pay phone question

[Xie]

I can see the point of stealing a pay phone if you're going to use it, but for the money, seems a bit daft

Use it for what? I could be wrong but aren't they like hard linked to whoever owns them unlike a regular phone you can't just unplug it and plug it back in and use it like your own?

 

[Steevo]

With a newer drill. (Dewalt 18V) and a good titanium bit?

I would give a standard lock 2-3 minutes. So on a charge you could bust open at least 20 phones. A bit of tape to hold it back closed and noone would know till the next day they emptied.

Not all would be full mind you, but you could pay for your gas, the drill, the bit and a car wash with all the quarters in a night.

 

[Ferral_Imp]

I can see the point of stealing a pay phone if you're going to use it, but for the money, seems a bit daft

I'd guess they take the whole mess so they can work on the money box at their leisure without having to worry bout getting caught.






Xie,
The phone company owns all payphones and you couldn't hook them up in a wall jack anyway cuz they hook into the poles by a set of wires and not a regular jack.


Steevo,
You have to remember that the bit would wear down fast from drilling through all that metal. So you'd also have to add in the amount of time needed to change bits inbetween boxes when they wear out and there's also the fact that the person would draw attention to themselves with the drill noise.

 

[LeeJend]

Jeez, you guys are pathetic amatuers.

Tools:
-Roll of duct tape, Canvas Bag, Bottle of liquid nitrogen, 10 lb hammer.

Procedure:
-Tape bag under phone, Liquid nitrogen on coin box till it frosts over, One good swing.
-Grab bag and run. If noise is an issue duct tape coin box first.
-Remember to wear gloves. Duct tape holds finger prints nicely.

Same trick works on the Club auto theft deterent device too.

You guys need to spend less time surfing and more time watching TV. Expands your horizons...

PS I miss payphones too. The cut cords, the noisy locations, the bubble gum on the receiver, the dirty coin slots that don't sense your quarter rolling down. Now I have to borrow some strangers cell phone when I need to make a call.

 

[LeeJend]

Inside of the coin box is about 4x4x4 in the USA. That gives us 64 cubic inches.

A $5 roll of quarters is about 1x3 = 3 cubic inches (note I squared off the volume since the quarters can't use the extra packing factor.

So ~21 rolls of quartes assuming perfect vertical packing factor (unlikely).
Maximum would be about $105 dollars if full.

Assume a realistic packing factor of 75% for change randomly scattered in layers.
Minimum would be ~$75 if full.

Figure 10 minutes to reach each phone, crack the box and move on $400-600/ hour if you have a good downtown location staked out. Maybe $2400-3600 per night until you get caught within 3-5 nights. Maybe 18 grand total take.

Felony vandalism and grand theft would be 5-10 years out in 2 years with parole on the first offense. That yields you about $18000/(2 x 24 x 365) = $1.02 per hour committed to the job. You will also have a funny walk and an incurable disease(s) after 2 years in a prison.

I think I'll keep my day job.

 

[Tittles]

I like it when people leave the change in the change thingy. I always look in them if i pass one.

As for the pay phone at home thingy...i think i seen somewhere where u can buy one and use it as a house phone or a decoration. Not to sure where tho *thinks*.

 

[Kush]

and now payphones are about extinct.

not in egypt my friend lol

 

[Maveric169]

Use it for what? I could be wrong but aren't they like hard linked to whoever owns them unlike a regular phone you can't just unplug it and plug it back in and use it like your own?

actually you can in most cases, some payphone are hard coded to 1 specific phone number, like the ones you see in the airport, your "high-tech" payphones. You average public payphone, will work off any phone line.

im a telecom engineer

 

[Xie]

actually you can in most cases, some payphone are hard coded to 1 specific phone number, like the ones you see in the airport, your "high-tech" payphones. You average public payphone, will work off any phone line.

im a telecom engineer

Thats interesting stuff. If your able to say so .. do they have any kind of built in chips or anything that would allow them to track a phone that "walked off" when a call is made from it?

 

[American Zombie]

As for the pay phone at home thingy...i think i seen somewhere where u can buy one and use it as a house phone or a decoration. Not to sure where tho *thinks*.

Bellsouth used to sell them for 135 dollars.

