Osuny Articles courtesy of BIOC Agent 003

           'Loops I've Known and Loved'

    No self-respecting Phone Phreak can go through life  without
knowing what a loop is, how to use one, and the types that are
available. The loop is a great alternate communication medium that
has many potential uses that haven't even been tapped yet.

   In order to explain what a loop is, it would be helpful if you
would visualize two phone numbers (lines) just floating around in the
Telco central office.  Now, if you ( and a friend perhaps) were to
call these two numbers at the same time, POOOOFFFF!!!, you are now
connected together.  I hear what you're saying out there ..., 'Big
deal' or 'Why should mother bell collect two MSU's (message units)
for one lousy phone call!?'  Well  ...think again. Haven't you ever
wanted someone to call you back, but were reluctant to give out your
home phone number (like the last time you tried to get your friends'
unlisted number from the business office)?  Or how about a collect
call to your friend waiting on a loop, who will gladly accept the
charges?  Or better yet, stumbling on a loop that you discover has
multi-user capability  (for those late-night conference). Best of all
is finding a non- supervised loop that doesn't charge any MSU's or
tolls to one or both parties.  Example: many moons ago, a loop
affectionately known as 'The 332  Loop' was non-sup on one 'side'. I
had my friend in California dial the free (non-sup) side,
(212)-332-9906 and I dialed the side that charged, 332-9900. As you
can see, I was charged one MSU, and my friend was charged zilch, for
as long as we wished to talk!!!

    Ahhhh .... have I perked your interest yet? If so, here is how to
find a loop of your very own. First, do all of your loop searching at
NIGHT! This is because the loops serve a genuine test function which
Telco uses during the day. (We don't want to run into an irate
lineman now, do we ?) To find a loop,  having two phone numbers is a
definite plus. Try dialing from two adjacent pay phones. Now, get
your trusty white pages, and turn to the page where it lists Metro NY
exchanges and the number of MSU's from your exchange. The idea is to
get a loop that is only one MSU from your calling area so you don't
go bankrupt trying to find a working one. So write down in a list all
of these exchanges.  The following are common loop endings (EXC)
stands for the exchange):

Manhatten and The Bronx ---------- EXC - 9977 & EXC - 9979
Brooklyn and Queens -------------- EXC - 9900 & EXC - 9906

   Armed with the preceding info, dial the tone side of a loop.  This
would be the 9906 or 9979 side. The best thing that could happen now
is that you will be able to hear through the loop connection. Eureka,
you've found a loop!!! Unfortunately, this doesn't happen too often.
Here are the more common possibilites:

1.  You can hear through the loop  (not muted) but there is a 1/2
second click every 10 seconds that interrupts the audio.  Good for
backup use, but the %&%$%%! click is super annoying.

2. One side of the loop is busy; try it again later.

3.  The tone disappears, but you cannot hear through it (the loop is
muted, try again in a month or so) .

4. You get 'The number you have reached 'recording. No more loop in
that exchange, go on to next.

     Most loops fall into catagory #3, but they do become unmuted
from time to time. Once you have found a loop, its uses are only
limited to your imagination.
===============================================================

Here are some new loops. All are in the 212 area. On any given day or
nite several may be busy,(more often casual users than telco
personnel.) and on any given day or nite several may be inoperative.
It all depends on whether telco maintenance personnel remember to
'throw the key' when theyre done line testing. If they remember to
turn a line 'off', then it'll remain off till the next maintenance
tech. forgets to turn it off after using it.  Do not assume these are
free calls.  Unless the #'s are in your primary calling area, you are
billed either msu's or toll units depending upon distance.
Nevertheless loops are lots of fun, and you can often meet new people
on them, especially late on weekend nites. Also, late on weekend
nites you will find several of the loops being used by am, fm or
shortwave pirate radio stations for call in lines. Most of these
stations are in the N.Y. area,  but the remainder are all over the
country. 212 loops remain the best known in the pirate radio world,
and so are used by pirates everywhere. Now. ..here goes with the
loops:

   212-529-9900/9906   212-283-9977/9979   212-352-9900-9906
   212-220-9977/9979   212-365-9977/9979   212-562-9977/9979
   212-982-9977/9979   212-986-9977/9979
---------------------*

   The lower number is the one with the squeal. It squeals (singing
switch) till someone dials the other number in the pair, then the
squeal dies and youre connected. Note the higher number never does
squeal, even if the other part of the pair is unused. So you have to
kinda guess at when some one is switched in after dialing. Listen for
the clicks, that'll tell you. The 982 and 986 #'s are kinda wierd.
Normally if you park on a loop, you will hear whoever calls the other
half, and when theyre done, the next caller (if any) will be queued
in, one after the other. Now on the 982 and 986, you sometimes cant
get any more callers after the first. Furthermore, if you park on
these two loops and the other end remains uncalled for 4 minutes, you
may be automatically disconnected. Yet these loops are better than
nothing-- esp. on weekends when all other loops are busy.
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