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Electronic burst encoder - USSR
R-014D, codenamed Datchik (Датчик),
is an electronic burst transmitter,
developed in the USSR
around 1979. It was used by USSR Special Forces (SF) during the Cold War in
conflict areas like Afghanistan. It allows battlefield commands
to be transmitted in morse code
at very high speed, in order to evade
interception
and radio direction finding.
Because of the importance of the data that was sent,
the device provides advanced error-detection
and error-correction.
The R-014D was also used as part of the R-142 radio station,
commonly installed in communications vehicles.
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The R-014D is a fully self-contained device. It can be powered
by an external 4.8V DC source, such as the TE-20 PSU,
but also from the built-in battery pack. The device is
connected directly to the morse key input of a transmitter,
such as the R-130, and transmits data at 75 or 150 bps.
The image on the right shows a typical R-014D. At the front
is the keyboard that consists of 16 rubber keys.
The dark rectangle at the centre is the lamp panel that is
used when entering data.
Behind this panel is the battery compartment.
The input power supply should never exceed 5V.
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Like most Russian devices of the same era, the front panel of
the D-014D is painted hammerite grey. The case however, has
the typical Russian military yellow/green colour, indicating
that the device was also used stand-alone in the field. It was
used, for example, by the Russian Special Forces (Spetsnaz) [1]
in Afghanistan during the Soviet-Afghan War (1979-1989) [2].
According to Steven Zaloga, the R-014D was also installed in
the Russian BRM tank, the reconnaissance version of the
BMP-1 infantry fighting vehicle (IFV),
where it was used alongside the R-130 radio set [7].
Each message can be 62 digits long and consists of a 3-digit address,
followed by one or more commands, with a maximum of 59 digits.
Quintuple redundant error detection and correction (EDC) is used,
based on the Bose-Chaudhuri 1 coding scheme, to provide strong noise
immunity [8].
The duration of a transmission is 4 to 7 seconds, depending on the selected
speed (150 or 75 baud).
The R-014D is only suitable for the transmission (TX) of commands.
At the recipient's end, an R-014P
(Russian: Р-014П) device is required
to receive and decode the information.
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Bose-Chaudhuri, or Bose-Chaudhuri-Hocquenghem,
commonly known as BCH code,
is a cyclic error-correcting code constructed using finite fields. It was
invented in 1959 by Alexis Hocquenghem in France, and independently in
1960 by Raj Bose and D.K. Ray-Chaudhuri [9].
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Installing and operating the R-014D is pretty straightforward.
Power source and transmitter are connected to the sockets at
the right. The device is switched on with the black switch at
the bottom right marked ПИТАНИЕ. At the bottom left
is a 4-position rotary switch marked РЕЖИМ which is
used to select the desired mode of operation. The leftmost two
positions are used for selecting 75 baud, whilst the rightmost
two position select a transmission speed of 150 baud.
The settings '1' and '2' are used to select the appropriate
interface for the radio station in use.
Above the MODE selector is another rotary switch,
marked КОНТРОЛЬ (kontrol), that is used
in combination with the meter above for checking the internal
voltages of the device.
The lamp panel, located at the center of the device, consists
of 12 lamps, marked 0-9, П and K.
When entering a message, the lamps indicate which number
is pressed. Lamp П indicates that the space key is
pressed. When finishing a message (pressing the КЦ
key) lamp K should light up.
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The keyboard is fully waterproof and consists of 16 keys
with rubber key tops. On each key top the corresponding
number or letter is embossed. In the dark however, it might be
difficult to read the embossed characters, which is why
it is shown with white lettering in the drawing below.
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Before a (short) message can be stored in the Datchik, it first has
to be converted from letters to numbers, as the device is only
capable of storing digits. This was usually done by means of a
message substitution table or
letter matrix.
It is currently unknown which substitution scheme was used for this.
If you have any information about this, please contact us.
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- Set the mode switch РЕЖИМ to the correct position
- Press У followed by the data (numbers 0-9), 62 characters max.
- Use П to insert spaces wherever necessary (e.g. after each group)
- Press КЦ to terminate the message (if less than 62 characters are used)
- Press У + ПР to check the input (optional)
- Press У + ПЗ to send a synchronize command
- Press У + ПИ to send the message
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German radio amateur Karsten Hansky, was so kind to send us an R-014D
sound sample, that he recorded in May 2016 when sending data with his
R-014D via an R-143 (Bagulnik) radio set, on 3573 kHz at 75 baud [5].
The sound sample can be played below and can also be downloaded.
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The R-014D is suitable for sending burst messages at 75 or 150 baud,
via a variety of radio sets. The desired speed and radio set should
be selected with the MODE selector (РЕЖИМ) before starting a
transmission. The following radio sets are supported [6]:
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- R-137, R-140
- R-129, R-130, R-130-03, R-131, R-135, R-143 (Bagulnik)
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During the Cold War, most countries of the Warsaw Pact used a
variety of Russian communication vehicles and radio stations.
To allow communication in the vicinity of the vehicle (short
range) as well as over greater distances (long range), such
radio stations were often equiped with HF, VHF and sometimes
even UHF transceivers. They were commonly built inside trucks
like the GAZ-66.
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One popular radio station was the
R-142.
It consisted of a large metal frame with a variety of transceivers,
control panels, intercom systems, amplifiers and switch boxes. It
could be used stand-alone as a base station, but was often
built inside a shelter mounted on a GAZ-66.
The image on the right shows the interior of the communications
shelter. Apart from a collection of HF/VHF radios and
audio switch panels, there is room for three secret devices.
