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  1. #1
    Saab Owner Digger's Avatar
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    2006 9-3 2.0t SportCombi

    Will phone work in 2006 9-3 ????

    Have figured out that phone function on regular radio is only for show and it amazes me that people in this country paid extra for fancy buttons that they would never be able to use.

    Have read that phone will function with car controls on cars that have factory nav system and before I buy a salvage auction Saab to get the factory nav, was wondering if anyone has gotten their phone to work in an 03 - 06 with nav installed?

  2. #2
    Saab Enthusiast lowrider_rt2000's Avatar
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    2005 Saab 9-3
    I have not been able to get my phone to work. My owner's manual states that only the European models have the phone capability.

    Sent from my 9-3

  3. #3
    Frank
    Administrator nordwulf's Avatar
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    previous: 2006 9-3, 2001-06 9-5, 2011 9-4X
    From what I remember, Tel 1 required plugging in your phone with a cable but you still would have to use the your phone to dial and answer calls. Tel 2 was more advanced but required a SIM card in addition to the SIM card in your phone. So the communication system in the 9-3 was basically seperate from your phone.

    Mobile phone providers in the US don't allow SIM card cloning (meaning having 2 SIM cards with the same phone number on the same plan) so Tel 2 would not work using the same number and subscription plan as your phone. At the time, the US was also using different technologies and GSM was not very common yet. I think TDMA and CDMA ruled 10+ years ago. And even with GSM, they were using different frequencies in the US. Not sure if TDMA/CDMA was used in Europe.

    So basically Tel 2 was not really compatible witht he US market. Bluetooth changed pretty much how you connect with your phone in your car these days.

    More about Tel 1 and 2: http://saabworld.net/showthread.php?...ll=1#post40682

  4. #4
    Saab Owner Digger's Avatar
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    From the look of my infotainment control I have Tel 2 and with no back shelf in my SportCombi I have no idea where the communication box is mounted. I did read a posting, Saab Central I think, haven't been able to find it again, where someone claimed to have modified an onstar box to work with US phone in a car with factory nav.

    A well smashed high mile Saab at salvage goes for scrap metal price, figure it will cost me about $100 to get all the electronics I will need to upgrade and glean a few good spares in the process. Would be easier to trade up to an 07 that will synch to blue tooth, but I have a perfectly good 06 with brand new tires and brakes.

  5. #5
    Frank
    Administrator nordwulf's Avatar
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    previous: 2006 9-3, 2001-06 9-5, 2011 9-4X
    The communication box in de SC is under the floor in the cargo area. Detailed install instructions here: http://saabworld.org/downloads/saabd...32025679GB.pdf

    Adding Bluetooth sounds a bit easier. A few solutions for the 2006 9-3 in this thread: http://saabworld.net/showthread.php?t=26828

  6. #6
    Saab Owner Digger's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by nordwulf View Post
    The communication box in de SC is under the floor in the cargo area. Detailed install instructions here: http://saabworld.org/downloads/saabd...32025679GB.pdf

    Adding Bluetooth sounds a bit easier. A few solutions for the 2006 9-3 in this thread: http://saabworld.net/showthread.php?t=26828

    Thanks for the info, had seen the Bluetooth instructions, hadn't seen the box location. Googling Saab GSM frequency found me an old Saab Central thread with an EU response to the phone question written before the old analog TV frequencies became US GSM service offerings. Think getting a com box from a yard is going to be easier than adding Bluetooth to my car. My cell service is already GSM and thanks to their new bring your own phone option, soon as I get a box I can tear apart without having to worry about putting it back together I will know if I can find a new US or a quad channel EU / US card that will work with the box and with my carrier.

  7. #7
    Frank
    Administrator nordwulf's Avatar
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    previous: 2006 9-3, 2001-06 9-5, 2011 9-4X
    If Tel 2 wasn't usable or supported in the USA, I assume they wouldn't have installed comm boxes in Saabs for the North American market. And if it is only compatible with euro frequencies 900/1800, it still wouldn't work in North America on 850/1900.

    This thread on SC discusses switching out the modem part in the comm box but I am not sure if that's worth the trouble.
    http://www.saabcentral.com/forums/sh...ad.php?t=79459


  8. #8
    Saab Owner Digger's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by nordwulf View Post
    If Tel 2 wasn't usable or supported in the USA, I assume they wouldn't have installed comm boxes in Saabs for the North American market. And if it is only compatible with euro frequencies 900/1800, it still wouldn't work in North America on 850/1900.

    This thread on SC discusses switching out the modem part in the comm box but I am not sure if that's worth the trouble.
    http://www.saabcentral.com/forums/sh...ad.php?t=79459

    Thanks again, saves me the trouble of opening to find out who makes the part. Hadn't found this thread, was still looking for the thread where the guy added his own cell phone through onstar and used the steering wheel button. Don't need to find it now.

    Maybe not worth the trouble, but a lot less trouble than digging through the winter coat to get the phone out of your pocket, or spending all day pulling a bunch of wires so your hands free isn't laying on the kitchen counter when you need to use the phone in the car. 911 is the only number I can think of that's important enough to dial while driving and calls coming to my cell are supposed to be really important. Not so anymore, with automated dialing spoofing local numbers you don't know until you answer what kind of call it will be.

  9. #9
    Saab Owner Digger's Avatar
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    So I spent a few hours tracking down a 4 channel phone transceiver module that might just fit and work in the phone box, to make sure I first took the back floor, then upholstery panels out of the rear and the only thing I found was the rear end of the control cable that runs to the radio covered with phone buttons that do nothing, never will do anything and most certainly cost extra when new. Got to appreciate the GM sense of humor.

  10. #10
    Saab Fan RoccoH's Avatar
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    9-3 2.0T Sport Estate US Spec MY2006
    The Communication Unit (CU) or telematics or Tel2 only supports the 900Hz and 1800Hz GSM frequency bands, no other units with support for different frequency bands were developed by Saab. So since the CU would not work in the US, it was not available on this market.

    On top of that, OnStar was offered by GM but only for the US market. To allow for OnStar, a CU supporting the AMPS network was installed instead of a CU for GMS's, as OnStar was operating on this analog network: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Advanc...e_Phone_System

    So blame GM/OnStar for not having a CU available supporting the 850/1900Hz GSM frequencies used in the US

 

 

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