Guide to beige boxing            By Aztech

Doubtless you would have by now read the infamous Jolly Rogers CookBook,
and want to try a bit of beige boxing for yourself.'But I live in Britain'
says the brain dead reader,'I cant do that'.Bollocks you cant.Read on.

Essentially,the beige box is just any ordinary telephone with the plug
stripped off and replaced with four crocodile clips,corresponding to each of 
the coloured wires exposed.These are Red,Green,White and Blue,and are
usually arranged as shown below:

-----BLUE--------------+ +--------GREEN-----------------
                       | |
---------------------+ | | +----------------------------
     RED             | | | |          WHITE
                     | | | |
     (-)             #######           (+)
                     |     |
                     |     |
                     |CABLE|

remembering to place a croco clip on each cable and insulating its exterior.
For the purposes of this type of boxing,only Red and white will be required,
although you should adapt Blue and green as well for the next project.
Now scour your neighbourhood for what can look like Junction Boxes.
Examples include:

Small Gravestone like aluminium boxes with the 'T' in a circle on them
Large Freestanding Green Boxes approx. 3 by 2 feet with the GPO logo on them
(For the uninformed,this takes the shape of a crown with GPO pasted along
the bottom)
Plain double doored Green boxes(usually covered in bills and flyers)

Right,now you have identified your target,here comes the dodgy part:Opening
it.If you are lucky,the silver gravestones will have been left open,
and the top will slide off exposing the wires inside.NB:Collecting the tops
from these boxes is a particular hobby of mine,I have five already!
If you cannot slide off the top,forget it.Nothing short of dynamite will move
it,unless of course you have a key...as shown below

                   / \
                  /   \
                  -----
                 |< X >|    X = 1.3cm

This is just a triangular key which unscrews the casing on the box,and is 
easy enough to make if you have strong enough metal.However,if you are 
terminally retarded or just plain lazy,copies of the key may be obtained from
me,for a nominal sum.Just leave a message wherever you think I might be.
Green Boxes of both types are easier to crack,as all the hinges are open to
the outside,allowing you to crowbar your way in.The doors are
remarkably lightweight,and can easily be lifted back on after your little
breaking-and-entering act.

Now to look for those all important wires.All the wires within the box will
be paired(hence the expression Paired Line)and joined in a small 
plastic clip.Find two that join Red and Green,and side by side,like so:

                      | |           | |
                      | |           | |
                RED   | |           | |  GREEN
                      | |           | |
                     -----         -----
                    (     )       (     )
                     -----         -----
                        
                        JOINING POINT

Now,I dont know where this came from,but I read some lame posting that the 
boxes are rigged with trip cables/wires to alert unauthorised entry to the 
nearest switching office/Exchange.This is absolute shite.
If that was the case,I would have known about this phantom security measure
years ago.Really,feel free to generally manhandle the cabling to get at the
pair you want,but dont break any connections in case you disconnect phones
for the nearby houses.

Now,gently,strip the wires without breaking them to leave the copper exposed.
Get your croco clips and attach the red clip to the red wire and the white
clip to the green wire on the other.You should hear a dial tone.If not,
then reverse the polarity(RED-GREEN,WHITE-RED)and all should be well.
To get a number ID,dial SALT and wait for the message giving your number,but 
remember,it dials back,so pick up quickly,unless you want whoevers line youve
just piggy backed onto to know what your doing.(NB:Picking up after 20 
seconds of waiting will get the line for you,but be prepared for some
very erratic ringing when you are finished).

Inside the larger boxes,you should find numerous BT helpsheets incl.
clear codes,carrier No.s,MMI dialups etc..as well as free clips and other 
helpful little things.MRVs(Materials Request Vouchers) are sometimes found
and if used in conjunction with a valid personality and details,you can order
any phucking piece of fone equipment you could possibly want.See the file
with Engineer details in for an idea of what you need.

Remember the other two wires?Well,if you are going to have the balls to
beige box on a four wire line,ie:in someones house or building,connecting the
extra two wires will drain the excess ringer voltage away from the lines.
These are sometimes referred to as Anti-Tinkle lines,as when connected,they 
ensure that no other phones on that line 'jingle' when the receiver is
picked up or put down,meaning you can avoid detection as long as you see fit.
A good site to box off would be any house with 3 phones.The chances are that
each one has an REN of 1,and adding yours would drain all the ringer voltage
from the line,disabling that pesky ringback alert,leaving the householder
concerned oblivious to the telecommunications related shenanigans going
on outside his humble abode.Ring and Tip in Residential Network appearances
are coloured Blue/White and White/Blue.

(HISTORICAL NOTE:BT engineers used to refer to the linesmans handset as
the 'Buttinski' due to its ability to listen in on any party while remaining
undetectable,and allowing you the option of kicking one of them off
line and taking their place.Obviously our little project doesnt quite
stretch to that,but if you keep annoying me,I may just think about releasing
an absolutely padged up version).

                          ---=[AZTECH]=---