The SIGSALY secret

© Mark Ollig

In 1942, under contract with the US government, AT&T Bell Telephone Laboratory engineers began working full-time to develop a top-secret voice encryption system to ensure the privacy of telephone conversations between WWII Allied commanders at the highest level.

These commanders included the President of the United States, Franklin D. Roosevelt, and the Prime Minister of Great Britain, Winston Churchill.

During this time, the world's first electronic digitally-encrypted speech encipherment device was built by Western Electric, the manufacturing arm of AT&T, under the project name The X System and Project X.

It became officially known as SIGSALY, a secure encrypted voice full-duplex electronic transmission terminal system using pulse code modulation techniques to encode analog audio signals digitally.

SIGSALY was not an acronym but a confidential, secret military cover name resembling an acronym. Many Army Signal Corps name abbreviations began with SIG.

It was later called "The Green Hornet" after the radio program of the same name because of the buzzing noise induced on the telephone line by anyone attempting to eavesdrop during the transmission of an encrypted conversation. 

Physically, a SIGSALY terminal was a massive voice encryption/decryption computing system weighing 50 tons and containing 40 metal racks of equipment cabinets filled with wiring and electronic components, including 384 thyratron hydrogen/deuterium gas-filled vacuum tubes and radio transmitting and receiving equipment.

It also included two voice transmission phonograph record/disc precise turntables synchronized on both the sending and the receiving end via a timing signal from the US Naval Observatory.

SIGSALY, an enciphered telephony computing system, consumed 30,000 watts of power, generating a lot of heat, and required a heavy-duty air conditioning system housed in a separate room.

It was also equipped with a full-duplex voice link using narrow-band high-frequency channels over shortwave radio.

The encryption system analyzed human speech at 50 times per second and clipped voice conversation into 20-millisecond intervals. The analog frequencies (human speech) were sampled, modulated, digitized, coded, and then transmitted to the receiving end that would decode and reconstruct the original human speech pattern.

The 805th Signal Service Company of the US Army Signal Corps completed the installation of the SIGSALY system in July, 1943.

The first official transatlantic encrypted telephone call using SIGSALY occurred between the Pentagon and London July 15, 1943.

US President Franklin Roosevelt and British Prime Minister Winston Churchill regularly held encrypted private telephone conversations transmitted across the Atlantic Ocean using SIGSALY.

The White House in Washington DC had a voice-encrypted extension telephone line cabled from the Pentagon, three miles away.

Each SIGSALY terminal required 13 people to operate, and it took 15 minutes to set up a secure encrypted telephone call.

At the cost of $1 million apiece in 1943 ($17 million today), each SIGSALY terminal could communicate with any terminal connected to the system to establish, relay, and transmit an encrypted conversation to and from any other terminal location.

There were 12 confirmed SIGSALY terminal locations built and installed worldwide.

During the 1940s, the filed US Patents for technology used with SIGSALY were kept secret and not publicly viewable.

The military kept details about SIGSALY classified as top-secret for decades, including its 32 US Patents.

I am listing four US patents directly related to SIGSALY, including the initial patent filing date and when the patent was officially granted through the United States Patent and Trademark Office: US Patent 3,024,321 Dec. 29, 1944 - March 6, 1962; US Patent 3,373,245 Aug. 27, 1942 - March 12, 1968; US Patent 3,897,591 Aug. 27, 1942 - July 29, 1975; and US Patent 3,985,958 Dec. 18, 1941 - Oct. 12, 1976, which is titled “Secret Telephony.”

For the most part, the patents remained classified and not fully disclosed until 1976, when the US Government officially declassified them and the top-secret status of SIGSALY.

Throughout World War II, SIGSALY proved impenetrable to having any of its high-level encrypted communications intercepted and descrambled by the enemy.

I found a list of 37 names from the US who worked on the SIGSALY project, including mathematician and computer scientist Alan M. Turing from the UK.

AT&T Bell Lab engineers and scientists developed and produced many new technologies and electronic devices used during the war years from 1941 to 1945.

By the end of WWII, AT&T Bell Labs and Western Electric were at the peak of their engineering, development, and manufacturing prowess.

From the late 1940s through the 1970s, they remained, in my opinion, the most innovative technological resource in the world.

Throughout World War II, SIGSALY transmitted more than 3,000 high-level encrypted telephone conversations among Allied commanders until its removal from service in 1946 as part of the demobilization process, which destroyed much of the encryption system. However, some terminals and equipment are still in storage.

