[GreenKeys] Crypto Equipment for Teletype

[NNN7DXB at aol.com]

Steve:

If you are (further) interested in the KL-7 (Adonis), here is a link to
a working replicator of the machine:

http://users.telenet.be/d.rijmenants/en/kl-7sim.htm

In the US Army, these were generally repaired by crypto maintenance
personnel usually with PMOS 31S20 or similar (tactical crypto equipment
repairmen).

I spent a lot of time working in CommCenters in the 60s that still had
the KL-7s. We had them up until about 1968. The reason was because
a lot of NATO countries still used them, as they, unlike the US miltiary,
did not have online crypto capabilty. The later KW-7s and SW-15s had
not yet made signficant inroads into those countries CommCenters.

In most usage, we also had the Teletype Corp HL-1 which was a 
50 wpm TD that "stepped" encrypted tapes for supposedly faster
encryption/decryption. They never worked right, and often, we had
to resort to a strictly manual operation.

There was an upgraded version of the KL-7 used by the US Navy
that was called the KL-47. Faster, but not necessarily easier to
work with. The Army got them too. Both used rotors based on a
pre-printed NSA key list and a "System Indicator". The System
Indicators told you which days code to be used, and also told
you whether it was a US-only or Allied key code. Most of the
key lists were Secret and Top Secret.

The last time I operated a KL-7 was at Frankfurt Major Relay Station
in Germany in late 1968. 

Hope this helps,

Dave in SC
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