Cartel CT-1000 - The Bluetooth Car Kit that wants to be a Car Phone

Car Phones have long gone the way of the Dodo and now roam the planet as static props in luxury classic cars. There have been modern takes on adapting these old phones to work with modern phones but only once that I can find was there ever a commercial product that gave you the look and feel of a car phone while actually being just a hands-free Bluetooth device. Lets take a look at the rather expensive and uncommon CT-1000 and see if it lives up to the name.
Cartel Mobile Solution's Website (as of 2016. The last year the site was still up) - web.archive.or...
A simplified guide and the wiring diagram for the CT-1000 can be found here - archive.org/de...
As far as I can tell, this is the full Users Manual provided by CarTel and submitted to the FCC - archive.org/de...
Here's UselessPickle's finished Bleutooth adapter for the Mitsubishi DiamondTel - • Mitsubishi 3000GT Fact...
Again, I'm not downplaying in the video that he should of done something better or more common and therefore his work is not interesting. (or at least in editing I felt I was sounding too negative) The fact remains nobody has tried this on their own before him and succeeded. 1 is more than 0. I still strongly appreciate and respect the work he put into how clean it is. Good job!
Remember to follow me on "X" at @CelGenStudios to keep up to date on what I am doing and what might be happening in the next video.

[@evanbarnes9984]

I feel like they needed to think twice about choosing the name "Cartel Solutions." Sounds like a logistics company that specializes in submarine shipping

[@CelGenStudios]

Believe me, that was HEAVILY burdening me research on this.

[@thcoura]

Well thought joke 😂

[@BillAnt]

The cartels will be all over this phone. lol Back in the late 80's early 90's they used the Motorola DPC Micro-Tac flip with modified firmware for free calls. Somehow I got one (I'm not cartel affiliated at all), and it was quite interesting. lol

[@StringerNews1]

Just as low-level drug dealers in the '80s all carried pagers, the higher-ups carried AMPS phones. Heck, I even heard a drug deal when listening to IMTS calls on my scanner!

[@gvoskin]

From Brooklyn, NY. Feels right

[@BrianRRenfro]

A man with a dozen old car phones and zero hair brushes deserves my subscription!

[@CelGenStudios]

The hair seems to have a mind of its own! D:

[@ytdrachengame1157]

Mine too 👌

[@BillAnt]

​@@CelGenStudios - I'm giving you props for still having/using that amazing HP LaserJet 4 from the early 90's. ;) I got a Canon laser copier/printer in 1999 and still working perfect after using it every day for all these years. Laser printers rule! :D

[@slimatmim]

That sound the phone makes when starting up. Brings back memories of the 80’s and 90’s

[@xXRedTheDragonXx]

How am I now just finding your channel? It feels like you should have tons more subscribers, your videos are amazing!

[@CelGenStudios]

I've given up trying to figure this one out and just assume that if stat points were a thing, "luck" would be set to 0.

[@jessicam.4148]

That four screw mount the car phones used became a defacto standard that was referred to as an AMPS mount

[@CelGenStudios]

I was not aware that was actually a standard! o:

[@hburke7799]

I love the Mini-Disc Stereo!

[@user-fv7cn9ku2x]

Can u write ur own mini-discs like those cdrw that are normal sized cds?

[@hburke7799]

@@user-fv7cn9ku2x Yes, you can use a NET-MD capable Mini-Disc player and a computer to write Mini-Discs.

[@TechGorilla1987]

Before I even watch the video, I want to make a comment. Remember "Spencers Gifts"? Back when I was just out of HS, I bought a plastic "car phone" from one of their mall stores. It came complete with a mounting base, handset and fake antenna to stick on your roof. We would pile in the car and drive around the are pretending that we were talking on a real car phone. Those were the days. That was right about the time that pagers were popular.

[@drwheycooler8423]

The CELLUCLONE!!!! I had one in my 1978 Ford Fairmont! It was so obviously fake...yet people thought it was real!

