PRIVATE PAYPHONES #2 Hello, again. Today's lesson on private payphones details what to do when you get yourself connected out to the network. Typically there are only a few ways to get out. The best is the good `ol Ernestine-type operator (0). The typical rap to her is "Hello, operator, I'm testing this phone. Do I sound clear to you?" or "What is the area code of Phoenix?" to which you get the universal answer "The entire state of Arizona is 602!". The former is ALWAYS safe, because of the fact that this is a private payphone, the Ma Bell operator has no way of knowing that you're not the Dickhead that's SUPPOSED to be working on the phone. By now, you're probably wondering "So what?" or something like that. Heres what: The thing you are attempting to do is hang on the line and wait for the other party (called party) to hang up. This technique is similar to the one used when phreaking call diverters, what is called "Chain Dialling" or "2nd dialtone dialout" Now, of course some of the phones out there are looking for this second dialtone, and others are looking for loop current. The 2nd dialtone from a C.O. is almost always heralded by a momentary loss of loop current, and this locks out the keypad and mouthpiece of the phone. (You can't mess with these in this way). The types which are only looking for the 2nd dialtone are easy to beat. First, some give you a "live" keypad on the phone, which means that for as long as you press a key, DTMF (Touch Tone) is heard. Others use a "metered" keypad which pisses out short DTMF bursts for each key press. The object here is to lay on the 1st digit of the number you really want to dial while waiting for 2nd dialtone. This will cause the C.O. to latch up on your DTMF before the payphone's internal dial tone detector can latch up on the dial tone! The network dialtone will of course go away after the 1st digit and the rest of the number may be dialed more leisurely. This process can continue ad infinitum. The types with "metered" keypads are a bit more difficult to screw with, as you have to repeatedly hit that 1st digit until you hear the "flash" of dialtone between presses. The other type of phone disallows keypad use after the call is in progress, and for those, let me introduce you to your best friend: The Pocket Dialer! Sold for rid- iculously cheap prices at nearly every consumer electronics store, these gems allow you to screw with lots of different things when it comes to private payphones. Besides Operator Calls, Credit Card calls may be used to get out (0 plus). To do this, dial 0, a valid area code and prefix, and 1234 for the number. When Bell supplies the Bong tone, dial "6#" (really dial the "#" sign). This will evoke the message "Your Card Number is Invalid, please redial" and enter "6#" again. The message this time is "Please hang up and try again." wait for 1-10 secs (depending on C.O. type) and Voila! - Dial tone! This is particularly nice because the payphone expects a lot of keypad and DTMF activity on the line for a 0 plus call, and has relaxed restraints on the keypad. That should do it for Chain dialling, next time we'll go into other ways to phraud the fone.