The digital quantization of speech communications using pulse code modulation on the telephone switching platforms I have worked with is a result of the technology obtained from the SIGSALY project.

A visionary and an internet pioneer

© Mark Ollig

Not too many people have heard of Joseph Carl Robnett Licklider.

He was born in St. Louis, MO, on March 11, 1915, and developed an early interest in building model airplanes and working on automobiles.

In 1937, Licklider graduated from Washington University in St. Louis, receiving a bachelor of arts degree in psychology, mathematics, and physics.

After receiving a Ph.D. in psychoacoustics in 1942 from the University of Rochester, NY, he went on to work at Harvard University’s Psycho-Acoustic Laboratory in Cambridge, MA.

In 1950, he became an associate professor at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in Cambridge.

During the early 1950s, Licklider worked on designing new technology for displaying computer information to human operators, which improved US air defense capabilities.

Licklider then turned his thoughts to human-computer interactions.

The Advanced Research Projects Agency (ARPA) was established on Feb. 7, 1958, by President Dwight Eisenhower, in response to the Soviet Union’s Sputnik satellite program, which many Americans were concerned with at the time.

By 1960, Licklider predicted, “It seems reasonable to envision, for a time 10 or 15 years hence, a thinking center that will incorporate the functions of present-day libraries together with anticipated advances in information storage and retrieval.”

Licklider wrote a paper in March 1960 titled “Man-Computer Symbiosis.”

In it, he wrote, “It seems entirely possible that, in due course, electronic or chemical machines will outdo the human brain in most of the functions we now consider exclusively within its province.”

Licklider wrote about the need for computer involvement in formative and real-time thinking.

He described a computer assistant that could perform simulation modeling, which would graphically display the results. He also wrote about how a computer could determine solutions for new problems based on past experiences and be able to answer questions intelligently.

He spoke of interactive computers serving as automated assistants, and 62 years ago, many people were listening to him.

In 1960, Licklider foresaw an interdependent relationship between future computers and human beings.

He wrote about a “Galactic Network,” providing a pathway for sharing and retrieving data and programs from any computer interconnected within this network from anywhere in the world.

Licklider recognized the importance and potential of a fast-moving electronic data computer network and reasoned computers could share and distribute their programs and informational resources across interconnected data networks to a multitude of human operators, which is the basic foundation of the internet.

Collaborating with Welden E. Clark,  Licklider released a 16-page paper in August 1962 titled “On-Line Man Computer Communication,” describing the concepts of future online networks and how computers would play the role of a teacher.

“Twenty years from now [1982], teachers will undoubtedly introduce some form of keyboard operation in kindergarten, and forty years from now [2002], keyboards may be as universal as pencils,” Licklider wrote.

Imagine telling him in 1962 that we would be typing on flat glass keyboards and talking to our computers and other intelligent smart devices. It would not surprise me if he smiled and nodded.

In October 1962, Licklider was chosen as the first director of the Information Processing Techniques Office (IPTO) research program at the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA).

Licklider gained acceptance and support regarding his computer networking ideas and helped guide the funding of several computer science research projects.

While at DARPA, Licklider was involved in developing one of the first wide-area computer networks used in the United States for a cross-country radar defense system.

This network system connected many Department of Defense sites, including the Strategic Air Command (SAC) headquarters and the Pentagon.

In 1963, Licklider obtained IPTO funding for the research needed to study how users in different geographic locations could operate time-sharing computers.

In 1965, Licklider published the book “Libraries of the Future,” describing people living in different geographic areas using digital computers to access knowledge library databases stored within interconnected computers over a “lattice hierarchy” he calls a network.

IPTO originally began the development of the Advanced Research Projects Agency Network (ARPANET) in 1966, which led to today’s internet.

During the early 1960s, Licklider estimated that by 2000, millions of people would be using what he called an “Intergalactic Computer Network,” or a networking system he envisioned as “an electronic commons open to all” and “the main and essential medium of informational interaction for governments, institutions, corporations, and individuals.”

In December of 2000, his vision of an Intergalactic Computer Network we know today as the internet became accessible to 361 million users worldwide.

Today, the internet reaches five billion users worldwide or 63% of the planet’s population.

Joseph Carl Robnett Licklider (also known as JCR) passed away on June 26, 1990, in Arlington, MA, at age 75, having lived to see the birth of today’s internet.

One year earlier, in 1989, the World Wide Web, aka The Web, was invented by computer scientist Tim Berners-Lee while working at the European Organization for Nuclear Research (CERN) in Switzerland.

