TAP No. 53 - Meeting Phone Phreaks at Trade Shows, THC-79 Conference, Microcomputer Blue Box Tones

It'S 4PM AT ELECTRO - WHAT'S ON "TAP" 2 You're attending an electronics trade show, and you know that “at least 2 of the folks attending have got to be fellow phone phreaks, but you don't know how to make contact. Well, now there is a sure way of meeting your phellow phreaks! At 4PM, phone phreaks are known to get very thirsty, so they all seem to head to the main refreshment area of the exhibit hall, turn their name badges around, and put their home area code on the back. If the conference has a bulliten board, put the area code of the hotel on the little 3 by 5 card, and where you want to gather (main lobby, bar down the corner, ect), and wear your name badge in the usual manner. Now that you know how to greet each other at other trade shows and technical conferences,.it's time to tell you about THE BIG ONE.... TAP- CON '79 Technological Hobbyist Conference presents THE THC ~- 79 The Tex Hobbyist Conference (THC-79) will be held at the Diplomat Hotel in New York City on Sunday April 22, 1979 from 10AM to 7PMEST, People-wishing to give talks on a number of subjects are invited to submit an abstract to TAP by February 15, 1979. Include a contact method (mailing address or phone number) with your abstract. Registration will cost $5.00 by mail and $7.00 at the door. This will generate the money we need to rent the room, rent projectors, PA's, ect. If you can't make it to THC-79, you can still get a Supporting Registration for $3.00. This entitles you to recieve any junk that gets put on the Freebee Table which will be set up for anyone who wants to print up information for distribution. Anyone can put out a Freebee handout, print up 700 copies of your goodie and send it to TAP in time for the conference (in care of the mail drop). In order to maintain security (and hold down postage), your registration materials will be held at the entrance to the Diplomat Ballroom. If you want to make certain you are registered, enclose an addressed postcard (stamped) and we Seribble some archane drivell on it (baving wonderful time, wish you were her). Last, but not least, if you don't know if you're going to make it to New York for the conference, get a supporting registration. We will upgrade you at the door at the $5.00 rate for only the additional $2,001 Otherwise it's 7 bucks at the door. Be sure you give us a recognizable name for when you show up at the door (Bilbo under the rock near Albuquerque would only be good if all your buddies don't use it). In case you are wondering, this conference is the Sunday before Electro-79, the international conference of the IEEE. Tell your boss you need to visit a sick friend on the way to Electro. Dealers tables will be available if you have telephone oriented paraphanailia to sell. We do expect the folks with the funny initials, so take care. We will have people selling books, T-shirts, and, of course, back issues of TAP. See you then. (PS: Dealers tables are $20.00) Please make all checks payable to TAP. y aa % a SEPT.- OCT. 1978 NO. 53 CCRFULER FHREAK-CUT by The Wizard A number of letters have come to my atten- tion from people who are intorested in using microprocessors to create hF tones. in my next couple of columns J am going to go over General outlines cf rethods of using your microcomputer as u blue box. Lue to the wide variety of computers and systems 1 can't offer many specifics, especially when it comes to programming, but 1'l1 do the best I can. any specific questions can be sent to me care of TAP, and 1'11 answer them in the next iscuc out. In order to use a computer as a blue box there are two topics that must be discussed. These are the hardware and the software needed for producing the MF tones. ['1l discuss the hardware first.