TEL Magazine Back Issues |
Telephone Electronics Line |
Overview
Telephone Electronics Line (TEL) was a small publication that was dedicated to phone phreaking and hacking put out by Teletronics Company of America (TCA) in Ls Angeles, California.
The Teletronics Company of America began publishing it monthly in November 1974 with Jack Kranyak the Editor-in-Chief and David Ress the Technical Director and Communications Consultant. Staff writers consisted of David Autovon, Robert Klein, Donald Simmones, John Reynolds, and Monti Rieman.
TEL was similar to TAP, but was geared totally toward phone phreaking.
In 1975, Pacific Telephone & Telegraph (PT&T) won a lawsuit against the publishers of TEL. The Superior Court of California ordered TEL to stop publishing immediately. Though never challenged in court, this was truly a violation of First Amendment rights.
A letter was mailed to all subscribers advising them to destroy all back issues of TEL.
TEL ceased publishing after only seven issues.
"TELEPHONE ELECTRONICS LINE better known as TEL, has lost its suit with PT&T and was forced to commit the unpardonable sin of turning over their mailing list to PT&T. (We don't intend TAP subscribers to suffer in the same fate. Only one person has access to the mailing list. He and it are being wired to self-destruct in the case of attack.) The Gestapo tactics of PT&T's in-security department has included the mailing of a threat note telling all TEL subscribers to not only remove all 'foreign' equipment from their phone but demanding that all back issues of TEL and related TEL publications be destroyed! They've got f*ckin' balls! Asking to remove homemade equipment is one thing but demanding that printed information be destroyed just reeks of 1984, S-1, and Fahrenheit 451. While TEL left much to be desired and at the best can only be considered an illegitimate offspring of TAP, they are nevertheless to be applauded for printing information that apparently pissed off PT&T enough to take them to court. My own gut reaction to the tactics of PT&T can be summed up in two words: Phuck you! For you customers 'served' by PT&T may I suggest that you look to GT&E or some other independent telephone company for all your future business. And for all TEL subscribers who received PT&T's threat note, may I suggest that you either roll it up and smoke a joint in it or keep it handy in the smallest room in your house and put it to good use whenever you get the urge from Mother Nature."
--- Excerpt from the June 1976 issue of TAP Magazine about the TEL court incident.
- TEL Special Report #1 Telephone Conference Bridge schematic. (Alternate Scan)
- TEL Special Report #2 Court letter to destroy all issues of TEL.
- Teletronics Multi-Frequency Encoder Infamous "Blue Box" schematic. This is the similar circuit $2600 uses for their "Blue Box" T-shirts. (283k PDF)
- Letters to New Subscribers From Phil Lapsley in preparation for his book Exploding the Phone, 1975. (Mirror)
- FBI File on Teletronics Company of America Detailing a newsletter put out by the company that included articles on phone phreaking and intricate details of the phone network. The file also mentions retaliatory legal action taken by Pacific Telephone. File originally requested by Phil Lapsley in preparation for his book Exploding the Phone. (Mirror)
Download Issues
TEL Magazine - Volume 1, Issue 1 (November 1974)
- TSPS ... Traffic Services Position Systems
- New Products - Memtei autodialer, Bramco Model ME-47P Touch-Tone encoder
- Scribd Entry
TEL Magazine - Volume 1, Issue 2 (December 1974)
- Editorial - by Jack Kranyak
- How to Call Long Distance Toll-Free - by David Rees
- How Many Attachments Can You Wire to Your Telephone Line? - by John Reynolds
- How to Handle Obscene Telephone Company Employees - by Donald Simmones
- What You Can Get for the Price of a Dime - Which is refundable, by David Rees
- Letters
- The Automatic Wiretap - Are your telephone conversations really private?, by David Autovon
- Debugging the Buggers - by Robert Klein
- Call Santa This Year and Wish Him the Best! - by Jack Kranyak
- Scribd Entry
TEL Magazine - Volume 2, Issue 1 (January 1975)
- Editorial - by Jack Kranyak
- Toll: A General Introduction - by Robert Klein
- The Intricacy of Credit Card Fraud - by Robert Klein
- Modern Phone Phreaking - by Donald Simmones
- Detection: How to Avoid it - by David Rees
- Letters
- Area Code 900 - It's not only a mass calling number, by John Reynolds
- TEL Tips - Stop those crank callers, extra phones
- Construction Project: The Hold Button - by Jack Kranyak
- Scribd Entry
TEL Magazine - Volume 2, Issue 2 (February 1975)
- TAD: Telephone Answering / Recording Devices - by Fred Blechman
- When the Phone Company Turns a Deaf Ear - by Ken McEldowney
- Dial Tone Speed Measurement - Part One - by Jack Kranyak
- Letters
- Scribd Entry
TEL Magazine - Volume 2, Issue 3 (March 1975)
- Editorial - by Jack Kranyak
- Overseas Dialing Techniques - by John Reynolds
- Fresno - Way Station for Tax Returns - by Harry Anderson
- Pay Phone Special - by Robert Klein
- The Telephone: A Basic Introduction
- Dial Tone Speed Measurement - Part Two - by Jack Kranyak
- Letters
- Scribd Entry
TEL Magazine - Volume 2, Issue 4 (April 1975)
- Editorial - by Jack Kranyak
- Touch-Tone - What it is, what it does!, by John Reynolds
- Construction Project - Add four new tones to your Touch-Tone phone
- Central Office Operations - Part One - Step-by-Step exchanges, by David Reese
- Anatomy of a Phone Bust - Or, "how to get caught," by Benjamin Dover
- Dial Tone Speed Measurement - Part Three - by Jack Kranyak
- Construction Project - Television remote control, by Fred Blechman
- PUC vs. Telco - California ruling on interconnection
- Letters
- Scribd Entry
TEL Magazine - Volume 2, Issue 5 (May 1975)
- Editorial - by Jack Kranyak
- Trashing the Phone Company - A look at "Ma Bell's" garbage, by John Reynolds
- Construction Project - Poor person's telephone, by A. Mills
- Construction Project - Telephone recording 15 second interval "beeper," by Fred Blechman
- Central Office Operations - Part Two - No. 5 Crossbar exchanges, by David Autovon
- European Reports - Battle with the phone phreaks "hots up"
- Big Mother is Watching - "Ma Bell" has her ear to the wall, by J. Louis
- Letters
- Touch-Tone Song of the Month Old MacDonald Had a Farm
- Scribd Entry
Knowledge is Power