 

[Tittles]

I should look on ebay and see if i could get one. It would be nice for my on going collection of odd things to add to my room.


http://www.payphone.com/shop/catalog/

 

[ShepsCrook]

Hmmm. Interesting topic... I have to say it's about $100 at most. UNLESS it hasn't been emptied, or is an extremely high volume booth. Nitrogen and a 10lb hammer would be the quickest way. Want to cut back on noise? Add a spunge to the end of the hammer and you'll cut down on direct metal to metal noise which is pretty loud. Heck, a rubber mallot would probably do the job. Gloves are essential also.

 

[chaos945]

Around my college the ATM machine has gone missing a few times(I think 3 or 4).

Somehow it's hauled right off the wall, since I've been there I've seen them installing new machines twice...guess they'll never learn.

 

[SPeedY_B]

actually you can in most cases, some payphone are hard coded to 1 specific phone number, like the ones you see in the airport, your "high-tech" payphones. You average public payphone, will work off any phone line.

im a telecom engineer

Fortunately most taxi/airport phones aren't that hi-tech in the UK, so it's free call's a plenty. Tapping or tones work, lovely.

As for payphones, no one should pay to use them (that's the fun of them!). A common crime in the UK a while back was to hi-jack money before it get's to the collection box at the bottom.

Not sure if your phones are the same, but what people used to do was to hack-saw a gap in the tube/passage leading to the box (top->bottom: Phone - small tube - money box) and put something there to block money actually making it into the box at the bottom, do this in a busy town centre with lots and lots of payphones and the small passage filled up quickly.

Of course it's no where near as rewarding as taking the whole money box, but you can make your collection in broad daylight with a slight bit of cover from a jacket or similar, and collections can be as frequent as you like.

Still though, seems pointless to me, my fun with payphones has always been abusing them to get free calls/dial-up rather than actual currency

 

[Maveric169]

Thats interesting stuff. If your able to say so .. do they have any kind of built in chips or anything that would allow them to track a phone that "walked off" when a call is made from it?

Well they don't have any chip in them for that to my knowledge. But, a payphone sends extra tones for the payment of the call, that information tells the CO that the device is a payphone, so they could tract a unregistered payphone by the phone line it is connected to. But they probley can't tell that it is the payphone from the corner of 5th and Adams St connected to your home phone line, nor could they tell which carriers payphone it was. Most of that information is only recorded at the time of install at the CO.

 

[Maveric169]

Fortunately most taxi/airport phones aren't that hi-tech in the UK, so it's free call's a plenty. Tapping or tones work, lovely.

As for payphones, no one should pay to use them (that's the fun of them!). A common crime in the UK a while back was to hi-jack money before it get's to the collection box at the bottom.

Not sure if your phones are the same, but what people used to do was to hack-saw a gap in the tube/passage leading to the box (top->bottom: Phone - small tube - money box) and put something there to block money actually making it into the box at the bottom, do this in a busy town centre with lots and lots of payphones and the small passage filled up quickly.

Of course it's no where near as rewarding as taking the whole money box, but you can make your collection in broad daylight with a slight bit of cover from a jacket or similar, and collections can be as frequent as you like.

Still though, seems pointless to me, my fun with payphones has always been abusing them to get free calls/dial-up rather than actual currency

Yea back in the day you use a "red box" to make free phone calls. A simple tone generator or even just a tape recorder to record and playback the sounds of the coins being inserted. I had a long distance relationship going for about 5 months (coast to coast). I only paid 5 cents for unlimited long-distance calls. They changed that though I miss the good old days.

 

[lancer]

Verizon owns the phones I've seen around here and costs 50 cents for local calls ... BUT you can talk as long as you want. If the whole box was full I wouldn't think more then $200 max. To risk a felony I say you'd wanna make at least a grand.

For me to risk a felony it would have to be at least 500k nothing less is really worth it. As even if you where arrested, say 5 yrs in prison that 500k will be worth about $80,000 in interest. with a good mutual fund.

 

[Perris Calderon]

Yea back in the day you use a "red box" to make free phone calls. A simple tone generator or even just a tape recorder to record and playback the sounds of the coins being inserted. I had a long distance relationship going for about 5 months (coast to coast). I only paid 5 cents for unlimited long-distance calls. They changed that though I miss the good old days.

anyone remember "cap'n crunch"?

 

[Perris Calderon]

anyone remember "cap'n crunch"?

in case you're wondering what has happened to "cap'n crunch"

 

[SPeedY_B]

Hehe, everyone should remember cap'n'crunch and his 2600hz whistles