- There are two basic methods for producing KF tones with a computer that I have become acquainted with. These use two different types of hardware. The first method requires switch- ing on and off two accumulators at different rates for the two frequencies. This gives you two streams of square waves of two different frequencies. These are then filtered dow removing the harmonics to give you two sine waves. The sine waves are then added together using an op-amp for summing. I dont like this method very much as it doesn't give you much versatility for other functions. However, all you need in the way of hardware would be three op-amps and a handful of external components. ‘two op-amps would be used for filters and one would be used for summing. The next method hardware-wise, which would be used with a number of software techniques, would be the use of a digital to analog converter. This circuit converts the digital output from the computer to an analog sine wave( assuming the computers output is equi- valent to a sine wave). Cperational theory and design tips can be gotten from issues of Kilobaud and Byte magazines, from the Digital to Analog converter handbook put out by Hybrid Systems Corp. and the Analog to Digital Conversion handbook by Analog Devices Inc. In closing this column i'd like to apologize for not giving any specifics on D/A converters but due to the large number of different systems available that is not possible . in my next column I'll discuss software techniques that can be used, and I'll try to make it as specific as possible. This is a lot easier than the hardware, because the software theory is not as machine dependent. “See you next time folks, and keep those cards and letters coming. Youth Hot Line Reports, Inc. 1978 - Do not make checks out to Youth Hot Line Reports, PLEASE] Movement groups may reprint without permission if TAP's address is given with all credits. Please send us ¢ copy of reprinted work. HELLO. 4 BET ALL YOU PEQPLE OUT THERE ARE ARE ALLY EXCITED ABOUT THIS ARTICLE. I KNOW I AM NOT. WIS IS TO RE-ENCOURAGE ALL OF YOU OUT THERE THAT THE PHONE COMPANY HAS, MORE WAYS TO BE SCREWED THAN Aces WELLe LET’S NOT GET NABTY. I4LL JUST SAY THAT ALTHOUGH THE BLUEDOX YAY HAVE SEEN ITS LAST, YEAR IN BOME CITIES» THOSE LIVING IN THOSE CITIES MUST NOT GIVE UP HOPE. BESIDESs YOUR*REDBOX STILL WORKS WITH THE NEW OSCILLATOR. SOME OF YOU OUT THERE MAY NOT SEE THE WISDOM IN SOME OF THE ESCAPADES I AM ABOUT TO RELATE,’ I CANNOT SAY I DO EITHER. BUT WHAT IS DONE I8 DONE, THE PAST IB DEADe AND ALL THAT CRAP» SO ILL GET ON TO MY TALE. I WAS BORN IN DETROIT? MIGHIGANs ON AUGUST <----WHAT WAS THAT??? TOO BOON? SO SRRY. LAST SUMMER 2 MET A PHRIEND WHO WAS AB MUCH A PHREAK AS I WAS. THIS WAS ENLIGHTENING: FOR MY OTHER FRIEND-~EXCUSE MEr PHRIEND-- HAD MAVED TO THE EAST COAST THE FALL BEFORE THAT. WE HIT IT OFFe AND BEFORE YOU KNEW ITPWE WERE GOING OUT NIGHTLY *RAPINGs GURNING? PILLAGING: AND STEALING", AS I CALLED IT. WE ALSO DID GOME CONSTRUCTIVE VANDALISM CARE OF A NICE SET OF ROLT CUTTERS I FOUND IN SEARS ONE DAY. THEY WERE JUST HANGING ON A RACK 80 FORLORN AND ALONE THAT I TOOK THEM HOME WITH ME. MR. ROEBUCK WAS ASKING -2814.95 FOR THEM? BUT I DIUNT HAVE IT ON MEr SO I TOOK QUT A_ PERMANENT LOAN ON THEM. T-SHIRTS ARE SO NICEr YOU CAN CONCEAL JUST ABOUT ANYTHING IN THEM IF YOU RE THIN ENOUGH. NATURALLY» WE WERE DYING TO TRY THE BOLT CUTTERS QUT ON SONETHING. LO AND BEHOLD» © PAYPHONE. BY THE END OF THE WEEK MY FRIEND AND f HAD A VERY NICE COLLECTION. OF HANNSETS FROM AROUND TOWN. NEEDLESS TO 8AYs WH NEVER HIT. THE SANE PHONE TWICE. WE MAY DR FOOLHARDY, OUT WERE NOT DUNG. OTHER EXGURSIONS TO THE DOWNTOWN AREA PROVIDED US WITH A LINEMAN’S TESTEET (COMPANY POLICY LEAVE TNE TRUCKS UNLOGKEN IN THE CONPANY PARKING LOT.) AN ASGTII KEYBOARD FROM THE FRIENDLY RAATO SHAFT) A VERY NICE TEAC A-1705 CASSETTE DECK FROM THE UNIVERSITY LIBRARY® MANY COMPONENTG FROM RAUIO SHAFT (WE MAKE WEEKLY VISITS. BUT WE NEVER buw ANYTHING. .+s) KOSS HGADPHONESr ETC. YOU WOULD BE AMAZE AT THE STUPIDITY OF SOME GALES PEOPLE.’ ONCE» AT KMART? WE ASKED THE NICE SALESLADY TO SEE A POLKETCOM CTHOBE —-MIGRO WALKIE=TALKIES THAT CHARLIES ANGELS URE) ANI GHE HANDED IT TO US AND WALKED TO THE FRONT OF THE STORE... 