623 lines
32 KiB
Plaintext
623 lines
32 KiB
Plaintext
Õ002ÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍ002¸
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³ The Phone Losers Of America ³
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³ Presents ³
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³ A Zillion Different Ways To Make Your Very Own Red Box - RedBoxChiliPepper ³
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ÆÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍ͵
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³ Written In November Of 1992 Last Revision on December 27, 1994 ³
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ÆÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍ͵
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³ For Informational Purposes Only. We're Not Responsible For Your Stupidity. ³
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Ô002ÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍ002¾
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In this file I've included every way that I know of to create a red box and
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instructions on how to use them. A lot of people out there will try to tell
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you that red boxing is old and doesn't work any more but believe me, it works
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just as good as it ever did on almost all the Bell & GTE phones. I've gone
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through a lot of states with various types of red boxes and they work fine.
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The most popular method is the Radio Shack tone dialer. Cactus?
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Converting A Tone Dialer Into A Red Box:
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---------------------------------------
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I believe all the credit for this section of the phile should go to Noah
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Clayton who originally wrote this for 2600 magazine.
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You will need:
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o Radio Shack pocket tone dialer model #43-141 ($24.95 each)
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o Three AAA batteries
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o Soldering Iron
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o Small regular and phillips screwdriver
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o Wire clippers
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o A 6.5536 MHz crystal
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Be sure to get Radio Shack's NEWEST type of tone dialer. The old ones were
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gold and brown and looked pretty ugly. The new ones are black and the corners
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are rounded off a little more. They also seem to be more water-resistant and
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it seems to be easier to fit the new crystal into these models.
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You can either order the crystal through Radio Shack or buy it from an
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electronic's store. Buying it through Radio Shack is a real bitch because you
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have to wait two weeks for them to order it and most employees don't know
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what you're talking about when you ask for it. I've had them INSIST that they
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can't order that crystal for me because they don't carry it. If you live in
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the St. Louis area as I do, I suggest GateWay Electronics on Page Av in
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Missouri. They have a knowledgable staff and their crystals are only about
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three bucks a piece. (Compared to Radio Shack's $4.99 each!)
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Place the dialer on the table keypad side down and speaker side up. Remove
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the battery cover and all batteries. Use the phillips screwdriver to remove
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all four screws on the back of the dialer. Now slide the flathead screw-
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driver along the side to separate the two halves of the dialer. Slide the
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speaker half underneath the keypad so you don't break off the wires.
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On the left hand side down near the battery compartment, you'll see a silver
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cylinder looking component. This is the crystal you want to remove. Pull it
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up with your fingers and break away all the glue that's holding it down. Use
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your soldering iron and un-solder it from the circuit board. You can throw
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this crystal away as it has no real use in life.
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Now the hard part. The new crystal you're putting in is twice as big as the
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old one so it's kinda hard to get it in there. There's a few capacitors that
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you can bend over to make some more room. You'll also have to bend the leads
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to your new crystal inward a little. Solder the new crystal in place of the
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old one and you're all set. Snap the two casing halves back together being
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careful not to pinch any wires. Put the screws back in and insert your three
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AAA batteries.
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A good idea is to wrap the crystal with scotch tape or electrical tape. This
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will prevent contact with other components since the crystal is so big. You
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could also simply put a piece of paper under the crystal.
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One additional thing you can do it totally remove the LED light. The only
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thing this light is good for is running down your batteries really quick. If
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you use the unit without the light connected, you NEVER have to turn the
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unit's power off and the batteries will last for a few years before you need
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to replace them.
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Programming Your Red Box:
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------------------------
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First you'll have to program your box's memory to make the right tones. You'll
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be using the three priority buttons on the top of your unit. P1 will be your
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quarter, P2 your dime and P3 will be the nickel. So here's how to do it:
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(1) Switch the unit on. The red light in the corner should come on unless
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you've disconnected it.
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(2) Slide the DIAL/STORE switch to the STORE mode.
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(3) Press MEMORY, *, *, *, *, *, MEMORY, P1. That programs your quarter.
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(4) Press MEMORY, *, *, MEMORY, P2. That programs your dime.
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(5) Press MEMORY, *, MEMORY, P3. And that's the nickel.
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(6) Slide the DIAL/STORE switch back into the DIAL mode and you're ready to
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start phreakin'!
