Great explanation Norm. Thanks. There is also a pretty good article with pictures and a simple schematic at the web site:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Enigma_machine Ed on Angel Louise, lying Ft Myers till Monday or Tuesday On Sat, Feb 26, 2011 at 2:02 PM, [email protected] <[email protected]> wrote: > > > The enigma machine did not use cams; they were rotating switches. > > The enigma machine consisted of a number of wheels (starting at four > wheels, but the number increased as the war went on to add complexity to > the hash), a mechanical keyboard with electric contacts on the keys, a > patch panel with a number of jacks and jumper cables somewhat like an old > telephone switchboard, and an output of lamps with letters and numbers on > them. There were also books and tables involved. > > Each wheel was about two inches in diameter and a half-inch thick. Each had > a set of characters on the outside of the circumference and electrical > contacts elsewhere for each character, both input and output contacts. > Each wheel had a different name because each different wheel's input points > were wired differently to each output point. > > The keyboard's electrical output went to the first wheel's input contacts, > then through every wheel and out one of the last wheel's output points to a > character lamp on the top of the unit. The patch panel was also in the > path somewhere. The electrical path through the stack of wheels was > determined by the position and internal wiring of each wheel. In addition > the wheels rotated somewhat like an odometer each time a keyboard key was > pressed. > > To encode, the machine was set up with the proper wheels in the proper > positions, set to the proper start points, and the jumpers in the patch > panel set to the proper positions. When each keyboard key was pressed (to > encode each character of each five-letter group) an electrical path was > made from the keyboard key, through each individual wheel, through the > jumper panel and to a character lamp which was the encoded output. > Decoding used a similar technique. > > The machine was actually invented in Germany before the war for commercial > communications to keep secrets from the competition and was later adapted > and enhanced by the military. > > An early simpler version of the machine was used by the German Army during > the invasion of Poland. These messages were interecepted by the Poles who > created a copy of the enigma machine by reverse engineering from the > deciphered messages. They then proceeded to build an automatic deciphering > machine. Unfortunately the British mostly turned their backs on these > Polish experts when some of them managed to escape to England. > > The submarine versions were the most complex and became more so as the war > went on. I seem to recall that most later messages were sent stateside to > be deciphered by early generation computers there. > > I also recall that the Allies did not spend enough effort on their own > enciphering so the Germans also had great success deciphering Allied > messages. > > Jan and I read the book "The Enigma Machine" to each other while on road > trips several years ago so I am sure some of my details are wrong. > > Finally, the book claimed the first programmable electrical computers were > made in England for deciphering enigma messages, but all 13 were destroyed > so that these cutting edge machines would not fall into evil hands > (probably the Soviets). > > Just think of how much more brilliant Ben would be now if one had been > smuggled into Russia! > > > Norm > S/V Bandersnatch > Lying Julington Creek FL > N30 07.68 W081 38.4 > > > >> What you're describing with the cams on that old mechanical computer > sounds >> an awful lot like the WWII Enigma cypher machine the Wehrmacht used and > many >> movies were made highlighting the Allies successful aquisition of it. If > I >> remember correctly, that machine "created" codes by the movement (from a >> keystroke) of a cam inside the machine. > > > > _______________________________________________ > Liveaboard mailing list > [email protected] > To adjust your membership settings over the web > http://liveaboardonline.com/mailman/listinfo/liveaboard > To subscribe send an email to [email protected] > > To unsubscribe send an email to [email protected] > The archives are at http://www.liveaboardonline.com/pipermail/liveaboard/ > > To search the archives > http://www.mail-archive.com/[email protected] > > The Mailman Users Guide can be found here > http://www.gnu.org/software/mailman/mailman-member/index.html > -- Ed Kelly sailing vessel ANGEL LOUISE - Catalac 12m Skype Cell telephone: 202-657-6357 [email protected] _______________________________________________ Liveaboard mailing list [email protected] To adjust your membership settings over the web http://liveaboardonline.com/mailman/listinfo/liveaboard To subscribe send an email to [email protected] To unsubscribe send an email to [email protected] The archives are at http://www.liveaboardonline.com/pipermail/liveaboard/ To search the archives http://www.mail-archive.com/[email protected] The Mailman Users Guide can be found here http://www.gnu.org/software/mailman/mailman-member/index.html