1 DONT KNOW WHAT THE HELL SHE WAS NOINGs BUT WE LEFT THE QTORE FAST. WITH THE POCKETCOM, SINCE THIS IS A MAINLY TELEPHONE ORIENTED NEWSLETTER? I SHALL TALK MAINLY ABOUT TELEPHONED. UPON ONE OCCASION: MY FRIEND AND I WEREM VIGTTING A PHONE STORE, AND WE NOTICED THAT A DOOR LEADING INTO THE BACK ROOM WAS OPEN. TIAKe TAK. WE WENT TO CLOSE ITs AN WE SAW A WORKBENCH AND COMPONENT FILLES STORAGE RACK, BUT QUR ATTENTION WAS ON THE OTHER SET OF GHELVES. THERE WERE BOXES OF TRIMLINE HANDAETS ON IT, WE GACH AQUIRED QNE. UPON LATER EXAMINATION THEY PROVED TO BE QUITE UNIQUE, THEY ARE STANDARD TRIMLINE HANDSETS, WITH AN UNSTANDARY KEYBQARD ON FRONT. THE BUTTONS ARE SQUARE* WZTH AN ALUMINUM BACKPLATE: VERY STRANGE. UPON QPENING THEM UPs WE BAW THEY HAD NO LIGHT. WHEN PLUGRED IN (THEY UBED MODULAR CUNNECTORA SUPPLIED BY THE NEIGHBORHOND RADIO SHAFT) THEY LIT IN THE MOST PECULIAR COLOUR. THEY WERE GREEN. AFTER GLOSER EXAMINATION, IT WAS UISCOVERED THAT THEY WERE GREEN LIGHT EMITTING DIQUEAs RUN OFF THE TALK GURRENTs NOT THE AG LINE. APPARENTLY BELL NOES NOT TRUST CON EN ANY MORE THAN WE DO. A MQST UNTOUE EFFECT OGCURRS WHEN THE RUTTONS ARE PRESSED. THE LEDs BLINK, ANOTHER STRANGE THING 18 THAT THE HANISET ‘16 NOT POLARIZED. 7 SEEMS LIKE BELL If NECOMING QTANDARDIZED. THESE WERE AQUIRED LAST FALL (NOVEMBER 77) 1 HAVE NUT EEN THIS TYPE OF HANDSET ON THE COMMERCIAL MARKET YET, 80 ABHUME THEY ARE PROTOTYPES. TIME I8 RUNNING SHORT. UNTILL NEXT TIME. oes COUNTERFRITERS Robert Neville, SASHINGTON A male counts Forbin Project ‘documents has been spaw CHICK SuPa age G500 color copying mashing, oiqon tacenecierniene. ‘federal invent! here aay, guilty to stealing @ city ‘The copicr—which can be Icased for ‘counciiman's checkbook could $225 a month—is capabie of accursicly fat have chosen © woree victim, money ehecks tn ql nine shope ke went into,” sccutitics. his lawyer told the court, “he wa bombarded with ry songicinn 1 publie servis IRDS PROGENTS A RCVILW OF TUB WEW PAPER TRIP BY BARRY REID NID EDEN PRESS OTAFP The New Paper Trip is a book that we cannot recommend more highly. It io a 160 page manual on the ins and outs of obtaining a@ new identity, Hany diseoront wayo of paper tripping are clescly examined, Reid starts tho book with a fascinating and frightening seotien called ‘Meet big Lrather.' Thia section explains the present rovement . towards a 1964 type sociaty, one that now has over 3,2 billion fileo on its’ oiticens., In a world of vanishing privacy the reanens fer an alternate identity hecone clear. Reid then axanines each ponsihlity for chanying one's identity. Aliaens, Fake ID and the Law, Counterfeit ID, Classic Paper Tripping, and Lagal Wame Change (the paper tripner's latest jjoophele in Big Brother's nat of repreasion) are all expounded upon clearly and informatively, Othor topies covered are Dirth Certificates, Drivars' Licenses (including how tho Soundex system for forming license ts works), 86 #s (how they are formed}, Military ep Gischarge codes, Passports, and Mail Porwarding jervices. This book is solid information, it tells you firat why you should take a payar trip and then in yreat datail explains hew. Tho lew Papor Trip io $14,959 and worth avery penny. Get it and do it new, before it's too late, Available from: Eden Pross, PO Lox 0410, Fountain Valley CA 92700 e 8 # ee 8 eh ee ke Shockwave Rider by vohn Urunner (aci=fi writer) gives us a good idea of what paper tripping and government data collection will be like in the future, It's about Nickie Haflinger, a computer phraak whe worms his way through gev't data banks D perause of freedom and the American way. Naflinger's efforta in avoiding big Brother's computer ageieted pereuers are faacinating and gneertaining. Your mission (apoloyies to Mr. phen 0) to 0 find the reference to phone phreaks A the hook. ee ey ano! It's the Information Rain Data service research pre ject! io have thought of & neat black Lox modification. The idea is to put the control of tho black box inte the hands of the calling party. Inetead of using time conauming and confusing ‘gignal calls’ to tell you to box the gall your friends can now einply box themselvos int Hero's how it works, lave a tene decoder (or deceders, but more on that later) switched aoroas the line when the fone rings. These deceders then check (betwoen ‘rings) for the to: and when detected switch on the box (also sounding @' bugeer on the recioving ond signaling that been boxed). Some things you will jp in mind) 1. You'll need a filter to prevent the decodera from being fried by the singing voltage. 