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Micro-Tel MSR-904 → ← MSR-902
Precision microwave receiver
- this page is a stub
MSR-903 is a precision microwave
surveillance receiver for signals in the
1 - 16 GHz frequency range, developed around 1980 by
Micro-Tel Corporation in
Hunt Valley (Maryland, USA). It was was intended for use by
signals intelligence organisations for interception
of point-to-point links
and data, such as the telemetry of Buran, the Russian
equivalent of the Space Shutte, in 1983 [1].
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The image on the right shows an MSR-903D, complete with the external
1-18 GHz tuner assembly. At its introduced in the early 1980s,
he receiver was considered an ITAR 1 item, for which a special export
licence was required.
In 1981, a West-German citizen was arrested in the US, for attempting
to smuggle an MSR-903 out of the US, with the intent to sell it in the
(then) Easter Block country of Hungary [3]. In the event, several people got
arrested and indicted.
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The German magazine Der Spiegel reported on 26 December 1983,
that several people had been arrested in Germany in connection with the
case, on the suspicion of smuggling hi-tech western military equipment
to the Eastern Block. According to the article, the MSR-903 was built
to listen to military satellites as well as to Air Force One, the US
President's technology-packed jet [5].
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According to an anonymous contributor [1], the receiver was used by the
US Army to intercept telemetry signals during the early test flights
of the USSR/Russian space shuttle Buran. Although the exterior of Buran
showed great resemblance to the US Space Shuttle, it was in fact a fully
Russian design, that was able to land fully autonomously on water or on
a standard runway [2].
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ITAR = International Traffic in Arms Regulations.
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Device Surveillance receiver Purpose Surveillance, satellite downlink, intelligence gathering Model MSR-903 Manufacturer Micro-Tel Country USA Year 1980 Frequency 1-16 GHz
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© Crypto Museum. Created: Wednesday 18 October 2017. Last changed: Saturday, 15 March 2025 - 15:56 CET.
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![MSR-903D with separate 1-18 GHz tuner [4]](img/msr903.jpg)