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  1. #1
    Join Date
    Jul 2011
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    USA
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    133
    Country: United States

    Default WW2 German Luftwaffe FuG25 Radio Se25 Key Coding Box & Coding Keys

    I am interested in a number of diverse areas of technology besides locks and keys, so it is a special treat when something pops up that intersects two very different areas. In this case it was my securing a WW2 German Luftwaffe FuG25 Radio Se25 Key Coding Box.

    Radar was developed for military purposes in the at 1930s & into WW2. In parallel with the development of radar was IFF (Identification Friend or Foe). I am very interested in both of these fields & collect bits of equipment from this era.

    In Germany the main development was the FuG25 radio set designed primarily for installation in night fighter aircraft. When it received pulses from German ground radar sets, it automatically sent out a response that was encoded with Morse code letters. These letters were determined by motor-driven sets of cams that activated switch contacts when they sensed lands in two keys inserted into the Se25 Coding Box. These keys were supplied to field radar technicians complete. The Morse letter for use that day was set by clipping off tabs on the keys. The Morse letters were caned frequently for security reasons.

    For further information see: [QUOTE]http://www.cdvandt.org/FuG25a-Erstling-Hans-Jucker.pdf[/QUOTE]

    Jack

  2. #2
    Join Date
    Oct 2009
    Location
    Cleveland, Ohio USA
    Posts
    1,433
    Country: United States

    Default

    Hey Jack, glad to see you're back. My father was one of the early US Army radar field techs stationed in Florida during the war. He would have found your recent acquisition very interesting. Doug

  3. #3
    Join Date
    Jul 2011
    Location
    USA
    Posts
    133
    Country: United States

    Default

    Quote Originally Posted by Doug MacQueen View Post
    Hey Jack, glad to see you're back. My father was one of the early US Army radar field techs stationed in Florida during the war. He would have found your recent acquisition very interesting. Doug
    Hi Doug & thanks!

    As you can see from the Swiss web site I posted, the Se25 was both beautiful in design & interesting in function. It's certainly a unique application of the key concept. I'm trying to upload pix of my unit but for some odd reason (inactivity?) I'm blocked from uploading pix & from editing my post despite requests to the management.

    Regarding Florida & my interest in WW2 radar developments, my late father was a radar cadet at the super-secret Boca Raton Army Airfield at the Boca Raton Club.

    Jack

  4. #4
    Join Date
    Jul 2011
    Location
    USA
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    133
    Country: United States

    Default Se25 coder box & coder key pix (hopefully)

    I think the problems I've had uploading pix has to do with my using IE7 which has known incompatibility issues with certain web sites like eBay. Using Chrome, here is my attempt to upload pix of my unit & pix from the internet of the unit with the keys inserted, a code key & the Fug25a with the Se25 coder box indicated by the red arriow.

    JackClick image for larger version. 

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Name:	My Se25 underside jpeg.jpg 
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  5. #5
    Join Date
    Jul 2011
    Location
    USA
    Posts
    133
    Country: United States

    Default Key(s) to fit Se25

    Unfortunately the code keys for the Se25 are turning out to be as rare as hen's teeth, which is no surprising when I'm looking for a relic from a major war fought 70 years ago. A major collector of the Fug25a-Se25 equipment in France has been asked & he has none extra to offer for sale. Apparently thee were reproduction keys available in the 1980s but that source has apparently dried up. My collector friend recalls seeing a mechanical drawing of the key giving dimensions but we can't locate it.

    Anyone who has access to this drawing is invited to contribute. It would be an expensive project for my local machine shop but well worth the effort.

    Jack

  6. #6
    Join Date
    Jul 2011
    Location
    USA
    Posts
    133
    Country: United States

    Default GERMAN FuG-25A ERSTLING IFF SET WITH RESPONSE CODING KEYS

    I recently purchased a complete & nearly unissued unit that included 2 of the very rare Morse Code-keying response keys. The original eBay listing is #231440138394.

    While WWII German aircraft relics are fairly common, they usually are bits salvaged from crashed or demilitarized aircraft. This example appears to be either unissued or removed from an intact aircraft. The latter option seems to be substantiated by the 2 coding keys.

    A very lucky vintage fin indeed!

    Jack
    Attached Thumbnails Attached Thumbnails Chassis nameplate.jpg   Top cover oblique with keys.jpg   Top cover oblique with keys-2.jpg   Top cover oblique with keys-3.jpg  

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