2, The signal between rings will’ probably have to be amplified, 3. § of tones: i probahly desirable to have 2 simultaneous tones trigger the box for two reasons. Firat, to prevent accidental activation of and secondly to prevent TPC from detecting it eby ringing your line and opplying a ricing tone, the idea = now implement iti The first reader who sends in o working schematic will recieve a copy of Shockwave Rider autographed by the IRDD staff, lave fun! Please send any comments, oritician, info or material to ba reviewed to IRDD o/o TAP. There! ACOUSTING YOUR COUPLER by Napoleon Solo Are you having trouble getting your tones into the phone line? There ig a way without directly connecting to the phone line. It involves injecting your music magnetically and can bo done much cheaper than using a speaker not to mention much quieter {f someone is next to you. Thio magic involves a simple magnetic loop which is in- serted over the earplece of the phone. The principle works dike a simple transformer, Since the earpiece is nothing but @ coil of wire which causes a diaphram to vibrate causing sound, it acts like the secondary winding of a transformer. Tho primary winding ie your ‘magnetic coupler, Since the earpiece is directly connected to the phoné line, you can transfer audio into the line this way without causing a lot of unnecessary distortion, thus causing your tones to meet the more stringent specs of the "Bull" Gystem, See Fig. 1, To make one of these educational devices take @ 6 inch piece of cardboard cut into & strip about 9/4 inch wide. Bend this car'board around the earpiece of the phone and cut off the extra piece. Then with plastic electrical tape secure the end 80 the’. it makes 8 loop about 3/4 inches wide that just tits ove’ the earpiece, See Fig, 8, Take #26 wire and wrap 60 turr around the loop securing the loose end with a piece - of tape, Before you start winding, it would he a good idea to trip one end of the #26 wire and aolder it to one side of a plece of ahielded wire, then secure it temporarily with tho electrical tape ani begin winding the coll, Try to opread out the wire ao that it covers all of 8/4 inch width, leaving @ little space at each ond so the wire won't epill over the edge. After about 60 turns or go, cut the excesa'wire and strip the other end and solder it to the othor end of the shield: ed wire. Seo Fig, 3. Tho finiohod product looks like a loop with an audio cable tied to it, Not only dees this handy toy make 8 good trans= mitting device, but it can also be uged to record directly off the phono a6 well. Instead of connecting it to your opeakor output of your tape recorder, you can plug it inte the "mike" input and record off the phone, It takes about 1 watt of audio to send a reagenable level inte the line so tf your tone gen- erator, cannot adequately generate at least 1 watt of audio into a 8.6 ohm load, your device probably won't work, ‘There are commeroial plokeup loops available but they aren't as effective because they have many more turns and the wire they use is too thin, thus having more resistance, If your generating device cannot "cut the mustard", you can add on to it any small 1 watt audio amplifier with a 9,6 ohm output, The distortion can be less than 1% and in most cases, will meet any or all IM (inter=modulation) distortion specs and {s the seoret’of how phone phreake can generate guard band 6! is effectively, &o, hande dandy little device can be used to record directly from the phone line or send audio directly into the line without removing the loop, Just plug the loop into the "mike" jack to record off the phone line or plug into the ex= ternal speaker jack of the recorder or tone generating device to send into the phone line. This way, if the mouthpiece has been rotting out in the weather you won't have to search for @ payphone that works, In fact