The Consumer Electronics Show

© Mark Ollig

The first Consumer Electronics Show (CES) began on June 24, 1967, in New York City.

It included 200 exhibitors and 17,500 people attending the four-day event held at the New York Hilton Midtown and Americana New York Hotel.

This year’s CES in Las Vegas included 2,279 exhibitors, 44,500 in-person, and 40,000 virtual attendees during the two-day event.

New electronic devices presented during the 1967 CES included transistor radios, Hi-Fi (high-fidelity) stereo systems, 8-track tape players, cassette tape recorders, and compact color televisions using solid-state integrated circuitry.

Of course, the electronics shown during the first CES differ significantly from this year’s CES show; technological advancements over 55 years will do that.

I imagined transporting back in time to the 1967 CES and explaining to one of the attendees what the world of tech looked like in 2022.

In 1967, science fiction fans (count me in) watched the second season of “Star Trek” airing on NBC television, so those attending the 1967 CES  had some idea of future technology.

“In 2022, we use pocket smartphones to make telephone calls," I said to Bob, attending the 1967 CES and standing near the electronics display case.

Bob was holding a General Electric AM transistor portable radio model P1730B.

He looked at me and replied, “Yeah? Well, we have those too. We call them communicators. I see Kirk and Spock using them every week on TV.”

“Yes,” I said, “but do Kirk and Spock see the person they are talking to on the communicator, take pictures, or run software applications using one?”

Bob kept fiddling with the transistor radio while I spoke.

“Or scan QR and barcodes, play games, listen to music, watch movies, shop online, use Google, browse the internet, surf the web, text message, and use GPS?” I asked him.

Bob replied, “Did you know this miniature radio contains six transistors and will play nonstop for more than a day using a 9-volt PP3 battery?”

He then put the transistor radio back on the display case.

“Um, I need to check out the new 8-track tape players,” Bob quickly says while briskly walking away before I could say anything.

When thinking about it, the 1967 Star Trek communicator has a homing signal capability, allowing the person holding it to be located via their coordinates (GPS) and beamed aboard the USS Enterprise using the ship's transporter.

I must digress back to the main subject of this column before I get carried away comparing Star Trek technology with what we have today.

Companies displaying products during the 1967 CES included 3M, Magnavox, Memorex, Motorola, Panasonic, Seeburg, Sony, Sylvania, Toshiba, Westinghouse, and Zenith.

One product by Seeburg was an LP record vertical-playing high-fidelity phonograph. It could hold up to 100 vinyl LP (Long Play) records.

“It’s the first basic change in home phonograph playing since the invention of the disc record in 1887 by Emile Berliners, a German immigrant,” said Seeburg vice president William Adair.

The January 1977 CES show was held in Chicago, with frigid 18 degrees below zero temperatures and 45 degrees below zero wind chills. CES attendees were advised not to go outside the hotels for their safety.

The year 1977 saw the introduction of three popular computers: the Apple II, Tandy Radio Shack TRS-8, and the Commodore PET (Personal Electronic Transactor).

The same year saw the release of the Atari 2600 video game console, with 30 million units being sold until production ended in 1992.

There was no “internet” in 1977 using today's TCP/IP (Transmission Control Protocol/Internet Protocol) communications network.

In 1977, ARPANET (Advanced Research Projects Agency Network) used Network Control Protocol (NCP) data packet-switching techniques to interconnect 111 host computers.

These host computers had names like PDP-10, DEC-2040, CDC-7600, NOVA-800, UNIVAC-1108, PARC-MAXC2, and IBM-360, along with other computer models by various manufacturers.

A logical map of the ARPANET from 1977 can be seen at https://bit.ly/3NexcAh.

ARPANET was the predecessor to today's internet.

It would not be until Jan. 1, 1983, when the ARPANET replaced NCP with TCP/IP.

Notable events I recall from 1977 include the movies “Saturday Night Fever” and “Star Wars,” the launch of Voyager 1 and 2, and the deaths of Elvis Presley and Groucho Marx.

During the summer, on weekends (if it didn’t rain), we went to an outdoor drive-in theater to watch a movie; at-home movie watching using Betamax and VHS tapes was still in its infancy.

July 28, 1977, Minneapolis Star Tribune newspaper showed an advertisement from Superior Ford selling a 1977 Ford F150 V8 4X4 for $6,295. The average cost for a gallon of gasoline was 65 cents; do I miss that.

The top TV show during 1977 was the sitcom “Laverne & Shirley.” Who remembers the show’s start with Laverne and Shirley saying, “Schlemiel! Schlimazel! Hasenpfeffer Incorporated!”

