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Spy radio sets
Clandestine radio equipment

Ever since the invention of radio, people have been trying to use transmitters and receivers for secret communication. In times of war, spies, agents and the resistance would use such secret communication to contact their home office or government and send important information to them. Such secret communication systems are often called Spy Radio Sets, or Spy Sets for short.

We are well aware that the term Spy Sets is not always correct. The equipment described in this section was also used by secret agents, Special Forces (SF), embassies, diplomatic services, resistance groups, stay-behind organisations and others. However, as it has become a popular expression, we call all of them Spy Sets here.

Please note that we are not trying to present a complete overview of all spy radio sets that have ever been used in the world. We only describe the sets that we have in our own collection, or that we've been able to research. That said, we do show a rather representative cross-section of the many different spy radios out there, and we try to describe them to the best of our abilities and provide as much information as possible.

For a complete list of the spy sets covered on this website, please check our , or click any of the thumbnail images below. For those interested in the mysterious Number Stations on the SW-bands, please check our OWVL-page.

➤ Index of spy sets
➤ Glossary 		  
Nice picture of a Type 3 Mk II (B2) in action. Unfortunately, we still don't have this set in our collection

If you can provide additional information on certain items, please do not hesitate to contact us. If you have any surplus documentation or equipment, or if you have an item that is listed on our wanted page, please contact us directly. We look forward to hearing from you.


Countries
Spy sets used and/or created by the USA
USA
Spy sets created and or used by the former USSR (Russia) or Warsaw Pact
Spy sets created and/or used by the UK (during and after WWII)
UK
Spy sets made in (or used by) France
Spy sets developed in Germany before, during and after WWII
Spy sets developed or used in the former DDR (East-Germany)
DDR
Spy sets developed and built by the Poles in the UK (during WWII)
Hungarian spy radio sets
Czechoslovakia
Yugoslavia
The Netherlands
NL
Belgium
Sweden
Finland
Japanese WWII miniature VHF transceiver Type 94 Mark 6 (94-6)
Italian spy radio sets
Spy sets that do not fall into any of the othe categories
Themes
World War II
Spy radio sets used during the Cold War
Spy radio sets used by Stay-Behind Organisations (SBO), also known as 'Gladio'.
Special Forces (SF), also known as Special Operations Forces (SOF)
SF
Short Range Agent Communication
One-Way Voice Links (OWVL), also known as the mysterious Numbers Stations.
Stand-alone receivers
Radio Oranje (Radio Orange)
Other clandestine equipment
Please note that this part of the website only deals with transmitters and receivers used for clandestine operations, commonly referred to as spy radios. In reality however, many other electronic devices have been used in clandestine warfare, such as equipment used for tracking enemy transmitters (direction finders), intercept receivers, TSCM equipment, covert radios, burst encoders, spy cameras, concealed recorders and much more. Information about these additional devices can be found elsewhere on this website.

