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Data NL Philips ← Ecolex X
Data encryption device
- wanted item
Ecolex 20 was a data
encryption/decryption device developed by
Philips Usfa BV in Eindhoven (Netherlands) in the mid-1980s.
It was aimed as the successor to the Ecolex-X, but
according to some reports it was never taken into production.
Nevertheless, it was listed in the 1986 edition of Jane's Military
Communication
[2]
as the Dacolex 15.
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The image on the right shows one of the rarest pictures ever taken of the
Ecolex 20. The device is shown here aside the UA-8293 Line Interface Unit.
It is probably one of the early prototypes.
The unit has a numerical keypad at the front and a red alpha-numerical display
immediately above it. Below the keypad is the power switch and the standard
NATO U-229 socket for connecting a key-fill device,
such as the KOI-18
or the KYK-13.
All keys can be wiped from memory by pressing the ZEROIZE key that is hidden
behind a red flap at the top left.
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The Jane's catalog contains the following description:
[2]
Dacolex 15 is an automatic data encryption/decryption equipment for on-line use
in full-duplex, half-duplex and simplex data and telex links, including cable,
microwave, troposcatter, satellite, HF/VHF/UHF radio and TDM circuits.
It can be used with terminal equipment which accepts and presents asynchronous
data (ITA 2, 50 to 300 bits/s or ITA 5, 100 to 9600 bits/s) or synchronous data
(up to 32 kbits/s).
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Apparently, the Ecolex 20 could also be used in combination with a remote
control panel. The image on the right shows the keyboard of such a control
panel, that has recently surfaced. It has keys for the selection of the
appropriate key and for switching between crypto and plain.
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- Philips Usfa BV, Ecolex 20 stock photograph
Crypto Museum Archive.
- Jane's Military Communication 1986
ISBN: 0-1706-0824-1
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© Crypto Museum. Created: Sunday 16 January 2011. Last changed: Friday, 17 February 2023 - 12:32 CET.
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