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OWVL DDR Stasi 32620 →
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Device 32028
Schnatterinchen
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Baudot-to-speech converter
- this page is a stub
Gerät 32028 (Device 32028), codenamed Schnatterinchen (cacklerina), 1
was an analogue speech generator, developed in 1964/65 by the
Institut für Kosmosforschung 2
(Space Research Institute)
in the former DDR (East Germany) and built by the DDR
Volkswirtschaft (VW) [2].
Named after a popular TV character it
was used for sending Centre-to-Agent messages
— commonly encrypted with a One-Time Pad (OTP) —
as strings of seemingly random numbers, read by a female speaker
and broadcast worldwide by the mysterious short wave radio
numbers stations.
It was developed under project number 2028 (later: 32028) as a
Telegrafie-NF-Analog-umsetzer S 1.3 3
[4].
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The device replaced a small army of female speakers that had previously
been reading the number-based messages live in a small studio,
recording it on tape for broadcasting later on.
At the heart of the device is the motor-driven drum shown in the
image on the right. It has 13 discs, or wheels, that are
mounted on a common axis. A piece of 12-14 cm ferro-magnetic
audio tape is glued to the circumference of each wheel.
At the top are 13 magnetic heads that pick up the audio from
the revolving tapes, arranged as two rows with 6 and 7 heads respectively.
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The discs can be seen as 13 individual audio tracks, each holding
one number (0-9), the word Achtung (attention), Trennung
(space) or Ende (end).
Each magnetic head is wired individually at the
rear side, allowing
an amplifier with an electronic input selector, to pick the
desired track.
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The start of the tracks is marked by a tacho-sensor that is mounted
at the right side. Its red wire is visible in the image above.
The pulse from the tacho-sensor is also used to advance the punched
paper tape holding the message by one position on each revolution
of the drum.
The drum was mounted inside the 19" enclosure shown in the image on
the right, together with a motor, the circuit boards
and the power supply unit. At the front panel is a common 5-bit tape reader,
for input of a punched paper tape which contains the message in
ITA2 (baudot) standard.
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Schatterinchen was developed during the course of 1964 and 1965, and was
introduced during the second half of 1965. Some time later,
a spanish variant was released. Mistakes in reading numbers
were ruled out as live speakers were no longer required.
It is currently unknown how many devices were built, but it is
certain that very few have survived. At least four design
variants existed (2028, 2028.2, 2028.3 and 2028.34.
A single 2028.3 unit was manufactured in 1976 for the price of
DDM 15,000 4 [4].
The device shown here is the 2028.4 version (1980), and is not
in working condition. It consists of parts that were supposed to
have been scrapped [1].
Around 1984, the Schnatterinchen Baudot-to-Speech converter
was succeeded by the fully digital
Device 32620, in which the same female voice that was
previously held on short pieces of ferro-magnetic tape, was stored in a set
of EPROMs. It was supplied to various countries, including the
USSR, and was used well into the 1990s.
Like Schnatterinchen it was also available in Spanish.
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The translated name 'cacklerina' is the female diminutive of the
English word 'cackler'.
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Part of the Akademie der Wissenschaften der DDR
(East German Science Academy).
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In the original documentation, the device is called FS-NF-Umsetzer,
which is short for Fernschreib-Niederfrequenz-Umsetzer
(telegraphy-audio-converter, or telex-audio-converter).
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DDM was the currency in the former DDR, today known as the
Ostmark (Eastern Mark). ➤ Wikipedia
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2028 1964 2028.2 1970 ~ 2028.3 1975 2028.4 1980
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From 1961 onwards, the woman 1 shown in the image below,
was one of the female speakers of the East German numbers stations.
Like most of the speakers, she was living with her family on the compound
of Funkobject 2 Kesselberg.
Initially the numerical messages were read live in one of the small studios
in the basement of the Kesselberg site, where they were recorded
on tape.
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The tapes were then played back at specific times via a strong
short wave (SW) transmitter with an output power between 10 and 100 kW.
In 1964/1965, whilst she was was on leave to give birth to a child,
she was asked to lend her voice to a new device named Schnatterinchen,
which was then under development. In the small studio in the basement,
each word had to be fitted onto a 12-14 cm piece of audio tape.
