would not help. I unhitched the toad and drove back about a mile to a hill top to try again. On this hill top I could see at least 50 miles in all directions. Again ''NO Signal''..... I said ''S H U X'' real loud but it didnt help......
In desperation I dialed 911 and on the second ring a county sheriff picked up and ask what was my emergency? I almost fell over.

REMEMBER THIS GUYS..... Just because you have a ''NO SERVICE'' or a ''NO SIGNAL'' status on your phone TRY 911
FYI this has worked twice for me when I had ''NO SERVICE'', ''NO SIGNAL''

If you use this valuable information you must pay me ten cents the next time you see me, of course if it dont work for you..... I NEVER KNEW YOU...

ps. Saying '' S H U X '' real loud dont help either ........

If you see one of our troops and you dont say ''Thanks for your service'' I shall be forced to send Wayne the Marine or Paul the Army guy around to your house for supper. You wont like that because they really can put it away and then they have ''gass'' real bad......
I am ready for our troops to come home now.....

TQ60 · 01-11-2011, 07:53 PM

If you are in an area where there is not enough customers to justify cell sites there are not going to be many towers.

The older carriers had sites in the remote areas so there may be ATT and no one else.

If you have a phone that is on the same TYPE of carier equipment that is in the area but you are not on their service your handset will state "no service", if you have a roaming agreement it may roam, but no bets there.

A few years ago there were changes to the rules regarding 911 calls, the phone only needs to be a working phone, it DOES NOT need to be on anyone's system.

The handset is constantly looking for a signal to handshake with it's home switch, so when you dial 911 the handset will then request access on any switch that it can communicate with (in range site on a compatable configuration), it may take awhile for it to go through, but it will go the PSAP who is responsible for the cell tower that the handset is on, it will not do phase 3 (GPS) so you will need to know where you are.

So, a suggestion...if you are often in no mans land carry a collection of old phones. have a Verizon or Sprint (CDMA), ATT (GMRS) and Nextel (iDEN) this should work in most any area, they can be had for a dollar or so at a yard sale, get a car adaptor which will usually be in the same bag as the phone, try to get the newer ones.

Then if needed, plug the handset in, watch the bars as it powers up, many will show bars until they are not able to register with their switch then go "no service", Try them until you get bars and use the best one, or just turn them on and dial.

wa8yxm · 01-12-2011, 07:49 AM

There is a rule... If you dial 9-1-1 even though your phone is "not active" (You do need a SIM card if it is a model that needs one) or your pre-paid plan has no minutes.. That call gets processed.

Your carrier does not have a roaming plan with the local provider... Your call still gets processed.

The only limit is this: If there is no carrier who understands your phone then your call will not get processed... This can happen in some areas. There is one county I know of where one phone company bribed the county law-makers and thus only they get permission to put up towers.... Their system is NOT compatible with the majority so many do not have any way to dial anything 9-1-1 wise in that county.

dieselclacker · 01-12-2011, 05:32 PM

I thought 911 was for emergency only, not road service. When did it change?

Dieselclacker

Seajay · 01-12-2011, 08:09 PM

Note for Dieselcracher....
apparently you have never been stuck 108 miles inside Utah's western border in the middle of nothing with a blown tire. If we had been two really old people in a car with no water and no means of food, perhaps one of us handicapped, in the 18 hours we waited for assistance....... one or both of us could have been DEAD. The sheriffs dept offered to send water, food and anything we needed. I told them we were in a motor home and were safe and sound but we needed someone to change our tire.

and you are right ...... 911 is for emergencies .......

ps. the first thing i said when they picked up was that ''this is not an EMERGENCY'' but I need help ...

nuff said ....

dieselclacker · 01-13-2011, 05:52 AM

Seajay, can't say I have ever been stuck in the middle of Utah with a blown tire. I personally would not use 911 for road service on a highway however. If the circumstances were no food or water, elderly health issues etc, then I would agree.

