An Update to DSN's (Defense Switched Networks) by: Treephrog902 27/02/02 This will be brief, because my knowledge in this particular area is limited. However, I'm tired of the lack of 902 information in the phreak community, and I want to share my knowledge, if for no other reason than to show the rest of the Canadian phreak community that 902 doesn't need a chalk line drawn around it... yet. *grinz* All information in this text phile is for "edutainment" purposes only, and anyone stupid enough to phuck with the military gets what they deserve... One other thing; I make certain assumptions in this phile, the main one being that when the military upgrades something, then all areas (bases, outposts, command centers) get that upgrade as well. I don't think what I've seen is limited to the 2 bases that I have access to. A while back, say 3 years ago, the military did a massive overhaul of their telecommunications system. They essentially ripped the entire guts out of the thing and rebuilt it from scratch. (I'd love to know what became of the old hardware!) When they re-built, they used all the latest equipment from the civilain side of the industry. Thus, if you go into a telecom tunnel (the military puts ALL that shit underground), the equipment there is exactly the same as in any civilian apartment complex. The 2 particular bases that I visit regularly are designed almost exactly the same. Horseshoe "U" or "C" shaped buildings with all power, CATV, data and voice wiring in tunnels underneath the buildings that follow the shape of the building. The common access point is at the bottom of the horseshoe or the back of the "C". Either way, the entrance leads into a hugh boiler room, which controls heating (and only heating; portable water supply is handled much more securely) for the building. There are only 3 doors in this room; the one you just came through, leading up and outside; a large steel door off to the far right behind a HUGE ASS boiler tank, labelled "Master Telecommunications Closet" (!); and another large steel door off to your left with a VERY large sign on the door that says "WARNING: CONFINED SPACE! AUTHORIZED PERSONNEL ONLY!" Whatever. Unless you're a complete clausterphobe, you won't find the tunnels too bad. They are about 8 feet wide and 8 feet tall, but there's a gazillion wires, pipes and conduits over head, so it feels MUCH smaller. (Note: The boiler room is ALWAYS hotter than the hinges of hell, even in the middle of winter with the doors wide open, but the tunnels are actually air conditioned.) In the master telecommunications closet is the main demarcation point for the in-house wiring, and the two telco providers. This is all brand new equipment installed by the military telco guys. There is a main trunk feed coming in from the street for both outside providers, as well as a main CATV feed. This room gives you access, telephone and data wise to all the rest of the base. Continuing the nickel tour, when you enter the tunnel, you can either go left or right. Both dead-end when you run out of housing above you. There will be 3 or 4 "cages" in the inside wall at various points throughout the tunnel. These are locked with chainlink fence, a chainlink door and barb-wire accross the top 2 feet of the fence, with a metal sign attached to the door, "Telecommunications Sub-Closet XXXX", XXXX is some sort of letter/number combination. Not sure what's up with the barb-wire on the sub-closets and only a deadbolt on the master room in the boiler room, but it's the military, so phuck knows. Anyway, in the subclosets are the secondary demarcation points for telco, as well as the CATV hook-ups. Some things to note: 1) EVERYTHING is under lock and key. There's a HUGE key ring with about 20 different keys on it that we have to get every time we get an order for a phone or CATV hook-up. Only 4 or 5 of these keys are relevant to our job, but I can guess what the rest of them are for. (!) 2) Of the 50 or 60 times I have been in this area, only 4 times have there been military personel present. All 4 times I was asked for relevant ID, and some form of paperwork showing that I was supposed to be there, i.e. copy of the work order from the company I work for, saying I'm supposed to be installing a cable modem for John Doe in MOD 5, BLOCK D. or phone for Jane Doe in MOD 2, BLOCK A. 3) Of the 4 times I was stopped, none of them were while I was in the tunnel, which is fortunate for me, because before you even touch the door to the tunnel, you're supposed to be Certified in Confined Spaces work, which I am not. 4) All aspects of this phile went out the phucking window after September 11th. For a good 5 weeks after that, I was stopped at the gate, frisked, metal detectored, had my van searched, and had an escort with a LIVE M-16 for the duration of my visit. Ever seen a live M-16? It makes you move very slowly. To answer the unasked question, I was TOLD it was live WITHOUT asking. No more than 2 service vehicles were allowed into the base at any time, and if there were 2 already in there, you had to pull off to the side after the fact and wait. They have since eased up in this procedure, in that now you only have to check in at the front gate (before we used to drive right in, wave on the way by) and let them know about how long you're going to be, show them 1 piece of ID, and let them take your licence plate number. 5) I DO NOT RECOMMEND DOING ANYTHING WITH THIS INFORMATION OTHER THAN USING IT AS BEDTIME READING MATERIAL. As soon as you set foot on the base, you are no longer under the jurisdiction of the RCMP or the local cops. You are under military jurisdiction, and I've got a pretty good idea of what they'd do to someone caught phucking with their shit. Have phun, and treat the military the same way you would treat a bear in the wild; admire it from afar, and be ready to play dead at a moments notice. Tha 'Phr0g