The first one is the
Fialka (M-125) cipher machine,
that is placed in the empty spot right in front of the operator.
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The diagram below shows a greatly simplfied block diagram of the structure
of the R-014D. At the left is the keyboard (yellow) that has 16 push-buttons,
10 of which are used for the digits 0-9. The output of the keyboard is
converted into a 5-bit digital code by the Encoder. To allow
error checking, each digit consists of exactly three '1' bits and two '0' bits.
The outout of the encoder is stored in a memory unit with 63 positions
(7 x 9). When transmitting, the data is read from the memory unit and
converted into a serial data stream by the serialiser (red) and then
filtered.
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The serialiser (i.e. the red block in the above diagram) converts the
5-bit data words into a serial data stream, whilst adding some level
of redundancy to it, probably to allow for error-checking and error-correction.
The 5 data bits are loaded into the first positions of a 14-stage linear
feedback shift register (LFSR 1) and will eventually appear unaltered
at the output of that shift register, with new bits (derived from the current
data) being fed in from the left. The output of LFSR 1 is added (XOR) with
the output from LFSR 2, with has 7 stages (i.e. half te size of LFSR 1).
The 5-bit codes for the digits 0-9 all have exactly three '1' bits and two
'0' bits. The codes for the space and the end of message characters,
each have exactly one '1' bit and four '0' bits. The table below shows the
encoding for each character (note that the device uses negative logic).
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Character
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bit 1
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bit 2
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bit 3
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bit 4
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bit 5
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Remark
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'1' bits
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0
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0
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1
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1
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1
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0
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3
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1
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1
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0
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1
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1
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0
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3
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2
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0
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0
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1
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1
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1
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3
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3
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0
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1
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0
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1
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1
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3
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4
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1
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0
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0
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1
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1
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3
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5
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1
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0
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1
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0
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1
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3
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6
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1
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1
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0
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0
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1
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3
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7
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1
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1
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0
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1
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0
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3
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8
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1
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1
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1
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0
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0
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3
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9
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0
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1
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1
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0
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1
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3
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Space
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0
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0
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1
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0
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0
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Пробел (ПР)
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1
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End
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0
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0
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0
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1
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0
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Конец (КЦ)
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1
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Compared to other burst encoders of the same era, the
R-014D is rather large and heavy. It was the first fully
electronic burst encoder developed by the former USSR
and it shows the state-of-technology in Russia in 1975.
In this respect, one should bare in mind that western
technology wasn't available to the Russians at the time.
Heavy use is made of first generation of Russian ICs.
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The unit can be opened by loosening the 12 bolts at the edges
of the front panel. Note that two of these bolts might be
sealed with black or red wax. If the wax is still present,
the case has not been opened after the device was released.
Once the bolts have been loosened, the entire interior can
be extracted from the case by lifting the front panel.
Despite the fact that the R-014D can hold only 62 characters
in its memory, it contains a surprisingly large number of parts.
About one-third of the volume is taken by the
battery compartment.
The rest is for the PCBs.
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The circuitry is build around a large number of first-generation
Russian Integrated Circuits (ICs) that are spread over 12
small PCBs. The PCBs are all mounted in a six-layer hinged
assembly. Despite its complexity, the R-014D is very service-friendly.
After removing the 8 long bolts that hold the PCBs together,
the stack of boards can be
'browsed' like the pages of a book.
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- Power supply: 4.8V DC +10/-15%
- Power consumption: 1.5A (receive), 2.1A (transmit) at 4.8V DC
- Memory: 62 characters
- Clock speed: 120 kHz
- Output amplitude: 5V (into 1KOhm), 10V (into 5 KOhm)
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The diagram below shows the pinout of the output connector on the front
panel of the R-014D, when looking into the socket from the front of the
device. The diameter of the connector is approx. 25 mm.
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- Relay contact (1)
- Signal out
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- Relay contact (2)
- Ground (and shield)
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Power for the R-014D is usually derived from the power supply unit that
comes with the radio, and is typically 4.8V. Alternatively, the unit can
be powered by internal batteries that should be fitted below the large
lid on the control panel. Any any case the source should not exceed 5V.
Below is the pinout of the power connected, when looking into the socket.
It has a thick pin and a thin one. The thin one is connected to ground.
The thick one to the + terminal of the battery.
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Obtained by Jim Meyer, 10 February 1996 [3].
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Kindly dontated by anonymous contributor [4].
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- Wikipedia, Spetsnaz
Russian Special Forces. Retrieved October 2013.
- Wikipedia, Soviet-Afghan War
Retrieved October 2013.
- Helmut 'Jim' Meyer, HS0ZHK, My way to Ham - Radio and beyond
Website QRZ.COM. Personal correspondence.
Retrieved June 2008.
- Anonymous contributor, Original R-014D documentation, 1975
Received June 2008.
- Karsten Hansky, R-014D sound sample
Recorded with R-143 (Bagulnik). Received May 2016.
- Jörg Drobick, Datschik Funk Schnelltelegraphie mit Verschleierung
Website Der SAS- und Chiffrierdienst (SCD). Retrieved May 2016.
- Steven J. Zaloga, BMP Infantry Fighting Vehicle 1967-94
June 2013. ISBN 9781472804556. p. 74.
- Russianarms.SU, Technical literature
Website. Retrieved May 2016.
- Wikipedia, BCH code
Retrieved May 2016.
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© Crypto Museum. Created: Monday 22 February 2010. Last changed: Saturday, 01 July 2017 - 12:12 CET.
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