"Frequently Asked Questions About Red Boxing v.010" by Mr. Sandman (an132432@anon.penet.fi) 4/30/95 -={DISCLAIMER}=- I, the USENET Group, and the BBS/FTP directory containing this file are not responsible, in any way, for the abuse of information contained in this file. This file was written to satisfy the curiosities of new-comers to the alt.2600 USENET group and to stop all of the repetitive message threads regarding Red Boxes. I, the USENET Group, and the BBS/FTP directory containing this file do not condone the use of ANY illegal device or disregarding of the law. If one abuses this info, they must accept FULL responsibility for their actions. If one cannot accept FULL responsibility for their actions, they must stop reading this information now. -={Contents}=- I. What is a Red Box? II. How do I Build a Red Box? a) The Radio Shack Tone Dialer Red Box b) The Radio Shack Tone Dialer White/Red Box U c) The Radio Shack Tone Dialer White/Red Box via Mercury Switch U e) The Hallmark Recordable Card Red Box III. How much does a Red Box Cost? a) The Cost to Construct a Red Box b) The Cost to Purchase a Red Box IV. Is any Type of Red Box Better than Another? V. How do I use a Red Box? U a) Local Calls b) Non-Local and Long Distance Calls c) International Calls VI. Can I Use my Red Box from my Home Phone? VII. Can I Call 1-900 Numbers With a Red Box? VIII. Who is Billed for the Calls I Make With a Red Box? IX. What is the Legality of Red Boxing? X. What are the Chances of Getting Caught Red Boxing? XI. I Put the Red Box Tones on Tape. It Does not Work. Why not? XII. Will an HP48G Calculator Work as a Red Box? XIII. My Red Box does not Work from some Pay Phones. Why not? a) COCOT Phones b) Digital Pay Phones c) Pay Phone/Phone # Flagging XIV. I Have a Really Cool Tone Program! Why Won't Every Tone Work? XV. Credits XVI. Conclusion XVII. UUENCODEd and BINHEXed Files "part [2/2]" a) Red Box Schematics in GIF format b) Red Box Quarter Tones for Soundblaster c) Red Box Quarter Tones for Macintosh * = New since last release U = Updated since last release I. What Is a Red Box? A Red Box is an electronic device that produces the tones which tell a pay phone that money has been inserted. Depending upon the type of Red Box, it is possible for a Red Box to generate the tones for a nickel, dime, and quarter. Each coin is recognized by producing the 1700+2200mhz tones in different patterns. The Quarter tone is a 1700 and 2200 mhz tone that stays on for 33ms, off for 33ms, and is repeated five times. The Dime tone uses the same tones, stays on for .06 seconds, off for .06 seconds, and is repeated twice. The Nickle tone uses the same tones and only stays on for .06 seconds. In a nutshell, a Red Box is a device that allows you to make free telephone calls by tricking the phone into thinking money has been deposited. II. How do I Build a Red Box? The construction of a Red Box is not too hard. There are basically two different types of Red Boxes people are using today which are either Radio Shack Tone Dialer Red Boxes or Hallmark Recordable Card Red Boxes. This file will tell you how to construct both. a) The Radio Shack Tone Dialer Red Box * A very simple modification to Radio Shack pocket tone dialer part #43- 146 (roughly $25) can make it into a red box. The modification consists of changing the crystal frequency used to generate the microprocessor's timing. To make this modification you will need a Phillips screwdriver, a flat head screwdriver, a soldering iron, a pair of long nose pliers, a pair of wire cutters and a 6.5536, 6.5 (more accurate), or 6.49 (most accurate) megahertz crystal. Orient the dialer with the keypad down and the speaker at the top. Remove the battery compartment cover (and any batteries) to expose two screws. Remove these two screws and the two on the top of the dialer near the speaker. There are four plastic clips that are now holding the two halves of the dialer together. Push on the two bottom clips near the battery compartment and pull up to separate the bottom part. Now slide a flat screwdriver into the seam on the left starting from the bottom and moving towards the top. (You may have to do this on the right side as well.) When the two halves separate, slide the speaker half underneath the other half while being careful not to break the wires connecting the two. Locate the cylindrical metallic can (it's about half an inch long and an eighth of an inch in diameter) and pull it away from the circuit board to break the glue that holds it in place. Unsolder this can, which is