When we were kids a chum and I had a phone "prank" we played.
We discovered that if you dialled some number or other I don't now recall it would make your own handset ring - we didn't think it was common knowledge. So we cooked up a scheme where we recorded on cassette tape a message, complete with background music, that said something like "Congratulations. You've been selected to enter the Reader's Digest phone draw. Just dial xxx and if your phone rings, then you've won ten thousand pounds! To claim, call..." and put in our own number at the end. Played it to random people, hung up, and waited to see if they rang the "claim line"....
I imagine these days you'd go to jail for such larks.
I still feel a bit guilty. Did you do anything you feel a bit guilty about?
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It's a public BT line-test facility. The number is 17070 if you have forgotten it.
You can use it to check that your phone is ringing properly, and to do other tests on the line. It's all explained in the Options.
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Used to ring America back in the late 80's from work when 16 the numbers all seem to be 555????? so we just did random numbers for Los Angeles or New York and give them so carp down the phone at silly o clock in the morning.
Stupid yes it was bored at work and got away with it like chat lines too.
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That self test number sounds faintly familiar, but we are talking about 1972 I would think. BT hadn't been invented then of course.
As for calling the States, yes I recall at the same time, early seventies, calling random numbers in the States, which seemed incredibly exotic. We'd wish them a Happy Christmas, just because, all the way from England.
People seemed surprised and pleased. However, only half of that reaction was true when my parents got the phone bill.
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Not mischief but can you stop yourselves pressing button B when you rarely come across them? Anyone been to the BT museum at Amberely/ Sussex, found it fascinating.
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"Used to ring America back in the late 80's from work when 16 the numbers all seem to be 555????? "
No they weren't. The 555 prefix is used on American TV shows and films so that genuine phone numbers are not given out.
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Well why did it work then?
555 then random numbers it did work and we did it.
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Get thread and go and find a door knocker. Tied thread to door then hide behind a hedge and start pulling on the thread. Person would come to the door and wonder what was going on. Then as soon as the door was shut you would wait for abouts 2 secs and chap again and so on. (Had to be done at night)(Great Fun)
I have a few others but would probably bring out the tut tut brigade so I will keep them to myself.
Last edited by: bhoywonder on Thu 27 Jan 11 at 16:26
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Buckeridge set up the "knocker on a thread" scenario in one of his Jennings books. I recall Mr Wilkins the Maths master getting very hot under the collar about it all. Most amusing.
Corwumph.
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555 is a neutral code.It does not exist in the North America dialing network. By all means do an internet search and see if I'm wrong.
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>> It's a public BT line-test facility. The number is 17070 if you have forgotten it.>>
Not in the case of Cliff Pope's thread.
I well recall playing the same trick many years ago whenever we were at a friend's house or a party - used to drive the owners mad. You dialed a number (something like 46) and then put the phone down.
It would then ring as if there was an incoming call.
We used to get up to all sorts of tricks when young but, unlike many instances today, it was always mischievous rather than malicious.
Last edited by: Stuartli on Thu 27 Jan 11 at 16:38
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Maybe you meant 505? - which is the prefix for the village of Corrales in New Mexico!!
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The mischief we did as kids.... - Cliff Pope
