TAP No. 27 - Free Electricity, Blue Box Correction

NO. 27 NOVEMBER 1974 Yes, after 6 months in the pits we're back! Our unannounced vacation took place for several reasons the main one being a shortage of help and a surplus of work, By now we have sold alot of back issues & the income has helped to put us solidly in the black. We will try to come out fairly regularly from now on, but this depends also on reader contributions & printing costs. We are also planning a 1975 Conven- tion and need ideas for the convention from evéryone. Possibly contests and exhibits and such. Please write to us if you've got suggestions. In addition, we will be having technical seminars as always. If you are well-versed in any phase of phreaking covered in TAP or otherwise, please get in touch with us to teach at the convention. Dear TAP, Checking the guide to Subversive Organizations and Publications (House document 398) I noticed the absence of TAP or YIPL-Then I noticed the date was 1961. Did you make the new list? Anyway, tell your readers that it's illegal to re- move the dialing instruction plate on payphones (below dial) if they were planning on using a high carbon bit on a hand drill to drill a hole exactly a 2 3/4" to the right and 5/8" down. Not only is it illegal, but if someone were to. accidentally poke the end of a paperclip through the hole, it would do all sorts of terrible things like releasing all the money they had just put in to make a long distance call, preventing them from supporting the wonder- ful phone company. (Note- drill wili cut through cast iron case, though not steel lock or coin box.) -NEW YORK- -And the dialing instruction plate could be put back in, obscuring the hole and allowing nefarious individuals to continue their plundering-TAP, Dear TAP, On a recent trip to Paris I was able to make free calls to any point in the U.S, (except Hawaii) and Europe from a special yellow public telephone booth Situated all over Paris called "Interurbain". The only ‘catch was that the called party had to be muted otherwise a loud tone makes conversation impos- sible. As you know,the mute prevents supervision, on overseas trunks this is accomplished by sending 2400 Hz to the culling party C.O., indicating that the called party has answered. It is the lack of the 2400 Hz tone which prevents the loud blocking tone from coming on the Paris phone. Wait for dial tone, dial 19, wait for a second dial tone, then dial 1 + area code + number. I tried. to otf a 800 or 555 number, but you can't dial them nor off any number for that matter with an SF. I'm not sure, but you might be able to do this from other European cities. I believe that the black box is in- ternational, since most European telephone systems are still step or crossbar. -NEW YORK- UP FROM THE PITS! NEW BLUE BOX INFO We've gotten feedback on the New Blue Box Cir- cuit (Issue 26), One problem of the circuit is that all the diodes for one frequency must be matched. The Motorola Silicon dual diode MSD 6150 (common anode) saves PC board space and is a matched pair. 25¢ each in’ 100 quantity. If regular diodes are to be used, use only silicon, Though we said germanium diodes are ok, they usually have too much leakage current and the pots will cross-affect each other, In fact, you can eliminate the hassle and match- ing of diodes altogether by using double-pole push- buttons. Polypaks sells a $6.88 General Telephone Data entry keyboard with 10 buttons. You'll need 2 more DPST and a SPST for 2600, but you'll save money on diodes. The same 10 trimpots are used. And keep the wiring to the pots and switches good and secure electrically. A loose connection is a changing frequency. We also have an unchecked report that eliminating diodes with double pole switches makes the regulator unnecessary. Dear TAP, As for picking Medeco and Keso locks you can for- get it, Medeco is a sidebar type of lock like the Briggs and Stratton locks G, M. uses in their cars, Locksmiths usually use codes for auto locks as they can't pick them, A more efficient method for vending machines would be to use an awl & 5 Ib. hammer to make a hole in the sheet metal of the cabinet and then a nibbling tool (for electronic con- struction) to enlarge the hole enough to.reach in and disengage the lock cylinder from the locking bolts. The nibbler can be bought at Lafayette or Radio Shack but may not cut through all thicknesses of machine doors, -COLORADO- Dear TAP, According to the NE. T. news line, you people are breaking the state law of Mass, when you published the 1975 Credit Card Code. Upon conviction you can be fined $2000 and get a year in the slammer. When Iheard this I called the head of Security in Boston with a phoney c.c. number and told him what I was doing. ‘Then T asked him what he was going to do about it, Was he éver pissed off. Yours in conspir- acy- Stainless Steel Rat Device catches obscene