TAP No. 32 - '76 CC Code, Improved Red Box

No. 32 JANUARY 1976 Back Issues-Listed by feature articles 50¢ each, 40¢ each if complete set is ordered, 1-Extensions, Comerence Switches 2-Blue Box Story and Abbie on Ripotts 3-Telecommand Story 4-Pay Phone Issue SeBlue Box 1 6-Blue Box 2: 7-Tuning your orqan, 3-slot ripofis 8-Credit Card Calls/1972 Code See ase ity 12 Blue Box Plans "1 calls & Codes, Bluebox plans des, AT&T Papers, Ca, Test numbers dit Card Code, T network plans ie Relay, Don't Get Busted stance call stopper ress tones 2 line, or loop-arounu) convention Report Red Boxers" Early Model nfe: Phone Tap, New Bluebox, Con Ed key (al Bree y, Blue Box Correction 28 Reading Computer bills, loop suffixes 29 Improved Bluebox & Snooplite, Int'l codes 30 Fortress Pay Phones, Party Lines 31 Black Box Issue Computers-Timesharing- Access codes. 2. Receiving Le (Same as Issue sad of Bell Telephone Co.) layed Red Box 0% per set, ¢ each: A-Basic Elec! Basic Phone Ope: Here is oyr revised Destructory Assistance list, See previous issues for trading conditions. Phones La lack, Blue, &Red Boxes ‘Electronics Bell Reprints ‘Chemistry Bugs and Scramblers Politics Interesting phone #s Fadio & TV Test numbers Credit Cards Installation & attachments Payphones Domestic & Foreign Codes Locks and Security Vending Mac, ATsT 1976 CREDIT CARD CODE In Issue 25 TAP reported that a new CREDIT CARD PLAN was being introduced by the Phone Company in order to cut the cost of catching and prosecuting people who are making calls with phony credit cards, Of course, these people are making calls that they ordinarily would not be able to afford, but toll fraud programs allow the Phone Company to blame the soaring cost of phone service on phone phreaks. At the expense of everyone, the Phone Company announced a new computerized scheme to assign credit card numbers that bear no resemblance to the related phone number. This is supposed to eliminate the simple ripoff of looking up a com- pany's phone number and adding the code for the city and the secret code letter, When we published this information, we were actually convinced that the plan was on its way in, so convinced, in fact, that we published the 1975 Credit Card Code in March 1975 and thought that it was almost useless since the plan was scheduled to take effect in 1975. Well folks, it turns out that the plan has not been implemented and the NEW 1976 CREDIT CARD CODE works the same way 1s usual, with the phone number coming first, followed by the RAO code (a list of RAO codes is in Issue 31) and then the letter that corresponds to the 6th digit of the phone number, ac- cording to the following list 1=G 2=U 3=A 4=Q 5=R 6=X 7=Z 8=L 9=N 0=E While we're on the subject of correcting past information, Issue 27 worried many readers with a news clipping about Telident, a device that instantly traces an incoming cull to the phone that placed the call, displaying the phone number onaL.E,D, readout. The news clipping was from Science Digest, among other sources, We attempted to contact the manufacturer but,were unsuccessful. Several readers let us know that they tried also and got nowhere. We have now discovered the reason. The LA Times, May 23, 1975 report- ed that an ex-FBI agent and 4 others were indicted ina scheme to sell stock in phony corporations, with phony products. Telident was one of these phony products, which was demonstrated in a rigged manner at the Waldorf but never really existed, nor can such device exist given the present phone system in the U.S. The device was intended to interest hotels, airports, and law encroachment organ- izations. This was supposed to interest investors who would buy worthless stock. So you can't always believe what you read, even in TAP! ©Youth Hot Line Reports, Inc. 1976- Do not make checks out to Youth Hot Line Reports please. Movement groups may reprint without permission with TAP's address given with all:credits, and please send us a copy of reprinted work, Warning: We will prosecute violators. ODDS & ENDS by tom edison There are a number of odds & ends that need to be cleared up before we can continue to blast old Big Brother Bastard Bell on this Bicentennial Birthday of Amerika, One of the things that always bugged me about TAP was the incorrect polarities shown on all the batteries for Red and Blue Boxes, Al Bell says that this is small shit but I feel that not everyone is an electronics expert so for the record let me state that the short line is always negative and the long line is always positive. (SEE FIG.1) For those who don't have access to a voltmeter to determine which line is the + Ring and which is the ~ Tip an easy method is to place a rectifier