[@K-Riz314]

That was it! The dial pad was phosphorescent so it would look backlit at night. Awesome to run into people who remember this obscure ancient relic. ​@@drwheycooler8423

[@TechGorilla1987]

@@drwheycooler8423 My first car in HS was a 1979 Mercury Zephyr. Those were most certainly the days!

[@Scotty_in_Ohio]

a STARTAC without the antenna "droop" is a very, very rare thing! The printer, copier and other items in the background both excite me and trigger printer based PTSD - the only thing that would be worse would be the Motorola pager "Triangle" tone...

[@spyderxs7000]

Its the reason I subscribed to his channel lol

[@rhyoliteaquacade]

Great video! I picked one of these up a year or so ago and it was also new old stock. Was going to install in my 2001 Expedition but bought a new to me 2013 with BT integration. They work great. It was a very well designed product and an nice addition to an 80's 90's car.

[@50shadesofbeige88]

I do love the StarTAC.

[@CelGenStudios]

I mean, why would anyone not love the StarTAC?

[@coreybabcock2023]

I sold one in 98 at the age of 14 for 250.00 to s guy named choi in Appleton WI at the Fox River Mall he worked for century tel

[@codycarreras4825]

Wow, this is incredible. I’m going to be after this thing forever now. Very sad to see these old cellular networks get shut down, and all these amazing phones just about obsolete now. Just found your channel, great stuff. I love old cellular stuff, those were my heydays. I have tons of old phones, probably about 150 still, much less than I once did. They were much more exotic and exciting back then. I had an active car phone until AMPS shutdown. The only cellular phones that would be able to carry a call through a deep canyon nearby was the car phone with its 3W. Still no replacement coverage there to this day. This thing really is something else.

[@Scotty_in_Ohio]

With a late 80's / early 90's (RAD) car and this you could "win" cars and coffee and move on to the semifinals for sure.

[@MrHack4never]

(new car phone in the 2000's) I can imagine that it would be useful for taxi's, busses and miscellaneous bulk transport (and other work 99% done in a vehicle) would still have a use for this sort of thing, whether it's for breakdowns, new orders, or just double-checking information, but there would still be a cost comparison with normal cell phones

[@ManiacalMichael504]

Nice, I remember reading about these years ago but never saw one. Really nice to see it demonstrated!

[@raphaelschneider7852]

Oh no what did u do xD Now I want one for my station wagon :D Very informative and interesting video! Thank you ^^

[@CelGenStudios]

There is exactly one on ebay right but but it's $700USD. Do not pay $700 for one of these. It is not worth that kind of money. D:

[@br3nd4n]

This man is a National Treasure! 🍁

[@robertmoorej]

My 99 Lexus gs400 had an OEM startac dock in the armrest.

[@SaschaStradtmann]

This device is a great accessory for 1980s or 1990s vintage car owners who want to add the finishing touches to their car with a car phone, but also want to use their current phone in the car.

[@Subgunman]

Have a Sony Ericsson T610 GSM CELL PHONE. Have the car kit that allows the use of an external antenna, a hands free microphone and remote speaker. I even have the micro QWERTY keyboard to send SMS messages with ease. Cut my teeth on the AMPS systems. Was a certified tech to repair Motorola AMPS phones down to component level repair of surface mount components. Even certified for OKI, MITSUBISHI, NEC, AUDIOVOX, E.F. JOHNSON, OF THE MOST POPULAR BRANDS IN THE DAY. The Motorola phones shown in this video were third and fourth generation AMPS phones. The handsets are pretty useless however the second generation transceiver chassis is useable for other uses, it has a locking mounting base. Great for using for housing GPS AND MONITORING equipment. Interesting, that is the exact same shifter used in my 1972 Ford Mustang.

[@coreybabcock2023]

I miss those days especially at cell com out of Green Bay WI and cellular one out of Appleton WI and US cellular and centurytel

[@coreybabcock2023]

I was the uncertified go to 3rd party parts and repair guy at the age of 17 18 19 20 21

[@lukeclifton4392]

First time stumbling across your channel. The content got me… the LaserJet sold me. *Subscribed* 👍

[@Ollila11]

Peitel still makes new carphones

[@doctorwhofan6340]

Oh yeah?

