Help with telephone issue

I recently bought a 2002 Targa with a PCM unit and phone (not sure of it is PCM 1 or 2) and having problems getting the phone working. The phone is "old style" and needs a credit card size SIM. I called Porsche and they told me that only Vodafone or BT (i.e. O2) will work. So I bought a new "pay as you go" Vodafone SIM (credit card size), put that into the slot -> wouldn't work. Took it into Porsche, thinking that the unit was faulty. They put their SIM card in (the SIM was in a tatty paper adapter) and that worked. They said - I probably need to activate the account first. Called Vodafone -> account can only be activated if a call is made. It seems that I can't make the call, unless I break the SIM out of its credit card and put it into a normal phone. I was still hopeful though that maybe the SIM card was faulty. Went back to Vodafone -> they changed the SIM to an older type (2005 model). Put it into car slot -> didn't work. Gave up, broke it out of its credit card thingy, put it into my mobile -> made a phone call to activate it. Tried to call it, received a call, so it is now active. Cellotaped it back into holder -> put it back into slot -> didn't work. Anybody has any ideas how to make the phone work??? Going potty here. Cannot believe that I have an expensive car and I cannot make the phone work.

I've just bought an '02 car which has PCM1 16 bit, the phone card goes in on the right and is credit card sized. I bought a Vodafone PAYG from their website and just pushed it in the slot. It took a minute or so but the unit eventually saw the card and attached to the vodafone network. However all the usual *# type numbers caused call failed. So I rang my mobile which fortunately worked so I could get its number. Then I registered it online. The only difficulty was having to run outside to pick up the security code they sent to the phone to confirm the registration so I could enter it online to complete. Hope this may help. Took a bit of messing about but its fine now.

Unfortunately, even thought the card has been in for hours, it does not recognise it. It is now active and I can make/receive calls when it is in my mobile, but not when it i in the car. I read somewhere that our module is analogue and nowadays they are digital. Not sure how that affects the IM cards. Is the SIM different for analogue and for digital. What beats me is tha the Porsche bloke's SIM worked. There must be some difference. Anybody knows what and how to get hold of one that does work?

Suzy I purchased a 996 last week with a PCM1 system (1998) so I was a little worried about the age and compatibility but I took my car to the carphone warehouse and the incredibly helpful guy came out inserted the card, registered it using the PCM in the car and set me up, told me the number. It took about three minutes. It was a vodaphone SIM still in its credit card. Might be worth a try if you can park at a car phone warehouse and find someone who knows what they are doing. It cost me £14.95 but was worth it to have it working so quickly He also thought my car was new which was nice! regards John Stratford 996 924S

Which car phone warehouse was that? Maybe I can go to the same?

Suzy It was the one in Cheltenham, on the Tewkesbury Road, don't know how close that is to you? The guy knew nothing about Porsches (hence thinking my 1998 car was a new one) or the PCM but knew how to sort out the card. If Cheltenham is too far away try a local one and go for the youngest person as they seem to know all about phones regards John Stratford 996 924S

Thank you all for your help. I managed to get it going eventually with the help of Porsche Hatfield. It turns out that the SIM had to be in a slightly different place then it was when in the card. Also, it was not close enough to the sensor, so Porsche wedged a little strip of paper into it to push the SIM closer to the sensor. High technology, eh? It is not that reliable. It finds the SIM at times, and says "No card" at others.

Us aircooled owners drive around with the windows open so we can't here the phone ring anyway.............

I recently bought my 1st 996 fitted with pcm1 after reading johns post i bought a vodaphone pay as you go sim for a fiver shoved it in the slot works fine, the numbers on a need to know basis (peace at last)! sounds to me like somthing might be a little worn in the slot on the unit susie?

Thanks. Annoying... must be a duff one or worn, like you said. Someone suggested I put Bluetooth connectivity into it instead so I can still talk through the car's mike and hear it through the audio. Might be an idea as I'm really missing my voice activated dialling bit. I'll investigate.