diode directally across the line. The diode should be at least 100 volts @ 100 Ma and you must know which end of the diode is the cathode and which end is the anode. A diode will conduct when the anode is more positive than the cathode. In Fig. 2 the diode has been placed across the line in such a way that the diode is forward biased ( cathode to - Tip and anode to + Ring ). If you now pick up the fone receiver you should hear dial tone but you should not be able to break the dial tone even when you dial. The reason for ihis is that the diode is effectively a fixed short across the line, Regardless of what you do at the receiver the short will still leave dial tone on the line. If you connect the diode as shown in Fig. 3 it will be reversed biased and no current will flow thru it, The fone will be normaland you will be able to dial out. You may be wondering just hat the hell you have to know which line is Tip & Ring. The reason is that Pa Bell has started to change the response time of the relays which indicate when a called fone has answered, This means that the ring stopper button on your Black Box must now be hit for a max- imum of only a few milliseconds, something that's impossible to do mechanically but very easy to do electronically! Last issue TAP showed an electronic bell stopper using two 52 volt Zener diodes, Fig. 4 shows a bell stopper using only Zener and regular rectifier diodes, In the normal position the Zener diode and the Box R C network are both out of the circuit. To Box a call just throw . the switch to the tree position as soon as the fone starts to ring, The 56 volt Zener diode will fire on the ring voltage and momentarily short the Tip & Ring lines for a few milliseconds, At the same time the Box RC network will be switched into the circuit, Since the Zener diode must be in the circuit with the correct voltage polarity on it, the identification of Tip & Ring is very important, ‘This circuit has been tried and tested in several NJ cities and in some towns the response times of the archaic Bell equipment was so bad that the super quick response of our new bell stopper was not work- ing as it should. Further research was done and it was determined that a rectifier diode placed series aiding with the Zener diode ( Zener anode to rectifier anode ) would enable the circuit to function properly. While this means that you need a rectifier diode it should be noted that a rectifier diode costs about 1/10 the cost of a 56 volt Zener diode. We've had some inquires about the TAP T shirt, Al Bell told me, " Tom, if you want ém- go get em." The choices are shown in the Oct, 1973 # 22 issue. If enough of you want them please write and let me know.I won't'be able to interest a manufacturer unless a sufficient number are ordered. We've also received some inquires about a new fone convention, My own personal feeling is that there should be a Bicentennial Box Blast. Any details will be in future issues of TAP, Some readers have written in to say that they're having trouble locating Abbie's books, The System, Woodstock Nation, and Revolution For The Hell Of If. Tf any reader can help us locate these books please let us know. We received a good suggestion from a reader in Amherst, Mass. who wants to see 2 TAP calendar. It!s too late for 76 but we'll see what we can do for 77. The plastic dial plates on Fortress Fones have been modified, Sticking a pin thru the hole, pressing down, and turning the dial plate clock wise to remove it as shown in TAP # 6 now works only on home fones. A # 4-40 set screw is now used on the Fortress. To remove this new plate use ano, .050 hex key and turn the set screw all the way in so that the whole dial plate locks in the most clock wise position, Now simply rotate the plate clock wise a little more and it will come oif. And finally, let me briefly petition our readers to share your knowledge with us. In my article on the " Corrected Snoop Light " in issue no, 29 I asked readers to send us their fone off-hook current values. So far we have received only one reply, a post card from Los Angeles | GET OFF YOUR ASSES! Get a stamp, an envelope, and Some paper and let us hear from you, Help to put the Post Office out of business by flooding it with mail to TAPI = CATHODE PHONE r a RING FIG. 1 HG 8 TIP ANODE | PHONE ” CATHODE RING FIG, 3 RING +o O+ ZENER = 56 v. 5 watts HEP Z 2537 DIODE = 100 v. @ 100 Ma TO PHONE FREE DPST C= IMfa =6 4 hor S SE O00 woe on TIP SWITCH — - NORMAL FIG, 4 ASK Mr. PHELPS Send in your questions and he will try to answer them. Mr. Phelps! field is mechanical devices and metalworking - re- search and development - and conspiracy masterminding. Questions on electronics will