Mobile Frequencies

by Esper

Cellular phone phreaking is an area that remains, for the most part, untapped (no pun intended).

Let me rephrase that - it remains, for the most part, unreported within the hacker/phreak community.  To many aspiring phreaks and seasoned veterans, cellular phone systems are pretty much uncharted waters, ready to be sailed.

Unfortunately, those who may have discovered new ways to utilize cellular phones are being tight-lipped about it, or are just researching it a little further before coming out with ways to do it and telling others, such as in 2600.  Hopefully, we will see some articles about this in future issues.  In the past, there was one such article concerning mobile phones (not to be confused with cellular), which leads into something creative.  Bear with me.

Now for a trip down memory lane.

For those who are fortunate enough to keep up with back issues, you might remember there was an article some time ago detailing mobile phone theory and construction by The Researcher (2600 Magazine, Vol. 3, No. 4, April 1986).  Details were given on how to construct one using a cassette tape recorder, radio scanner, a low-power transmitter, and a mobile phone dialer (build your own).

In the article, the author suggests building a Wein bridge oscillator to generate Red Box tones.  For this, it might be easier to build a Red Box from a RadioShack tone dialer (most recent conversion is highlighted in the Autumn 1991 issue of 2600).  I won't get into the gory details of the article, so you might have to find a copy of it somewhere or buy the back issues.  Again, bear with me.

In the mobile phone article, it tells how you should set the transmitter to the corresponding mobile frequency, send the ID sequence that you taped with the cassette recorder, and use the dialer to call "one of those special 800 numbers and whistle off with 2600 hertz; then MF to anywhere in the world."  While I'm not sure how easily Ma Bell can nail someone blue boxing over a mobile phone, I and many others know how bad an idea of Blue Boxing over regular lines can be.  In any case, this is an idea for phreakers and hackers alike.

Trouble is, finding mobile phone frequencies is kind of a hit-and-miss deal with a scanner.  There are lots of bands to cover, and one might only have a vague idea as to what frequencies are where.  If you manage to hit upon an unused frequency, you'll hear that all-too-familiar 2600 hertz tone heading down the line until someone makes a call.  Then you'll hear the ID sequence, the number being dialed, and lo and behold!  You'll hear a call!

To make your lives a little easier, here's a list of mobile phone channels used by the phone companies in major cities across the nation.  If there's more than one frequency used in one three-digit number (I've seen 8-9), I'll list them like this:

City: XXX. (YYY, YYY, YYY, YYY, YYY)

XXX.YYY MHz would thus be a valid frequency for that city.

   Albuquerque: 152. (510, 570, 630, 750, 810)

       Atlanta: 152. (510, 540, 600, 630, 660, 690, 750, 810)

     Baltimore: 152. (510, 630, 750, 810)
                454. (400, 500)

        Boston: 152. (510, 540, 600, 660, 780)
                454. (524, 475, 500, 525, 550, 600)

       Chicago: 152. (510, 570, 630, 690, 720, 750, 780, 180)
                454. (375, 400, 425, 450, 475, 500, 525, 550, 575, 600, 625, 650)

    Cincinnati: 152. (510, 630, 750)

     Cleveland: 152. (510, 630, 690, 750)
                454. (400)

        Dallas: 152. (510, 630, 690, 750, 810)
                454. (400, 475, 550, 600, 625, 650)

        Denver: 152. (510, 540, 600, 630, 690, 750, 780, 810)
                454. (375, 400, 425, 450, 475, 500, 525, 550, 575, 600, 625, 650)

       Detroit: 152. (570, 600, 630, 690, 730)
                454. (375, 475, 525, 575, 625)

       Houston: 152. (510, 630, 720, 750)
                454. (400, 425, 450, 475, 500, 550, 600, 650)

  Indianapolis: 152. (510, 540, 630, 690, 750, 810)
                454. (375, 400, 425, 475, 500, 525, 550, 600)

   Kansas City: 152. (510, 540, 630, 690, 750, 780)
                454. (375, 425, 450, 475, 550, 650)

     Las Vegas: 152. (510, 540, 570, 630, 690, 720, 750, 780)
                454. (375, 425, 450, 500, 550, 575, 625)

         Miami: 152. (510, 570, 600, 630, 660, 720, 750, 780)
                454. (375, 400, 425, 450, 500, 550, 600)

     Milwaukee: 152. (510, 570, 600, 630, 720, 780)
                454. (400, 475, 600)

   Minneapolis: 152. (510, 570, 630, 690, 780, 810)
                454. (375, 450, 475, 525, 600, 625)

     Nashville: 152. (510, 570, 630, 690, 780, 810)
                454. (375, 450, 475, 525, 600, 625)

    Newark, NJ: 152. (540, 750, 810)
                454. (425, 475, 575)

   New Orleans: 152. (510, 630, 690, 810)

 New York City: 152. (510, 570, 630, 690, 720, 780)
                454. (375, 450, 525, 550, 625, 650)

 Oklahoma City: 152. (510, 540, 630, 660, 720, 750, 580, 810)
                454. (375, 400, 425, 475, 500, 600, 650)

  Philadelphia: 152. (510, 540, 630, 690, 750, 810)
                454. (400, 425, 475, 500, 550, 575, 600, 650)

       Phoenix: 152. (540, 570, 600, 630, 660, 720, 750, 780, 810)

    Pittsburgh: 152. (510, 630, 690, 750)
                454. (375, 400, 425, 475)

     St. Louis: 152. (510, 570, 630, 660, 690, 750)
                454. (375, 400, 425, 450, 550)

Salt Lake City: 152. (510, 570, 630, 690, 750, 810)

     San Diego: 152. (510, 570, 630, 690, 810)
                454.550

 San Francisco: 152. (510, 540, 630)
                454.550

       Seattle: 152. (510, 540, 630, 660, 690)
                454. (375, 450, 500)

Washington, DC: 152. (510, 600, 630, 690, 720, 750, 780, 810)
                454. (375, 425, 475, 525, 550, 575, 625, 650)

There are some other frequencies that don't fall under the normal 152 or 454 MHz band.  Some can be found in the 35 MHz band and, from what I've seen and heard, they aren't used much.  This is ether good or bad.  It's good because it's almost always free of use, but bad for the same reason.  In order to hide among the masses, it might be better to stick to the 152 or 454 band.  I haven't had the opportunity to build these phones or test them, but as food for thought and creative processes.

I hope I've whetted some appetites.  And, if any of what I've proposed pans out, write and tell us, schematics and all.  Knowledge is power.  Even if you have no intention of building the mobile phone and using the frequencies listed above, they are always fun to give a listen to.

One time I caught a prominent real estate mogul who is in financial dire straits (I can't say who; besides, Donald would never forgive me) call one woman and say he was working late and wouldn't be home for quite a while.  He then called another woman and told her he'd be over at 6:30.  Who knows what you'll hear?

One final note: if you like what you hear, you might want to pick up the police/fire radio frequency book for your state while you're in RadioShack for your tone dialer.  Keep an eye on Big Brother.  Hell, they're probably keeping an eye on you!  Happy hunting!
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