I thought Radio Phone Patches were a thing of the past. Is it true that MARS still does them?
Yes. There are still quite a few done, but mainly to aircraft. The traditional land or sea based MARS
Radio Phone Patch is largely a thing of the past because land and sea based MARS stations have been dismantled in favor
of Satellite Phones. Modern aircraft still have built-in HF radios, and many aircrews use MARS Phone Patches as a backup to
Satellite Communications.
Who pays for the phone calls?
MCI and Sprint donate the phone time for Morale calls, and DSN access is provided to the MARS operators for Official
calls.
Can I call outside the US on MARS?
Yes. The MCI and Sprint access numbers that the MARS stations have do allow international calls.
Can I use a Foreign Language on MARS?
Generally speaking, No. The only exception is where the MARS operator understands the language being spoken.
Very few MARS operators understand foreign languages.
Can I receive phone calls on MARS?
Not normally, although there have been cases where a phone call has been arranged ahead of time. An example of
this would be where a called party wishes to call the aircraft back in 30 minutes. The MARS station agrees to wait for
the incoming phone call, and the aircraft agrees to come back on frequency at the specified time. This is not common,
but has occurred at times.
Can Navy, Marines, or Army Aircraft utilize the Air Force Phone Patch Net?
Yes, absolutely.
All branches of US Military and Coast Guard aircraft are welcome.
I can hear a different MARS operator better than the one assigned to my patch. Can I request that operator?
Yes, you can. The object is to provide the best phone patch possible.
What is the range of MARS Radio?
The best reception is usually within 3,000 miles of the US
mainland. Acceptable reception often extends out to 6,000 miles or more from the US.
The MARS operator sounds like "Donald Duck". What is wrong?
In mid-2007, the Air Force made a slight change to the assigned frequencies. This change is just enough to give the the
audio a lower than normal sounding pitch. Ask the MARS operator to give you the correct frequency to solve
the problem.
Can I get Baseball Scores (or other news) from MARS?
Yes. All MARS operators have internet access, and and are happy to relay current information from Yahoo Sports or CNN.
Is there anything I can do to help MARS?
Yes. Many military aircrews are not familiar with what MARS is or does. The MARS radio operators would very
much appreciate your help in spreading the word by emailing a link to this site to your flying friends. http://www.marsphonepatch.net
