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← CZ Cold War
Universal automatic morse keyer
PIVOŇKA was a universal solid-state battery-powered automatic
morse keyer that was developed in the early 1960s in
Czechoslovakia by the 6th Goverment Department for the
secret state police (StB).
It was intended for use in combination with a variety of Cold War
spy radio sets
including the NEPTUN,
NEPTUN II
and LIPAN radios
[2].
PIVONKA 1 is also known as TI-509
and as OTA.
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The device is fully transistor-based and was derived from the
valve-based morse keyer of the 1956 PLUTO receiver.
It is housed in a square hammerite grey metal enclosure that
measures 11 x 11 x 4 cm. At the bottom is a rubber pad
to prevent it from sliding away when it is used.
The keyer is operated by means of a transparent plastic paddle
that has to be inserted into a hole at the front right, and secured in
place before it is used. When the device is not in use, the paddle is
usually stored inside the enclosure that can be opened with a slide-lock
at the front.
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The device is powered by two 1.5V AA-size batteries that are installed
inside the enclosure. A white slide-switch toward the rear of the top
panel is used to turn the device ON or OFF. The two knobs at
the front are for adjusting the audio volume and the speed of the
dashes and dots.
For monitoring, an earpiece can be connected at the rear. Also at the rear
is a 3.5 mm jack socket for connection to the transmitter.
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Pivoňka is the Czech word for Peony.
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PIVONKA was developed in the early 1960s, when small transistors gradually
became available to the general public. Before the keyer shown above was
ready for release however, the functional protype shown below was made.
It contains the same circuit, abeit in a different enclosure.
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The image on the right shows the prototype version of the PIVONKA keyer.
It consists of a Bakelite box with a transparent plastic panel at the bottom.
The device measures roughly 11 x 8 x 3.5 cm and has a transparent plastic
paddle sticking out at the front. Contrary to the final production version,
the paddle of the prototype is fixed and cannot be removed easily.
At the rear is a sliding metal panel that gives access to the battery
compartment, which accepts two standard 1.5V AA-size cells.
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At the front is a recessed potentiometer that is used to adjust the speed
of the dashes and dots. On top of the unit are two 3.5 mm jack sockets.
The one closest to the front is the socket for the headphones. The one towards
the rear is the output which connects the unit to the transmitter.
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© Crypto Museum. Created: Sunday 02 August 2015. Last changed: Wednesday, 28 February 2018 - 23:41 CET.
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