Palm "red box" Hacker tool

Posted By: @tomic212 Monday, November 15, 1999 1:06:57 PM

The PalmReader has a piece on how to turn your Palm into a "red box" In phone phreak jargon, a "red box" is any device that tricks pay phones by using sounds to make the phone think you've entered money for the call. The 99 Fall issue of 2600 magazine details how to make Canadian phone-system "red box." Apparently all you need is the cbasPad BASIC interpreter and this chunk of code:
#autonum
new
for a = 1 to 5
sound 2200,33,64
sound 1,33,2
next a
run
Are there any Canadians out there willing to give this a try? Let us know how it turns out.

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Go to the source...

I.M. Anonymous @ 11/15/1999 4:50:16 PM #

check out http://www.hackcanada.com" CLASS=NEWS>http://www.hackcanada.com ...they invented it. supposed to work only on very specific types of payphones (non-COCOT's) and those in isolated areas (which, presumably, haven't been updated to be "red box-proof").
plan on trying it next time i'm in british columbia. i'll let ya know ;)

Another link

@tomic212 @ 11/15/1999 7:49:20 PM #

Hacker news also has a blurb on the Palm red box
http://www.hackernews.com/arch.html?090899
" CLASS=NEWS>http://www.hackernews.com/arch.html?090899

Umm, Isn't This Illegal?

Bander @ 11/16/1999 11:56:36 PM #

I know it's, like, just Canada, but saying "Are there
any Canadians out there willing to give this a try?
Let us know how it turns out" could be interpreted
as incitement...

It's a neat hack, and I'm just as curious as the next
gadgetnerd, but phreaking (and let's be honest, this
is phreaking), is illegal in most countries.

Cheers,

Bander

Just Canada?

Lotus @ 11/21/1999 11:28:51 AM #

> I know it's, like, just Canada,

At least the Prime Minister of "just Canada" has the common sense to keep his little assistant where he belongs. Your country picked a fat, dishonest hick and you love him for it.

phone hack

Phil @ 11/17/1999 10:48:05 AM #

With all the upgrades that Bell has done to the pay phones here methinks it works on the old models i.e. without the digital display and card slot. For what it's worth I tried nothing happened. I'll try looking for one of the older models

BC is not the sticks

bob @ 11/17/1999 7:38:58 PM #

BC is on the cutting edge on telecommunications. My home town of Vernon,BC has a population of 35,000. We have ASDL and Cable Internet. Also, BC TEL, now Telus has investes alot of money into updating all the pay phones to be "red box" proof.

We don't live in igloos in Canada, in fact, we don't even have snow yet, it's raining.

To: Bander

Canadian @ 11/18/1999 7:05:09 PM #

What do you mean by "Just Canada" ? Have you ever been to Canada?

theory & practice are 2 different things

bad_source_BIOS@yahoo.com @ 11/21/1999 10:45:51 AM #

I am a very strange and alone person when I express my appreciation for a government that doesn't kill me and a phone company that works. I don't mind paying for these things and I live in a world where most people don't get them. That aside, I have a right to squeak into a pay phone however I want so I can see what makes up our world.
Technically speaking, I doubt that this "Canadian Red Box" works. I first saw the code snippet in Autumn 99's issue of 2600. I spent the better part of yesterday coding my own "Beige Box", i.e., a lineman's handset. It's supposed to be just like your touch tone phone, with the addition of the A-D keys on a lineman's handset. It's done in Pocket C, & Pocket C GUI, both of which can be found at http://www.palmcentral.com" CLASS=NEWS>http://www.palmcentral.com & SO FAR IT DOESN'T WORK to dial phone numbers. So I gotta wonder about this Red Box snippet as well. I'll send the code on request in hope of some beta test feedback. I'm not going to consider posting it until I put the tuning dial. I may or may not have this done today.

RedPalm ... Comments from the author of it...

I.M. Anonymous @ 10/10/2000 9:31:14 PM #

A) It works. Of course, it won't work for you if you don't know what you are doing when it comes to red boxing.

B) The guy trying to code a "beige box" for the pilot... well, if you had done any research at all you would know the Pilot speaker cannot reproduce DTMF. Canadian redbox tone is single tone. Once again.. IT WORKS.

cyb0rg/asm
www.hackcanada.com