a 3.579545 MHz crystal, from the circuit board. The hard part of this modification is getting the new crystal to fit properly. If you are using the 6.5 MHz crystal, it is possible for the crystal to fit next to the biggest capacitor or the LED. However, if you are using the 6.5536 MHz crystal, you may need to make some room. Bend the three disk capacitors over,[And out of the way the best you can, making room for the new crystal. You may need to remove the screw in the way as well.] Since the 6.5536 MHz crystal is probably much bigger than the crystal you are replacing, you will need to bend the leads on the new crystal so that they will match up will the pads on the circuit board. Place the new crystal on the circuit board by soldering it in place. As an added touch you might peel the QC sticker off of the PC board and place it on top of the crystal. Now carefully snap the two halves back together while checking to make sure that none of the wires are getting pinched or are in the way of the screw holes. Put the case screws back ion and insert three AAA batteries into the battery compartment. You dialer is now ready to test. Switch the unit on. The LED on the dial pad side should be lit. Set the lower slide switch to STORE mode. Press the MEMORY button on the dial pad. Press the * key five times. Press the MEMORY key again and then press the P1 key. A beep tone when any key is pressed and a long beep should sound after the P1 key has been pressed to indicate that the programming sequence was performed correctly. Switch the unit into DIAL mode. press the P1 key, and five tone pulses that sound remarkably like coin tones should come out of the speaker. I usually program P1 to be four quarters (insert one or two PAUSE's between each set of five tones), P2 to be two quarters, and P3 as one quarter. Of course, you can no longer use the unit to generate touch tones..... The crystal is available from Fry's Electronics in Freemont, CA for $0.89 plus the charge for UPS Red or Blue. Their number is 415-770-3763. I would suggest buying five, some for future use and some just in case you cut the leads too short when trying this project. *(1) Other Companies where you can obtain the 6.5536mhz crystal: * Digi-Key 701 Brooks Avenue South P.O. Box 677 Thief River Falls, MN 56701-0677 (80)344-4539 Part Number:X415-ND /* Note: 6.500Mhz and only .197 x .433 x .149! */ Part Number:X018-ND JDR Microdevices: 2233 Branham Lane San Jose, CA 95124 (800)538-5000 Part Number: 6.5536MHZ Tandy Express Order Marketing 401 NE 38th Street Fort Worth, TX 76106 (800)241-8742 Part Number: 10068625 *(2) [ The UUENCODEd format of the Red Box GIF file. Is pasted to the end of this FAQ. It is a color schematic which may help you out a bit when you open up the Radio Shack Tone Dialer and start working on it. To put it back in GIF format, you must have either the DOS UUDECODE program or access to the UNIX UUDECODE program. ] b) The Radio Shack Tone Dialer Red/White Box This type of Red Box is slightly better than the standard Tone Dialer conversion. However, the mercury switch version is better. I would not recomend beuilding this type of Red Box unless you cannot build the mercury switch Red Box. * A true phreak always has a DTMF tone dialer at hand..along with a red box! My personal favorite is the COMBO-BOX (red box plus DTMF). Take a Radio Shack Tone Dialer with memory and open up the back. Remove the little 3.579 MHz crystal (looks like a metalcylinder..unsolder it) and solder on a couple of thin, insulated wires where the crystal was attached. Then, thread the wires thru one of the "vents" in the back of the tone dialer. Get ahold of a 6.5536 MHz crystal, some quick drying epoxy, and a Radio Shack mini Toggle Switch, DPDT, cat. no 275-626 Close the tone dialer, with the two wires sticking out one of the back vents and screw it up tight. Now, attach the crystals and wires to the switch like this with solder: I^^^^^I I xx <3.579 crystal>small one I I toggle switch -> oooooo X xxxxs I I I xx <6.5536 crystal>big one I I ^^^^^^ Each "xx" prong in the diagram is actually TWO prongs. Hook up the two leads from the crystals to separate prongs (same with the wires). Now, epoxy this gizmo to the side of the tone dialer use ALOT of epoxy, as you must make the switch/crystals essentially EMBEDDED in epoxy resin. like this: Front View -> ---------------------- I I T <-toggle switch I oo oo oo I--- I I | I I--- I 1 2 3 I B s <-two crystals(b=big,s=small) I I | in epoxy "blob" I 4 5 6 I _ I I I 7 8 9 I ^two wires running to back