The little antennas with the
funny corkscrew parts are more
and more noticeable on high-
ways these days, as manufactur-
ers add cellular phones as
options to new cars.

Business people who can’t af-
ford-to be out of touch have
found that beepers and pagers
have limited ranges, and to
answer one a driver has to stop
and hunt for a public telephone.

SOME ARE PORTABLE

- That can be tough while driv-
ing on an lonely stretch of high-
way in the middle of nowhere.

There are at least two dozen
companies making _ cellular
phones for cars and trucks.

® Some of the devices are

powered by batteries and can be
carried around.

Others must be left in the car.

A mobile phone can be used
while being held, like one at
home, or in its rack, usually
mounted on the center console
or transmission hump.

Placing a call is pretty much
the same as using a phone at
home.

The signal goes through a
“cell” and then is relayed by
microwave to its destination,
whether it’s another mobile
phone or a stationary one.

Making the call is getting
easier.

GTE Mobilenet Inc. is market-
ing a voice-activated phone that
recognizes two different voices
and can dial and cut off telepho-
ne calls without anyone touching
the handset.

It also can be used like a
conventional mobile phone.

A tiny microphone, mounted
on the post between the wind-
shield and driver’s window,
picks up preset commands and
places calls.

“A lot of cars in Fortune
(S00) companies have cellular
phones, and company policy
Says you have to use them on the
hook,” says Sam McDaniel,
marketing manager for GET
Mobilnet.

SAFEGUARDS BUILT IN

Some telephone numbers can
be programmed in so the phone
will dial it on a one-word com-
mand, like “‘office’’.

Safeguards are built in to pre-
vent the phone from dialing the
number if the word comes up in
casual conversation.

“If you have your wife with
you and have a girlfrient named
“Jane” and you say “‘Jane,”’
you could be in trouble,’’ McDa-
niel said.

——— oe

ADVERTISING SUPPLEMENT

OK, so the sides of tires aren’t
the most compelling reading.
They still provide a lot of

information that can help —

consumers be sure they have the
tight tires on their cars or
trucks.

All the words, letters and
numbers on the sides of tires can
be easy to follow.

Each tire carries the manufac- jf
turer’s name and registered |

name of the model of tire.
Usually that’s in big letters,
sometimes in raised white let-
ters. That’s easy to understand.
A little more difficult, per-
haps, but also in large print,
is the size designation. This can
start with a ““P’’ for passenger
tires or ““LT”’ for light truck.
Then there are three numbers —
the tire’s width in millimeters.
After a slash, there are two
other numbers, representing the
height of the tire from the
tread surface to the rim,
measured as a percentage of the

TheReview Wednesday, April 25,1990 — Bil

tire’s width — for example, 75.

The letter “‘R’’ for radial,
“B”’ for bias belted or ‘‘D’’ for
bias-only tires follows to indicate
the design of the tire.

After that is a two-digit num-
ber showing the size of the
wheel it fits, measured in
inches.

[Some Say

you

AVS

Judgvzed

you keep!

@ Performance and value backed by a
100,000 KM limited warranty.

§ Trac-Point tread for exceptional traction in
wet or icy conditions.

@ Patented RCOT design fora smoother,
quieter ride.

@ 2 steel belts, plus SuperFiller bead con-
struction:

i Limited road hazard warranty. —

DUELER A/S 661

D667 Steel-
Belted Radial ©

® Traction for year round use under a
wide variety of road conditions.

® Designed for all position use in
commercial and recreational
applications.

»| = Retains all-season characteristics in

late wear stages.

Continuing along that line
are designations of whether the

' tire meets the Tire and Rim

Association’s snow and mud

specifications, noted by the

letters, appropriately, “M&S”’.

The last bits of information
closest to the tread are ratings
for tread wear, traction and
temperature.

Tread wear is rated by a
three-digit number, with 100 as
a base. For example, a tire with
a “340” rating will last 3.4 times
longer than a tire with a 100 rat-
ing under the same driving
conditions.

Traction is rated on an
A-B-C scale with A being the
best traction at 60 km/h on a
wet surface. Temperature rat-
ings also are on an A-B-C scale
with A being the most-resistant
to the effects of temperature
at 135 km/h.

The fine print near the rim
concerns tire safety warnings
about inflation pressures.

by the company

MIDGESTONE

Potenza HP41

All Sezson

e Hich performance all season
radial

© 60 anc‘ 65 Series low profile,
H speed rating.

e Black sidewall and raised white
letters.

E e Designed for domestic and

import performance cars.

THREE LOCATIONS TO SERVE YOU

SIDNEY: 9817 Resthaven Dr. 656-5544

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