\.Ee en Jl_illion Code~ Ar~ ifflern)A2136a1 

1l '· 'By ·rngle Electnc~l Machine· - .. .. .• ;v' 

I

. N ted Device Is Capabl§. ot..~l',881,376 Changes I . Through Use of Ty t,vlt>"ter' Key Wheel. 

By ii. H. DUN~ rded after the first hour of use, and 

(Popular Mechanics Magazine.) some of the ·code messages we1·e not 

New York, Dec. 21.-It ·18 written deciphered· for three ·days after t.hat 

first hour. In a recent ·l!hil.m battle 

off San J:)lego, the· records sllow that 

It was nearly six. months before some of the code messages sent during thl11 

naval "engagement" were reduced to 

understandable English. That .. ls to 

say, the code as used lit written mes· sages during . the wa1· of. sixty· years 

ago, and the radio codes used dui:lng 

I In the .. chronicles or the Clvll 'Var 

that a. <)Ode mcssag.e sent by Gene~al 

rant to Washington has not yet bee\n 

cJphEd. It ts lrnown that In thi' 

·•al agement off .Jutland, in th 

rl'd r, the rode system was di · .. -j·····..... . ; -· . I 

the late war,· were not a~ways, nor uniformly, succes'sful.' ..... 

For this reason, unusual interest at· 

tac hes to. patents recently Issued ,to. a.'. 

Californian·; Edward H. Hebern. of~ 

Oakland, ·for n code-sending and re· celving machine, for use with either 

wire or wireless. 'l'his machine sends 

its messages in a code .which Is capa. ble of 11;ss1,3iG changes, so that It Is 

possible, by working all of these· al· 

terations. to obtain and use on this one .machine a practically' unlimited 

number of different codes, the key to 

any one of which ls not the l{ey to 

any either oqe. The operator of the 

sending machine writes his mes,sag,· In 

plain' Eitglish, on the keyboard, Just as he· would write them on the type· 

writer. By means of a "master wheel," or "key wheel," these messages are sent, by wire or radio, In a code whiCh 

this wheel writes. 

The receiving machine- at. the other . d-sendin-g -and TI!Cl!tv1n!r·nppannus'- belng combined into one machine 

smaller than a typewriter-receives the wire· or wireless messages In code, 

and presents them to the operator at 

that end spelled out on- an illumina;ted 

keyboard, .. · In plain English again. 

' That Is, the message is ·written 16to 

the machine, put into code by the ma- chine, transmitted in code, decoded.. by the receiving machine. and presented 

to the receiving (>prator 418 originally 

written 'by the sender without. poss!· blllty ot error. If any machine yet de· 

vised can think: this one does, or seems. so to do. .In appearance, it is 

!'lot · untike one of the. early phono- graphs, .records for which. were made on wax · cylinders, instead of. on Vat disks~· The.re .. 1s, however, no wax cylinder, comw,s'.itlon dls{i, or other 

recording .attachment. Whatever is 

se1't Into 'the' machine is' buried with· 

In It, as.!f9!>!1. !i-11 t~e ~11-!!~er wheel has 

coded th~, ~'l!!!iO,$'e and .sent It on. Its 

11ray alo,~g, t1;1e, ,'\fires or through ~he 

ether. , · 

The secret o'{ Hie lnvenHon is In the 

master wheel, a. small speol, not unlike 

that on which typewriter ri'bbons are wound,· containing twenty-six aper· 

turesoln .either side, and a s.lmilar num- ber In· the rim, the whole wheel being 

about three Inches In diameter. Each ~tter Is wired in combination .with 

other letters, the who,le machine l;lelng electrleally operated, ·and It· Is . in this 

.wiring that the secret of the lnstru1 

ment lies. The receiving operator has 

racked In front of. him any number ·ot 

these spools ·or wheels, wired to cor· _ respond to a. similar .number of othe.r 

wheels. Letters common to two sp()ols are first sen(: by these the. receiving opera~r kn<>)'l'S wbich wheel Is being. 

used to send, and drops fnto th!! ma.· chine the similarly wired spool from 

his rack; Only two · spoQls simlla'.rly 

wired "will work together •. 

@'pp roved for Release by NSA on 09-13-2013 pursuantto E .0. 1352a 
Abiu.rhi.te secrecy ot co:tnmunlcatlon 

an<l at tJ;i.e 1111-me time eUminatlqn of. 

the exceedingly slow task of decoding • ehi~.Ol"»-te conventloas Buch as now ·e¥ht, Is claimed for & code machine, 

flu! teats of which will be ma.de 

wh.en the n&vy hol4s joint maneuvers 1~ c.ar~bt>ean w.ater11 neoitt month. · The machine is smaller t~n the 

,stan4.f.rd typewriter· a.ncf wc!g-hs less, 

bu.t ls said to be capable of 12,008,000 

i,llfer.ent eombl,natlons Of COdH. 'l'he 

most startling thJng, those who have aeen tt -.y, ls tha.t the orlg-.fn&l me.- ea.gs written out on the keyboard In· 

.plain Engl!sh and Is received. in the , same luc!4 for.m. While It Is belni5 

1 ti'ap,smjtted throulr'h the air osi wire- : leu WIJ.Ves, however, It· Is locke.d lly ! •uto.mattc action In ,. com binatlon : wl).Jeh only the recelvln.- m.ac}llne at 

$he other •.nd c~m solve. 

'l'he Inventor ot the m•chlne eta.Ima 

message pleked up In the air· and ._.t e:YeSI given unlimited ttme code 

e;spert& could not work out a simple p;actida! tests ba.ve so rar' backed up h! 1 COJltentten. · · .. ~·-·- . - ---~---·-· ···-

REF ID:A273681 
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