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The image on the right shows a typical pair. The unit in
front is the MA-4230
morse encoder. The one at the back is the MA-4231
decoder.
Each unit measures only 175 x 120 x
50 mm and is housed in a die-cast aluminium enclosure.
It weights about 1.1 kg and a rubber gasket makes the
unit reasonably waterproof.
A special version of
the encoder with an Arabic keyboard layout, the MA-4230A,
was produced for the Iraqi Army in the period prior to
the First Gulf War. It mates with the MA-4231A
decoder. |
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Each unit has two - rather special - 5-pin
FISCHER sockets at the right side. These sockets are
used for the connection between encoder and decoder, but
also for the connection of a transceiver, a printer and
a battery charger. A complete set of units can be
connected to any standard Racal radio, by using an
appropriate audio cable.
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System using a Racal
transceiver
| When used in combination
with a Racal transceiver, power is taken directly from
the radio via the audio connector. In that case, no
external PSU is needed. Connecting the set to other
transceivers (i.e. non-Racal) is also possible. In that
case a cable without an audio connector would be
supplied by Racal, so that a suitable connector could be
mounted later.
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System using a non-Racal
transceiver
| In this situation, power
can not be taken from the radio, and an external battery
charger has to be used. This charger is generally
connected to the MA-4233 printer at the end of the
chain. It can however, also be connected to each
individual unit in turn, under the batteries are fully
charged. The following products are known in this
series:
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The MA-4230 is a small self-contained morse encoder. It
consists of a die-cast aluminium case with 40 keys and 3
LEDs on it surface. It allows messages to be stored in
its 1024 character memory, and sent in morse
code at high speed (burst), in order to minimize the
chance of interception and detection.
➤ More
information |
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The MA-4231 is an automatic morse receiver, designed to
be used either stand-alone or in combination with an
MA-4230 at the other end. In the latter case it can be
used for the reception of high speed morse transmissions
(bursts).
➤ More
information |
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This special version of the MA-4230 was made by Racal
especially for the Iraqi Army just before the first Gulf
War (1991). The MA-4230A has Arabic keys on the keypad
and forms a pair with the MA-4231A burst decoder.
The MA-4230A unit is based on the same design as
the MA-4230, except for a different keypad and different
software.
➤ More
information |
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The MA-4231
morse decoder could be expanded by an (optional)
external printer. Especially for this purpose, Racal
developed a small ruggedised thermal printer. It
connects to the decoder by means of 5-pin Fischer
connectors.
➤ More
information |
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When used in combination with non-Racal radio equipment,
the ST450076 battery charger shown on the rights was
used. It consists of a small metal frame with a
transformer, fuse and power selector. The charger can be
configured for both 115 and 230 V mains.
A short
piece of wire with a 5-pin Fischer connector, allows the
charger to be connected to the MA-4033 printer. Power is
then looped through all units by means of the 5-pin
interconnection cables. |
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When examining the dimensions of the various module, one
can't help noticing that printer is twice the size of
the encoder/decoder units. In practice, a complete set
consisting of encoder, decoder and printer could be
built inside a standard briefcase such as Samsonite and
Delsey.
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Each unit has four 3 mm threaded holes at the bottom,
allowing it to be mounted on, say, a metal base plate.
The units could be arranges as shown in the image on the
right, with the keyboard of the encoder at the bottom
right and the readout of the decoder at the top right.
In this arrangement the printer is in the right
position for ergonomic operation and all sockets are
unobstructed, allowing the cables to run freely between
the units. The charger
(if present) would be mounted in the top lid of the
briefcase. |
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- Technical Manual MA.4230
MA.4230S Morse Encoder (with Battery Charger
MA.4232)
Racal-Datacom
Limited. 1 October 1980, issue 1.10.80-100.
- Technical Manual MA.4231
Automatic Morse Receiver
Racal-Datacom Limited. 2 February 1980, issue
2.2.80-100.
- Conversion notes for the
Racal MA4230/4231
John's
Radio, Conversion from Arabic to English. Date
unknown.
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©
Crypto Museum. Created: Thursday 26 August 2010. Last changed:
Saturday, 01 July 2017 - 11:13 CET.
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.jpg "Complete set")
.jpg "MA-4230 morse encoder")
.jpg)
.jpg "MA-4230A (Arabic version)")
.jpg "Another close-up of the printer")
.jpg "Typical Fisher connector
(301076/001)")
.jpg)
.jpg "Complete set
(301073/017)")
.jpg "Complete set
(301073/016)")
.jpg "Complete set with printer open
(301073/019)")
.jpg "Operating the complete set
(301073/020)")
.jpg "Operating the complete set
(301073/021)")
.jpg)
.jpg)
.jpg)
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