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Try pushing the priority buttons now. Each one will emit a different high-
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pitched chirping noise. This is what the phone hears when you deposit money
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into a pay phone. If you've ever red boxed with a taperecorder or heard the
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actual pay phone tones before, you'll notice that these tones are slightly
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slower than the real ones. Don't worry, the pay phone can't ever tell the
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difference and you rarely find an operator that can.
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Troubleshooting:
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---------------
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One of the most common problems I've had with my red boxes over the years, is
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that the tones will stop working in the middle of trying to put in your money
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or they'll break up, giving you a live operator. This could be because you did
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a bad job soldering the new crystal in. More commonly, the contacts on the
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power (or the DIAL/STORE switch) have bent the wrong way, causing them not to
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touch the circuit board anymore.
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To fix that, open the unit and bend the contact in the switches out a little.
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Not too much or they'll break when you use the switch. If you've removed the
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light in your unit, there's really no reason to ever turn it off so you could
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glue the power switch into the "ON" position.
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Try Our New Combo Platter!:
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--------------------------
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If you're the type of person who just HAS to have a tone dialer AND a red box
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(like me) then you can have both without having to carry around two seperate
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units.
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1. Buy a small two-position switch like Radio Shack's model #275-407.
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2. On one end solder the old crystal, on the other end solder your 6.5536
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crystal and in the middle solder two small wires, each about 4" long.
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3. Solder the other ends of the two wires to where the old crystal used to be.
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Pretty easy, aye? You can put the two wires through one of the vent holes in
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the back of the unit. On my red box, I took the plastic piece off the back of
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the battery cover (You know, where you're supposed to write the memory
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numbers?) and electrical taped the switch down. It actually doesn't stick out
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hardly at all and looks fairly professional.
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Now you can switch between red box and tone dialer. You can store your stolen
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calling card numbers in the other memory locations or use the touch tones to
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get free calls on those damn privately owned pay phones.
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You know, a disturbing bit of information I heard from Zak recently is that
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Radio Shack won't be selling these tone dialers anymore. I don't know if this
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is true or not but I plan on stocking up on tone dialers here in the near
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future. The reason, supposedly is that the only people that buy these things
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are phreaks.
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The Low-Income Red Box (A Walkman):
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----------------------------------
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If you can't afford a real red box or you don't have any soldering experience,
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you can use a tape recorder as a red box. There are several ways to record the
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tones. One way is to go to a pay phone and call your answering machine or
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voice mail. After the beep on your machine, deposit about three dollars in
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quarters and hang up. Your three bucks should come back. Go home and on your
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answering machine will be a tape with the red box tones.
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Another way is to find two pay phones that are next to each other. You'll need
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a portable tape recorder and a suction cup telephone pick-up. (The phone pick-
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ups can be purchased at Radio Shack for about $3.00.) Pick up the first pay
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phone (Phone A) and call the other one (Phone B). Put the suction recorder on
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Phone A and deposit about three dollars in Phone B. Hang up both phones and
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hopefully your money will come back.
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A third way is to record the tones directly from someone else who owns a red
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box. Pretty easy to figure out.
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To play the tones back into the phone when you need them, use either a
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portable tape recorder or a walkman with some headphones. Hold the speaker
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from the recorder (or the headphones) to the mouthpiece of the phone and press
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"play" when asked for money. Make sure not to have the volume up too loud or
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the distortion will make a real operator come on the line. You can also use a
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big bulky tape recorder or a boom box but you'll look a little silly when you
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try to play your tones into the pay phone.
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Hallmark Cards:
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--------------
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Hallmark has these new cards that actually let you record a message for your
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loved ones so when grandma opens the card she hears your voice saying, "Merry
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Christmas, Grandma Edna!" Then Grandma Edna will drop the card in horror,
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thinking that she's gone completely nuts and probably die of a heart attack.
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After you've shoplifted a few of these cards and taken one apart, you'll see
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that that electronics inside are pretty small. You can record your red box
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tones on this chip and then conceal the whole mess anywhere you want and
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you'll have a tiny red box to use.
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Voice Memo Minders:
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------------------
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These voice reminders can record tones and are extremely small. You can either
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buy one that fits in your pocket or you can buy one that fits on your key
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chain. In case you're surrounded by telco security, the F.B.I., local police
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and AT&T's top officials while you're at a pay phone, you can easily press the
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"MEMO ERASE" button to get rid of the evidence, though the police might shoot
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you when they see you go for the erase button.