of unit I I I * 0 # I I I ---------------------- ---------------------- Back View -> I I T I o ---- o-----------------------vent (1 of 4) --- I / \ I | I | -----------------speaker --- I | | I s B I | | I 2 wires -> \-----o ---- o I running into I I vent I I I I I I I I ---------------------- Make sure the epoxy is really gobbed on there. You want to be certain the switch and crystals are firmly attached and secure in a matrix of epoxy. The epoxy doesn't conduct electricity, so don't worry about shorting out the connections to the toggle switch. Just don't gum up the action of the switch! Basically, you've altered the device so you can select between 2 crystals to generate the timing for the microprocessor in the tone dialer. Now turn on the tone dialer NOW, you can easily switch between the 2 crystal types the small crystal will generate ordinary DTMF tones but, by simply flicking the switch, you generate HIGHER tones now, using the memory function of the tone dialer, save 5 "*" in the P1 location, now dial the P1 location using the BIG crystal, sure sounds like the tones for a QUARTER, doesn't it! Carry this around with you always. It will come in handy with both Telco payphones AND COCOTs! No Phreak should be without one! *(3) c) The Radio Shack Tone Dialer Red/White Box via Mercury Switch The best type of White/Red Box (a Red Box that also works as a key pad) uses a mercury switch. You can order the mercury switch many electronics supply stores. The concept is simple. When you are holding the Tone Dialer the normal way, it will work as a standard Tone Dialer (White Box). However, if you hold the thing upside down, it will work as a Red Box. Not only does this add a little security for you (most cops would not hold the thing upside down), but it is also possible to use this device from COCOT phones (more on this later). In order to make this device, open up the Radio Shack Tone Dialer but DO NOT touch the 3.579 crystal! Leave the 3.579 crystal in its place. Now, place the mercury switch so that when you are holding the Tone Dialer upright, the 3.579 crystal will not be cut off. Next, solder the Red Box crystal to the mercury switch. If you hold the thing upside down, the mercury switch should cut off the 3.579 crystal and replace it with the Red Box crystal. Now all you have to do is put the Tone Dialer back together and program it. If for some reason you cannot get this to work, you can buy 2 switching diodes for roughly $0.20. You can use these to isolate the two crystals fairly easilly. *(4) If you cannot get the above method to work, you could try constructing it in a similar fashion to the way you would build the Box in Section B. However, you would substitute the Mercury switch in place of the toggle switch. You should also find a place to mount your crystals on the inside of the Red Box rather than putting them on the outside. Apparently, Radio Shack does not sell Mercury Switches anymore. However, some people claim that there are old electronics supply stores that still have the Radio Shack Mercury switch. If you are going to try and find the Radio Shack switch, it is model # 275-040. * I would suggest, however, that you get them from a mail order place. Two good places that come to mind are All Electronics (1-800-826-5432) and Hosfelt Electronics (1-800-524-6464). I can't seem to find my All Electronics catalog, but Hosfelt's current catalog lists the following mercury switches: #51-234 Glass bulb mercury switch 1" long x 1/4" dia. with 1-1/4" leads rated @ 750mA $.99 #51-279 Glass bulb mercury switch 1-1/8" long x 1/8" dia. with 1" leads rated @ 300mA $.99 #51-180 Metal encapsulated mercury switch 3/8" dia. x 13/16" long actuation angle 45 deg. rated @ 5A $.99 *(5) [ The UUENCODEd format of the Red Box GIF file. Is pasted to the end of this FAQ. It is a color schematic which may help you out a bit when you open up the Radio Shack Tone Dialer and start working on it. To put it back in GIF format, you must have either the DOS UUDECODE program or access to the UNIX UUDECODE program. ] c) The Hallmark Recordable Card Red Box * Materials: a) 1 Hallmark digital recording card b) 1 1/8 inch mono phono plug c) 2 insulated aligator clips (optional) d) 1 SPST switch, or momentary contact NORMALLY CLOSED e) The sound of magical quarter tones - you can get these from pay phones, computer sound files (QUARTER.VOC is one), other red boxes, tape recorders, etc. f) A case of some sort (I used a case from a DAT, but anything you can put the stuff in will work. Perhaps the case from a data tape or an 8mm videotape, or just a cassette.) g) A Tube of silicone sealant (epoxy will probably do, I just happened to have silicone on hand) h) Electrical wiring of at least two different colors (optional) What To Do: 1. Remove all components from the plastic thing inside the card. This includes sliding the battery pack out of its drawer. 