MAKE: Blog: DIY Enigma machine kit

DIY Enigma machine kit

Case14F
There was an Engima machine on eBay a week or so ago, but this kit looks like it would be a fun build - During WWII the German army used Enigma coding machines to encipher most of their radio messages. At the time the Germans were convinced that this machine was unbreakable, but recent history has proven them wrong. For most of the war, the Poles, and later the British and Americans managed to decipher the German messages which is now believed to have shortened the war by some 2 years.

Once you've seen a real Enigma, you're likely to have fallen in love with it, making you want to have one. But, given the low number of machines available today, and their high price, that won't be an option for most of us. Hence the reason to create an electronic variant of the Enigma machine, using modern electronic components. " [via] - Link.

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Comments

Oldest comments listed first.

Posted by: tuckerch on April 12, 2006 at 8:25 PM

The obvious first mod for this is to replace the LED displays with Nixie tubes.

Also, I've seen a mod wher ethe keycaps from an ancient typewriter were epoxied to the pushbutton "keyboard".

Posted by: Hindle on April 14, 2006 at 10:17 AM

These were available to buy from Bletchley Park, which is the place that Turing cracked the code.

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