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A Digital Red Box Schematic
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---------------------------
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This method of building a red box is for those who are more familiar with
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electronics. You'll need to hike over to your local Radio Shack and pick up
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quite a few parts. If you're really good, you can build this quite small. (At
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DefCon in 1994, there was a red box disguised as a pack of Big Red gum. This
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section was written by Kwiq, sysop of The Moonlight BBS.
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V+ V+
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/\ /\
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| +-------------+
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| | |
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+----------+---+ +-------+---+ \R3
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| 1 | | 16 | /
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SPKR1---+16 3+----------+12 | \
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| | U1 | | U2 | |
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+-----+6 11+---+------+14 15+---------+
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| | 7 8 | | | 13 8 | |
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----- +-+----------+-+ | +-+-------+-+ |
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--- | | | | | |
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- | +-----+ | | +-------+ |
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+--| X1 |-+ | | |
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+-----+ | ----- |
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| --- |
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|R1 R2 - |
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V+ +-----------+/\/\/\+--------+ |
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/\ | | | | |
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| | +---+------+--+ | |
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| | | 3 6 | | |
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+--------------+-------+8 2+-----+ +------S1------+
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| | | | | |
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| | | --+-- | -----
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+-------+4 | --+--C1 | ---
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| U3 | | | -
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| 1+-----+------------+
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| |
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+-------------+
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Okay... And now for your parts...
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RESISTORS VALUES NOTE
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-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
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R1 220 Kohm The values of R1 and R2 are not important,
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R2 220 Kohm as long as they add up to 440 Kohm.
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R3 1 Kohm
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CAPCITOR VALUE
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-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
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C1 0.1 uF
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CRYSTAL VALUE NOTE
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-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
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X1 6.5 MHz 6.5536 MHz is also within the tolerance.
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CHIPS NAMES NOTES
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-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
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U1 TCM5089 DTMF Encoder
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U2 74HC4017 Decade Counter; Regular 4017 is okay.
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U3 CMOS 555 Timer IC; Regular 555 will work if a 1Kohm
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resistor is inserted between pins 3 and 8.
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SPEAKER IMPEDANCE NOTE
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-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
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SPKR1 600 ohm U1 expects an equivalent load.
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SWITCH TYPE NOTE
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-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
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S1 Momentary You may want to add a power switch.
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Okay... This thing works on 4.5 volts so you need 3 AAA batteries... A 9V
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will also work if... hmm... doing some math here... okay, R1 and R2 should
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add up to 470 Kohms. You need (obviously) some perf board and a chassis.
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Another Digital Red Box Schematic:
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---------------------------------
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Here's another type of red box that you can build that looks alot easier to
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contruct than the last one. This section was written by JR "Bob" Dobbs.
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CIRCUIT OPERATION: Each time the pushbutton is pressed, it triggers half of
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IC1, configured as a monostable multivibrator to energize the rest of the
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circuit for a length of time determined by the setting of the coin selector
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switch. This in turn starts the other half of IC1, configured as an astable
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multivibrator, pulsing on and off at regular intervals at a rate determined by
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the 50k pot between pins 12 and 13. The output of the astable thus
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alternately powers of IC2, configured as a square wave oscillator, providing
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the required 1700hz and 2200hz to the op amp which acts as a buffer to drive
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the speaker.
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CONSTRUCTION: Assemble the circuit as you wish. Component placement is not
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critical. I found the easiest method was to use point-to-point wiring on a
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"universal" PC grid board with solder ringed holes. Use sockets if you aren't
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a whiz with a soldering iron. Be sure to leave easy access to the
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potentiometers for alignment.
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ALIGNMENT AND TESTING: For alignment, a frequency counter and tiggered sweep
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oscilloscope are extremely handy (but not absolutely necessary.)
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Install a temporary jumper from +9v supply to pin 14 of IC2 and temporarily
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disconnect the 0.01uF capacitors from pins 5 and 9 of IC2. Power up the
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circuit. Measuring the output from pin 5 of IC2 with the frequency counter,
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adjust the 20k pot between pins 1 and 6 for an output of 1700hz. Now adjust
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the 20k pot between pins 8 and 13 for an output of 2200hz from pin 9 of IC2.