the tones can be generated without the phone even being connected and you can still hear the tones through the earpiece, Touch Tone anyone? Transformer Primary Secondary : Coll In Telephone Your Loop Coil earpiece Figure 2, Temporarily 9/4" by 6" secure end Cardboard with tape to hold down walle windings $ As “a AtoB Sttip ond ee FP to ond of with electricsl dio eable sal Figure 9. Figure 8, = outer braid Shielded audlo cable ¢ nner wire Edison’s Emporium plug Please let me apologize for the long delay between issues 49, 60, 51,62, 63, & 54, I had a heljuvelotta problems with the lazy bastard responsible for doing our mailing labels, He has fucked me and you for the last time! Iam now dojng the mailing labels myself and J can quarantee that all future issues of TAP will be mailed like clockwork, TA® will be published bi-monthly with two issues sent in each mailing, So look for your copies of TAP in the mail on Janyary Ist, May ist, and Septembor ist, TAP 1g looking for new writers, You know the kind of shit T'm looking for. I don't think that I have to draw you a diagram. Don't worry about apelling, grammar, or consorchip. TA is not tho damn New York Times. TAP prints all tho newg that'a NOT fit to print! If possible please type your article on 8 good typowriter using a column width of 6 inches. It's very important that the column width be 6 inches, If you don't have a typewriter or know how to type than sond in your article in longhand but plonse write clearly. Bottor yot print it, Many of our boat articles wore cont in longhand and woro typed up by the TAP ataft, T try to make each isaue of TAP the best that I can with what I've got to work with, I'don't try to make it the worat that I can, as some of you have accused me of doing. If you readers send me dynamite articles, J print 'em, Tf you gend shit, that's what you get in return! Sorry people, but it's time to bitch again] Now yeu all went to public skool so you must have some basic background in the English language (ya can't pull the wool over our eyes), When you are a subscriber to a publication and yer sub rung out, you RES! TBE. You don't SUBSCRIBE, ENTER A SUBSCRIPTION, or anything else! You either let the sub run out or RE-SUBSCRIBE! Please use this word, A number of people have gotten on the shit lst by try! SUBSCRIBE to TAP when they have a sub] What happens is their names are on a list of current subsoribers and then their names are added to a Hat of new subscribers, So cur com- puter reads FRED HEAD, 22 MAIN ST, twice and it cancels BOTH of them! : When you write in to re-subscribe, please state : A) that you are recaubsoribing. B) your mailing label, exclude nothing! Paste an old on for convenience, Those 2 steps will make it infinately easier for us at TAP, And finally a work to all you morons who sub to TAP under one name and address and write to TAP about your cub using another name and address, How the fuck do you think I can process your inquiry if I don't know who the hell you are? II! Thave gone through our entire mailing Het locking for "lost" readers for the LAST TIME!!! EEFECTIVE IMMEDIATELY : Any reader who subs under one name and writes to TAP using another name will be dropped from our mailing lista! If you wanna use a phony mame te sub under, that's all right with me, but Goddammit you'd better use that name whenover you write to TAP until Holl freezes overt I TTUESTESUTULTEVIVETUEITUUTEED EEE Your Mission: Join Radio Free America I moved to Fun City after the First Blackout and left be- fore the Second Blackout, During the F B, many of us Liber- tarians fantasized about, hoped to, hear John Galt's epeech from Atlas ed. It telle what is wrong with The System and what can about it. During the Second Blackout, I mentally kicked myself be- cause WE COULD HAVE DONE IT! Guerrilla radio is happening Eight now in England (see TAP #43). It would take little Stfort to set up an easily moved, or even a portable,- trans: mitter and broadcast over a "temporarily unused" frequency during a Blackout. A mobile transmitter would make it prac- tically impossible for the Federal Communications Gestapo