Dieselclacker

bldrbob · 01-13-2011, 07:28 AM

I wold think calling 911 and explaining the situation is better than waiting till it is really a problem.It's not like the 911 operator was overwhelmed with emergencies.
BOB

skipwil · 01-13-2011, 07:42 AM

I've been sitting 20 min.s trying to figure where principle vs. common sense arrives into the equation . (1) 100+ miles in desolate Utah-(2) vehicle disabled-(3) normal communications not available. Am I correct so far? So the person should wait until MAYBE a vehicle comes by that May or may NOT stop to check on you. The person should get in the tow vehicle ,leave everyone else there , go see if any help is available, not an awful lot of options - all things considered. The problem was taken care of by any means at the drivers disposal. Probably the one who answered the call had an opportunity to help rather than just watch for the phone to ring. I'd think there's not a lot to do way out there. If you're in a cell phone service area you wouldn't use 911 anyway; so no emergency. Common sense -do what it takes to solve the problem..
Safe Travels

Me n Slowpoke · 01-13-2011, 07:44 AM

I agree with Seajay, when they answer, let them know it is not an Emergency but it is an Important situation. I have used 911 when traveling when I have seen an elderly person sitting on the side of the road with the hood up, or someone causing a situation that could end up in an emergency or loss of life due to the eratic driving. I also make a note of the mile marker, if there is one, or a landmark , to let them know where the situation is. I will not stop as I am a female and you never know in today's world whether it could end up in you being the Emergency.
Helen

Seajay · 01-13-2011, 02:29 PM

note to Me

& Slowpoke, USMC
I dont care if you are a ''girl''... apparently you are a former Marine and, unless there about a half a dozen of the ''enemy'', I bet my ''Sailor payday'' on you in a fair fight......
God bless you for your service to this great nation.
Never sell a ''lady Marine'' short. They will kick you where it really hurts........
you aint unfortunate enough to know my friend ''Wayne the Marine'' are you????? He is in the ''Texas Boomers Club'' I think.....

Nuff said.......

az bound · 01-13-2011, 03:08 PM

We found that there are many places where Verizon would not work while AT&T would. It all depends on who covers the area. 911 will work almost everywhere, it will route through whatever carrier is available.

Me n Slowpoke · 01-14-2011, 04:33 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Seajay

note to Me

& Slowpoke, USMC
I dont care if you are a ''girl''... apparently you are a former Marine and, unless there about a half a dozen of the ''enemy'', I bet my ''Sailor payday'' on you in a fair fight......
God bless you for your service to this great nation.
Never sell a ''lady Marine'' short. They will kick you where it really hurts........
you aint unfortunate enough to know my friend ''Wayne the Marine'' are you????? He is in the ''Texas Boomers Club'' I think.....

Nuff said.......

Seajay,
I really can't take the credit that you are giving me even tho when I was younger, I was a scrapper,, and Floyd says that all he has to do is carry the soapbox around for me as I keep it shined up.. but really I am not that bad, but I do stand up for what is right as a few others that I know do. Floyd is the marine (1970-1974) slowpoke to most, and he says 'once a marine always a marine' . We may have met your friend Wayne the marine at the Cut n Shoot but cannot single him out entirely as we met so many great folks that weekend and you know when you get older,, the memory is the first to 'slip'

Floyd (Slowpoke) drives heavy haul cross country and very seldom able to get on the computer so I am the one that gets on the forum and asks all the questions and put my 2 cents in once in a while.
Be safe in your travels! maybe we will run into each other one day. Oh, I won't ask for any money but I may ask for a copy of some of your stories. When are you going to get them published ???
Helen

Hammer Down · 01-14-2011, 05:10 PM

Well Seajay my DW being your number one fan indicated to me if Ms. Willa had put you out there only in your birthday suit there would have been a overload of 911 calls and emergency help would have been immediate. I indicated that would have eliminated you having to defend yourself calling 911. She indicated that you were very capable of defending your other short comings from reading all your hilarious threads. She's beginning to worry me a little,

I'm going to start monitoring her computer time.

StStg1 · 01-14-2011, 05:31 PM

Seajay,

I think you did exactly the right thing. I think you had an emergency situation. Stranded in the middle of nowhere without help is an emergency. It might not have been a life threating emergency at the time, but it was a bad enough situation to take the action you took.