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Remove the temporary jumper and re-attach the capacitors to pins 5 and 9.
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(Note: if no frequency counter is available, the outputs can be adjusted by
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ear one at a time by zero-beating the output tone with a computer generated
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tone of known precision.)
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Next, temporarily disconnect the wire between pins 5 and 10 of IC1. Set coin
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selector switch in the "N" (nickel) position. With the oscilloscope measuring
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the output from pin 9 of IC1, adjust the 50k pot between pins 12 and 13 of IC1
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for output pulses of 60 millisecond duration. Reconnect the wire between pins
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5 and 10. (Note: If no scope is available, adjust the pulse rate by ear using
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computer generated tones for comparison.)
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The remaining adjustments are made by ear. Leave the selector switch in the
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"N" position. Adjust the 50k pot labelled "Dime" for a quick double beep each
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time the pushbutton is pressed.
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Finally, set the selector to "Quarter". Adjust the 50k pot labelled "Quarter"
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until exactly 5 very quick beeps are heard for each button press. Don't worry
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if the quarter beeps sound shorter and faster than the nickel and dime ones.
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They should be.
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CONCLUSION: If all went well to this point, your red box should be completely
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aligned and functional. A final test should now be conducted from a payphone
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using the DATL (dial access test line) coin test. Dial 09591230 and follow
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the computer instructions using the red box at the proper prompts. The
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computer should correctly identify all coins "simulated" and flag any
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anomalies. With a little discretion, your red box should bring you many years
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of use. Remember, there's no such thing as spare change!
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Semiconductors:
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(2)556 dual timer
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(1)741 Op Amp
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(1)1N914 Switching Diode
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Resistors:
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(6)10k (1)4.7k
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(2)100k
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(4)50k PC Mount Potentiometer
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(2)20k Multi-Turn Potentiometer
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Capacitors:
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(10)0.01uF (1)1.0uF
|
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(2)10.0uF Electrolytic
|
||
|
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|
||
|
||
Miscellaneous:
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(2)14 Pin Dip Socket
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(1)8 Pin Dip Socket
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(1)3-position Rotary Switch
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(1)Momentary Push-Button Switch(normally open)
|
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(1)SPST Toggle Switch
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(1)Speaker or Telephone Earpiece Circuit Board
|
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(1) Box
|
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(1) 9v Battery Clip
|
||
Mounting Hardware
|
||
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||
|
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SCHEMATIC DRAWING
|
||
|
||
/
|
||
