All people up on this conference had this capability, similar to having "Root access" to Ma Bell. I would say, try... KP-209-042-ST and tell me what you think THAT is!! Others would then explain what it might be. We got up on this thing just about every evening, like it was an exclusive club of dedicated hackers, exploring and learning the system, it's code infrastructure and other strange things.

If we found a sick trunk, we would contact the test board in that area, and point out the problem and report it. We found LOTS of stuck tandems, or other faulty equipment and didn't hesitate to report it, and was responsible for helping Ma Bell maintain this huge labyrinth of equipment. We would get the Ma Bell workers to say "We've been trying to trace down that stuck tandem for months, how did you find it?". After a while, we got to know a lot of internal employees, and were invaluable in helping them track down difficult problems.

All the time, we led them to believe that we worked for Ma Bell, but were evasive when asked what office we were from. As we got to know and trust some Bell system employees we told them we were outsiders and how we got into the system. They were intrigued of course, but didn't report us (As far as we know).

Day after day, I would have the 2111 conference up on the speaker as I was tinkering with all my electronic stuff, listening to the fascinating discussions about trunking codes, but said as little as possible, but contributed new codes as I found them. Thus was born Cap'n Crunch, after a whistle that sounded at the 2600 pitch if the 3rd hole is glued up.

Another whistle came on the scene as well. A few years later, Oscar Meyer Wiener Whistles also became instantly popular among the 2111 folks.

Phone hackers in SF and Marin had it SUPER easy to get into 2111. It turns out that Vancouver system uses the old pulse dial system, and pulses of 2600 Hz tone was all that was required to dial into 2111. Just dial 604-555-1212 (or any number in Vancouver) and just before they answer, whistle into the phone a long note. You would hear a chirp and then a soft hiss. Toot the whistle twice quickly (for the 2), then once separated by a second or so, then 2 more times, and you were IN the conference.

Places south of San Francisco couldn't access the 604 tandem because for some reason, all calls dialed from San Jose were routed through Sacramento, so when we tooted the crunch whistle, we would "Drop onto" a Sacramento trunk which wasn't responsive to the 2600 pulses. Only MF tones would work.

More and more phone freaks (as they called themselves) would get on this legendary conference, as news of this new information spread out, and other clever methods to access 2111 were discovered.

During this time, there was 1 person in Long Island, one in Memphis, 3 in LA, 3 in Seattle, one in San Rafael, and 5 in San Jose. It stayed this way for months, until one day I got a call from Woz.