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TO: AFSA-35 FROM: AFSA-351 DATE 29 August 1951 COMMENT NO. 2) 

Mr. Dumay .· 

1. Noted. 

·2. Suggest that this report be forwarded·to AFSA-31. 

·To: . AFSA-03 ·FROM: AFSA-14 

A. I. DUMEY 

Head, Design and Procedures Branch 

DATE: 3 Oct 51 COWE NI' NO • .3 

CDR S. E. Hazslett/60.389 

1. Although the subject apparatus is.intended for use prim~rily on low echelon 

wire circuits the probability' of its. use under circumstances of interest to AFSA is 

not considered so small as to wa.r~ant neglect of precautionary measures by AFSA in 

advance of such actual use. 

2 •. ·I, therefore, strongly recommend that AfSA-0.3 initiate procurement action 

for at least a minimum quantity of the subject apparatus as listed below and make 

a thorough evaluation of its security features. ·· 

a. 2 - Te.lecrypto Apparatus Type TKG 5/14 according to de~cription No. 163e equipped for -~ 5 and 14 pulse operation. 

b. 2 ~.Stationary ETK tape tele"W!iter according to data sheet GR tg 001. 

c. 21 - Carrier Frequency Attachment (TFA) according to data sheet GR tg OJOa. 

l!\pQroved for Release by NSA on 11-19 2014 pursuantto E .0. 1352a 
TO: AFSA-0.3 

REF ID:A41485BO 

I I . 

r 

· )FROM: .. AFSA-14 

SUBJECT: Report of Trip to Wright Air 

Development Center·Re: Gretener Telewriter 

(Cont'd) 

DATE: J OCt 51 C OMMEN!' NO. J 

d.- 1 - Converter 5/14 accordi~g to d~ta sheet GR tg Ube. 

. J~. Further details concern;ing this appa_ratus are ava~lable in the files of the 

A:FSA Technical Library. 

' ··. 

THOS. H~ DYER 

Captain, USN 

Chief, Training Division 
AFSA-351 

AFSA-.35 

AFSA-J51C/55· 

AFSA-OJlE 

AFSA-0.3Al 

AFSA-03 

IN TURN 

REF ID:A4148580 

Report of Trip to Wright Air Development Center 

.Re; Gretener Telewri tar ' 

AFSA-.351C 27 August 1951 

W.R. Turner, Jr./408 

1. Mr. D. H. Shepard, AFSA-206, and I visited the· communication and Navigation 

Laboratory of the Air Materiel Command at Wright Air Development Center, 23 August, 

to view a demonstration of the ETK Telewriter equipment developed by the Swiss firm of 

Dr. Edgar Gretener. In the absence of Mr. Weaver, t}e Head of the Section which 

procured the telewriter, Mr. Lawson demonstrated the equipment and answered our 

questions concerlling it. 

2. The model now at Wright Field is the portable tape printer. Mr. Lawson said 

that a contract has been placed to procure two of the· page telewriters. The equipment 

is quite s\mall and very nicely built. It seems to be quite rugged, and according to 

Mr. Lawson, it is highly reliable. Te:sts conducted at Wright Field have demonstrated 

that its speed of operation is fifty words per minute, and not sixty as alleged in the 

advertising. Setup time of a transmitter and receiver is practically nil when a 

· telephone line connection is used. The mechanics of handling a transmission are extremely 

simple, so t~at an untrained operator could readily during a triephone conversation 

cut in the telewriter, cut it out, and resume conversation. This mode of use is 

Dr. Gretener' s principle sales agrument. The quality of the output from the 

point of view of resolution and legibility is excellent. The basic set of components 

from which the alphabetical and numerical characters are formed has been well selected 

and only one character, the letter J, offers any difficulty to the reader, and that 

only on first encounter. Mr. Lawson said that the equipment had been used on VHF 

circuits to determine the quality of the received message under various circumstances 

of distortion and interference. He said that the transmission had been successful and 

that no unrecoverable garbles had occurred until the distance between transmitter and 

receiver bad been increased to approximately the VHF range limit. 

J. Mr. Lawson said that officially he knew nothing whatever about the security 

equip.ment a.nd that he was not supposed to talk about it. He said that unofficially he 

knew of its existence, and he knew that the Air Force Security Service knew of its 

existence. He knew of no plans to procure it. 

4. I believe that the cognizant organizations within AFSA mig~t well be interested in obtaining (1) two of the transmitter receiver sets, (2) two converters to 

convert the output to 5-baud form, and (J) two of the security equ1pments for examlnationo 

I base this partly on the novelty of the system, partly on its small size, partly on 

its conveniency and simplicity of operation, and partly on the possibility that some 

poor country may find it convenient to use for privacy purposes. On the last, I could 

not get an expression of opinion from Mr. Lawson, but I concluded that he and 

·, others in the Laboratory were somewhat surprised that the use of this equipment had 

\not spread. · \ 

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.· /p/ Warren H. Turner, Jr. 

/t/ WARREN H. TURNER, Jr. 

Head, Design and Modification Sention.