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USSR Rotor Fialka M-125-3 DDR → ← RU
Polish variant of the M-125-3 Fialka
The M-125-3MR2 (Russian: М-125-3МР2) was the version of the
M-125-3 Fialka
that was used in Poland during the Cold War. The machines were
given on a lend/lease contract with the USSR (Russia) from the early 1960s
onwards, until the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1992.
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Once the machines were decommissioned, the Russians ordered their destruction,
which took place in the late 1990s and the early 2000s.
Nevertheless, a very small number of the Polish machines have survived.
They were the first to appear on the European surplus market in 2003.
The image on the right shows the Polish variant of the
M-125-3.
It had a specific Polish keyboard layout, with some typical Polish letters,
and a country-specific print head.
Furthermore, the wheels had a country-specific wiring that was identified
by the 3K prefix on each wheel.
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The M-125-3MR2 was supplied with the
advanced power supply unit.
The Polish machines are generally in very good condition, mainly because
they have been maintained well by the Poles. In most cases, the cipher
wheels have matching numbers and all accessories are present.
Once the first batch of surplus Polish Fialka machines had hit the
surplus market, the Russians intervened and collected the remaining
machines, which were subsequently destroyed in Russia. After the initial
batch, no further Polish Fialka machines have appeared on the surplus market.
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The Polish Fialka machines (M-125-3MR2) were issued with a very
sophisticated stabilized Power Supply Unit (PSU) that contained
extra circuits to improve overall cipher security by adding extra TEMPEST
measures. The PSU is connected to the Fialka by means of two cables
(rather than one).
➤ More information
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The drawing below shows the layout of the keyboard of the Polish variant
of the Fialka. When used for communication in Russian, the Cryrillic
characters at the bottom left of each key are used. The position of the
Cyrillic characters is identical on all country-specific Fialka variants.
At the bottom right is the Polish layout of the Latin alphabet.
These letters are used in Latin-only Mode or in Mixed Mode (i.e. letter
and numbers). The characters at the top left are used in Letter-Shift
mode (i.e. after pressing A... in Mixed Mode) when typing Russian,
whilst the characters at the top right are used in Polish Letter-Shift
mode. When using the machine in Numerical Mode (i.e. the 30 ↔ 10
swtich set to '10') only the darker blue-ish keys can be used.
In this mode the characters at the top left of the keys are used,
which implies the use of the Cyrillic print head.
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Only a very small number of Polish Fialka machines have appeared on the
surplus market. Generally speaking, the Polish samples are of the highest
quality, mainly because they have been maintained so well when they were
in service. In 2003, David Hamer and Tom Perera [3]
were the first to recover the wheel wiring of the Polish 3K wheels.
It is shown in the table below:
In this table, each row represents a wheel, whilst each column
represents a single contact on a wheel. At the top of the table are
the entry contacts which are at the right side of the wheel
(i.e. the side with the spring-loaded contacts). The table itself
shows the output contacts (i.e. the left side of the wheel).
The positions of the Advance Blocking Pins are marked in red.
At the far right is the total number of Advance Blocking Pins for
each wheel.
➤ More wiring details
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The Russian M-125-3M was supplied with the same accessories as
the other M-125-3 variants, except for the spare print heads.
As the M-125-3M was a Russian-only machine, the only print head that was
used was the Mixed Mode Russian version which was present inside the machine.
As a result, the axle that holds the test reflector inside the metal dust
cover, has no room for additional print heads.
Click any of the thumbnails below for additional information.
➤ Overview of the accessories
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When testing a Polish Fialka, either as a real machine or as a simulation,
the following table might be useful when checking the wheel stepping mechanism.
Put all wheels in their default setting (i.e. ring set to 'A', matching
core with side '1' up with the mark set to 'A') and place them in the machine
in the default order: АБВГДЕЖЗИК. Now lower the ruler and set the wheels
to AAAAAAAAAA (just above the ruler).
Next, type 20 random characters on the keyboard and compare the position
of the wheels after each step with the following table:
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Wheel
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А
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Б
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В
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Г
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Д
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Е
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Ж
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З
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И
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К
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Step
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1
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2
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3
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4
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5
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6
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7
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8
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9
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10
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0
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А
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А
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А
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А
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А
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А
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А
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А
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А
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А
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1
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А
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Й
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А
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А
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А
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А
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А
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А
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Б
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А
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2
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А
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Я
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А
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А
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А
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А
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А
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А
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В
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А
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3
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А
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Ю
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А
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А
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А
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А
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А
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А
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Г
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А
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4
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А
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Ь
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А
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А
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А
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А
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А
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А
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Д
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А
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5
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А
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Ы
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А
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Й
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А
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Й
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А
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А
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Е
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А
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6
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А
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Щ
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А
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Й
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А
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Й
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А
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А
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Ж
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А
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7
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А
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Ш
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А
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Я
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А
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Й
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Б
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А
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З
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А
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8
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А
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Ч
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А
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Я
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А
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Й
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В
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А
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И
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А
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9
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А
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Ц
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А
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Ю
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А
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Й
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В
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А
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К
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А
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10
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А
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Х
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А
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Ь
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А
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Й
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Г
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А
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Л
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А
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11
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А
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Ф
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А
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Ы
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А
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Й
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Г
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А
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М
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А
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12
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А
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У
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А
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Ы
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А
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Й
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Г
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А
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Н
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А
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13
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А
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Т
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А
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Щ
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А
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Я
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Г
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А
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О
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А
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14
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А
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С
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А
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Щ
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А
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Я
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Г
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А
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П
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А
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15
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Б
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Р
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Б
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Ш
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Б
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Я
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Д
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А
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Р
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А
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16
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Б
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П
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Б
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Ш
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Б
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Я
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Д
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А
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С
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А
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17
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Б
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О
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Б
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Ч
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Б
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Ю
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Е
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Й
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Т
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Й
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18
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Б
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Н
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Б
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Ц
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Б
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Ю
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Е
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Й
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У
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Й
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19
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Б
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М
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Б
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Ц
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Б
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Ю
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Ж
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Й
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Ф
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Й
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20
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Б
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Л
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Б
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Ц
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Б
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Ю
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З
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Й
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Х
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Й
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Before the M-125-3 was introduced in the late 1960s, its predecessor,
the M-125 was used. It can easily be distinguished from the M-125-3
as its keyboard has rounded key tops whereas the key on the later machine
are square. Furthermore it only has two letters on each key: a Cryllic
one (in black) and a Latin one (in red). Furthermore these machines were
issued with the standard (non-adjustable) cipher wheels.
➤ More information about the older M-125.
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© Crypto Museum. Created: Sunday 06 July 2014. Last changed: Friday, 08 January 2021 - 08:51 CET.
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