MovieChat Forums > WarGames (1983) Discussion > Hotwiring a pay phone?!

Hotwiring a pay phone?!

posted 14 years ago by Horacetorys
35 replies | jump to latest

Is there any truth to the scene where David "hotwires" the pay phone by grounding the receiver to the phone itself with a pop tab? Pure Hollywood fantasy?

[–] StarkTech 13 years ago

I miss the 80's. We ALL tried that back in the day but it never worked.

[–] repstein2 12 years ago

.. but it did.

[–] ellisdtripp 12 years ago

as long as you were able to get the mouthpiece cover off. Most payphones had them glued on with real high strength epoxy or something similar.

[–] tgovostis 11 years ago

Some phones back in the day really did have this vulnerability. When I was in HS (1988-1992)I could make free phone calls by taking an unfolded paper clip, sticking one end into the holes of the mouthpiece, and the other end into a small hole under the keypad, and make calls that way.

[–] kascha-klaussen 10 years ago

Can anyone on this thread who answered this question by saying they either tried or succeeded with phreaking, red/blue boxing or any other exploit please go onto the "D10 Ways David was a prick" thread and inform the prick who started it how many people would have to in turn be pricks if David was a prick for the reasons given?

I think I covered the realities of it, but it's even more fun when you pile on, lol

Thanks!

[–] maixiu 9 years ago

This thread was about to disappear and I think it's got a good discussion about a commonly asked topic. I'm bumping it back to the top.

[–] cheeso65 9 years ago

If David was so smart, why didn't he just call collect?

[–] taz420nj 9 years ago

If David was so smart, why didn't he just call collect?

It was a ground-start phone. Ground start phones didn't give a dialtone until you deposited a coin, so you couldn't even call the operator. The coin itself completed the circuit to ground as it rolled through the chute, which signaled the local exchange to turn on the dialtone. The same circuit ran through the handset microphone, which is how David was able to trick the phone into giving him a dialtone. Ground-start phones were a serious impediment to emergency reporting and didn't allow one to dial 911, which is why they were replaced with DTF (Dial Tone First) payphones in the 80s and 90s.

"Now you start using your head. That's that lump that's three feet above your ass!"