ÚÄÄS1Ù ÄÄÂÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÂÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÂÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÂÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÂÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ¿
|
||
+9v R1 R2 ³ ³ ³ ³
|
||
ÃÄÄÄC1ÄÄÄÄ´ ³ R3 ³ ³
|
||
³ ³ ÚÄÄÄ´ ÃÄÄÄÄÂÄC2Ä@q S3 @n ³
|
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o ÚÄÄÄÁÄÄÄÄÁÄÄÄÁÄÄÄ¿ ³ R5 ³ @d ³ ³
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|
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³ ³ ³ ³ ³ ³ ³ ³ R9<ÄÙ ³
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g ÀÄ´10 (IC1556) 8ÃÄ¿ R6<Ä¿ ³ R8<ÄÄÙ ³ ³
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|
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|
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³ C4 C5 ³ ÃÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÁÄÄÄÄÄÄÁÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÙ ³
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³ ³ ³ ³ C6 ³
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³ ³ ³ ³ ³ ³
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³ g g g g ³
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³ ³
|
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ÀÄÄÂÄÄÄÄÄÂÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ¿ ³
|
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R11 ³ R12 ÚÄÄÄ¿ ³
|
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ÚÄÄ¿ ³ ³ ³ ³ v ³
|
||
v ³ ³ ÚÄÄÅÄÄ¿ ÃÄÄÄÄÁÄÄR13ÄÄ¿ ³
|
||
ÚÄÄÄR10ÄÁÄÄ´ ³ ³ ³ ³ ³ ³
|
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³ ÚÄÁÄÄÁÄÄÁÄÄÁÄÄÄÄÁÄÄÄÄ¿ ³ ³
|
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³ ³ 1 4 14 10 13 ³ ³ ³
|
||
³ ³ 8ÃÄÄÂÄÄÄÄ´ ³
|
||
ÃÄÄÄÄÄÄÂÄ´6 ³ ³ C12 ³
|
||
³ ³ ³ 12ÃÄÄÙ ³ ³
|
||
³ ÀÄ´2 IC2 556 ³ ³ ³
|
||
C7 ³ ³ g ³
|
||
³ ÚÄÄ´3 11ÃÄÄÄÄÄ¿ ³
|
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³ ³ ³ 7 5 9 ³ ³ ³
|
||
g C8 ÀÄÄÄÄÂÄÄÄÂÄÄÄÂÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÙ C11 ³
|
||
³ ³ C9 C10 ³ ³
|
||
³ ³ ³ ³ g ³
|
||
g ³ ÀÄÂÄÙ ³
|
||
g ³ ³
|
||
³ ÚÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÂÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÙ
|
||
³ ³ ³
|
||
³ R14 ³
|
||
³ ³ ³\ ³
|
||
³ ³ ³ \ ³
|
||
ÃÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÅÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄij3 \³
|
||
³ ³ ³ 7 \
|
||
C13 R15 ³IC3 \
|
||
³ ³ ³741 6/ÄÄÄÄÄÄ¿
|
||
³ ³ ³ 4 / ³
|
||
³ ³ ³ / ³
|
||
g g ÚÄÄ´2 / ³ ³
|
||
³ ³/ ³ ³
|
||
³ g ³
|
||
ÀÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ´
|
||
C14
|
||
³
|
||
Speaker
|
||
³
|
||
g
|
||
|
||
|
||
Schematic part variables list.
|
||
------------------------------
|
||
|
||
Resistors:
|
||
R1 - 10k R2 - 10k R3 -4.7k R4 - 10k R5 - 10k R6 - 50k
|
||
R7 - 50k R8 - 50k R9 - 50k R10- 20k R11- 10k R12- 10k
|
||
R13- 20k R14-100k R15-100k
|
||
|
||
|
||
Capacitors:
|
||
C1 - 0.01uf C2 - 1N914 switching Diode C3 - 1.0uf C4 - 0.01uf
|
||
C5 - 0.01uf C6 - 10uf C7 - 0.01uf C8 - 0.01uf C9 - 0.01uf
|
||
C10 - 0.01uf C11 - 0.01uf C12 - 0.01uf C13 - 0.01uf C14 - 10uf
|
||
|
||
Switches:
|
||
S1 - SPST toggle
|
||
S2 - Momentary push button N.O. labeled "Deposit"
|
||
S3 - 3-position rotary switch
|
||
|
||
|
||
Miscellaneous:
|
||
g - Ground
|
||
@q - Label "quarter"
|
||
@d - Label "dime"
|
||
@n - Label "nickle"
|
||
|
||
|
||
Typed up by Sine Wave from an article which originally appeared in 2600
|
||
magazine. The original contained several mistakes in the schematic drawing
|
||
which I've corrected. Hope this information enlightens you to new and exciting
|
||
possibilities via your local phone booth.
|
||
|
||
Finding A Phone That Will Work:
|
||
------------------------------
|
||
Usually any GTE or Bell phone will work, Bell including Southwestern Bell,
|
||
U.S.West, Ameritech, Pacific Bell, etc. You'll know it's a Bell or GTE phone
|
||
because their logo will be on the phone. I've noticed in some areas like
|
||
Pacific Bell and Ameritech the phones are rigged so that no sound can enter
|
||
the mouthpiece of the phone until the call is connected, rendering your redbox
|
||
useless. A way around this is to dial "0" and have the operator dial the call
|
||
for you.
|
||
|
||
Privately Owned pay phones are those ugly phones with some kind of generic
|
||
logo on them that means some old fat local guy owns it and convinces innocent
|
||
store owners to install his phone instead of a Bell phone, promising him
|
||
bigger profits. Not a hard promise to keep, considering a local call sometimes
|
||
costs 75 cents, they sometimes won't let you dial toll free numbers and long
|
||
distance rates are twice as high (or more) than AT&T which is pretty bad. The
|
||
best thing to do when you find a Private pay phone is to squirt a lot of
|
||
ketchup or mustard into the coin slot and find a Bell/GTE phone somewhere.