Related subjects
Eureka beacon
Spy radio sets on this website
Whaddon Mk V spy radio set (La Paracette) - 1941
Whaddon Mk VII spy radio set (Paraset)
Whaddon Mk XV (Mark 15) spy radio set - 1943
American suitcase spy radio set SSTR-1 (WWII)
RBZ receiver (WWII)
RBZ
RS-1 (AN/GRC109)
RS-6
Automatic Station 3 (CIA)
Automatic CIA agent radio set
CIA receiver RR/E-11
Belgian RST-101 spy radio set (MBLE)
AN/PRC-64 and Delco 5300
RS-100 integrated spy radio set
TAR-224A spy radio set
4-piece (or 2-piece) valve-based spy radio set
German spy set SP-15
Dutch version of the SP-15 with synthesizer
German spy set SP-20
Racal PRM-4150
Type 3 Mark II, also known as the B2
The UK Type A Mk. III (A3)
Homemade spy radio station used by the Ordedienst (OD) in the Netherlands during WWII
Mk. 119
Mk. 122
Mk. 123
Mk. 301 Receiver
Mk. 328 Receiver
The UK Type 36/1 (MCR-1)
Belgian post-war version of the UK Type 36/1 (MCR-1), made by MBLE (Philips)
Clandestine midget receiver with three 'acorn' valves
Philips ZO-47, used by Dutch stay-behind from 1947 onwards
Norwegian Receiver Type 31/1 (Sweetheart)
Swedish built clandestine WW-II receiver (used by Norwegian resistance)
Polish OP-3 (Type 30/1) WW-II clandestine receiver
Japanese miniature 94-6 VHF transceiver (WW-II)
Kyynel M-5 transmitter
M-5
Kyynel M-10X Finnish/Swedish spy radio set (WW-II)
Kyynel M-11 and M-11X
PR-56A receiver
Rion spy radio set
R-350 / Orel (Eagle)
R-350M / Orel (Eagle)
R-353 / Proton
R-354 / Shmel (Bumblebee)
R-394 K (Strizh-K)
R-394 KM (Strizh-KM)
R-394T (Strizh-T) - based on R-394KM
Severok-K
Soviet R-397-OK long distance digital spy transmitter
AEG Telefunken SE-6861 (LAPR)
Special Forces radio station AN/PRC-319 (BA-1302)
Telefunken spy set FS-5000 (HARPOON)
Telefunken tactical radio family HRM-7000 (HF-7000)
Russian R-355 Base Station Controller
Swedish R-190 special forces radio
Sony ICF-2001D receiver that was used by some Soviet spies in the West
Zenith Royal 1000 Trans-Oceanic receiver
Barlow-Wadley XCR-30 world receiver (500 kHz - 30 MHz)
BN-48 (UHU) backup receiver
UHU
AP-5 spy radio set, developed by the Poles in the UK
BP-3 spy radio set developed by the Poles in the UK
BP-5 spy radio set developed by the Poles in the UK
PLUTO spy radio set (1958)
SIRIUS spy radio set (1962)
PIVOŇKA automatic morse keyer
50W transmitter used in Congo
20W transmitter used in Angola
200W radio station used in Congo and Kurdistan (North Iraque)
FM broadcast propaganda transmitter
Hungarian AK-20 spy radio set
Czechoslovakian VHF or UHF bug receiver
Single-piece version of the RTP-8/SSB spy radio set
Three-piece RTP8-SSB/3 spy radio set
Abwehr 20W base station transmitter S-87/20
Abwehr 5W transmitter
Abwehr base station transmitter S-90/40
Abwehr spy radio set SE-98/3
Abwehr spy radio set SE-109/3
Berger BE-20/3 three-piece radio set (Austria)
Telefunken B2M, clone of the British B2
B2M
Telefunken ESK-52 (made the French intelligence services)
Telefunken ESK-632 (made the French intelligence services)
BND short-wave converter
Portable Communications Receiver (PCR)
PCR
RS-49 modular spy radio station
RT-49 transmitter
RR-49 receiver
RS-59 modular spy radio station
A-610 SEZHA miniature receiver (USSR)
Tensor 4-piece spy radio set (USSR)
QRC-222 suitcase spy radio set (1964)
Radione R3 receiver
R3
Radione RS-20/M transmitter
DDR spy radio set 'Type 2'
BCRA transmitter
French plug-in transmitter Type 2
French TR-TG-2A spy radio set
PD-5 spy radio transmitter with PSU
Speech/morse generator, Device 32620, used by Numbers Stations
Radio Oranje (Radio Orange)

➤ Index of spy sets


Wanted
Whaddon Mk V spy radio set (La Paracette) - 1941
FS-8 (KSG-Sender) (transmitter) developed by the BND in 1957
Kyynel M-10X Finnish/Swedish spy radio set (WW-II)
CDS-501 short-range agent communications
RS-804 satellite message burst transmitter
CIA surveillance receiver SSR-100
Literature
  1. Detlev Vreisleben, Clandestine Communications
    Presentation about secret communications and cryptography in
    Germany during the Cold War (English). 13 January 2024. 105 pages.
    ➤ German version
Further information
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© Crypto Museum. Created: Monday 03 August 2009. Last changed: Wednesday, 22 January 2025 - 12:25 CET.
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