
German WW2 code machine found on eBay - mhb
http://www.bbc.com/news/uk-36401663
======
Animats
If all they found was the teleprinter, and not the crypto machine, this isn't
a big deal. That is just the Lorenz version of the Teletype Model 14 tape
printer, built under license. These are not that rare. I have three of the
Teletype Corp version. (One is in operation right now at the Clockwork Alchemy
Steampunk Convention in San Jose. Visit the Telegraph Office there today.) The
crypto machine part is separate; it's a big electric-powered rotor machine,
like an Enigma with more rotors. This tape printer may be special because the
serial numbers match a historic crypto machine, which museum types care about.

Here's my overhaul of the Teletype Corp. version.[1] Here's a Lorenz version
someone else has.[2] Here's Bletchley Park's set, with the crypto unit and the
teleprinter.[3]

After I got my first Model 14, I had the paper tape they need made by a
company in China. The minimum order was 500 rolls, so I sometimes sell paper
tape to museums. (I tried US manufacturers first. Either they didn't want a
small order, wanted a very high price, or the edge quality of the paper was so
bad the tape would jam.)

[1]
[http://www.aetherltd.com/refurbishing14.html](http://www.aetherltd.com/refurbishing14.html)
[2]
[http://www.teleprinter.net/english/inhalt/t2.shtml](http://www.teleprinter.net/english/inhalt/t2.shtml)
[3]
[http://cryptomuseum.com/crypto/lorenz/sz40/img/301491/000/fu...](http://cryptomuseum.com/crypto/lorenz/sz40/img/301491/000/full.jpg)

~~~
Animats
From [1]: _“We saw the swastika and then we noticed one of the keys was
devoted to the double lightning bolt symbol of the SS.”_

Now that's a Baudot/ITA2 character set variation I haven't seen. There's
already USTTY, ITA2, weather symbols, fractions (⅛, ¼, ⅜, etc., for stocks),
versions with £ instead of #, and versions with a pilcrow. (¶). But I've never
heard of a double lightning bolt symbol.

Unicode has a single lightning bolt (Stack Overflow cannot handle this) up in
the astral planes with the new emoji. But no double lightning bolt. I suppose
a request for that now has to go into the Unicode consortium.

[1] [http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2016/05/29/hitlers-top-
secre...](http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2016/05/29/hitlers-top-secret-coded-
messaging-machine-snapped-up-for-950-af/)

~~~
bct
It's not a lightning bolt, it's the rune ᛋ.

~~~
Animats
I suspect the "double lightning bolt" is just a glyph to print for end of
line, for CR or LF. A tape printer doesn't do anything special for CR or LF,
but some of them print something. One of my machines prints "=", and one
prints an oversized comma. There's no standard for that.

------
userbinator
_But one key part is still missing and volunteers are still searching for it.

"It looks like an electric motor in black casing with two shafts on each side,
which drive the gears of the Lorenz machine," explains volunteer John Wetter.

Volunteers hope the public will look out for it and if all else fails are
hoping someone might want to build them a new one until they find it._

If it's just a dual-shaft motor with nothing else special about it,
fortunately those are widely available:

[http://www.surpluscenter.com/New-
Arrivals/1600-RPM-115-VAC-D...](http://www.surpluscenter.com/New-
Arrivals/1600-RPM-115-VAC-DUAL-SHAFT-FAN-MOTOR-1-40-HP-10-2838.axd)

~~~
Marazan
I think they are looking for original parts.

------
mevile
I get that Museums aren't well funded but I feel like ten quid isn't enough
value being returned to the owner. That owner didn't know what they had and
was taken advantage of, even if it was for a good cause. I hope their name
becomes part of the story of the device at least.

~~~
ChuckMcM
I understand your emotion but consider it from the owner's point of view. It
was _junk_ taking up space, now they have 10 quid and more space. They are
_quite happy_. Sure that junk "might" have been valuable but if you go down
that road you end up a hoarder thinking someday velvet paintings of elvis are
going to be really really valuable.

She could have taken it to the local Antique store and had it evaluated, or
asked the museum about it, but instead did what many do, throw it up on Ebay
and see if anyone wants it. She's happy, the museum is happy, that really is
all that counts here.

~~~
MrJagil
I think the problem is the phrasing. "Keep the change" sounds like they
exploited her ignorance and ran off with a bargain. It's just not how most
people want things to be. Despite the logic of the situation, it doesn't
_feel_ right. Attributions are free.