2. Cut the following wires: (Colors of wires may be different! Mark where each one goes for reference.) Both wires going to microphone (both are green, mark which one goes to the center of the mike) Both wires to the battery pack (red and white). Mark where each of these wires were connected on the battery pack or you may screw up the polarity. Both wires to the switch mechanism (green and black) 2a. (optional) It is a wise idea (if you are fairly experienced at soldering/desoldering on small PC boards) to desolder all the wires and replace them with ones of a thicker gauge. The ones that Hallmark supplies are just too damn thin and have a real tendency to break at connections. Remember, the wires in this are supposed to be protected in the little plastic grooves that you removed them from. 3. Discard the switch mechanism. 4. Wrap the battery pack in electrical tape (I used red tape just to be cheesy, since the box is clear). 5. Solder the SPST switch to the black and green wires that used to go to the original switch (polarity is not important). 6. Solder the phono plug to the two green wires. Polarity shouldn't really be important, but to be on the safe side, the wire that that went to the center of the mike (I told you to mark it) should go to the TIP of the plug. If you are going to mass produce Hallmark Red Boxes, you should use the aligator clip method to save time. Take two different wires and solder each of them to one aligator clip. Then take the other ends of the wires and solder them to them to the phono plug. Mark which one is soldered to the tip. In order to record the tone, plug the headphone jack into your soundcard and attach the aligator clips to the two wires once running to the microphone. This method will save you time and money if you are planning to mass produce the Hallmark Red Box. 7. Connect the battery (This battery pack puts out 6.25 V DC. I suppose you could replace it with another battery, but why bother?) Polarity is extremely important! (Polarity is why you should mark them) The red wire goes to the positive terminal, and the white goes to the negative. On my box, if the pack is lying flat, with the exposed part of the batteries pointing up, the positive terminal is the one on the left (if you are facing the terminals). I'd use a multimeter just to be sure. 8. Glue the PC board to the top of the battery (this saves space and hassle later, but is not necessary for operation). 9. Program the thing.... I used the QUARTER.VOC file and I looped it 10 times, with a random delay of between .5 and 1 seconds between each quarter (who puts them in at regular intervals anyway?) If you have this file, plug the phono plug into your sound card, turn the volume way down (trial and error will give you the proper volume) and play the VOC file (after setting the switch on the PC board to the record position, and flipping the SPST at the beginning of the VOC file). 10. Test it.... Best way to test is to call long distance Directory Assistance (I'm partial to 808-555-1212 which is Hawaii). If it doesn't work, go back to step 9. The ideal volume is one that can be heard clearly, but does not cause the speaker to break up. 11. Once you have the thing programmed, there is no need to keep the phono plug attached. If you want to save room, cut it off. 12. Put the thing in the case. Drill several holes in the case where the speaker will mount. I mounted the speaker with silicon very carefully applied to the edges of the speaker. Same was true of the battery pack. The switch obviously mounts in a hole on the side of the case. -Why the SPST Switch? First off, I thought the switch that came with the thing looked really cheaply made, and would probably break. Secondly, by putting in a switch instead of a momentary switch, it allows me to record $2.50 on the box, and play the whole thing back just by flipping the switch, rather than having to hold it down.