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MI6 Audiotel Scanlock Charles Bovill → Glenn Whidden →
Inventor and MI6 operative
Harold 'Lee' Tracey (18 January 1926 - 16 May 2019)
was a former RAF engineer and MI6 operative.
In 1962, whilst working for MI6, he invented the staircase
receiver, also known as harmonic receiver, which later became known as the Scanlock bug tracer.
The device was marketed through
Technical Security Ltd.
in London — Tracey's first company —
and later by Audiotel International.
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The first Scanlock
receiver was sold at a price of GBP 940 and was announced
in an article about boardroom electronic warfare in New Scientist
of July 1975 [1],
together with the RFD-1 detector.
The Scanlock Mark 1 was followed by the Mark 2,
the Mark 3
and eventually the Mark 4.
In 1978, Tracey left MI6 and founded his own company
Audiotel International Ltd.,
initially based at City Road in London.
There, he developed the next generation of bug tracers:
the Scanlock Mark VB
and Delta-V,
that were instant hits and became very popular
in the UK and in continental Europe.
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For a long time, the Scanlock Mark VB
was the most successful bug tracer,
even in the US, where his products were marketed by
Glenn Whidden
of TSA.
After a while it became evident that Tracey was a better engineer than a
business man. In order to attract new capital and to get rid of his
undesired management
duties, he sold 70% of the company shares to investor Lansing Bagnall.
At the same time, he gave his long-term friend and WWII veteran
Charles Bovill
a platform to further develop his invention: the
Broom, a
non-linear junction detector
that is able to find a bug — or in fact any electronic device
— even when it is switched off.
Bovill's gatgets were later sold through the shop of Allen International
in Westminster (London), another MI6 front company.
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In the early 1980s, Tracey further developed the Scanlock receiver
and introduced the Scanlock 2000.
He also helped his American friend
and former CIA technician Glenn Whidden,
with the development of the
COMPUSCAN,
a computer controlled add-on for the original
Scanlock VB.
In the mid-1980s, Tracey gradually lost interest in
Audiotel.
Being a dedicated engineer, he felt that the majority shareholder –
Lansing Bagnall – was investing too little money in development,
and way too much in management.
Eventually, after a huge conflict, Tracey decided to leave.
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After Tracey had left Audiotel Ltd.,
the majority shareholder — Lansing Bagnall — decided to sell the company,
but did this in such a way that Tracey,
who still owned 30% of the company shares, was left empty handed.
Audiotel was sold to Andrew Martin, who moved the company to Corby
(Northhampshire, UK) in 1987, and would lead Audiotel until his
untimely death in 1997.
After leaving Audiotel, Tracey became a self-employed engineer and consultant.
The first three years he worked for Security Research Ltd., along with friend
Charles Bovill, until the company was acquired by
Audiotel and Bovil retired at the age of 79.
In the following years, Tracey was involved in several startup companies.
In 2013, 88 years old and way past his retirement, he was still developing
gadgets and other electronic devices, such as a bodycam for police officers.
In 2014, his wife, singer and actress Maria Wagg died, and Tracey began
suffering from loneliness.
After suffering a stroke, Tracey died on 16 May 2019 at the age of 93,
leaving no family other than an Australian stepson with whom he had no contact.
Although initially he was to receive a pauper's funeral, the RAF
Association – of which he was a lifetime member – payed for his funeral
and give him a great exit [6].
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Related items on this website
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Lecture on electronic spying
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This unique 1:20 hour recording shows Lee Tracey giving one of his lectures
on electronic spying on 3 March 1992, for the younger members of the IEE (now: IET) in
Yeovil, Somerset (UK). This a unique chance to see live footage of this legendary character.
The recording was converted from VHS tape by an anonymous donor in 2022 [9].
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In the early 1970s, whilst working for MI6, Lee Tracey operated
a series of companies that were actually front covers of MI6,
through which the agency was able to buy and sell equipment
without attracting too much attention. The diagram below shows
the situation in 1974:
Allen International was a company that specialized in spy gadgets.
It had an office and a showroom above a bedding shop in Westminster
(London) and even supplied the Q-type gadgets for the James Bond
movies. Since 1972, Allen International was run by Tracey's colleague
and friend Charles Bovill.
After the company went bankrupt in
1974, he moved to Security Research Ltd. in Guildford (UK) [4].
The assetts of the latter company
(i.e. the Broom)
were later acquired by
Audiotel International Ltd.
who further developed the Broom and its successors.
Technical Security Ltd. was Tracey's 'own' company through which
he marketed his bug tracing receivers and detectors.
Above the three companies was CDI Holdings, which was also run
by Lee Tracey. CDI probably stands for Cray Defence International.
In 1978, Tracey founded
Audiotel International,
who took over the development and sales of his products.
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? - 1943 Kodak 1943 - 1947 Royal Air Force (RAF) — cryptography and intelligence 1947 - 1970 MI6 operative and consultant 1970 - 1978 Freelance engineer 1972 - 1978 CDI Holdings (founder) 1972 - 1974 Allen International Ltd. (founder) 1974 - 1978 Security Research Ltd. 1978 - 1987 Audiotel Ltd. (founder) 1987 - 2017 Freelance engineer 1987 - ? West Midlands Police
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1948 Derbyshire Evening Telegraph (UK) as photographer ? Unknown Bristol newspaper 1952 Daily Mirror (UK) as journalist Early 1960s Montreal Star (Canada) as journalist
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Below is a timeline with the most significant events in Lee Tracey's
life, based on several open sources, complemented by an interview
with Lee Tracey in May 2013.
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- Dr. Joseph Hanlon, Boardroom electronic warfare
New Scientist (Magazine), 10 July 1975. p. 65-69.
- Channel 4, The Walls Have Ears
Fascinating Channel 4 documentary about The Spying Game - The Walls have Ears.
1999. Via YouTube. Interviews Glenn Whidden, Lee Tracey, Charles Bovill and others.
- Lee Tracey, Interview and personal correspondence
Crypto Museum. 23 May 2013.
- Technology review, Pocket tape recorders for the executive spy
New Scientist (Magazine), 4 April 1974. p. 25.
- Lucy Todman, Funeral appeal for WW2 RAF man Lee who died with no family
Shorpshire Star News, 20 July 2019.
- Sue Austin, Scores attend Shropshire funeral of tragic RAF war hero...
Shorpshire Star News, 23 July 2019.
- James Rodger, Hundreds attend funeral of tragic RAF war hero...
Birmingham Live, 23 July 2019.
- Leona O'Neill, The Ulster who was a real-life James Bond and Q in real life
Belfast Telegraph, 27 July 2019.
- Anonymous, Video of Lee Tracey giving a lecture on electronic spying
IEE (IET), Yeovil, Somerset (UK), 3 March 1992. Converted from VHS.
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© Crypto Museum. Created: Sunday 11 August 2013. Last changed: Thursday, 01 May 2025 - 14:41 CET.
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![Lee Tracey demonstrating the ScanLock. Channel 4 documentary 1999 [1].](img/tracey_2a.jpg)
