Enigma
An interesting Veritasium video:
source: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JsBZOcqZerk
The most interesting thing to me was the explanation of how the "cribs" were used to help manually break the code. This starts at about 26:30 into the video. A "crib" would be some boilerplate text sent in a message each time like:
source: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JsBZOcqZerk
The most interesting thing to me was the explanation of how the "cribs" were used to help manually break the code. This starts at about 26:30 into the video. A "crib" would be some boilerplate text sent in a message each time like:
WeatherReportBiscay
(but of course in German). I'd read other books about Bletchley Park but none of them ever explained in detail how this clever technique was employed. Of course it was kind of hit and miss before the clock ran out on the messages.
Since the Enigma machine never outputs the same letter that was input, the crib could be slid across the message until those same letter impossible alignments were eliminated.
One thing I wondered was whether there was a lamp test ? Old school bulbs don't last forever ! I guess you'd know something was wrong if no bulb lit up but you wouldn't know which one was kaput. According to our ever present internet oracle, yes, the Enigma did have a lamp test:
An Island connection to Enigma ? sorta: a resident of Washington Island, Clay Blair, wrote a two volume history of German U-boats during World War II which mentioned the breaking of the German Naval Enigma machines. Here's the Clay Blair wiki:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Clay_Blair
.
The books are interesting although really LONG. I have them around here somewhere.
My Dad met and got Clay Blair to speak to the Washington Island Writers Society on one occasion.
I suppose the Morse Code and codes / ciphers just go together. Ham radio wouldn't be quite as much fun if it was just blah-blah-talky-talk, Morse code is enjoyable !
And I have mentioned the secret code (cipher) of Captain Midnight before:
https://wb9kzy.blogspot.com/2022/09/kids-actually-did-de-ciphering-in-1941.html
Best Regards,
Chuck, WB9KZY
http://wb9kzy.com/ham.htm
Since the Enigma machine never outputs the same letter that was input, the crib could be slid across the message until those same letter impossible alignments were eliminated.
One thing I wondered was whether there was a lamp test ? Old school bulbs don't last forever ! I guess you'd know something was wrong if no bulb lit up but you wouldn't know which one was kaput. According to our ever present internet oracle, yes, the Enigma did have a lamp test:
An Island connection to Enigma ? sorta: a resident of Washington Island, Clay Blair, wrote a two volume history of German U-boats during World War II which mentioned the breaking of the German Naval Enigma machines. Here's the Clay Blair wiki:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Clay_Blair
The books are interesting although really LONG. I have them around here somewhere.
My Dad met and got Clay Blair to speak to the Washington Island Writers Society on one occasion.
I suppose the Morse Code and codes / ciphers just go together. Ham radio wouldn't be quite as much fun if it was just blah-blah-talky-talk, Morse code is enjoyable !
And I have mentioned the secret code (cipher) of Captain Midnight before:
https://wb9kzy.blogspot.com/2022/09/kids-actually-did-de-ciphering-in-1941.html
Best Regards,
Chuck, WB9KZY
http://wb9kzy.com/ham.htm
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