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Under construction
This section of the website deals with a variety of morse keys – generally
hand-operated switches – that were used for the transmission of single-bit
messages in morse code. Although it is neither the
intention nor the wish
of Crypto Museum to build a complete collection of morse keys,
they were commonly used with Special Forces radios, and with the spy radio sets
of WWII and the Cold War.
For this reason, the morse keys found with the
equipment in our collection are listed here.
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Hand-operated morse keys on this website
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Semi-automatic morse keys on this website
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This miniature morse key was issued by the German Army
during WWII, and was intended for use by special forces
and by clandestine radio networks of the
Abwehr.
The body is made of Bakelite and consists of two parts – a base
and a case shell – that are held together by a hinge at the rear.
It usually had a 2-pin plug at the end of the cable. Some mouse
keys were reused after the war, such as the one shown here,
which was used with the
Belgian RST-101 spy radio set.
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The miniature morse key shown in the image on the right was
developed in the late 1950s by the
Hans Widmaier company
in Munchen (Germany), especially for the German intelligence
service, the
Bundesnachrichtendienst (BND).
The key was used with stay-behind radio sets, such as the
3WU and the 12WG. Any further information about its use is welcome.
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This miniature morse key was made in (former)
Czechoslovakia, and was used during
the Cold War with a variety of
Czech spy radio sets.
It was commonly embedded in
the radio itself or in the accessories box, and has an arm that can be stowed
by folding it sideways. Some radio sets that are known to have been used with
this morse key, are listed below.
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Pivoňka was a universal solid-state battery-powered automatic morse
keyer, developed in the early 1960s in Czechoslovakia, for use by the
secret state police (StB). It was used with a number of
Czech Cold War spy radio sets,
including NEPTUN, NEPTUN II and LIPAN.
This keyer is also known as TI-509 and as OTA.
➤ More information
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The image on the right shows an early prototype of the Pivoňka
keyer featured above. It is housed in a bakelite enclosure with a transparent
bottom panel, and has a different layout than the final version, but uses
the same circuit.
The prototype was made in the early 1960s, when transistor were greadually
becoming available. Like the final version, it is powered by two 1.5 AA-size
batteries.
➤ More information
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Japanese Air Force Morse Key No. 1
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This key was widely used during WWII
by the Japanese Air Force,
in bombers, reconnaissance planes and transport planes, often together
with a Model 99 Tobi Mk.3 radio station, where it was commonly
bolted to the table [1].
The key is housed in a dark brown bakelite box with a hinged lid,
and is mounted on a wooden base.
According to the identification plate
fitted on the wooden base,
the one shown here has serial number 21031, and was made in October
1943 by the Tokyo Radio Electric Co., Ltd.
➤ More information
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This miniature morse key was embedded with Japanese communications
equipment of WWII — probably a field telegraph set, or a portable radio
device, such as a spy radio set.
The key is constructed in such a way that
– when collapsed – the arm
can be lowered by pulling the metal lip in front of the black bakelite knob.
Once the arm is in horizontal position, as shown in the image,
a spring keeps it in place.
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Morse keys on other websites
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Any links shown in red are currently unavailable.
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© Crypto Museum. Created: Monday 12 August 2019. Last changed: Thursday, 01 April 2021 - 10:32 CET.
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