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EMU Racal MA-4200
The unit is housed in a die-cast aluminium enclosure with two 5-pin
Fisher connectors
at the right hand side and all controls at the top surface. The
control panel consists of 32 keys, 6 LED indicators and a 2-segment
alphanumerical display at the top right.
The keyboard has a standard QWERTY layout with two characters on most
of the keys. The LET-key (letters) at the bottom right is used to select
the lower row of characters (A-Z), whilst the FIG-key (figures) at the bottom
left is used to select the characters on the upper row (numbers and punctuation
marks).
Two additional keys at the right are used for CR and LF.
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At the top left are two keys marked EN (enable) and OFF.
The OFF-key is used to turn the unit off after use.
The EN-key is used to switch the unit on and to enable the extra commands
on the upper row of the keyboard. Data can be entered after pressing
the EN-key followed by PT (plaintext). Further instructions can be
found on this page
of the PRM-4150 technical manual [2].
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At least two different versions of the MA-4245 are known to exist.
This is our current understanding of these variants:
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- MA-4245
This is the basic version of the MA-4245. It has rectangular rubber keys
on the alphanumerical keyboard in QWERTY arrangement, similar to the keys
of the MA-4230 burst encoder.
The key at the top left carries the full text 'ENABLE' and additional
← and → keys are located at the bottom left and bottom right of
the keyboard.
- MA-4245B
This is a later version of the MA-4245 in which the rubber keys have
been replaced by a membrane tactile switches. The size of the keys have
been enhanced for easier operation and the ← and → keys
are omitted. Furthermore, the key at the top left is marked EN.
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At the right side of the device are two Fischer receptacles:
a 5-pin female and a 5-pin male variant. Although the pin-out of these
receptacles is currently unknown, it seems likely that it is similar
or identical to the wiring of the
MA-4230/MA-4231 burst encoder set.
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Device Encrypted message terminal Purpose Covert transmission of short messages Manufacturer Racal Datacom Ltd. Model MA-4245 Country UK Year 1979 Cipher Non-linear proprietary algorithm Keys 1016 Period 1012 Power ? Battery Rechargeable NiCd Charge 14 hours Temperature -10°C to +55°C Storage -40°C to +70°C Dimensions 170 × 114 × 64 mm Weight 1100 g Price 30,000 DM
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- Roman Brunecky, Images of MA-4245 unit featured on this page
Personal correspondence February 2015.
- Racal Tacticom, Use of the MA-4245B
PRM-4150 Technical Manual. Part 1. Chapter 8. Appendix 2 (1 page).
1 May 1981.
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© Crypto Museum. Created: Tuesday 24 February 2015. Last changed: Thursday, 14 December 2023 - 15:07 CET.
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![Racal MA-4245 control panel. Photograph suplied by Roman Brunecky [1].](img/302059/000/full.jpg)
![Racal MA-4245 control panel [1]](img/302059/000/thumbnail.jpg "image # 302059/000")
![Sockets at the right side [1]](img/302059/001/thumbnail.jpg "image # 302059/001")
![Sockets at the right side [1]](img/302059/001/full.jpg)
