DnA 6-6: All-In-One Boxes & Construction of the Jolly Box
Written 12-1-93
by Arclight
Introduction
There are many different types of boxes available to today's phone phreak. While it would be nice to own all of them, and thus be able to place free telephone calls from anywhere in the world, this is not generally possible. Most phreaks confine themselves to those boxes that will be effective in their area or with their main methods, as it is difficult and time-consuming to construct a new box for every new type of tone-based phreaking, and attempts at new methods often result in failure. Thus, an "all-in-one" box that can be programmed would be a very useful item.
Previous approaches to the problem of building a universal tone generating device have focused on computer programs written for sound capable computers. While this is easy to implement and effective, it requires you to carry a laptop or other bulky computer to wherever you wish to phreak from. The only other option, up to now, has been the Hac-Tic Demon dialer, which is a pocket sized unit capable of generating any tone used in worldwide telecommunications. It sells for approximately US$300.00 and is worth it. Rop Gongriigp, the founder of the Dutch hacker mag/operation Hac-Tic can be reached at rop@hacktic.nl . The device comes as a circuit board ready to be installed in a case. A review of it will hopefully in a future DnA.
While this is an excellent product, many of us do not have the money to spend. There is now another alternative. Dubbed the "Jolly Box" this very capable unit is a programmable pocket-size dialer controlled by an 80C39 CPU. It comes with all PCB layouts in .GIF as well as printer language files for most common printers. All software, plus an 80C39 assembler, is included in the file. The dialer is capable of generating Redbox, Green box, Silver box, CCITT 4, CCITT 5, DTMF, and many other tones and signals. It's use is also protected by a 4-digit user defined password. Predicted cost is in the US$50 to $75.00 range. Credit for this fantastic development goes to Jolly Roger of Switzerland and Zaphod Beeblebrox ofGermany. Information on contacting them, as well as all their info is included in the documentation.
Construction
To people unfamiliar with building electronic circuits from plans and PC board layouts, this project may seem very daunting. It is suggested that you enlist the help of someone who is good with electronics if you do not feel confident going at it alone. The construction of the PC boards takes place in two phases: Etching and drilling the boards, and stuffing them with components. Each will be looked at separately.
PCB Etching
We found the printer-language files that came with the JB to be the most useful. They are already reversed and properly scaled. If you are making your own PC boards, the following steps describe the process involved.
Materials:
- Positive-sensitized PC board
- Positive PCB Developer
- (2) Shallow plastic trays
- Tongs to handle PCB with
- 15W Red Light bulb
- Piece of glass to cover PCB's
- Transparency of layout (See below)
- Make the PC layouts into a transparency or a printout onto very thin paper. This pattern is what forms the image on the PV board. It must be made so that the black areas are COMPLETELY opaque. For this reason, we don't recommend a Xerox transparency. It is too light. One excellent way to make a transparency is to buy transparency paper for Laser Printers and print it directly from the computer. A transparency can also be made for a few dollars at a good print shop.
- Buy a POSITIVE sensitized PC board, POSITIVE developer, and PCB etchant. Mix the developer and place it in a shallow tray. Place the etchant in another tray. It also helps if the chemicals are warmed to above room temperature before use.
- Find a place that can be made dark by closing up windows, etc. Replace the lights in the room with a single red 15W light bulb. In this darkened room, take the sensitized PCB out of its bag and tape the transparency over it.
- Put a sheet of glass over the PCB w/transparency, to flatten it out. Take it outside and expose to BRIGHT sunlight for 10 MINUTES, or the time specified by the PC board maker.
- After it is exposed, take it back to the darkroom and immerse in the developer solution. Agitate for 2-3 minutes, or a bit longer than it takes for the image to appear. Wash the PCB in cool water for 1 minute. It is now ready to etch.
- Place the PCB in the etchant solution and agitate constantly. Continue this until all excess copper is removed. When this is done, remove the board from the etchant (acid) solution and wash it again.
- Dry off the PCB and rub the copper side with steel wool. This will remove the resist coating.
- Using a Dremel tool or small drill press, drill all holes necessary in the PC board. A drill size of .5-1.5mm is acceptable.
That's all there is to it! (Whew!) There is an easier method, which involves an iron-on resist pattern. We will be reviewing this later. Anyway, you're ready for the next step.
Stuffing the PCB
This is just basic assembly work. Get together all needed components, the PCB's, a soldering iron, solder, and diagonal cutters. Mount each component according to the special instructions in the documentation. We found the diagrams easy to understand and follow. Also, no exotic components (i.e. special crystals, etc) are called for. After the PCB's are stuffed, it's time to burn the program EPROM's. If you do not have an EPROM burner, try to get access to one, or even buy one. They cost as little as $100 or less, and can also be used to copy BIOS's, Cellfone ESN's, and modem upgrades. After the PCB's are ready, all that needs to be done is test it and install it in the case. Speaker options are your choice. The DTMF keypad can be of almost any type, but must be rewired to 6x2 as described in the docs.
That all seems very daunting, but we were able to assemble ours in about 2 days. If you experience trouble, it is advisable to get help from someone who knows what they are doing. Anyway, that concludes the construction review for the Jolly Box. Next month we will put it to actual use! Until next time, stay out of Jail.
{Crunch!}
