Hobby phones

[Marcus Aurelius]

I get a lot of questions regarding hobby phones and their use. Do any of you know of a thread I can refer them to or should we start one to sticky?

[Guest022718]

Heres a good thread....a bit old.

http://www.eccie.net/showthread.php?...t=hobby+phones

Here's a more recent one:

http://www.eccie.net/showthread.php?...t=hobby+phones

Lots of suggestions between the two. I'm old school, and partial to the old fashioned basic trac phone. Easy to use and cheap to renew.....only complaint is that texting is clumsy.

[Marcus Aurelius]

TY sir.

[LNK]

There are some in the Nat'l Technical Questions and Security Matters too, I believe.

[Unique_Carpenter]

I'd suggest a sticky in the National Tech section. I see phone questions there and in various Midwest boards and the questions are frequently similar.

[Funinomaha]

Just get the hushed app on your smart phone and never worry about the two phone system...

[LNK]

Originally Posted by Funinomaha

Just get the hushed app on your smart phone and never worry about the two phone system...

Personally, I never want any even slight connection between my real-life phone and my hobby.

Anyone who thinks Google Voice (or other similar app) is a replacement for a burner phone is kidding themselves. It links to your RL phone.

[Unique_Carpenter]

LKN is quite correct. A badge with a decent excuse, or paper, can pull data from telco providers in less than a day.

The whole idea with a burner phone is to be able to burn it, in like one second. Or whatever the throw time is down a sewer grate, or off a bridge. You simply can't do that if you have everything going to a single handheld. Folks should also consider a remote burn app, that almost all phones have available, to wipe the phones data, in case you lose it. And that applies to your real world phone(s) as well. This is basic real world security, in addition to hobby safety.

[Marcus Aurelius]

Yeah I use Lookout for my RW phone.

[LNK]

Android has an in-built app for locating/locking/wiping.

https://support.google.com/accounts/..._topic=3100928

While the directions there did not accurately reflect the way to get there on my device, you get the general idea.

Nice to be able to jump on a computer or friend's phone and ring your phone at top volume when you've lost the effing thing under the edge of the bed, had it on silent, and cannot find it.

I believe Apple has similar for iDevices.

[oldguy57]

Noob question - You guys are talking about what is called "burn phones" in some lines of work?

[LNK]

Yes. Prepaid cell phones, paid for with cash, registered (if necessary) with a false name.

There's no connection to "you" except when you use it, and it can be destroyed/trashed with little loss if you are concerned about anything.

Tracfone, AT&T, Verizon, T-mobile, Virgin, etc., all offer prepaid phones.

Fans of Breaking Bad would call them their "second cell phone".

[shotgun willy]

The burner phone is meant to be expendable at a moments notice. Maybe you toss it in the river right before LE says "come here". However, when a phone is left unprotected from prying eyes "just for a second", and then your wife is holding it and reading the 23rd of 31 reviews that "someone" using this phone has written on Eccie,,,,,,,its nice to just throw it in the trash can (with a match!) and say "I don't know, I found it just now in the yard." Guys, just think what would happen if your wife finds your computer or smart phone "tracks" lead straight to your 31 descriptive reviews on here......COVER YOUR TRACKS No excuses....spend the money....be smart. Ive learned

[LNK]

Originally Posted by shotgun willy

The burner phone is meant to be expendable at a moments notice. Maybe you toss it in the river right before LE says "come here". However, when a phone is left unprotected from prying eyes "just for a second", and then your wife is holding it and reading the 23rd of 31 reviews that "someone" using this phone has written on Eccie,,,,,,,its nice to just throw it in the trash can (with a match!) and say "I don't know, I found it just now in the yard." Guys, just think what would happen if your wife finds your computer or smart phone "tracks" lead straight to your 31 descriptive reviews on here......COVER YOUR TRACKS No excuses....spend the money....be smart. Ive learned

Always, always, always set the lock to automatically activate in a short period of time, like 15 seconds. Then you can "not know" the lock code to the phone you "found in the parking lot".

Yes, it's a pain to have to unlock the SOB every time you want to do anything, but better that, than have the scenario shotgun willy poses play out IRL.

Using your hobby phone anywhere within half a mile of your wife, well . . . I think that's just asking for trouble.

And if it gets found, learn to hide it better. Lots better.

[oldguy57]

ON the computer you can always use the incognito window - it is available on the browser Google Chrome. No history left - the only way someone is going to get this stuff is to pull you hard drive. This does not work at work - they probably see everything you do.