32 replies to this topic

[Symbiont]

does it still work? In my area alot of the payphones are bellsouth owned. How could I find out whether they are red boxable??? Would any old tape recorder do? Also, where would I get the tones for red boxing to work. From what I understand whenever you insert a coin to a redboxable payphone it generates a tone which tells the telco you have X amount of credits inserted. So you get a recording device (ie: mp3 player, tape recorder) and record those tones then when you go to a redboxable payphone you pickup the phone and playback the tones (into where you would normally speak into) and you should have credit for calls, correct?

[AlphaFlood]

First off, you can't use any old tape recorder, it has to be digital. The sound quality of an analog isn't good enough. Second, to find a boxable phone (correct me if I'm wrong) just blow into the microphone of the phone and if you can hear the blowing coming from the speaker you're set.

Edited by AlphaFlood, 17 June 2004 - 02:44 PM.

[Strom Carlson]

to find a boxable phone (correct me if I'm wrong) just blow into the microphone of the phone and if you can hear the blowing coming from the speaker you're set.

ZZZZT, wrong!

Not only do you have to be able to hear sidetone (the sound of you speaking into the mouthpiece), but you also need to find a phone that connects toll calls through ACTS (Automated Coin Toll Service), which is coin control through an operator services tandem; no coin control happens inside the phone on such a call. For an example of what an ACTS call sounds like through a Nortel DMS-200 tandem, go to http://www.stromcarlson.com/audio/ and listen to "Pacific Bell ACTS call." If your phone doesnt sound similar to that, the likelihood of a red box working is probably nil.

[neuro]

How could I find out whether they are red boxable???

just try it, man.

[Symbiont]

I found some tones on the PLA website, I have a little mini digital radio shack recorder (a little bit bigger than the size of an average pen), I just put the recorder to my headphones on full blast and recorded the tones (dime nickel quarter) on different tracks, hopefully the quality is good enough. I'm gonna go test it out today at a few places.

[GIJoe]

Just tune your voice like Lucky 225 (Default ep 28)

There are also a bunch of tones available at PnG

[Strom Carlson]

I found some tones on the PLA website, I have a little mini digital radio shack recorder (a little bit bigger than the size of an average pen), I just put the recorder to my headphones on full blast and recorded the tones (dime nickel quarter) on different tracks, hopefully the quality is good enough. I'm gonna go test it out today at a few places.

Blech, that wont work. The quality on those things is quite horrid. You dont want to distort the tones.

[doug]

use phreaksandgeeks.com

[Spaz101]

i ofund that school payphones are the easiest to box becaus ethey rae usualy from like the 20s MAGNETO PHONE STYLE!!!

[freek]

You could burn it to a CD-R and play them through the headphones.

[masakari098]

all the recording techniques you guys are talking about arent going to work too well, because the (insert noun here, strom) that detects the tones is sensitive enough to notice the distortion created by converting that sound around whilst moving the tones from wherever you got them to wherever you are using them. pretty much, if you are not generating the tones from the device you are also using to play them, your chances of success fall off pretty rapidly, and depending on the quality equipment you have, not even that is a guarantee.

[system sacrifice]

i use my mp3 player and it works great

[Strom Carlson]

the (insert noun here, strom) that detects the tones

Hmm...if it were TSPS I might guess "register"; #1 ESS (from which TSPS is derived) is just mechanical enough to possibly have actual register-senders. But now that I think about it, I really dont know - a digital ESS or DMS certainly doesnt have anything as baroque as a register-sender, and 1/1AESS probably doesn't either. Perhaps the correct term to use here is "subroutine."

(I will have to investigate this further now)

[Spaz101]

when i played my tones i used an mp3 player and thoes huge DJ headphones... you know the ones, beastie boys stylee

[countchocula]

hey guys
I put a red box tone in mp3 format suitable for use in mp3 players on my site.
http://www.hackermedia.net/chocula
go under files.
it was supposed to be 1.00 tone (4 quarters) but the last one got clipped after the 2nd chirp...i appologize and ill fix it when i get the time. thanks to ic0n for the tones too.

[system sacrifice]

sometimes if yoru goin through an op and you play the tones to fast one after another and the operator dosnt hear any change klinking they hang up or say somethin like "sorry its not registering with the computer"
at least thats my expierience
so i say i have a shit load of Quarters and rattle my keys while playing the tones

[Spaz101]

i noticed that before when i tryed to box back in the day

Edited by Spaz101, 19 June 2004 - 08:17 PM.

[Strom Carlson]

well, if you listen to my recording of an ACTS call actually paid for with coins, you'll notice that there's a LOT that goes on besides just the tones - relays in the totalizer clicking, the sounds of coins going into the phone, etc. An operator who hears this all day every day is going to know when something is off about it.

[Bizurke]

sometimes if yoru goin through an op and you play the tones to fast one after another and the operator dosnt hear any change klinking they hang up or say somethin like "sorry its not registering with the computer"
at least thats my expierience
so i say i have a shit load of Quarters and rattle my keys while playing the tones

No you don't! and you don't use your mp3 player either! We're not all idiots here

[counterspell]

Argh. Red boxing dosen't work. You need to have either an ancient payphone, or an unbelievably retarded operator. And even then, you can only get local calls! And you don't even need a box! Just tell the op that you put the money in but the buttons are broken. If he/she is that dumb, she'll put you through.