Further, though, there are some practical considerations. If they'd shown her
appreciation, future dialogue about how it got there, clues to the motor etc
should be easier to develop- they obviously asked, but no reason to
potentially burn any bridges.

~~~
ChuckMcM
I largely agree, but I note that we're reading the BBC's retelling of a story
told to them, so we don't really have a good handle on how the transaction
went down with the owner.

I have related experience with finding items to add to my DEC VAX collection.
I've found equipment that would sell for a premium to one of the folks who
maintain old computers for companies, and the owner has offered it up to me
for a few dollars. I always tell people in that situation what we're looking
at and often they are just glad to see it going to a good home rather than
wasting away in their closet/basement/storereoom. Sometimes they will decide
to try to sell it for more elsewhere.

In this particular case, the historical value is high, but the number of
people who would pay more than 9.5 pounds for it is probably in the single
digits. Remember it's only a part of a larger artifact. Further, _they found
it on ebay_ so others had the opportunity to see it and bid on it. In the past
I've found that things really do find their "market" price on ebay and
sometimes that is very different from what either the seller or the buyer
thinks should be the market price.

Finally there is the question of "value." It would be fun and cool to have an
ancient encryption device, but what is that "worth" to you? So many times I've
met people who kept old computers when they were enjoying them (high value)
and then discarding them after the excitement/fun has worn off. Cleaning out
and disposing an in-law or relative's estate after a long life is also really
useful for internalizing cash value vs sentimental value.

Really the best you can hope for is that both parties are satisfied with the
transaction. This person in the story might be looking forward to visiting the
artifact in a museum some day.

I'm not trying to argue that there aren't people who would exploit an
imbalance of information in a market to profit at the expense of others. Hedge
funds are full of people like that. I'm just saying that from what we've heard
in this story, both parties seem happy with the transaction. The BBC could
always follow up with a phone call to the owner and say "If you knew what it
was would you have asked the museum for more money?" Only then do we have
enough information to consider whether or not the museum was being exploitive.

~~~
MrJagil
All valid points.

Interestingly, I just remembered that we in Denmark have a law called
"Danefæ"[0], which states that the government has claim on all found
"treasure". Here you can read what is "danefæ" (i.e. claimed)
[http://natmus.dk/salg-og-ydelser/museumsfaglige-
ydelser/dane...](http://natmus.dk/salg-og-ydelser/museumsfaglige-
ydelser/danefae/hvad-kan-vaere-danefae/). As the law is mostly written with
ancient, dug-up items in mind a contraption such as the one in question would
not be covered. It's interesting though, how it would solve the moral dilemma.

It's surprisingly hard to find information on this in english; do the
states/UK have a similar setup? (your DEC VAX collection obviously wouldn't be
covered (yet))

[0] [http://natmus.dk/salg-og-ydelser/museumsfaglige-
ydelser/dane...](http://natmus.dk/salg-og-ydelser/museumsfaglige-
ydelser/danefae/)

~~~
stordoff
The UK has a broadly similar scheme for buried treasures under the Treasure
Act 1996. IIRC, it only covers items more than 200 years old.

[1]
[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Treasure_Act_1996](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Treasure_Act_1996)

------
ck2
If someone is holding a bar of gold but thinking it is just foil wrapped
chocolate and offers to sell it to you for $10

but you know it is real gold and say "okay here's $10"

is that honest and moral?

------
smoyer
The description of the "missing motor" sounds more like the motor-transmission
assembly. Since the identification plate on the motor looks standard, if they
find an identical part number, it may be for the motor only. Is there any
chance of getting clear pictures or the motor-transmission from numerous
angles (and including all identifying marks)?

~~~
Animats
That's a special motor and drive train for the cyphering unit. Here's one with
the motor.[1] The cypher unit has two selectors - the two curved mechanisms on
the top front. Those are mechanical UARTs, serial to parallel converters, and
they're the same design used in Teletype machines from 1924 to 1959. Those
need power from a driveshaft. The same motor drives both, which is why there's
a special motor with a shaft out each end and two right-angle reduction drive
gearsets. That's not a standard teleprinter part.

The wheel with the black and white bars is a centrifugal governor. The speed
is adjustable, and you use a special tuning fork with a shutter to calibrate
the speed. This is a standard Teletype motor feature for when you can't rely
on AC power line frequency.

It's still not clear if this find included the crypto unit, or just the
teleprinter. If they actually found a crypto unit, this is a big deal. Those
were very rare.

[1]
[http://cryptomuseum.com/crypto/lorenz/sz40/img/301491/000/fu...](http://cryptomuseum.com/crypto/lorenz/sz40/img/301491/000/full.jpg)

------
n72
"We said 'Thank you very much, how much was it again?' She said '£9.50', so we
said 'Here's a £10 note - keep the change!'"

Kind of a dick move.

------
chiph
Note the 5 transfer bars to the right of the printing mechanism. It almost
certainly used the European variant of the Baudot code.

------
egberts5
I am wondering if the removal of the motor is some form of temporary disabling
of the unit in question.

------
anf
But how does it work?

~~~
bboreham
[https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lorenz_cipher](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lorenz_cipher)