callers and other phone criminals A new system from Telident Ine. con- ects to any telephone and displays the incoming caller's number. Its pur- pose is to help catch obscene and other objectionable phone callers. The caller's number and exchange remain visible throughout the call: this. pin. points any phone being used for the ‘obscene call, whether it’s a private or pay phone. The maker says the sys- tem will also discourage those making bomb threats or ransom demands, if Contact Telident, Ine, 304 8, Broad- you sre bothered with these robloms © Youth Hot Line Reports, Inc. 1974 Mcvement groups may reprint with TAP's address, und please send us a copy of reprinted work. MORE FREE Our article on Free Electricity prompted great reader response and we've got more info on how to do it. Several meters were sent to us and we've learned alot about how they work, Several readers suggested that the speed-adjust screws do work but not very well and are sometimes labeled backwards to confuse Robin Hoods. However, we tested the New York standard meter which is a Westinghouse DSN, and found that the front screw was labeled correctly (F for Fast is counterclock- wise) and could reduce the meter by 40%! And the Screw on the side can make the meter start moving in the wrong direction if you turn it enough! These revelations are very encouraging indeed. The other meters also have adjustment screws, and one un- marked meter with large brown coils inside had 5 speed adjustment screws! Most home meters are of the 220 volt dual-phase (3-wire) type which supplies 110 and 220 volts at the same time. There are two 110 volt "hot" wires that are out of phase with each other, which means that there is 220 volts between them, and there isa ground wire. From either hot wire to ground is 110 volts. One reader writes in that on the 220 volt, GE single phase meters, about a 50% reduction in rotor speed can be obtained by wiring the potential coil so it receives only 110 volts, not 220. The pot- ential coil is the small coil wound out of thin wire & connected in shunt across the load side of the meter. This is accomplished as follows: 1, Remove meter from socket. (Issue 23) 2. Remove case from meter (usually unscrews). 8. Locate the 2 small wires that are connected to the two line terminals (bottom two terminals). 4, Disconnect either of these wires (but not both), from the line terminal it's attached to. 5. Connect it to the ground terminal. This is the smallest prong on the back of the meter and usually points a different way(like horizontal), Of course, you're connecting it not on the back‘of the meter, but on the inside of the back, as the ground terminal goes through the plastic back of the meter. 6. Get electric heat. It's cheaper! OUNCAN crbuna Prong Current Coils LINE (Thick Wire) (From Potential Coil Con Ed) Compensating rE | (Voltage Coil) Coil Thin Wires NORMAL GE. METER oe GE. METER AT HAL F-SPEED LOAD Ground Prong ° COTO ELECTRICITY Before doing this you should make sure that your meter has the same hookup as the GE meter used in the above letter. Some meters have a different hookup. For example, the Westinghouse DSN has a voltage coil across one side of the line and ground, 2 LOAD LINE Resistors Voltage Coil Neon Bulb: \, WES T/NG HOUSE Ground‘ Prong DSN Oo NORMALLY, So this can't be "Halved". The Duncan 128 has TWO voltage coils, one from each side of the line to ground. One controls the reading of your 110 volt appliances, and the other controls the read- ing of your 220 volt appliances, On this meter, the meter will have to be tested to see which voltage is controlled by the two screws on the back. Turn on a 220 volt appliance(with the screws loosened and the metal piece pulled out) and see if the wheel turns faster. If it does, the screws control your 110.volt appliances. If not, then your air conditioner and other 220 volt units will only cost half as much. Meter disable ‘Screws on back voltage coils Ground Prong 1aS LOAD (To You) We hear you All the meters we tested have 5 prongs. 2 are the input, 2 are the output and 1 is ground. Disconnect- ing the ground stops the meter but leaves you with the lights on, Breaking off the pin and putting back the meter is good, but less suspicion will be arous- ed if you bend the prong(the ground prong is the odd _ one out of place .. from the others and pointed a dif- ferent way) so that it doesn't go in it's socket. In the Westinghouse meter they have a cute circuit to show whether this has been done, Disconnecting the ground or another wire makes a neon light in the meter glow, alerting the meter reader. If you have this type of meter, you can disconnect the bulb, or remove it and blow it out. Just make sure it looks like it's working but simply not lit. To blow out the bulb, hook it in series with a 500 ohm resistor of 10 watts or more to a wall socket and let it slowly burn itself