*(6) [ For your ease, I have included the UUENCODEd formats of the QUARTER.VOC file and a Quarter Tone for the Macintosh ( which can be used above in place of QUARTER.VOC if you are a MAC user) at the end of this FAQ. If you follow the above instructions, you will find it is easiest to use these sound files with this type of Red Box. Once again, you must use UUDECODE in order to convert the file back to binary. ] III. How much does a Red Box Cost? a) The Cost to Construct a Red Box The cost to construct a Red Box depends upon which type of Red Box you are going to build. If you decide to build the Radio Shack Tone Dialer Red Box, the parts are probably going to cost you between 20-35 dollars total. Crystals are being sold for roughly $1.56 plus shipping and handling and the tone dialers are running between $15.00 and $25.00. If you decide to build the Hallmark Recordable Card Red Box, it is going to cost you approximately 10 dollars. b) The Cost to Purchase a Red Box If you decide to go out and purchase a Red Box from someone (and after reading this info, I don't know why you would), you are going to pay anywhere from between 50-200 dollars depending upon how much of a sucker you are. However, if you decide to sell the devices that you have made, you can make a lot of money. I'll let you do the math. IV. Is any Type of Red Box Better than Another? The answer to this question depends upon what you are looking for. The Hallmark Recordable Card Red Box is definitely cheaper to build. Plus, if you sell this type of Red Box, you can still charge anywhere from between the above range and thus make about 15-20 dollars more per Red Box you sell. However, it is not very durable. After awhile, you are going to have to build another Red Box if you use this type. Also, construction of the Hallmark Red Box may take longer if you do not record the tones at the right volume. If the tones are too quiet or so loud that they are distorted, your Red Box will not work. Thus, a lot of trial and error is involved with the Hallmark Recordable Card Red Box. If you decide to build the Radio Shack Tone Dialer Red Box, you are going to have to shell out a few more bucks in order to get the parts to build it. Also, it is going to take awhile to get these parts because, most likely, you are going to have to mail order the Tone Dialer through Radio Shack and the crystal through a separate company. However, once you have the parts, it is not too hard to construct the box. Also, you will not have to go through the same trial and error tests that you would with the Hallmark Red Box. The Tone Dialer Red Box will simply work or not work. Plus, the Radio Shack Tone Dialer Red Box is much more durable. If you take care of the Tone Dialer Red Box, you may be able to use it until the Red Box becomes obsolete. Finally, it is possible for some Tone Dialers to be converted into Red Boxes while still having the capability to be used as a standard Tone Dialer (or White Box). This would give you the advantage of making a free call from a COCOT (more on this later). V. How do I use a Red Box? To actually use the Red Box is simple. All you have to do is hold the speaker of the Red Box up to the receiver of the pay phone and press the button to create the tones. However, when and why you use the Red Box will be different depending upon where you are making the phone call to. a) Local Calls Using a Red Box to make local calls can be rather difficult for the beginner. However, there are many ways to do it. The first way is to simply insert a nickel and then you can use your Red Box to do the rest. However, I would not recommend that you use this method because there are other ways to make local calls for free. Afterall, you did make the Red Box in order to make free calls right? * The second way you can make a free local call is by dialing 411 or 555- 1212. When the human operator comes on, ask them for the number of the person you are trying to call. At this point, an automated operator will come on the line, tell you the number, and then tell you that if you press a number, the number will be dialed for an extra 35 cents. Press the number and then use your Red Box. Your call should go through. The fourth way is to dial 10288 followed by the number you want to call. At this point, an automated operator will come on the line and tell you to deposit the money. Use your Red Box now and your call should be put through. *(7) b) Non-Local and Long Distance Calls By far, these are the easiest calls to make. All you have to do is dial the number you want to call. Then an automated operator will get on the line and tell you to deposit money. Hold your Red Box to the receiver, press the button, and you should have a nice phone call courtesy of the phone company. c) International Calls * These are relatively simple, but you are