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💾 Archived View for gemini.spam.works › mirrors › textfiles › phreak › BOXES › silver2 captured on 2022-07-17 at 10:43:25.
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Well, now that I have you here, I may as well
bore you with a little history of silver boxes.
One day, some engineer over at Bell labs got
the bright idea to sing to his computer...
and found that the computer responded by dialing
a phone number.  Well, sort of.  Anyway, the
10 digit (old style, with the # and * blocked
out) touch tone pad was born.  Lo and behold,
though, 2 sets of people decided that 10 (now 12)
buttons just wasn't enough...they needed
more.  The two people of whom I am speaking are
of course Ma Bell and Pa AUTOVON (the military
phone network).  So, Ma decided to add an extra
column to her phones, this one merging the
standard row tones with a 1633 Hz tone (to 
provide the mystical DTMF).  Bell named these
buttons A,B,C, and D (aren't you glad we have
such imaginative people at the bell system?),
while the army named them Flash, Flash override, 
Priority, and priority interrupt (or is it
Flash interrupt and priority override...)
anyway...these are used as varying degrees of
priority during wartime (and wargame) activities
so generals can call their secretaries very
quickly.  Bell's use of ABC and D is not so clear.
However, the last button (D) has an interesting
property...on about 50% of the information
lines in the country, it will give you a pulsing
dial tone.  You can then enter commands to
what appears to be a test system for 4A boxes.
Anyway...the modification...
Warning...turn on your printer now, and read
these instructions several times before you
actually try them.  Make SURE you know how
to solder...this could PERMENANTLY damage your phone!!!
Step one: Unscrew the two large screws on the base of your phone.
Take the cover off and place it and the screws
in a safe place.  Now, loosen (but don't remove)
the screws on the sides of the touch tone key pad.
(these are on the sides, and attach it to
its mounting brackets). Now CAREFULLY remove
the pad from its brackets (don'T rip any wires!)
You will notice a plastic cover on the pad. 
Separate the two halves, and get them out of your
way (don't destroy them, they'll be needed...just
move them down the wire harness that goes through
them.  Now look at the top of the pad (so the 123 row is facing away, and the 

	0# row toward you.  Turn over the pad.

You should see a mass of wires, gold plated
contacts (yes, it's real gold), discrete 
components, and two large dougnut shaped black
things.  These are coils that generate the frequencies.
Ma bell was always one for standards, so all
the coils she manufactures are capable of generating
all 4 primary tones (she only gives you 
connections to three of them, though).  You are about to 
make your own connection to the fourth, and make
the third column of keys "bank switched" between 
normal and fourth row.  Cut three lengths of wire
of different colors about 2 feet 
long (better overkill than underkill...)
I used Blue, Gray and Brown, but these
colors are arbitrary...but I will be referring to 
these colors in the bulletin.
  Look at the coil on the left (with the 
5 solder contacts facing you, rather than being perpendicular to you.
count over 4 contacts from the left (or 2 from the right)
and solder a wire to the 4th post from the left.  This is the
1633 Hz output.  Solder the other end of this wire to 
the left pole of the smallest SPDT switch you can find
This is the point of no return now...take a look at the bottom
edge of the keypad.  You should
see a row of three gold plated contacts (to the right of 
2 very large capacitors).  Look at the one on the left.  This one controls the r
ightmost bank of keys
on the phone.  GENTLY separate the
two touching connectors (they are soldered together with
a drop of solder) and spread them apart.
Solder the brown wire to the top contact (the one
futhest from you), and solder it to the RIGHT pole of the SPDT.
Now, take the blue wire and solder it to the bottom (closest)
contact.  Solder the other end of
this wire to the CENTER pole of the SPDT.
  You have now completed your modifications.  When the switch is
in one position, you will get normal tones, in the other you'll get 1633 tones.
  Some finess can be added by passing the three wires through
the plastic cover, and in through the gap in the
case of your phone under the place where you hang it up.
then solder the wires to the switch in the proper places, 
and you can glue the switch to the wall on the 
inside of that small alcove in the phone after taking the slack 
wire back into the phone.
(this just to make sure you read the whole thing before trying it...)
   Now, call directory assistance using normal tones (out of state, that is)
XXX-555-1212,  Now switch quickly to 1633, and press
down on the # key (now the D key).  If you are
on an old switchbox (4A), you will get a pulsing
dial tone.  You can then switch back to normal, and try dialing different 
numbers.  Two of the most interesting are 6 and 7.  These
often form a loop-around type 
connection, and two people can call in, one using 6
and the other 7, and talk in this manner.  If enough
people perform this mod, I will keep "office hours" on 
one of these...
   Happy Phreaking...
      Cain
Note: You will not recieve a pulsing tone until the operator
actually picks up on the line.  If you hear ringing, keep pressing.  
The tone must be on at the same time the operator gives her "beep".
If you hear her cursing at stupid people with stuck buttons, 
chances are this one doesn't work...try out
of the way states like Montana, Wyoming,,