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From: N_Cook on 8 Aug 2010 14:13

Meat Plow <mhywatt(a)yahoo.com> wrote in message
news:pan.2010.08.08.18.03.53(a)hahahahahahahah.nutz.I.am...
> On Sun, 08 Aug 2010 15:19:07 +0000, Geoffrey S. Mendelson wrote:
>
> > N_Cook wrote:
> >> Got a few no-name URCs from UK Poundland "pound shop" , badged as
> >> Signalex , 81415, 10 in 1 . 1 GBP for all the functionality of a URC.
> >> This type you can set it to flicker away to itself until it reaches the
> >> end of a batch of codes.
> >> Removed the 3.58MHz resonator (why so apparently accurate?) .
> >
> > That's the NTSC color carrier frequency. Not only were they made in the
> > billions over the years (every US/Canada/Japan, etc) color TV had one,
> > so did every VCR, and lots of other things.
> >
> > I'm sure they will still be around for a while because while digital TV
> > has taken over in the US, it has not in the entire world and anything
> > with a composite video input or output needs one.
> >
> > They became the defacto standard for things like telephone dialers, and
> > many things that needed about a 4mHz crystal because they were so cheap
> > and plentyful.
> >
> > One of the famous "blue boxes" (telephone hacking devices) was made by
> > taking a Radio Shack tone dialer and replacing the 1mHz crystal with a
> > 3.58mHz one.
>
> Toasters even had a 3.58 xtal in them. Phreakers were removing them and
> replacing the xtal in walkie talkies so they could mess with drive up
> window radio equipment for McDonalds, etc...
>
>
>
> --
> Live Fast, Die Young and Leave a Pretty Corpse


In the UK we were deprived of Cap'n Crunch 2600 Hz whistles and the phone
routing system to go with it


From: Geoffrey S. Mendelson on 8 Aug 2010 14:34
N_Cook wrote:
> In the UK we were deprived of Cap'n Crunch 2600 Hz whistles and the phone
> routing system to go with it

I remember visiting the UK in 1984 and trying to call back to the US. The only
way to do it was to call the long distance operator and place a request for
your call. When your turn came up, they would call you back.

Trying to call from a pay phone at a rest stop on a motorway was a comedy
routine straight out of Monty Python. The operator needed the area code
and number of the phone I was calling from to place the call.

In those days, there were no area codes on the phones themselves nor was there
any marking on the phone as to where I was or the exchange it was on.
All I knew was that I was at a rest stop a tour bus had made somewhere
between London and Bath.

Another time, I wantedto leave a message on an answering machine, as in
"look up the EUROPEAN size you want and I'll call you from Paris when I
can buy it". After ten minutes of standing at a pay phone in a B&B, the
oeprator finaly got through and as soon as he heard the recording, he
hung up.

Geoff.
--
Geoffrey S. Mendelson N3OWJ/4X1GM
To help restaurants, as part of the "stimulus package", everyone must order
dessert. As part of the socialized health plan, you are forbidden to eat it. :-)
From: Meat Plow on 8 Aug 2010 14:37
On Sun, 08 Aug 2010 19:13:11 +0100, N_Cook wrote:

> Meat Plow <mhywatt(a)yahoo.com> wrote in message
> news:pan.2010.08.08.18.03.53(a)hahahahahahahah.nutz.I.am...
>> On Sun, 08 Aug 2010 15:19:07 +0000, Geoffrey S. Mendelson wrote:
>>
>> > N_Cook wrote:
>> >> Got a few no-name URCs from UK Poundland "pound shop" , badged as
>> >> Signalex , 81415, 10 in 1 . 1 GBP for all the functionality of a
>> >> URC. This type you can set it to flicker away to itself until it
>> >> reaches the end of a batch of codes.
>> >> Removed the 3.58MHz resonator (why so apparently accurate?) .
>> >
>> > That's the NTSC color carrier frequency. Not only were they made in
>> > the billions over the years (every US/Canada/Japan, etc) color TV had
>> > one, so did every VCR, and lots of other things.
>> >
>> > I'm sure they will still be around for a while because while digital
>> > TV has taken over in the US, it has not in the entire world and
>> > anything with a composite video input or output needs one.
>> >
>> > They became the defacto standard for things like telephone dialers,
>> > and many things that needed about a 4mHz crystal because they were so
>> > cheap and plentyful.
>> >
>> > One of the famous "blue boxes" (telephone hacking devices) was made
>> > by taking a Radio Shack tone dialer and replacing the 1mHz crystal
>> > with a 3.58mHz one.
>>
>> Toasters even had a 3.58 xtal in them. Phreakers were removing them and
>> replacing the xtal in walkie talkies so they could mess with drive up
>> window radio equipment for McDonalds, etc...
>>
>>
>>
>> --
>> Live Fast, Die Young and Leave a Pretty Corpse
>
>
> In the UK we were deprived of Cap'n Crunch 2600 Hz whistles and the
> phone routing system to go with it

I could whistle at 2600hz and hang up the central opertator line. I made a
blue box for a friend but he got busted before he used it. He was a greek
with dual citizenship and had a girlfriend in Greece he would call using
a reel to reel tape with some prerecorded tones on it. He got the idea
from one of his greek buddies that was here visiting that built a working
blue box and recorded the tones and their sequences on tape. The box was
easy to build, all tin can 741 op amps on a self etched PC board. Problem
was tuning it, I was only 17 back then and had no way to tune it. Said
friend was set to take it to school electronics class and tune it when
the FBI hauled him off one early morning in his boxer shorts :) He was
deported back to Greece and lost his US citizenship.