out. We're told that a GE type 1-60-S meter can be slowed down 4% (every little bit helps!) with the adjustment screw, but as in all meters, GENTLY! You don't want to damage the meter, It's also been suggested that to remove the seals that hold the meter closed, just snip it as close to the plastic or lead part and bend the end over so that it will grip the inside of the hole again when it's re-used, Another idea is to simply turn over the meter and it will run in reverse, unfortunately this is easy for a meterman to spot and is usually impossible with 5-prong meters which are the most common, Most electric companies estimate your bill for several months and adjust it when the meter is act- ually read, which is less often than every month, It's good to know, however, when the man actually comes if your setup is slightly detectable. If he's on to you, does anyone know if it's legal to offer him @ present to keep it in the. family? (Not for him, but for you). Let's hear from the lawyers out there. Dear TAP, For your edification, I'm enclosing a photocopy of the current ITT Telex guide showing country codes, If you have access to a teleprinter, you can access the ITT system quite easily by dialing 710-599-3211, Dita Beard will welcome you. Many universities have time-sharing computer terminals that could be used, You know, Iassume, that the code for TWX operators is 954-1212. You can dial most any big- city area code plus the code and get the operator. More common than mail tampering is the MAIL WATCH. The postman delivers your mail--but he makes a record of the return address on every piece, Recommended: a Canadian post office box. Ever since Lee Harvey Oswald, Americm Post- masters have required positive ID from prospective box renters, Not so in Canada, and the price is right-about $10/yr. in small towns. Good for order- ing reagents, We understand that the British Post Office and Scotland Yard are now battling the SILVER BOX (also known as a 'bleep'). Inasmuch as out-of-band signalling is far more common than in-band class 5 types (cf. Japan, Australia, Europe) is is urgent that North American phreaks inform themselves on this subject, Other than info about prosecutions, nothing has been received so far. We are continuing to monitor all legal developments in phreaking on a regular basis. Of course black boxing should be easy even under an out-of-band system, but redirecting calls? And what codes would access overseas send- ers? Re Con Ed: Happily I am far removed from them these days, Telling thém that you are a new tenant often. doesn't work without a lease to prove it. You have to pretend to be the OLD tenant, and say you are moving. (Give any old address), That gets you off the hook; they transfer your account, especially if they already have a deposit. After the account is cleared up on the computer (remember, they use microfilm for their records, and it's several days behind) you can open your new account. -CANADA-. Dear TAP, A few years ago a friend and I were into faking the money dropping in old 3 slot payphones by using an old payphone top, containing the bell and gong for coin sounds, Thru operator responses, visiting the switchboards, and looking at coin collect mechan- isms, I discovered that when handling a payphone call, a red light is lit on the operator's switchboard until the 1st coin drops, After that the light goes out and a green light goes on & stays on until money is collected or returned, when the green goes off & the red comes on.again. The lights don't indicate if the money was collected or returned, just ifa first coin was deposited, and whether the lever has returned to normal position after collect or return. On some operator boards, they have a BV key. One operator told me that she was only told it was for computer access to dial Rate & Route, such as BV 009 ST, then KP-AC-XXN-XXN-1-ST(firstXXN is desired exchange, second is calling exchange) to get the computer-generated voice. But BV can also get local verification, which the fuckheads didn't tell our operators. Is there an MF tone to the BV key? What is it? Does anyone know how to use the 700 + 1700 coin collect and 1100 + 1700 coin return tones? -KANSAS- YOU CAN HELP TAP If you can contribute any information that you think other readers would be interested in, please do so, TAP readers are the main source of our information. You can help by meeting employees of phone and power companies, alarm places, etc., and asking ther about questions other people raise in the newsletter. Be sure to get details and maintain contact in case you have additional questions. Most empl- oyees of those companies would be glad to screw their boss and they'd probably be interested :n TAP, too. We hope that a lot of you will gather information so we know what the scene is around the country and Canada, All information is free if you can't afford it. Let us know. L?