[@P-J-W-777]

I had the first Motorola car phone you showed and the second bag phone as well as both flip phones. I also had 2 different car phones that had a 2 way radio built in and several other car phones back in the day.

[@beekaye1496]

Man, what a remembrance of the car phone. I had mines back in 1990 and hate that I got rid of it just for nostalgia .

[@therealjasonseidel]

The AMC Eagle interior shot made me watch this. Cool video

[@markpitts5194]

I roam arround in a couple of 25 year old Citroen Xantias, I could quite fancy this, sorta period correct. Thanks John.

[@oldmanairsoft4716]

I almost got one of these at a amazon buy-back store last week for $8, but I put it down. Man, do I wish I had bought it now.

[@elischwartz1919]

Great review! Ive had these in my vehicles till around 2 years ago. In fact my first CT-1000 was probably from the first 10 that were manufactured.. Although im a bit biased, i gotta say their car phone models were amazing. They sold this all over the US, Canada and other countries and was widely sold by verizon . I know some of this because the designer of this product is my brother. His background prior to designing and manufacturing these is from being an upfitter so he knew what the end user and installers like. Thanks again for this review, i was excited to see it update; P.s. the pad dialing is to enter a phone number as a notepad. It was most useful when someone would dial into their voicemail and wanted to save a number. In general, if you pressed any buttons it would either delete your message or do whatever,, so what thebpad did, it disabled the DTMF

[@CelGenStudios]

Tell your brother he made a great product. I've now had it in the car for about a month and have not had any complaints about it. I strongly recommend it.

[@elischwartz1919]

Will do ! ​@@CelGenStudios

[@ReaperRestorations]

what a cool accessory in the 'ole Eagle.

[@cocusar]

Even for a niche product, that one might have been a little bit overpriced. Even the 400 CAD they asked you for that unit. but thank you for showing this. a nice device, but the fact it's not a "hands free" might be a little bit dangerous for driving

[@CelGenStudios]

Yeah it was a tough pill to swallow. It had not moved on ebay so I saved up and just pulled the trigger....then it's sat in storage for the last five years while I worked on how to make this video. >_>

[@damo2142]

Had each one of the phones he showed. Got my first bag phone and the install kit to install in my car late 80s when a call cost $1.50 to $2 a minute to use. Was cool but very expensive to actually use.

[@trr5291]

Someone I know had a car phone in the late 90s. She is a real estate agent. She would drive down the road while setting up appointments. You would never get away with that today.

[@raycosman824]

My first cell was a bag phone, had a flip phone that would plug into the car and be used like a normal car phone. Also had the very small flip that was almost too small. All were Motorola.

[@bnuttsgee]

Installed a few of these up till 2016 .These were mostly installed in vip cars. Was popular in the NY/NJ area .

[@spooley]

Wow, that takes me back. Had a bag phone through a carrier called Cantel - thought this was going to be a review. Can remember the manufacturers warned not to use it around gas pumps, supposedly a spark was possible when you made a call.

[@CelGenStudios]

I got a few phones that are branded by the old CANTEL/CANTEL AT&T before they were absorbed into Rogers.

[@spooley]

The official cellular network of the Blue Jays. At the end of a game they reminded you the postgame show was starting and if you were on Cantel it was free, just dial *123. Man, the stuff the brain can retain. Congrats on the workaround.

[@coreybabcock2023]

I used to program those and know the secret codes and had the Motorola bible ! Memorized !

[@OldCBnGuns]

I didn’t expect the AMC that’s a nice surprise! Neat!

[@marioga90]

I remember when my mom got a car phone installed in our family SUV I use to think it was the coolest thing!! I remember getting third degree burns during summer on the mount.

