Clear box (phreaking)
Encyclopedia
A clear box is an amplifier used by phreaks
to use post-pay pay phones
without paying. In some locations, especially rural areas in the United States and Canada, pay phones were configured for "post-pay" operation. In this mode, the handset microphone is muted until payment is made. The user of a post-pay pay phone would dial first, wait until the called party answered, and at that point the user would be prompted to insert the coins. Upon receiving the correct payment for the call, the pay phone would then connect the microphone and allow the caller to speak. An artifact of this scheme was that the called party usually heard the ACTS tones produced by the pay phone upon coin deposit.
The clear box circumvented the handset mute by providing the phreak with another microphone, whose output is amplified and fed into an induction coil
. The induction coil is then placed on the pay phone's line or on its case near a sensitive circuit, introducing the caller's voice via induction and bypassing the muted handset.
Several text files on the subject of the clear box observe that some calls, such as to time and weather services and other information lines, do not require voice input from the caller. On post-pay phones, calls to such numbers were effectively free without the use of a clear box.
The clear box has become obsolete with the widespread conversion of post-pay phones to pre-pay operation.
Phreaking
Phreaking is a slang term coined to describe the activity of a culture of people who study, experiment with, or explore telecommunication systems, such as equipment and systems connected to public telephone networks. As telephone networks have become computerized, phreaking has become closely...
to use post-pay pay phones
Payphone
A payphone or pay phone is a public telephone, often located in a phone booth or a privacy hood, with pre-payment by inserting money , a credit or debit card, or a telephone card....
without paying. In some locations, especially rural areas in the United States and Canada, pay phones were configured for "post-pay" operation. In this mode, the handset microphone is muted until payment is made. The user of a post-pay pay phone would dial first, wait until the called party answered, and at that point the user would be prompted to insert the coins. Upon receiving the correct payment for the call, the pay phone would then connect the microphone and allow the caller to speak. An artifact of this scheme was that the called party usually heard the ACTS tones produced by the pay phone upon coin deposit.
The clear box circumvented the handset mute by providing the phreak with another microphone, whose output is amplified and fed into an induction coil
Induction coil
An induction coil or "spark coil" is a type of disruptive discharge coil. It is a type of electrical transformer used to produce high-voltage pulses from a low-voltage direct current supply...
. The induction coil is then placed on the pay phone's line or on its case near a sensitive circuit, introducing the caller's voice via induction and bypassing the muted handset.
Several text files on the subject of the clear box observe that some calls, such as to time and weather services and other information lines, do not require voice input from the caller. On post-pay phones, calls to such numbers were effectively free without the use of a clear box.
The clear box has become obsolete with the widespread conversion of post-pay phones to pre-pay operation.
External links
- "Clear box plans" - 1984 text file on the clear box