going to be hassled by the operator quite often during the call. First, dial the number you want to call. A human operator will come on the line and ask you to deposit quite a bit of money. The operator will then attempt to connect you to the number. If the operator is successful, you will then be asked to insert even more money. Use your Red Box whenever the operator asks you for money. Besides the fact that the operator will come on the line frequently, you should not have any other problems making this type of call with a Red Box. *(8) VI. Can I Use my Red Box from my Home Phone? No. No. No. Once again, NO! There will be a bunch of people who will tell you that you can but the answer is no. A Red Box will only work from a payphone. There is no way to spoof the phone company into thinking that a standard home phone # is a payphone. Also, if there was a way to do this, you'd have to be crazy or incredibly stupid to do it. It would not take any time at all for the phone company to tell your phone was not a payphone. All they would have to do is come to your house and arrest you. However, there is no way for you to do this so do not spend time worrying about using a Red Box from home. VII. Can I Call 1-900 Numbers With a Red Box? No. In fact, it is not possible to dial a 1-900 number on any payphone as far as I know. When you dial a 1-900 number on a payphone, you should get the "Your call cannot be completed as dialed" message. As a result, it is not possible for you to use a Red Box to make 1-900 calls. VIII. Who is Billed for the Calls I Make With a Red Box? Nobody is billed for the calls you make with a Red Box. This is what makes Red Boxing so beautiful. If you really want to know, the phone company is billed for the call. However, most phone calls do not cost the phone company a penny. Also, it is hard to feel guilty stealing a few cents from the phone company when they charge you hundreds of dollars a month for the same service. The phone company tries to disguise their greed by blaming fraudulent calls for the ever increasing cost of phone calls. Do not buy into this lame guilt-trip and threat. The phone company is always raising their fees. As a result, the phone company is using the myth of an overwhelming number of fraudulent calls in order to make a profit. Thus, considering the phone company still makes a profit, nobody loses any money when you make a call using a Red Box. IX. What is the Legality of Red Boxing? * Title 18 of the United States Code section 1029 states that standard phreaking devices, such as blue boxes, used to steal phone service from [...] switches, are unquestionably "counterfeit access devices." It is not only illegal to use counterfeit access devices, but it is even illegal to build them. "Producing," "designing," "duplicating," or "assembling" [...] boxes are all federal crimes today, and if you do this, the Secret Service has been charged by Congress to come after you. *(9) Basically, you have no legal rights to own a red box. If you are caught with possession of a red box, you could be arrested on the spot whether or not you actually used it. There is only one thing that can be said about Red Boxing due to this code... don't get caught. There will be no excuse you can give for possessing a red box. Think of it as the same as possessing illegal narcotics. X. What are the Chances of Getting Caught Red Boxing? There is not much of a chance that you are going to get caught using a Red Box. However, since paranoia is a criminal's best friend (it does keep you free), you may want to take certain precautions. But overall, the odds of you getting caught are slim. The only person who would have to worry about getting caught using a Red Box is the college student. It seems that most college students use Red Boxes to trim down their phone bill by calling their friends with it. However, most people who use Red Boxes in college did not purchase or construct a Red Box until later in their college years. As a result, they potentially have made many phone calls to their friends from their rooms already. Most colleges have their own telecommunications offices which keep a record of every call someone makes for billing purposes. All of these records are kept on a computer. If the phone company is able to determine which phone calls are being made with the Red Box, it would be very easy to catch the college student. The phone company could simply contact the college's telecommunications office and have them run a record search for the phone number called with the