[@coreybabcock2023]

I worked at a independent shop in Oshkosh wi called kline cellular and yes amps was sunset in 2008 I remember the exact day that happened my analog digital phone went from analog to digital 1xrtt that moment Verizon shut down the amps sites

[@TechGorilla1987]

@1:32 - I watch old TV shows from PB and if you watch a lot of the Columbo or McMillan and Wife episodes, you see them using these car phones a bunch. For the very early 70's, some of the technology available was pretty amazing. One episode of Columbo had a phone system that would read a card and then make a phone call to a patient and leave a prerecorded message as an appointment reminder. All automated. in 1969.

[@lezzbmm]

16:00 interesting i was thinking that the “hands free” laws were prolly a big part of this type of product’s decline,, but the 2.5mm jack for headsets is interesting guess price was a big detractor like u said lmaoo thanks for researching and sharing !

[@lezzbmm]

wow ok the output coming out over the car speakers and pausing the music is fkn sick

[@ScottGrammer]

My first cell phone was a bag phone - about three times the size of the one you showed at 1:56. That was in 1989.

[@siliconinsect]

Nice LJ4+! Still using one and with JetDirect prints from modern Android and Win11. Always fun when it says the Paper Cassette needs to be LOADed with LETTER ;-)

[@camptube7621]

I had a similar kit in the 90s. I was the coolest person ever. Of course now these aren’t legal if you pick it up.

[@JacobTechShit]

The light switch on your wall legitimately bothers me 😂

[@coreybabcock2023]

I Miss installing those things and the analog network and carrying around my diamondtel bag phone

[@mcidor]

I might still have one from my Nokia phone that was installed in my 1997 Honda Civic in 2001. I took it out of the car after getting a phone that didn’t work with it in 2005 ish.

[@fatcattowing8990]

i have the SAME "Love" phone case!!!

[@yolo_burrito]

The old Sim Cards in the StarTac was the same size as a credit card.

[@thebeauhampton]

I've been trying to find one of these for years...

[@CelGenStudios]

Yeah they are surprisingly uncommon

[@210works]

It looks a lot like the Motorola car phone that came in my 1997 Mercedes E320.

[@juxxtapoz]

Black Mesa soundtrack? Good choice!

[@Wineman3383]

Cool phone

[@TiltedTripodMedia]

What you were describing before pulling out the cartel was apple carplay. I think the cartel is cool from a retro aspect but in many states would be local to use sadly and for good reason.

[@rhyoliteaquacade]

It has hands free so 100% legal.

[@TiltedTripodMedia]

@@rhyoliteaquacade right but the whole entire point of the thing is that it invokes nostalgia when you pick up the handset and are able to make a phone call using the handset if I’m just gonna use Bluetooth speakerphone I might as well just use the one built into my car because the cartel phone is literally just for looks at that point.

[@TiltedTripodMedia]

@@rhyoliteaquacade the entire point is being able to use the cartel to make your smart phone into a 1980s car phone and unless you’re legally able to pick up the handset and use it it’s pointless 🤷🏼‍♂️

[@rhyoliteaquacade]

@@TiltedTripodMedia The current market is for folks with cars from 80's and 90's who want to keep that retro look. They can use the speaker phone, or the handset, or the headset jack. And as well the passenger can use the phone. I doubt folks driving a 1985 BMW are too worried about hands free rules, or any rules. Plus you can always pull over which is the best option of all.

[@garybrown4671]

Sweet. Expensive.

[@danisgay100]

The only thing I would want to add is that amps car / bag phone was 3 watts vs. .4~ watts for handheld so better range

[@Santor-]

My first carphone cost a whopping 3500 used!

[@bthompson1767]

I had that phone back then it cost a dollar a minute and if you went over one second of 60 seconds, it costed you a dollar

[@50shadesofbeige88]

Oh its 'Car-Tel' not Cartel lol.

[@user-zj2wm1hy4q]

Well, i used a lot the motorolas from 92 up to 96. The battery from the Motorola startac didn't last days. It lasts approximately 8 hours with the original battery, or around 12 hours with the big battery, sold as optional. If you speak for 10 or 20 minutes, the battery would last way less.. everybody use the car charge always connected when in the car. The long life battery started in 96 when networks started to install digital towers. In this period they have launched the famous Nokias that were full digital and could last days with no charge.