|
||
|
||
Making A Long Distance Call:
|
||
---------------------------
|
||
Okay, here's the fun part- Calling anywhere in the entire world and not paying
|
||
a cent for it. Pick up the phone and dial the number you want to call in the
|
||
fashion 1-AREA CODE-NUMBER. For example, if you want to call the White House
|
||
in Washington D.C., dial 1-202-456-1414.
|
||
|
||
You'll hear a click, then a computer voice will say, "Please deposit $2.85."
|
||
(The exact amount differs with the location and time of day.) Mutter, "Fuck
|
||
you, AT&T..." to yourself, switch on your red box, hold the speaker of the red
|
||
box FLUSH with the mouthpiece of the pay phone and press P1 for your quarters.
|
||
Pause for a split second in between each quarter because if you go too fast,
|
||
you'll get a live operator wanting to know what the problem is. You are able
|
||
to go 20 cents over the amount requested and that will be credited to your
|
||
call.
|
||
|
||
After you've put in enough "money", the computerized voice will say in a
|
||
cheerful, unsuspecting voice, "Thank you for using AT&T!" and your call is put
|
||
through. Every few minutes the voice will come back and ask for more money.
|
||
|
||
International Calling:
|
||
---------------------
|
||
Your red box can also be used to call your loved ones in other countries,
|
||
although, it's annoying to do because you HAVE to use a live operator and your
|
||
conversation will be inturrupted every THREE MINUTES by a voice asking for
|
||
another two bucks. But if you really need to call overseas...
|
||
|
||
Dial 011-COUNTRY CODE-CITY CODE-PHONE NUMBER. An operator will ask you how you
|
||
want to bill your call. Tell her you'll be using the spare change you make as
|
||
a waiter and MoogooGuawkcaMeemay's Chineese restaurant to pay for your call.
|
||
For best results, don't do this:
|
||
|
||
OPERATOR: "Okay, sir, please deposit your money now..."
|
||
YOU: "Okay, ma'am, I'm going to use nickels...(beep)...That was one nickel.
|
||
Did you get that alright? Okay, here's my second nickel...(beep)...okay,
|
||
there's two nickels, that makes 10 cents. How much more to go? $9.10?
|
||
Okay...(beep)...I'm up to 15 cents now, right? Okay, good...(beep)...
|
||
alright, there's another one...Hey, here's a penny on the ground! Can I
|
||
use a penny? No? Okay, here goes lucky nickel number five...(beep)...did
|
||
you get that? Okay....etc, etc, etc."
|
||
|
||
The call will be completed like this: The operator will tell you that the call
|
||
will cost (for example) $7.35. She'll tell you to deposit $3.00, you red box
|
||
three dollars to her and she connects the call. When the overseas person
|
||
answers the phone she'll say, "This is the United States AT&T operator, I have
|
||
an international call for you, could you please hold while billing is
|
||
completed?" Then the operator will ask you for another $3.00 and then the
|
||
remaining $1.35. After all that you'll be connected only to be inturrupted
|
||
every three minutes by an operator asking for more money.
|
||
|
||
If you don't want the person you are calling to know you're calling with
|
||
coins, you can ask the operator if you can deposit all your money right now
|
||
and THEN be connected overseas. They don't like to do this (because you could
|
||
lose all your "money" if they're not home) but they will do it if you ask.
|
||
|
||
Local Calls:
|
||
-----------
|
||
To red box a local call it takes about a minute or two longer than if you
|
||
really paid for it, but those quarters add up so it's definately worth it.
|
||
Pick up the phone and dial zero. Tell the operator that you want to make a
|
||
local call. If she tells you just to put in a quarter and dial the number,
|
||
tell her, "Well, ma'am, there's shit all over the keypad here and all the
|
||
buttons are stickin' together and I CAN'T dial it myself. The only key that
|
||
works is the zero and THAT'S got this sticky blue shit all over it. Then
|
||
there's a half-eatin' Twinkee shoved in the coin return and dirt all over the
|
||
four and seven keys..." Keep going on and on until she asks you what number
|
||
you want to dial. She'll ask you for a quarter and connect your call.
|
||
|
||
Make sure after your call connects that you hear the operator click off. Some
|
||
operators are nosey and will just SIT there listening to your conversation.
|
||
Once I was explaining to a friend how I placed my call and suddenly the
|
||
operator starts lecturing me and telling me she's going to call security on
|
||
me. (And this was about three minutes into the conversation!)