Red Box. If a student made calls to a number from thier room and the same number was made from a payphone with a Red Box, it would be enough circumstantial evidence for the student to be investigated. The lesson of this story is if you are a college student, do not use a Red Box to call phone numbers you have already called from your room. Now along the lines of paranoia, a person who was once on a BBS I called WAS actually busted for Red Boxing. Apparently, the phone that he used was being watched by the phone company because so many people had been Red Boxing on it. The kid I knew used this phone to make his phone call and used his real name while he was talking to the person. A few days later, some police officers showed up at his door to question the kid. However, they did not have a warrant for his arrest or to search his home. The moron got busted because when the cops asked him if he had used an illegal means to make the phone call from that one pay phone, he replied, "Yes." This kid made a mistake because he admitted he was guilty. If he had said no, the cops would have been forced to leave. The kid could then have trashed all evidence. But this kid was a moron. Basically, there are two ways to avoid this situation. One is if the cops come to your home, do not tell them you did anything wrong. The other is to simply not use your real name on a pay phone. Keep in mind that this case is almost unheard of and is, most likely, NEVER going to happen to you. The other paranoia, which actually makes a little more sense than the above, is involved in the purchasing of parts through Radio Shack. Many people do not know why Radio Shack asks you for your name and home address when you purchase something from them. Radio Shack claims it is so they can mail you things but I have never known anyone who has received any Radio Shack mailings. Anyways, when the Radio Shack clerk asks you for your name, just give him a fake. Do not bother telling him you refuse to give him your name because it is a waste of time. If you give him fake info or someone else's name, they will go on record for purchasing the parts to a Red Box and you will not have to worry your little paranoid head. Once again, I would like to stress that you must be extremely paranoid if either of the above REALLY worry you. Neither are likely to cause you any problems and the validity of both stories are rather sketchy. XI. I Put the Red Box Tones on Tape. It Does not Work. Why not? If only the construction of a Red Box could be as simple as using a mini-tape recorder to record the tones off of your SB. Unfortunately, this will not work due to the fact that tape recorders are Analog and not Digital. As a result, when one tries to record the tones onto a tape, they will become too distorted and will no longer work. The reason the Hallmark Recordable Card Red Box works is because it uses a Digital means of recording the tones. Thus, if the sound volume is set right on the computer when playing the tones, they will not be distorted while recording. XII. Will an HP48G Calculator Work as a Red Box? No. There are many devices that can produce a single tone. However, this is why the HP48G Calculator and some other sound devices will not work as a Red Box. The Red Box tones are two tones played together. As a result, the calculator will not work because it is not able to produce both of these tones at the same time. XIII. My Red Box does not Work from some Pay Phones. Why not? My first response to this would be, "Have you tested the Red Box well and had any success with it at all?" If not, your Red Box is a dud and you will have to start over. However, if you have succeeded in making a call with it before, or unless you have tested it on either of the phones listed below, then it is not a faulty Red Box causing the problem. a) COCOT Phones If you are trying to use a Red Box on a COCOT (Customer Owned Coin Operated Telephone), you can forget about it because it is not going to work. This is due to the fact that these phones do not belong to the phone company. They are privately owned telephones. If you are curious as to whether or not you are using a COCOT, try dialing ANI on it. Normally, this will give you a weird message or simply wont work which is an easy clue as to whether or not you are on a COCOT. However, it is still possible to get free calls from a COCOT phone. COCOT phones are where the Red and White Box roled into one is useful. There is a fairly old trick which still seems to work today. What you can do is dial an 800 