{"id":2756,"date":"2010-02-13T19:40:23","date_gmt":"2010-02-13T23:40:23","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blogs.n1zyy.com\/n1zyy\/?page_id=2756"},"modified":"2010-02-13T19:40:23","modified_gmt":"2010-02-13T23:40:23","slug":"direct-talk-compatible-phones","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/blogs.n1zyy.com\/n1zyy\/direct-talk-compatible-phones\/","title":{"rendered":"Direct Talk Compatible Phones"},"content":{"rendered":"

(The actual list is a bit further down the page, if you’d like to skip there<\/a>.)<\/p>\n

Please Note<\/strong>: None of this information should be considered authoritative. It was gathered while I researched the feasibility of picking up a few old Nextels to use as off-network walkie-talkies.<\/p>\n

What Is Direct Talk?<\/h2>\n

Direct Talk<\/strong> is a term used to describe the ability of certain Nextel-style (Motorola iDEN) phones to do two-way radio style chat (“chirping” or “Direct Connect”) without the need for cell towers<\/em>. Traditional Direct Connect will have each phone connected to a cell tower, which relays and routes all communications. Direct Talk bypasses the towers, and works between phones. The feature was presumably introduced for Nextel users who found themselves in dead zones often enough to also have to carry conventional walkie-talkies.<\/p>\n

From a technical perspective, Direct Talk is a digital simplex 900 MHz (ISM Band) Frequency-Hopping Spread Spectrum (FHSS) format. Nextel lists the power output as being 0.7 Watts (700 mW). There appear to be ten channels, times fifteen codes. It is believed that the 15 codes do not influence the 10 FHSS sequences, but are equivalent to talkgroups. The “channels” do not appear to match up with those used by other products, such as Motorola’s DTR-series radios or the TriSquare handhelds.<\/p>\n

As with all simplex handhelds, range figures vary tremendously; Nextel says “up to 7” but advertises 2-3 miles as a more common range. (Although it’s rarely done on cell phones these days, remember that extending the antenna will help considerably.)<\/p>\n

Private (one-on-one) and group calls are supported. Nextel states that there is a limit of 16-20 users on a group call in close distance.<\/p>\n

The feature is also known as MOTO Talk. Boost and SouthernLINC typically disable the feature on their phones. The feature is independent of carriers (since it bypasses towers), but can be disabled in the handsets, as those providers have been known to do.<\/p>\n

A SIM card is required for DirectTalk to operate, though you do not need active service with any provider. I have seen mixed reviews about attempting to use the service with “virgin” cards that have never been activated, or have been activated on non-iDEN networks: some have reported it works great, others have said it did not.<\/p>\n

<\/a><\/p>\n

Direct Talk Compatible Phones<\/h2>\n

The following phones do<\/em> support Direct Talk. (I have not personally verified this information.)<\/p>\n