to locate the unit, Although they'd probably be too busy with more urgent matters to éven try. People would listen (on battery-powered transistor radios) unless they were busy "liberating" merchandise from stores. There will be a Third Slackout. And a Fourth, a Fifth, ete. until the Final Blackout - when The System collapses of 4ts ow technological complexity and interdependence. You don't believe it? Read The Goning Dark Age by Roberto Vacca and The Machine Stops, @ classic S¥ short story written in the 3 ty £. W. Forster. We have the technology (Where have I heard that?). IT COULD BE THE MOST UNFORGETTABLE BROADCAST SINCE ORSON WELLES* WAR OF THE WORLDS FORTY YEARS AGO. We can do iti Are we going toy OS Jim Phelps Back Isques are +09 each. = 19 lewues ~ US Bulk rate $5. is US First Claes in plain sealed erve!-po. 37. ND 4 Canada & Mexico First Class $7. <~' Foreign $8, @ DMPORTANT) Include mailing label ur Xerve enn ‘when writing ty TAP about y-air subseriptiva, < Courses - »/f each, A - DC Basics, B- AC Basics, C - Pine Busics, D- Amplifiers, = AB muqs - $4.50, TTAP T-shirts - $4.50. Specify size and cular : Small, Mediam, Large, Extra Large. Black or red T-abirt with white TAP logo. TAP "Ma Bell ip A Cheap Mother T-shicts - $4.50. HAE a tad cist sedans tage re Large, Blue, tan, or yellow. ONLY cack oF moony order (NO Coat ay. pies wall drepenl, - QEEICE : 1291 Broadway, Room 008, New York, N.Y, 1000} HOURS; WEDNESDAY, 5-9 om, ERE Lawyers Answer Na‘ure’s Call St. George, Uish (UPI) ~- For on the tollet, the phone would several weeks, the phones, in the rin Silice of's group of attorneys here" "Hountain Belt technlctans were wae Zins bat, nobody ‘would be called and they found that the OO ely’ one of the office statr — ‘elerhane system in the alfice was noticed that every lime somebody sounded to « water pupe on the vent to the restroom, the “phan- floor below. When someone sat on. the commode, the elreult would be tom" ld call. Closer inspection Fereaie® that when someone sat broken and the phone would ring. 53 TAP, 152 W. 42 ST, ROOM 418, NY 10036 Campus Police Warn Against Tap The campus police and/or up to 18 years in report that an advertise- jail, ment for TAP, a New | The BellCompany now York based un has equipment which will newspaper, detect electronic devices been circulating on the illegally capping to phone UTC/Provo Campus. lines to steal services. ‘The activities described Security Agents at Bell in TAP ard illegal. ‘Telephone advise that TAP describes in TAP is currently under detail how to steal ser- investigation by the New vices from the telephone York City District Auor- company. ney's Office. Mountain Iell advises ith this in mind, thar using this equip- there is an excellent ment is a violation of the chance that TAP may theft of service statute in soon discontinue publica- the Utah Criminal Code. tion, according to Using electronic i devices wv distance call tion of | Feleral Law, inist le as mut 9 310,000” in fines ‘TAP WARNS AGAINST CAMPUS POLICE TAP, a New York based information newsletter, has recently been informed that campus police at UTC/ Provo have been circulating malicious information concerning the newsletter. TAP advises that Mountain Bull, a division of the Bull system, has been taking unfair advantage of subscribers. TAP has seen fit to distribute information and data which may be interesting to ripped-off subscribers. TAP advises that security agents of the Bull system are currently under investigation as well as the New York City District Assholes Office. With this in mind, TAP advises you to tell the campus police and security agents to fuck off and subscribe to TAP, Purchasing a subscription to TAP may be the best investment of your life, Thieves undaunted PORTLAND, Ore. — Police decided a grocery store on the city’s ‘southeast side was a candidate for an armed robbery, so officers Installed a surveillance camera In the store last month. A policeman ‘went by to check on the camera this week. The camera had been stolen. Published for informational purposes only by Youth Hot Line Reports, Inc. Address all mail and checks to: