Mystery Module on Rear Glass

[EDT]

My car had crazy dark tint on all the windows and I've finally gotten around to removing it. While I was at it, I decided to pull off this mystery box that was located in the center of the rear glass near the third brake light. Does anyone have any idea as to what it is? Maybe an antennae for an old alarm system or something like that? Nothing was connected to it but it does have a coax input.

https://imgur.com/a/cWCjqIc

[G8nightman]

Old school car phone antenna


Sent from my iPhone using ZR-1 Net Registry

[EDT]

Originally Posted by G8nightman

Old school car phone antenna


Sent from my iPhone using ZR-1 Net Registry

That makes perfect sense. Those are quite a bit before my time, thanks!

[GOLDCYLON]

Originally Posted by G8nightman

Old school car phone antenna


Sent from my iPhone using ZR-1 Net Registry

100 percent concur

[Mystic ZR-1]

Speaking of old cell phones...
Got this one at a yard sale for $8, someone somewhere
paid about $2500 for it! You can bet the guy that originally bought my car had one just like it. I leave it on the console for cruise nites etc, draws more comments than the car!!!

[DRM500RUBYZR-1]

Yesssirreee boy!

Nothing like having 3 full watts of power beaming out of that antenna into your head while sitting right next to you cruising down the highway back in 86.....................

Oh and for accuracy it is actually a picture of a "--r p-one a-----tenn----a

--llo? -an --u he---r m e (crackle, crackle.......... lost signal)

Actually had the Mitsubishi version of that phone and used it while commuting from NJ to Reston, Va. once or twice a week.
Car phone bills of $300- $600.00 a month ( the good old days?)

Was relieved to finally mount an external antenna on the glass.

Nothing like 3 watts with that antenna!
You could almost carry on a conversation.

Marty

[WARP TEN]

Originally Posted by Mystic ZR-1

Speaking of old cell phones...
Got this one at a yard sale for $8, someone somewhere
paid about $2500 for it! You can bet the guy that originally bought my car had one just like it. I leave it on the console for cruise nites etc, draws more comments than the car!!!

Love it. As I recall Danny Glover used one in Lethal Weapon in 1987. In the early '90s I had one of the brick phones, like the dark gray one with the black antenna in the middle of the picture below.--Bob

[GOLDCYLON]

Originally Posted by Mystic ZR-1

Speaking of old cell phones...
Got this one at a yard sale for $8, someone somewhere
paid about $2500 for it! You can bet the guy that originally bought my car had one just like it. I leave it on the console for cruise nites etc, draws more comments than the car!!!

I remember this back in the day and I remember a picture of a 1 ZR-1 that also had a cellular brick fax that was in the passenger foot well. I kid you not.... mobile faxes were a thing

[32valvesftw]

I had one similar to that as well, it used a 12V lead acid battery, I think.

[Paul Workman]

Originally Posted by 32valvesftw

I had one similar to that as well, it used a 12V lead acid battery, I think.

Yup! A 12V gel cel, actually. bought mine when I lived in Atlanta and it worked pretty well, long as I was near a city. Even worked out on the South Dakota prairie while eradicating prairie dogs (one at a time) for a rancher friend.

The industry was just getting started then. The frequencies were lower than now (may have been analog too, IIRC) and the power was higher, but so it had to be b/c cell towers were much farther apart than now.

As the industry expanded and the number of cell towers continued to expand - more for some companies than others (Verizon "Can you hear me now?" especially), the format changed to CDMA (both digital & secure) in the USA, frequencies got much higher so antenna size shrunk accordingly, and "flip phones" became the rage for a time. (And, GM experimented with DOHC V8s for a time b4 reverting back to pushrods until recently (like going back to analog BAG PHONES...but I digress!).