be given to Barney. If you send a deposit to his bank account in Zurich, he will make an all-out, maximum effort to answer you, Q. I very much want to jump my electic meter but it is out- side where anyone can see me if I fool around with it, What can I do? Queens Resident A. Caution is always advisable but extreme paranoia is not. Wasn't Queens where Kitty Genovese was murdered while thirty of her neighbors watched and did nothing? If your meter is visible only to your neighbor, why not (subtly, of course) check him out? Maybe he feels the same about Con Mon(opoly) as you do, Maybe he'd even like you to adjust his meter also (for a modest fee, of course). If your neigh- bor is Charles Luce: 1- You're living in a pretty wealthy neighborhood and can ford to pay your Con Mon bill. 2-Wait until he acati If your meter is vi m the street, find some way of blocking a passerby's view of it, Perhaps some tempo- rary or permanent shrubbery? T ing Birnam wo! to Dunsinane. You've heard of ivy-covered cottag plant some fast growi o the meter reader can't find With an outside meter, you have a tremendous advantage over the victim of an inside meter, "Anyone" could have tampered with an outside meter; Con Mon can't_prove did it, But don't reduce your usage to near zero - that's suspicious. Another possibility: If you're adding an addition to your house, you could hide the original meter (see above) and mount your own personal meter for Con Mon to read, You may be interested to know that, if you are caught or killed inaction, the Power Companies are primarily interested in restitution, and are not too enthusiastic about having dis- gruntled customers educate entire prison populations. I expect you to use Some of the money you save to support the Revolution. Not necessarily TAP - there are plenty of other good causes. Just because you'll be getting the juice for less money is no reason to waste it, Remember that Con Mon burns coal or oil which causes pollution, and uses its nuclear generator which could BLOW UP and_does produce large amounts of radioactive waste which must be stored indef- initely. Because it is a government sanctioned monopoly and doesn't have any free market competition, Con Mon doesn't seem to care about hydroelectric, wind, solar, tidal damming, geothermal, and other efficient sources of power, none of which cause pollution or waste valuable re- sources. Instead they shrug and keep raising their rates, I realize that many of you home owners are victims of irresponsible, greedy developers who "clear cut" all the trees, and built houses without any concern for "energy efficiency", This turned the houses into ovens in the sum- mer, necessitating air conditioning, and refrigerators in the winter, requiring even more energy to heat. So at least buy an efficient AC, insulate, and check your heating system. ou YOUR MISSION. .. should you decide to accept, is to read the "Iuminatus!" trilogy by Shea and Wilson. Here's an abridged excerpt: “Lee Harvey Oswald sights carefully through the Carcano Mannlicher, ..and his mouth falls open in astonishment as three shots ring out. obviously from the direction of the Grassy Knoll and Triple Underpass. "Son-of-a-bitch, "he said, softly as a prayer, And he began to grin, a rictus not of omnipotence such as he had expected but of something different and unexpected and therefore better-omniscience. That smirk appeared in all the photos during the next day and a half, before his own death, a sneering smile that said so clearly that none dared to read it: I know something you don't know." Haven't you always wondered about that smile? Well, now you know. Your mission is to determine which parts are fact, which are theory, and which are fantasy. To: Mr. Phelps From: Alexander Mundy Subject: Alternate Coin Box thod of Openi ng The Fortress Phone This method involves the drilling in four positions to re- move the four screws that hold the lock in place. One first drills at the appropriate points. Start with about an 1/2" drill bit and then use a 1/4" bit to enlarge the hole. If the screws are hardened and drill resistant, punch them out, After the screws are removed one simply pushes the look in and to the rear so that it disengages the cover plate, Aiter that is accomplished one simply turns the boltwork the cover plate with a key or similar object looks like this. + i ! I | I f ah 2/T T Q a | (i ieee D- L ‘Thanks for the chart, This IS a much simpler method but can be used only when you have sufficient clearance at the right side of the Fortress, Mr. Phelps MEMORIZE AND BURN ‘The Red Boxes of the future won't be as simple as befors. We reported in the last issue that the new Red Box tones are 