ok.....here goes....I couldn't find my best file on makin' the red box so I'll have to make my own...oh well about time!

ok to start with...some things you will need....

Parts:

a radio shack 33-memory dialer (stock # 43-141)
a 6.5000 or 6.5536 Mhz crystal (can get from digi-key)
some solder and a solder iron

INFO:

Why a $24.95 33-memory dialer and not the little $15 dialer?  Well when you place a quarter in a pay phone it makes 5 distinct sounds (red tones)!  If you were using a dialer that didn't have a memory option you couldn't get all 5 of these tones preoduced by hitting a button...you would have to hit a button 5 times.  These tones have to be produced at a certain rate and the 43-141 dialer does a pretty good job at reproducing that rate...so that's why....

Part 1:

ok...so you have the dialer? what the hell now? ok take the battery cover off and remove batteries if they are present.  There will be two screw in the compartment and two at the top of the dialer...remove all four.  Now take a small flat-head screwdriver and pull the body of the dialer apart.  I like to start at the bottom where you took out the batteries...there is a section where the screwdriver fits nicely and you can just start prying it apart.

alright now its apart and should look something like this:

*******************              *******************
*     ******             *              *  ____________*
*   ** sp   **          *--Wire--* |  Green             | *
*   *   eak  *          *              * |     Board          | *              N
*   *     er *            *--Wire--* |                          | *               |
*   **      **            *              * |                          | *           W- -E
*     ******             *              * |                          | *               |
*                            *              * |XX=                  | *               S
*  ***                     *              * |                          | *
* * X *                   *--Wire--* |                          | *
*  ***                     *--Wire--*  ____________*
*                            *              *                             *
*                            *              *  Batteries           *
*                            *              *                             *
*                            *              *                             *
*******************              *******************

ok...the wire connect the greeen board to the speaker and some silver thing, which I have no idea what the function is.  The part you want to modify is the XX=, which represent the crystal.  This crystal is somewhat cylndrical shaped, silver, and has two prongs soldered to the board.  Unsolder the crystal and replace with the 6.5536 or 6.5000, which is about 2 times as big.  You might have to place the new crystal in a somewhat different location, I did the following:
           Orginal Crystal:           New Crystal:          The leg of the
            |                         |        __              Crystal is bent.
            |                         |       |    |             The crystal is also
            | XX=                |         --              on the opposite side
            |                         |         ||              of soldering places
                                      |   ==_|              than the orginal

Thats it...just replace the crystal, essentially anyway you can.

Part 2:

Now programming the dialer. The * key is the one that produces the correct frequencies. So to program P1 for a quarter turn the dialer on and place switch in store position.  Then hit memory, and ***** (* key 5 times), memory again and then P1 or any position you want to store this.  A beep will sound confirming the storage. I have P2, and P3 stored as half dollar and dollar.  For example: hit memory, *****, pause, *****, memory, P2.  That will store the tones for 2 quarters.

Remember: * is a nickel
          ** is a dime
          ***** is a quarter
                           
         So program you dialer anyway you want....

ok...now you wan to be cool and have a switch so you can store regular dial tones and red tones....

  XX=====---------|
          |                    | 
          |---------------|
          |                    |   Switch
 |----|-|                    |
 |     |                       |
 |----|---------------- |

The crystals will share a common ground and have seperate hot wires so that when you switch to one position you have one crystal and the other position will be the other crystal....this SPDT switch can be gotten at Shit Shack (Radio Shack)

Thank you for listening...this has been another DINO production

File: 10.dollar.red.box
Author: Toxic Avenger (toxic@phantom.com)

I bought the guts to a hallmark card at 3 pm yesterday, before 5 I had a 
working box... Heres the instructions for the compleat idiot (or those 
just having trouble)

Materials:
---------
1 Hallmark digital recording card (~$8, card store)
1 1/8 inch mono phono plug (~$1 or in a junk bin)
1 SPST switch, or momentary contact NORMALLY CLOSED (~$1 or junk bin)
The QUARTER.VOC File (and access to a sound card to play it, and software 
  that lets you loop it) *THIS FILE IS UUENCODED AT THE END OF THIS TEXT*
1 case of some sort (I used a case from a DAT, but anything you can put 
  the stuff in will work.  Perhaps the case from a Data Tape or a 8mm Video 
  tape, or just a casette)
1 Tube of silicone sealant (epoxy will probably do, I just happened to 
  have silicone on hand)

What to do:
----------

1. Remove all components from the plastic thing inside the card, this 
includes sliding the battry pack out of it's drawer.

2. Cut the following wires:

   Both wires going to microphone (both are green, mark which one goes to 
    the center of the mike)
   Both wires to the battery pack (red and white)
   Both wires to the switch mechanisim (green and black)

2a. (OPTIONAL) It is a wise idea (if you are fairly experienced at 
soldering/desoldering on small PC boards) to desolder all the wires and 
replace them with ones of a thicker gauge.  THe ones that hallmark 
supplies are just too damn thin and have a real tendancy to break at 
connections.  REMEMBER, the wires in this card are supposed to be 
protected in the little plastic grooves that you removed them from.  

3. Discard the switch mechanisim.

4. Wrap the battery pack in electrical tape (I used red tape just to be
    cheesy, since the box is clear)

5. Solder the SPST switch to the black and green wires that used to go to 
    theo original switch (polarity is NOT important)

6. Solder the phono plug to the 2 green wires.  Polarity shouldn't really 
  be important, but to be on the safe side, the wire that ran to the center 
  of the mike (I told you to mark it) should go to the TIP of the plug.

7. Connect the battery. (This battery pack puts out 6.25VDC, I suppose 
you could replace it with another battery, but why bother?)  POLARITY IS 
EXTREMELY IMPORTANT!.  The red wire goes to the Positive terminal, and 
the white goes to the negative.  On my box, if the pack is laying flat, 
with the exposed part of the batteries pointing up, the positive terminal 
is the one on the left (if you are facing the terminals)  I'd use a 
multimeter just to be sure.

8. Glue the pc board to the top of the battery (this saves space and 
hassle later, but is not necessary for operation)

9. Program the thing...
  
   I used the QUARTER.VOC file (sorry, i don't have a copy of it in any other
   format) and I looped it 10 times, with a random delay of between .5 
   and 1 seconds between each quarter (who puts them in at regular intervals 
   anyway?)
   
   Plug the phono plug into your soundcard, turn the volume Waaaaaaay 
   down (trial and error will give you the proper volume) and play the 
   voc file (after setting the switch on the pc board to the record 
   position, and flipping the SPST at the beginning of the VOC file)

10. Test it...

   Best way to test is to call a long distance Directory Assistance (Im 
partial to 808-555-1212 which is Hawaii)

If it doesn't work, go back to step 9.  The ideal volume is one that can 
be heard clearly, but does not cause the speaker to break up.

11. Once you have the thing programmed, there is no need to keep the 
phono plug attatched.  If you want to save room, cut it off.

12. Put the thing in the case.  Drill several holes in the case where the 
speaker will mount.  I mounted the speaker with silicone very carefully 
applied to the edges of the speaker.  Same was true of the battery pack.  
The switch obviously mounts in a hole on the side of the case.

Thats it...

Comments/Questions:

Why the SPST Switch?

 First off, I thought the switch that came with the thing looked really 
cheaply made, and would probably break.  Secondly, bu putting in a switch 
instead of a momentary switch, it allows me to record $2.50 on the box, 
and play the whole thing back just by flipping the switch, rather than 
having to hold it down.

There you have it. the Under $10 red-box.  

-Tox