[@DrLeroyGreen]

Does that cooked wall plate on the lights switch make anyone else nervous?

[@CelGenStudios]

It irritates me that it keeps doing that. >_>

[@DrLeroyGreen]

@@CelGenStudios I think it does it on purpose. That, or it's been drinking....AGAIN!!!

[@TiltedTripodMedia]

Ok so if your only going to use it hands free you might as well just stick with your cars Bluetooth or CarPlay and if you want the cool look of a car phone just slap an old one in for looks. Most states won’t let you talk on the handset which is the entire point of the coolness behind the cartel.

[@CelGenStudios]

I think that is why they left the hands-free feature in it. Even by the late 2000's it was a stretch to have a handheld phone in your car but the hands-free provided a loophole.

[@TiltedTripodMedia]

@@CelGenStudios ahh yeah that makes sense but still isn’t the cool factor that you pick up the handset and use it like an old school car phone? And most states have made that illegal 🤷🏼‍♂️

[@BVN-TEXAS]

I remember people selling fake car phone antennas.

[@charlesurrea1451]

Protocol between the handset and the radio box? I'm going to have to call BS on this. As I recall those were all analog. There was no digital Communications between anything other than, well, nothing really. They were simply full duplex radios.

[@edwardgreenjr167]

My first thought seeing this was who is going to be THAT cop pulling you over for talking on a legit car phone? Poor guy was probably a fetus when this style was common and would have no clue.

[@CelGenStudios]

We didn't even get that extreme before it turned heads. I had the car in for a muffler replacement and when I picked it up I had two guys in the shop asking "where the HELL did you find that?"

[@mark12.31]

I see a used one listed on eBay for...$699! Does have best offer option, though.

[@rhyoliteaquacade]

There is now one that sold for $999. Crazy..

[@wildace4535]

i feel like you could get a cell2jack get a usb power supply for a cigarette charger and hook one up also that way

[@CelGenStudios]

I considered that initially, but because it lacks hands-free functionality it's 100% illegal to just plunk a phone between the seats like that.

[@christodd3361]

I demand to know how you traveled here from 1978.

[@CelGenStudios]

Sorry, NDA.

[@KaliRoseWolf]

Now I wana know, can it hijack the stereo to play music? If it does can the "car phone" be used to control the misic and show titles & stuff

[@CelGenStudios]

Supposedly the Cartel CT-2000 added support for audio playback and control.

[@junkrust2182]

Not I have a super computer in my pocket and I use it to watch cat videos sent to me by my mother in law…

[@Skunkhunt_42]

This in my 1995 volvo 850

[@CelGenStudios]

Might I ask for an opinion now that you've had it installed for....well I don't know how long but I'm curious to hear.

[@kopspijker3515]

Is it for calling only or can you also play music over it?

[@CelGenStudios]

Calling only. No music.

[@pw9267]

That is the whitest laser jet 4 i’ve ever seen. All the ones i pulled out of service were 80’s plastic yellow

[@CelGenStudios]

Which is funny because at my old apartment it sat in the window.

[@MrWillo82]

I’ve been looking for something like that for years. Would you be willing to sell yours to me?

[@CelGenStudios]

Sorry. As you saw, I *just* got it installed. :P

[@MrWillo82]

@@CelGenStudios if you change your mind please let me know.

[@TexasScout]

What car is that a Ford Fairmont?

[@CelGenStudios]

AMC Eagle

[@sharedaccount8605]

HOLD ON WHERES MY CREDIT CARD

[@TheHitDat]

Sounds worthless. The original phone like that could be used anywhere

[@bmarcum1570]

A good thing for white and powdery rubber is boiled linseed oil! That will make it look new! I use it on vintage car dashes and plastics

[@LouisSubearth]

The guy who did the DiamondTel Bluetooth conversion is @UselessPickles

[@CelGenStudios]

Yep! I linked to him in the description.

[@juansotelo3996]

Mis amigos deep in the Colombian jungles will love this brand, what a neat marketing move to name it after their target audience🫡