-Red Box, Line Relay 13:¢a11 Stopper 18-Snoop Light BACK ISSUES-60¢ 20-Cheese Box 21 Automatic Phone Tap conference switenes 22-Answerco 3° Telecommand’siry TPE BS” Pree Electricity 4 Pay Phone laswe 24- Fraud Detectors, Index, EB Brim acm 19! Code i ‘-New Red Box, Free Gas Sumer Durer Propegytec ine 1) © 26- New Blue Box L-Receivios lo distance calls tree ANTI-BELL BUTTON $06 1 Ucfecsts ers dca DESTRUCTOR Y ABSISTANCES G0 just 1S-tnerratonal Calls te Ps Zend as much info as you want baer if tional Calle RivcT Papers, Simbad sell-adressed ontens ECE Cred ate, 7 Rewer Head Crash~Send us computer pass- words & codes for more of same, FACT SuEETS-29¢ Send self-addressed em 1.New Credit Card Fact Steet self-addressed envelope, please, ('74 Code and How to do it Safely) steal Tats Book-$2.25 2,Recesving Long Diets énovely- $1.20 Subscriptions - 10 issues - US bulk rate $4, US First Class in plain sealed envelope $6. Canada stapled $6 Foreign $7. TAP, ROOM 504, 152 ¥, 42 ST..N.Y.,N-Y. 10036 Mailing address only, check Or money onder only, NO CASH Dear TAP, Thought I'd write and tell the rest of Phreakdom about a technique for tapping neighbor's phone lines that I used to use, for whatever it's worth. The problem with a direct tap is that sooner or later, some phone company type is going te.come and check the line. To make it indetectable: We are going to use the 2 spare wires of the 4- wire cable running to your phone(usually yellow & black). First locate your cable and the tappee's cable in the main box for your apartment. (A phone with clip leads will help). Then trim to length and strip the ends of the 2 wires. They should be just long enough to reach the terminals of the other phone with NO slack. The wires should then be at- tached to the terminals just loose enough so that they pull off easily. Straighten and strip some of the other cables' yellow and black wires too so that your's won't look different later. Then run a big wire.(12 gauge house wire is fine) under your wires as shown. Close the box lid as tight as possible and twist the wire ends together as shown. Now when the box is opened the wires willbe ripped loose. The Foneperson will not cut the outside wire before opening it up because the whole thing might fall apart. With a DPDT toggle switch (and line relays, recorders, etc.) you may now freely use the line. A BB will be safe and cause no charge to the other party's line-Ed. T built the Red Box from your last issue and like it. The two diodes feeding the 500K pots for 5¢ and 10¢ aren't needed, I'm also doing research on bank machines and "money cards". If I can crack their code on the cards and rewrite them it could be good for $1000 a day. I will appreciate any help on this (bank employees could really help). -INDIANA- Dear TAP, "The best things’in life are free, almost..." ac- cording to the Theta Cable TV ads in Los Angeles. + On April 26 Theta introduced the "Z channel". You can watch first run movies for $6.95 per month for the first TV and $1.95 for each addt'l TV, right? Wrong! Because if you want to watch the Z channel all you have to do is press the "2" and the "8" but- tons on the channel selector at the same time. So don't forget, 2+ 8 = Z, And it's freel -THETA, The goddess of TV ‘Your Line \| Your Black and Yellow Wires oo oe oO x His Line I—~Box Cpen ys Box Closed: Dear TAP, Alabama Power has increased my line voltage from 115 to 180 volts. They won't lower the voltage(they claim it's impossible) and I have blown the flyback transformers on 2 TV sets. This voltage increase has also increased my electric bill by 27%. I know the Power Company is having difficulty but if they are going to raise their line voltage and cheat me into into paying 27% more I'd like to cheat back. Here is the formula for computing your own power company's ripoff on you: Power= Voltage X Current so if the voltage is upped the increase in power is: Power increase= (New voltage)? - (Old voltage)” (Old voltage)? Multiply this by 100 to get the percentage increase. So, All an electric company has to do for an Instant rate increase is step up the line voltage. My electric company has done this to me without regard for my appliances or my pocketbook. Any back is- sues that you have to help me outiox their meters will allow me to strike back. -ALABAMA- Published for informational purposes only by Youth Hot Line Reports, Inc. TAP, ROOM S04, 152 W.42 ST.,NY,NY 10036 27 Hot line cooled LONDON (UPI) — “I'm a post office engineer,” siid the voice on the telephone to Mrs. Hannah’ O'Flaher . “Your phone is in danger of overheating and bursting into flames. Place the handset in a bowl of water.” Mrs. O'Flaherty did so. Five hours later, a straight- faced official ofthe telephone exchange told her: “Placing receivers in water is not, and never will be, an ‘emergency repair technique."” THE STAR-LEDGER, Monday, March 25, 1974