2200 and 1700 Hz. The old 2200 Hz Red Boxes must be modified by adding the extra 1700 Hz. oscillator, We have pictured, for informational purposes only, a 1700 Hz. osc- illator. It is a simple matter to add this to the Red Boxes in Issue 16 or Issue 25, To add this to the Issue 16 Red Box, one would connect point A to V+ line after the on-off switch, just as the existing oscillator is now connected in that Box. Next, the output of the oscillator must have a 100K resistor added in series with the .01 mid. capacitor that is there now. Just break the line before or after the -01 and insert the 100K resistor. Now the output of the new 1700 Hz. oscillator must be connected. The output (B) comes out ofa .01 mfd. cap and a 100K resistor, just like the other oscillator, so tie the two oscillators together justafter the 100Ks and the . Ols as in the diagram. Now bott oscillators will be tied into the 47K amplifier input at the top of the diagram. .To add the new oscillator to Issue 25, connect point A to pin 3 on the 555 Flip-Flop. Cut the output of the oscil- lator by disconnecting one wire of the .01 mfd. capacitor and inserting a 100K resistor in line with the capacitor. Now connect the new oscillator's point B to the + input of the 741 amplifier. In either case, the new oscillator has it's ground con- nected to the ground of the existing box, and the. voltage supply input (Point A) is also connected the same way as the oséillator that already exists. The outputs of the two oscillators each go through their own 100K resistors to mix the sounds evenly and through their own .01 mid. caps to prevent DC on each oscillator from affecting the amplifier. Then they connect together, and are amplified equally by the speaker. The 50K trimmer pot adjusts the frequency of the 1700 Hz oscillator. By disconnecting the 2200 Hz oscillator temporarily, the 1700 Hz. oscillator can be tuned with a frequency counter or by comparing the sound to an accurate signal generator. ‘The new phones are starting to pop up all over. If one had a switch (shown as OPTIONAL in the diagram), the Red Box would be valid at both converted and unconverted phones. IMPORTA: Include mailing label or xerox copy when writing to TAP about your subscription. A 4 Switch gv (OPTIONAL) 15K .01 100K Add this 100K OL To 15K of sh existing oscillator You can tell if a phone booth is converted or not by listen- ing as you deposit money. The new tones sound "harsher" than the pure 2200 we're used to. The tones will leak into the earpiece at 2 low volume so it's hard to tell at first, but comes easily with practice (don't we all). However, it is likely that the operators don't know during this interim period which phones are modified and which aren't. And the usual quota of broken phones keeps operators willing to accept just about anything short of whistling (and sometimes that works!), so old Red Boxes will probably be good for a while longer without needing the modification, At this point it might be worthwhile to mention that there are a number of alternatives to the telephone earpiece for a Red Box speaker. The experienced phreak looks for a speaker with an impedance of 100 ohms or more, negligible size, weight and price, and of course low distortion with a good volume. These qualities are not easy to come across. However, 2000 ohm in-the-ear earpieces have been used with good results. If you were to atiempt to put the new dual tone through one of these, it would probably distort badly. This may be alright with such short pulses but at this time we're not sure how much distortion can be tolerated with human operators, The future will have machines receiving the tones and checking their quality, so many phreaks use high- quality dynamic earpieces from stereo headphones. They find that the added expense is well worth the good results. Published for informational purposes only by Youth Hot Line Reports, Inc. The bugging of bedrooms By L. Mt. BOYD How wovid vou fo i you Just found out ‘your: teena children had wired your bedroom with an automatic stein device Sav you discovered it had ben there for the last 90 days? And it had transmitted every whisper therein round. the lock from your room ‘to theirs? This is reported to be the sort of revelation thal is astounding @ number of parents now ‘firm has been selling such bugs by mail for less than $15 ach through magazine ads, investigators say. Research Teveals that a whole lot of t huyers are youngsters hang op an the notion of eavesdropping, on the old folks From The News Tribune January 6, 1976 Address all mail and checks to - TAP, ROOM S04, 152 W. 42 ST., N.Y,N.Y. 10036 BULK RATE U.S. POSTAGE PAID Permit No, 209 Groat Neck, N.Y.