number and wait for a connection. Once you get the connection, simply do not say anything and wait for the person on the other end to hang up. After the 800 number has hung up on you, you should get a dial tone. However, it is not possible for you to use the keypad of the pay phone to dial. Instead, switch your Red Box over to White Box mode, hold it to the receiver and dial the number on the Red/White Box keypad. This should connect you to the number you have dialed. b) Digital Pay Phones * Digital pay phones are the new and improved pay phone. It is not possible for a Red Box to work on any digital pay phone. It is the digital pay phone that will eventually cause the Red Box to become obsolete. However, it is going to be an expensive and lengthy process for the phone company to convert every pay phone over to a digital pay phone so you should be able to use a Red Box for quite some time. Needless to say, if you are trying to use a Red Box on a digital pay phone, it is not going to work. *(10) c) Pay Phone/Phone # Flagging It is very possible that the payphone you are using or the phone # you are trying to call has been flagged. This happens when there is repeated abuse to a certain payphone or phone #. Flagging can be unpredictable. The major paranoids will tell you that flagging will cause an operator to listen in on your call. This may or may not be true. However, the easiest way to determine if a phone or phone # has been flagged is to pick up the phone and dial the number. If the number or phone is flagged, most times you simply will not reach ACTS. Instead, a live operator will come on the line and ask how they can help. As a result, you will never have the option of usng your Red Box. If this happens, either insert real quarters or just hang-up the phone. In a nutshell, if you do not reach ACTS when dialing a number, the phone or phone # is most likely flagged. XIV. I Have a Really Cool Tone Program! Why Won't Every Tone Work? Alright, even though some of you are probably asking "What does this have to do with Red Boxing?", I received a lot of mail asking about this so I decided to include the answer here. First, the tones are not working because they are not Red Box tones. Second, the other tones that you may have are potentially of no use to you from a payphone anymore. Green Box tones no longer work so please stop asking if you can get the coin return tone to give you change. Many of these tone programs are useless today depending upon where you live. However, I am not going to answer anymore questions that do not deal with Red Boxing so please do not ask anymore. XV. Credits As one can probably tell, I did not come up with most of this info. Everything you have read I learned through others while running a BBS or from people who wrote informational files. The parts of this file that are enclosed in *'s and are followed by a number were works written by other people which I did not change much, if at all. Below are the names of the people who wrote these files. Thanks for the info guys! (1) Clayton, Noah. "Converting a Tone Dialer into a Red Box" Reprinted, (c) 1990, 2600 Enterprises, Inc. Volume Seven, Number Three Autumn, 1990. Typed by Havok Halcyon. (2) Spencer, Will. "The alt.2600/#hack FAQ version .010 Beta" 1995. (3) Count Zero. "COCOT Phones" 1991. (4) an224676@anon.penet.fi "Switchable Red Box" 1995. (5) positron@ix.netcom.com (Positron) "Re: Mercury Switches?" 1995. (6) Toxic Avenger. "The Ten Dollar Red Box" 1994. (7) Spencer, Will. "The alt.2600/#hack FAQ version .010 Beta" 1995. (8) The New York Hack Exchange BBS. "The Art of Red Boxing" 1992. (9) jjetton@delphi.com. "Re: Red box Legality?" 1995. (10) The New York Hack Exchange BBS. "The Art of Red Boxing" 1992. XVI. Conclusion This wraps up the latest release of the Red Box FAQ file. I hope some people will actually read this damn thing and not ask questions covered in this file. If you have any corrections or new ideas you would like to see covered in this FAQ, please send me E-Mail at an132432@anon.penet.fi. However, DO NOT send me questions. Also, PLEASE use PGP to encrypt your messages to me. If you do not encrypt them, I will probably ignore them. If the question is not covered in the FAQ, then post it to alt.2600. You will be more likely to get a response from there. Anyways, hope you enjoyed this FAQ, and in the words of Alfred E. Neuman, "Nowadays, the perfect crime is getting caught and then selling your story to TV!" Remember those words, Mitnick! 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