[GreenKeys] Crypto machines

[Brooke Clarke]

Hi John:

Are you subscribed to the Crypto Collectors mailing list?
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/cryptocollectors/

There has been discussion on a number of the U.S. rotor machines recently.
Jerry Proc has many machines on his web pages at:
http://jproc.ca/crypto/
the ECM at:
http://jproc.ca/crypto/ecm2.html

My crypto page is:
http://www.prc68.com/I/crypto.shtml
and crypto machines page:
http://www.prc68.com/I/CryptoM.shtml


Have Fun,

Brooke Clarke, N6GCE
http://www.prc68.com

surplus1 wrote:
> Hello Everyone,  I was responsible for the ECM machines on the Battleship
> North Carolina BB-55 during WW2..   The ones that we used were the Mark VII.
> They had seven rotary wheels in them, operated electro-mechanically.  These
> were changed every hour using predetermined order.  The first two and the
> last two five letter groups in the message were used to start or stop the
> decoding or incoding.  I saw one machine advertised years ago at a very
> large price.  The people on the North Carolina have borrowed one to use as a
> display so if you are around Wilmington, NC  you can probably see it.  I
> can't tell you about the operation as long ago (1943) I made a solemn
> promise never to discuss this with anyone.  I guess that after 66 years it
> might be O.K.  Really enjoy reading the chats on GreenKeys.  John in WV
> 
> ----- Original Message -----
> From: "John Nagle" <nagle at animats.com>
> To: <greenkeys at mailman.qth.net>
> Sent: Monday, July 13, 2009 9:18 AM
> Subject: Re: [GreenKeys] Enigma machines
> 
> 
>>> Date: Mon, 13 Jul 2009 09:42:54 +0100
>>> From: "Craig Sawyers" <c.sawyers at tech-enterprise.com>
>>> Subject: Re: [GreenKeys] Fwd: GIZMAG & ENIGMA
>>>> Does anyone know of selling prices of Enigma machines?
>>>>
>>>> I seem to remember one selling for twenty thousand or so a while back.
>>     I've had the opportunity to operate an Enigma machine.
>> Someone had a museum's machine on loan, and they brought it by
>> Stanford about ten years ago.
>>
>>     The thing has the worst keyboard feel of anything ever built.
>> You don't type on it, you push down keys with almost 1" of travel,
>> and you're pushing against heavy resistance.
>> The machine is powered by the key presses, which advance the rotors
>> mechanically.  The only electrical parts are contacts, lamps, and
>> battery.
>>
>>     The reason it only has three rotors is that if they added more, the
>> key forces required would be hopelessly high.  There was a 4-rotor
>> Enigma variant, but that never caught on.  Machines with more
>> rotors were built, but they were motor-driven, not manual, and
>> the WWII-vintage ones were bigger than a Teletype model 15.
>>
>>     They'd run into the limits of what one could build as a portable
>> mechanical device.
>>
>> John Nagle
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