[GreenKeys] Re: Ancient Technology

[Don Mehl]

Don't forget the army Boehme system.  Here is an exerpt from the book
SIGTOT.
                An early method that was used in order to speed transmission
of messages was the Boehme system. The photo shows two operators at a Boehme
high-speed telegraph system.  It was later replaced.  One operator is
copying messages from a received tape while the other is preparing a tape to
transmit. It was a faster means of transmission than manual keying.  It used
Morse code but the code was manually typed onto a perforated tape and then
transmitted at 400 words per minute.  The perforated tape could be used to
relay messages. The message still had to be manually enciphered and the tape
perforated.  At the receiver, it was again manually typed from the tape and
deciphered.  Although the transmission time was less, the time required to
type, encipher, and transmit plus the receiving, typing and deciphering was
too slow and labor intensive for military communications.  This is the type
of equipment that was used to send the first report of the Pearl Harbor
attack back to the War Department in Washington D. C.  From an overall speed
of transmission viewpoint it was not satisfactory.

Don Mehjl