 49528867Premium
join:2010-04-16
Fort Lauderdale, FL
kudos:3
4 edits | reply to John Galt
Re: Running dedicated line for DSL said by John Galt:said by tschmidt:I think you are confusing tones with digits. You are correct, Sir! I attribute my error to "Sunday Morning Before Coffee".  Actually I believe you are both incorrect.
AUTOVON utilized Multitone Frequency (MF) signaling which consisted of a 4x4 keypad to out-pulse the dialed digits, these tones could often be heard on operator assisted long distance calls, an example of which can be heard along with the trunk idle tone on Pink Floyds “The Wall” when the Brit in the US calls home and gets a man answering the phone back at his house on the other side of the pond.
MF signaling was an in-band long distance signaling system and became the basis of the blue-box long distance hack or phreak as it was known back then which utilized a button which when pressed emitted a brief trunk idle signal to knock down a previously connected long distance trunk and once the trunk was idle but still electrically connect due to the off hook condition allowed the hacker to out-pulse a new connection that lacked any Automatic Number Identification (ANI) and with that identification lacking whom to bill for the “new” call.
These blue-boxes where commonly deployed by an electronically savvy college student working out of a pay-phone assisting his fellow students in reducing their long distance charges for small cash fee. However after a while the Bell System grew tired of these un-billable long distance charges and a patch pending the full deployment of the advanced (sleeve) ANI and later the SS7 system installed traps which would detect a trunk idle tone coming from outside of the network and once the offending phone was identified it was literally staked out by Bell System security people who aggressively perused and prosecuted those they caught using a blue-box. I personally know this to be a fact.
The Bell Labs actually and inadvertently invited this hack by publishing in their monthly news letter (of which I subscribed to) this Achilles heal in a series of articles relating to LD signaling ending with article on the development of an out of band signaling system known as SS7 or Signaling System 7.
On the other hand Dual Tone Multi-Frequency signaling DTMF aka Touch-Tone in its infancy also utilized a 4 x 4 keypad 1 through 0 * and # plus (A, B, C and D) which the folks at Bell Labs had grand plans for but it never panned out and as such the keypad was reduced to what we now have as all so common 3 x 4 Touch-Tone keypad.
But despite the misinformation on Wiki Touch-Tone was never used for the AUTOVON system…
Then there was the red-box which simulated the sounds of coins dropping into a payphone but that is story for a different day as is the use of Brillo pads which could make a payphone payoff like a winning slot machine. 
Wayne
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A tree full of trained monkeys have my back. |
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 Nick_LPremium
join:2003-01-22
Pittsburgh, PA | said by 49528867: However after a while the Bell System grew tired of these un-billable long distance charges and a patch pending the full deployment of the advanced (sleeve) ANI and later the SS7 system installed traps which would detect a trunk idle tone coming from outside of the network and once the offending phone was identified it was literally staked out by Bell System security people who aggressively perused and prosecuted those they caught using a blue-box. I personally know this to be a fact. Wayne Ooh ooh, tell this story! |
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 tschmidtPremium,MVM
join:2000-11-12
Milford, NH
kudos:8
 ·G4 Communications
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| reply to 49528867
said by 49528867:AUTOVON utilized Multitone Frequency (MF) signaling which consisted of a 4x4 keypad to out-pulse the dialed digits, these tones could often be heard on operator assisted long distance calls, MF signaling predates DTMF and was used by operators to place calls intratrunk calls.
The Blue Box generated the 2600 Hz tone used to signal trunk idle. Prior to development of SS7 call processing information was carried on the same circuit as the call. This made system vulnerable to hacking. After simulating trunk idle trunk another call could be placed.
As far as I know AUTOVON used normal DTMF phones sets. I was in the military in the 1960's so used the system but never any of the 16-button sets.
/tom |
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49528867Premium
join:2010-04-16
Fort Lauderdale, FL
kudos:3 | said by tschmidt:The Blue Box generated the 2600 Hz tone used to signal trunk idle. /tom With 16 buttons it did well more then 2600.
As far as I know AUTOVON used normal DTMF phones sets. I was in the military in the 1960's so used the system but never any of the 16-button sets. It used what looked like normal sets (the four extra buttons where not required for call setup/knockdown) but the tones generated where MF not DTMF as that was supposedly more secure than DTMF signaling.
In reality it was probably fostered off on the military by AT&T who built the system.
Ever seen the little huts that provided access to the nuclear hardened coaxial/carrier cables that made up the backbone of that system?
Also remember AUTOVON was not restricted to wire line as it was interconnected with the combat ciders and using a simple TT dial for signaling on such a system was not considered secure.
Like MF was really all that secure.
There’s an entry point a little south of here in Pensucco (s) prior to passing on a friend of mine used to work down there after it was decommissioned and became part of WOM want to bet some of those the sets are still down in the subterranean bunker under that 6 foot thick poured concrete roof.
Wayne
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A tree full of trained monkeys have my back. |
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49528867Premium
join:2010-04-16
Fort Lauderdale, FL
kudos:3
4 edits | reply to Nick_L
said by Nick_L:Ooh ooh, tell this story! That was a very long time ago and I really cannot remember the details of what happened back then.
Wayne
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A tree full of trained monkeys have my back. |
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49528867Premium
join:2010-04-16
Fort Lauderdale, FL
kudos:3 | reply to tschmidt
said by tschmidt:Prior to development of SS7 call processing information was carried on the same circuit as the call. That’s why it was known as in-band signaling, the call setup/teardown was over the same trunk as the call itself whereas SS7 utilizes interoffice signaling trunks and is an out-of-band signaling system and yes I am quite familiar with SS7 and its protocols.
Wayne
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A tree full of trained monkeys have my back. |
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