An interesting typewriter-related machine

[Specter_57]

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Check this page out I just stumbled across:
http://w1tp.com/enigma/mf3dis.htm

"DISASSEMBLY OF THE MODEL M-125-3MN/-3MP3 FIALKA
Russian Cold War Era M-125 and M-125-3MN Fialka Cipher Machines"

As you can see...it has typewriter keys on it  :-) and is a model 'M' of sorts.....and is almost a steampunked machine...haha

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Enjoy.

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Spec57

[Specter_57]

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Ripster:

Yes, I belive you mentioned that book and author in a previous thread some time ago.

And also a good read, but dated, is David Kahn, "The Codebreakers".

Do try reading "Applied Cryptography" by Bruce Schneier ISBN 0-471-59756-2
This book is rather heavy and painful in mathematics; almost as if Steven Hawking does crypto for the layman. (Yeah, just like his "Brief History of Time...)


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Spec_57

[hyperlinked]

Damn, didn't know the Russians were into Mah Jong.

[Rajagra]

Of course those old machines can't compete with modern key transposition encryption schemes as used in the DAS III. :drum:

[TexasFlood]

I got to type on one of these this weekend.  Never expected to be able to do that so was kinda cool.  I'd actually seen one before but it was behind museum glass.  Good quality mechanical keyboard but not a feel any of us would really prefer.  And then there's that problem with everything being coded you know,  You could press the same key several times in a row and a different result lit up every time.

[N8N]

Where the hell is an Enigma that you can actually touch?

the novel "Cryptonomicon" by Neal Stephenson is one of my favorite works of fiction BTW...  it not only references the Enigma as an integral part of its plot, but also draws on a playing-card-based crypto system that was either developed by or referenced by Bruce Schneier (not sure; I know he wrote the afterword to Cryptonomicon but I have been meaning to read his book but have been fairly lax.)

Only Enigma I've ever actually seen was at the NSA museum, and yes, it's behind glass.  IIRC, it was made by Siemens.

[theferenc]

You can actually purchase kits that allow you to build your own enigma machine, though they can be hard to find. But there are University and government labs out there that have functional versions that are touchable, as well.

[TexasFlood]

This was a genuine, although restored, enigma machine.  It was a job related social function at a location with very limited access not open to the general public.  I consider myself lucky to have been in the right place at the right time which shows you what a geek I am.  But heck this is geekhack!  Didn't even occur to me that there might be some sort of heathkit version of it you could build yourself but guess it's not surprising.

[TexasFlood]

This was a genuine restored unit.  Seems like I've seen a couple of these in museums before but the only one I can remember clearly was at the "International Spy Museum" in Washington, D.C.  It was a unique opportunity that couldn't have been anticipated and will never happen again.  I was surprised (and still am) to see this and be able to lay hands on one and consider myself lucky to have been in the right place at the right time.  Shows you what a geek I am but heck this is geekhack!  Didn't even occur to me that there might be some sort of heathkit version of it you could build yourself but guess it's not surprising.