According to her own account [3],
the words Achtung (Attention) and Sieben (Seven) were the most
difficult to record. Furthermore, the words had to be
pronounced in such a way
that they could be discriminated unambiguously through a noisy
narrowband short wave radio channel.
The pre-recorded tape segments were later mounted onto
the discs of the Schnatterinchen device.
Some time later she was also asked to lend here voice to the Spanish
version of the device, which was subsequently recorded in the studio
of the DDR broadcasting service 3 in Berlin.
The same voice was digitized in 1983 for use in
the digital successor — Device 2620 (later: 32620).
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For the lady in the picture this marked the end of an era, but
in the following years she frequently tuned in to the Stasi frequencies
on the short wave radio bands, to verify that here voice was still being
used. In January 2010, she wrote a letter in which she explained here
role as the voice [4].
➤ Read the full letter
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The name of the female speaker is currently unknown.
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Literally translated 'Radio Object' - it is used here to identify a site.
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Rundfunkhaus der DDR, Nalepastraße, Berlin (East Germany).
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#
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Symbol
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German
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Pronunciation
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Translation
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1
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1
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Eins
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Eins
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One
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2
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2
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Zwei
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Zwo
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Two
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3
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3
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Drei
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Drei
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Three
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4
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4
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Vier
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Vier
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Four
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5
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5
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Funf
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Fun-nuf
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Five
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6
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6
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Sechs
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Sechs
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Six
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7
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7
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Sieben
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Sie-ben
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Seven
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8
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8
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Acht
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Acht
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Eight
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9
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9
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Neun
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Neu-en
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Nine
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10
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0
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Nul
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Nul
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Zero
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11
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:
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Achtung
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Achtung
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Attention (start)
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12
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/
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Trennung
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Trennunk
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Separation (space)
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13
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+
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Ende
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Ende
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End (stop)
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The device was named after a popular puppet character of a
female duck in a DDR children's television show that was aired
in the early 1960s by the Deutscher Fernsehfunk (DFF), the state television
broadcaster of East Germany [5].
The television show was known as
Meister Nadelöhr erzählt (Narrations from Master Needle Eye)
and was part of the daily children's show Unser Sandmännchen
(our sand men)
that aired from 1955 to 1991. Famous characters of the show were
Pittiplatsch and Snatterinchen,
with the latter appearing for the first time in 1958 [6].
➤ Wikipedia
➤ German version
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In the early 1980s, Schnatterinchen was replaced by the
fully digital Device 32620,
in which the same voice was stored in an EPROM.
Language variants were available in German and Spanish.
The device had a long life span was used well into the 1990s,
not only in the DDR, but also in other
Warsaw Pact countries, in the
Soviet Union (USSR), and in Cuba.
➤ More information
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Device Baudot to speech converter Purpose Transmission of coded messages in speech Principle Ferro-magnetic audio tape on drum Developer Institut für Kosmosforschung Manufacturer ZWG
WIB VEB Gerätewerk Elbia Years 1965-1980 Model 2028, 2028.2, 2028.3, 2028.4
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Schnatterinchen is known by various names, including:
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- Schnatterinchen
- Projekt 2028
- Project 32028
- Telegrafie-NF-Analog-Umsetzer S 1.3
- FS-NF-Umsetzer
- Fernschreib-Niederfrequenz-Umsetzer (telex-audio-converter)
- S 1.3
- Stimme
- Eiserne Frau (iron lady)
- Kluge Frau (clever lady)
- Schlaue Frau (smart lady)
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Document obtained from BStU, kindly supplied by Detlev Vreisleben [2].
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Some drawings are from model 2028.3.
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Full name: Bundesbeauftragte für die Unterlagen des Staatssicherheitsdienstes
der ehemaligen Deutschen Demokratischen Republik (DDR) —
Federal Commissioner for the Records of the
State Security Service
of the former German Democratic Republic (GDR) —
officially abbreviated to BStU.
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Document from BStU archives [7], kindly supplied by Detlev Vreisleben [2].
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© Crypto Museum. Created: Wednesday 19 July 2017. Last changed: Thursday, 26 October 2023 - 11:11 CET.
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