--
Live Fast, Die Young and Leave a Pretty Corpse
From: Michael A. Terrell on 8 Aug 2010 15:44

Meat Plow wrote:
>
> I could whistle at 2600hz and hang up the central opertator line. I made a
> blue box for a friend but he got busted before he used it. He was a greek
> with dual citizenship and had a girlfriend in Greece he would call using
> a reel to reel tape with some prerecorded tones on it. He got the idea
> from one of his greek buddies that was here visiting that built a working
> blue box and recorded the tones and their sequences on tape. The box was
> easy to build, all tin can 741 op amps on a self etched PC board. Problem
> was tuning it, I was only 17 back then and had no way to tune it. Said
> friend was set to take it to school electronics class and tune it when
> the FBI hauled him off one early morning in his boxer shorts :) He was
> deported back to Greece and lost his US citizenship.


Even 'Dr. Johnny Fever' knew not to mess with the Phone Cops! ;-)
From: Michael A. Terrell on 8 Aug 2010 16:08

N_Cook wrote:
>
> Geoffrey S. Mendelson <gsm(a)mendelson.com> wrote in message
> news:slrni5tik9.1ih.gsm(a)cable.mendelson.com...
> > N_Cook wrote:
> > > Got a few no-name URCs from UK Poundland "pound shop" , badged as
> Signalex ,
> > > 81415, 10 in 1 . 1 GBP for all the functionality of a URC. This type you
> can
> > > set it to flicker away to itself until it reaches the end of a batch of
> > > codes.
> > > Removed the 3.58MHz resonator (why so apparently accurate?) .
> >
> > That's the NTSC color carrier frequency. Not only were they made in the
> > billions over the years (every US/Canada/Japan, etc) color TV had one,
> > so did every VCR, and lots of other things.
> >
> > I'm sure they will still be around for a while because while digital TV
> > has taken over in the US, it has not in the entire world and anything with
> > a composite video input or output needs one.
> >
> > They became the defacto standard for things like telephone dialers,
> > and many things that needed about a 4mHz crystal because they were so
> cheap
> > and plentyful.
> >
> > One of the famous "blue boxes" (telephone hacking devices) was made by
> > taking a Radio Shack tone dialer and replacing the 1mHz crystal with a
> > 3.58mHz one.
> >
> >
> > > With 1.5V
> > > pk-pk locked in with receiver over range 2.7 to 5.1M, and again about
> 300K
> > > to 11M would operate using 1.5V. So far have only used with original
> 3.58M ,
> > > 6M and 7.5M sine inputs. Am I serendipitously likely to get a hit
> > > somewhere, at least the unit on/off model recognition code if not
> function
> > > code plus the model code
> > >
> > > So 2 out of 2 of these URC have been amenable to this mod but no match
> to
> > > the unit in question found so far. Is there any general guidelines for
> > > makers to choose certain types/ranges of coding for different types of
> > > equipment or is it totally open for them to choose? Assorted bits of kit
> > > show at least partial responses to some of these off-spec codes, but not
> my
> > > target one so far.
> >
> > Look up LIRC (Linux Ifrared Remote Control). There is a library of remote
> > codes, a way of capturing new ones from a remote and since the definitions
> > are in a text file, they are easy to "hack".
> >
> > There are all sorts of input and output devices, if you have a PC with a
> > regular serial port (not USB), you can build a transmitter from the proper
> > plug, a resistor and an IR LED.
> >
> > Geoff.
> >
> >
> > --
> > Geoffrey S. Mendelson N3OWJ/4X1GM
> > To help restaurants, as part of the "stimulus package", everyone must
> order
> > dessert. As part of the socialized health plan, you are forbidden to eat
> it. :-)
>
> I was not aware of that frequency as being significant , the equivalent over
> here is millions of 4.433619MHz and x2 of that , quartz crystals for Phase
> Alternate Line. That would explain why it was Never The Same Color (twice)
> if they could get away with using ceramic resonators rather than quartz.


Sigh. The ceramic resonators were used as a chroma trap. Quartz
crystals were used for the color reference. As far as 'Never The Same
Color', network programing was carried across the US on buried coaxial
cables or by microwave relays. Unlike tiny European countries, we
couldn't broadcast from a singe site. Because of this, they were video
amplifiers and equalizers spaced at regular intervals. Because it was
mostly tube, and there were thousands of them in each network they
required constant maintenance. When the network switched to a different
feed from a different studio, there was a phase difference. temperature
changes on the coax caused it's properties to change, as well. That was
why VIR and VITS were developed. It allowed for automatic equalization
to compensate for temperature changes, or when a signal had to be
rerouted. There were a lot of redundant paths, to allow for equipment
failures, or live remote feeds in the days before STL equipment. The
flexibility of the system was proven when Bell Telephone technicians
tied every TV station in the country together in a couple hours, to
allow full, live coverage of the assignation of President Kennedy. I
was at school when it was announced over the PA system. Less than an
hour later, all the students were in the auditorium watching the news
coverage live. By using some spare equipment and knowing the system
inside out, they were able to adapt it to a use it wasn't designed for,
with no permanent changes.

Also, when the nation wide distribution system was designed and
built, there was no color TV. The fact that it could handle color at
all proved that it was well designed.


Sneer all you want about NTSC, but the 'National Television System
Committee' was around a long time before color TV.

http://www.ntsc-tv.com/
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