how to potato cannon

[airdog07]

how to build a pneumatic potato cannon here
and other stuff

[stevenm]

Woah, are those throwbacks from the anarchy cookbook? Man, I remember that thing... from a long time ago, and I haven't even been alive all that long. I remember the info on blue-boxing (and friends), of course, decades out of date by then.

[hamsandwich]

how to build a pneumatic potato cannon here
and other stuff

fucking potato cannons... someone was shooting potatoes at jumpers in the canyon a few years ago.

Woah, are those throwbacks from the anarchy cookbook? Man, I remember that thing... from a long time ago, and I haven't even been alive all that long. I remember the info on blue-boxing (and friends), of course, decades out of date by then.

I'm not that old (in my own eyes), but i allegedly built and used a redbox back in the day.

Here's some pics of things I still have laying around in the closet.

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[stevenm]

Dude. That. Is. Awesome!
What is that contraption based on? Is it analog+discrete logic, or is there a little CPU in there? What about your redbox, how did that work?

And, is that a real TS22?

I remember way back when (10 years, I guess not so much, but still) we'd be playing with analog circuits and those little discrete logic chips. It was a pain in the ass, but it had its own fun to it. Then came along the cheap microcontroller (in free sample form, no less ) and we became spoilt rotten. Suddenly you could just put all the hard stuff into software and connect the outside world to a set of I/O pins. But it sure makes development a hell of a lot faster.

Hell, I remember there was a blue/red box ROM for GAMEBOY (gb-phreak it was called). It used those nifty music/soundeffect registers to produce the tones. I had one of them flashcards and writers, so I threw it on there. I was leaving for Russia in a few days, and I brought it along hoping that maybe some of the systems used there would be compatible, but alas I never got around to trying it.

What do you do, that you have such kind of equipment? Just curious...

... and what exactly do you mean by "allegedly" ?

[hamsandwich]

What is that contraption based on? Is it analog+discrete logic, or is there a little CPU in there?

Oh, there's a processor in there, but I didn't build it. Its a trunk test set from berry electronics. shit, you can find these used all over the internet i'm sure. model 314A.

What about your redbox, how did that work?

damn! I thought this was a base jumping forum! Sounds like you should know how it would work, but you can start reading here http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Red_box_%28phreaking). A simple build was grabbing a phone dialer (they used to store you phone book for you and with a coupler and speaker on the back dial the number for you) you change the crystal out. the star (or maybe it was pound) would put out the right tone. save 5 of them in a row in the memory and you had the doot-doot-doot-doot-doot of a quarter.

And, is that a real TS22?

Yep!

I remember way back when (10 years, I guess not so much, but still) we'd be playing with analog circuits
...
but alas I never got around to trying it.

Sounds like you were an ubergeek! Nice. I'm sure you built tons of toys. What do you do for fun and work nowadays?

What do you do, that you have such kind of equipment? Just curious...

I've never had a telecomm job but I have by chance worked for a couple telecomm-related businesses (paging and 900/800CC) as a DBA and developer. All my interest in that area happend way before those jobs, and actually way before I ever had a job.

... and what exactly do you mean by "allegedly" ?

I mean not to admit to having built or used any item to make free phone calls with. That would be stealing. So, if I did happen to do silly shit like that when I was a kid, I've grown up and recognize that its wrong... albeit fun.


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[airdog07]

I've grown up and recognize that its wrong.
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not

[stevenm]

Sounds like you were an ubergeek! Nice. I'm sure you built tons of toys. What do you do for fun and work nowadays?

I'm still an engineering student (senior year, then grad school, yay). I do some things in a lab, but that goes towards paying for school. Not really any time for a regular job, so no money for the AFF (there I said it). But some day soon...

But I've had a few geek jobs. One of them was just a general admin/codemonkey/hw guy at a cell phone company. We had a sales room with a lot of operators, which meant a ton of voice lines coming in. I never did anything serious with the telecom itself, but I spent some time picking the brain of the guy who did.

As for toys, you are certainly correct. About a year ago, one fun little circuit almost got my ass booted out of college . Oops...

Nowadays, when I'm not spending time cramming or reading about BASE, I work on this bugger, and he can be temperamental at times. But it's fun anyway.

I mean not to admit to having built or used any item to make free phone calls with. That would be stealing. So, if I did happen to do silly shit like that when I was a kid, I've grown up and recognize that its wrong... albeit fun.

Of course not. But now, obviously you realize that doing something like this would be very wrong and wouldn't actually do it......

[Johnny Utah]

I like how this thread morphed from potato cannons, to circuits, to robots....

[airdog07]

if you like spy and computer watch this video of NSA eaves dropping at AT &T
here watch the chapter 3 (NARUS STA 6400 I wish I had one for my room) or watch all it is interesting video

[stevenm]

Actually, our mechie guy tells me he's got a way of putting torpedoes on that thing. I can't imagine a potato cannon being too far off, but we'd need to also attach an auto reloader and a sack of potatoes.