|
||
|
||
In some cities I've noticed you can trick pay phones into thinking that a
|
||
local call is actually a long distance call by dialing 10288 before you dial
|
||
the local number. So try dialing 10288 or 102881 before you make your local
|
||
call and maybe you won't have to deal with that pesky operator. The only
|
||
downside of doing this is that the call will "cost" more and you'll be
|
||
inturrupted every five minutes to deposit more money.
|
||
|
||
|
||
Red Box Frequencies:
|
||
-------------------
|
||
For you tech-heads out there, here are the actual frequencies that the red
|
||
box produces. Actually, this is what a pay phone produces. When you make a red
|
||
box out of a Radio Shack tone dialer, the timing is slowed slighty on the
|
||
quarter tone.
|
||
|
||
The "tone" is 1700 hz and 2200 hz mixed together.
|
||
|
||
A nickel is 66 ms on (1 beep).
|
||
A dime is 66ms on, 66ms off, 66ms on (2 beeps).
|
||
A quarter is 33ms on, 33ms off repeated 5 times.
|
||
|
||
Miscellaneous Notes:
|
||
-------------------
|
||
You can not call any of those 900 phone sex numbers with a red box, so
|
||
perverts of the world...Sorry, Roy, you're just out of luck. You CAN call 976
|
||
information lines, though!
|
||
|
||
If you're really desperate for money, you can sell phone calls to people. Hang
|
||
around a phone and tell someone who's about to make a call that you'll give
|
||
them a free call if they'll give you a quarter. This usually impresses the
|
||
hell out of any ordinary person. If you live in a big city, you can go to the
|
||
tourist section of town and sell long distance discount calls to out of state
|
||
tourists. Consider yourselves warned, though, I've read a LOT of articles on
|
||
people getting busted for doing this. One article even had a picture of a guy
|
||
in an airport selling calls to people comming off the plane.
|
||
|
||
If an operator confronts you and says, "Hey, you're not really putting in
|
||
coins, that's a recording!" don't get all nervous and run from the pay phone.
|
||
She'll lie and tell you that security is on the way to the pay phone to put
|
||
you in jail but she's full of it. Instead, piss her off by explaining to her
|
||
in detail exactly what you're doing and how you're doing it. If she gets an
|
||
attitude with you, ask to speak with her supervisor or Service Asisstant. This
|
||
pisses her off to no end. When connected with the supervisor, tell her exactly
|
||
what you think of her and the company she works for. The worse thing they can
|
||
really do is shut off the pay phone.
|
||
|
||
Operator Quotes:
|
||
---------------
|
||
Sometimes a malfunctioning red box or making a local call cause you to have to
|
||
deal with a live operator who can get testy when they find out you're screwing
|
||
the place that they work for. Here are some responses I've gotten from them.
|
||
|
||
1."Well, son, your TOY doesn't seem to be working today. Why don't you try
|
||
PAYING for your call instead?" -Hollywood, CA
|
||
2."What'd you do, record those tones on the train tracks?" - my friend got
|
||
this response when trying to use a very poor quality cassette of red box
|
||
tones in Wood River, IL
|
||
3."(sigh) Well, I'll put your call through, but next time I want you to pay
|
||
real money for your call, okay?" -Galveston, TX
|
||
4."That's it! I'm sick of you kids, I'm calling security RIGHT NOW!"
|
||
-Cincinnati, OH
|
||
5."You know you'll go to hell for stealing..." -Portland, OR
|
||
6."I wish I could go over there right now and strangle that kid."
|
||
-I overheard an operator in Seattle say this to her supervisor after they
|
||
thought I had hung up the phone.
|
||
|
||
If you have any questions about your wonderful, new hobby or you're having any
|
||
kind of troubles, feel free to contact me, RedBoxChiliPepper, via voicemail:
|
||
|
||
ÕÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍContactÍTheÍPhoneÍLosersÍOfÍAmericaÍNearestÍYou!ÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍ͸
|
||
³ 512-370-4680 PLA Voice Mailbox And PLEASE Don't Pay ³
|
||
³ 512-851-8317 Sonic Youth Systems For Your Fone Calls! ³
|
||
³ 512-883-7543 PLA WHQ Texas Line ³
|
||
³ 618-797-2339 PLA WHQ Illinois Line ³
|
||
ÔÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍ;
|
||
|