WW2 German Spy Radio Technology

[David Dunlop]

When World War 2 broke out, for the most part, the electronics technology of the day dictated that any attempt at building a wireless set for clandestine operations was going to be a challenge: the set would be large and heavy, and so would its battery pack.

I just stumbled across the attached the other day, apparently from a recent article in ‘Electric Radio’. I called up a friend who had seen the article and he said that the article indicated Germany had been working on these Transmit Adapters in the 1930’s. The basic premise was that with one of these adapters on hand, along with a Morse key, an undercover operative only needed any commercial broadcast receiver to set up a radio link back to headquarters. A valve was simply removed from the chassis of the receiver, the Transmit Adapter inserted in the socket, the Morse Key connected and the spy was in business. Once the transmission was finished, the adapter and key were hidden, the valve replaced in the receiver and all looked normal. No heavy equipment to move about or hide. I am not sure, but I think the transmissions would have been limited to CW, or MCW only, but still an amazing bit of technology.


David