Editing Autopatch

{{Short description|Telecommunications feature}}
[[File: Pg127t.jpg |thumb | Phone Patch in [[Vietnam War]], 1969]]
An '''autopatch''', sometimes called a '''phone patch''', is a feature of an [[amateur radio repeater]], [[two-way radio]], or [[base station]] to access an outgoing [[telephone]] [[Telecommunication circuit|connection]].<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.arrl.org/phone-patch-guidelines|title=Phone Patch Guidelines}}</ref> [[User (telecommunications)|User]]s with a [[transceiver]] capable of producing [[touch tone]]s ([[DTMF]] signals) can make a [[telephone call]], typically limited by settings in the autopatch module to be only to flat-rate numbers, such as [[local call]]s or [[toll-free number]]s.

== Phonepatch vs. mobile telephony ==
The practice of connecting an [[amateur radio station]] to a [[telephone network]] existed from the beginning of [[amateur radio]], and was used commercially as well (as was the case with [[Carterfone]],<ref name="Johnson">{{cite web |url=http://digitalcommons.law.scu.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1485&context=chtlj
|title=Carterfone: My Story |last1=Johnson|first1=Nicholas|date=2008|department=digitalcommons.law.scu.edu|publisher=[[Santa Clara University]] School of Law|access-date=2015-02-03}}</ref> prompting lawsuits filed by the companies to which it was connected<ref name="FCC">{{cite web|url=http://www.uiowa.edu/~cyberlaw/FCCOps/1968/13F2-420.html|title=In the Matter of USE OF THE CARTERFONE DEVICE IN MESSAGE TOLL TELEPHONE SERVICE; In the Matter of THOMAS F. CARTER AND CARTER ELECTRONICS CORP., DALLAS, TEX. (COMPLAINANTS), v. AMERICAN TELEPHONE AND TELEGRAPH CO., ASSOCIATED BELL SYSTEM COMPANIES, SOUTHWESTERN BELL TELEPHONE CO., AND GENERAL TELEPHONE CO. OF THE SOUTHWEST (DEFENDANTS)|date=2008|publisher=[[Federal Communications Commission]]|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150120021035/http://www.uiowa.edu/~cyberlaw/FCCOps/1968/13F2-420.html|archive-date=2015-01-20|url-status=dead|access-date=2015-02-03}}</ref>).

The term ''phone patch'' more accurately describes a system that is dialed and connected to the telephone network by a user manually operating an amateur radio base station, which was more common before computer technology made automation of the process easier. This is contrasted with [[mobile telephony]], which began with the arrival of the [[cellular network]] [[Advanced Mobile Phone System|AMPS]], initially using a [[car phone]] as the cellular terminal, and finally with the arrival of the [[DynaTAC]], the first [[mobile phone]] "properly talking" (being able to hold the whole unit in the hand).<ref name="Magazines1970">{{cite magazine |url=https://archive.org/stream/PopularMechanics1970/Popular%20Mechanics-09-1970#page/n101/mode/2up/search/How+to+talk+to+Vietnam+free|title=How to talk to Vietnam—free |magazine=Popular Mechanics |date=September 1970}}</ref>

== Uses ==
This feature is primarily used by [[Amateur radio operator|radio amateurs]] to provide emergency telephone connectivity to places that have lost their telephone network access.  An amateur radio operator with a transceiver installed in their vehicle may provide telephone network access from dozens of miles away, depending on the frequencies of the involved repeater/base station, the power of the transceiver, band conditions, and the gain of the antennas on both ends.

In the [[United States]], autopatch users are required to hang up if they encounter [[music on hold]], as the [[Federal Communications Commission]] regulations prohibit music on amateur radio frequencies.<ref>[https://www.law.cornell.edu/cfr/text/47/97.113 CFR Part 97.113{a(4)} and {e} Prohibited Transmissions]</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=Bowers |first=Andrew |date=2014-09-18 |title=Answer to "What defines music, per amateur radio regulations?" |url=https://ham.stackexchange.com/questions/356/what-defines-music-per-amateur-radio-regulations |access-date=2023-01-28 |website=Amateur Radio Stack Exchange |language=en}}</ref>

== See also ==

* [[Carterfone]]

==References==

<references/>

== Bibliography ==
* [https://archive.org/stream/PopularMechanics1970/Popular%20Mechanics-09-1970#page/n101/mode/2up/search/How+to+talk+to+Vietnam+free Albert Lee: ''How to talk to Vietnam free.''] In: [[Popular Mechanics]], September 1970, Page 108–110.

{{Telecommunications}}

[[Category:Amateur radio]]
[[Category:Telephony]]


{{Amateur-radio-stub}}