And 1977 was also an excellent year to graduate from high school.

The start of the VCR era

© Mark Ollig

In June 1977, a new videotape format was presented during the Consumer Electronics Show (CES) held in Chicago.

The JVC VCR model HR-3300U was the first consumer VHS-based (video home system) using a VCR (videocassette recorder) in the United States.

JVC is the abbreviation of the Japan Victor Company.

The HR-3300U weighed 30 pounds and used a half-inch magnetic tape wound between two spools inside a plastic cartridge or videocassette, commonly called a VHS tape.

VHS tapes were available in 30, 60, and 120-minute lengths.

I found a Nov. 25, 1977 newspaper ad showing “The JVC Vidstar HR-3300U Videocassette Recorder” selling for $999, which today equals $4,665.

Although available in the US in 1977, people in Japan used the same VHS-based videocassette recorder under the name “Victor HR-3300” the previous year. There was no “U” in the Japanese model number.

In 1975, before the JVC Vidstar HR-3300U, the Sony Betamax video recording/playback machines and their proprietary Betamax tape format were sold in the US.

Betamax machines and their videotape format became the premier videotape recording/playback system.

In high school, we earned extra credit in AV (audiovisual) class recording television educational programs off the public broadcasting system channels using Betamax recording machines and tapes, which we considered high-tech devices — it was the ’70s.

I spent many hours in the AV room videotaping and cataloging videos to be added to the school’s library.

The audio and picture quality of those Betamax videotape recordings were pretty darn good.

At that time, standard Betamax videotape lengths ranged from 15 minutes (L-125), 60 minutes (L-500), to 100 minutes (L-830).

Minnesota’s own 3M company manufactured Betamax videotapes, in addition to Sony.

And so, starting in 1977, the competition between the tape format and video recording systems using Betamax and VHS began in earnest here in the US. Many were calling this the time of the “Format War.”

During the 1970s, ’80s, and ’90s, even though the Betamax model used a compact tape cartridge with superior video and audio quality, the public embraced VHS tapes and VCRs.

And the winner of the Format War is VHS.

I attribute this mainly because VHS tapes provided a longer playing time and cost less than Betamax. A VCR player weighed much less and was priced slightly lower than a Betamax recording system, especially when replacing parts.

Another advantage VHS had over Betamax: their tapes rewound and fast-forwarded quicker.

It was easy for people to videotape shows and movies off their TV, which led to the start of movie and television programming copyright disputes becoming a popular discussion topic.

In addition to the VCR player, the June 1977 CES displayed new 23 and 40-channel CB (citizens band) radios.

Yes, I had a CB radio in my 1975 green metallic Plymouth Duster. My CB handle was the Green Hornet. I sure miss those days.

Before home VCRs, the first commercially-used videotape recorder was invented in 1956 by the research department at Ampex, an American electronics company in Hayward, CA.

Charles P. Ginsberg, who holds seven US patents, led the Ampex research department during their development of the videotape recorder, named the AMPEX VR-1000.

The AMPEX VR-1000 uses a 2-inch wide quadruplex open-reel tape and recorded the television video in black and white, initially with a time of 60 minutes per reel. The images were recorded across the videotape from top to bottom using four metal electromagnet read/write heads on a rotating drum (quadruplex recording).

The following is an interesting story related to today’s topic.

On April 10, 1956, during the National Association of Radio and Television Broadcasters (NARTB) Convention in Chicago, the VR-1000 commercial video recorder was first demonstrated to 200 CBS television executives and partners.

Ampex engineers set up the VR-1000 video recorder behind the curtain so the audience would not see it.

The convention began with a presentation by CBS executives about the new Ampex video recorder, as an Ampex engineer discreetly pressed the videorecorder’s record button.

The audience members watched the presentation on television monitors.

When the presentation concluded, the Ampex engineer pressed the rewind and the play button on the video recorder.

As the audience watched the instant replay over the same monitors the CBS executives were just on, they were shocked.

When the curtains opened, showing the Ampex videotape recorder, the television folks in the audience understood what happened and cheered and applauded.

Remember, this was 1956, and they were seeing technology considered revolutionary. The Ampex VR-1000 recorded and instantly replayed a television broadcast for the first time.

Major television networks worldwide soon learned of this demonstration, and within a week, Ampex received 45 orders for their model VR-1000 quadruplex commercial video recorder.

The cost for one Ampex VR-1000 video recording system in April 1956 was a pricey $50,000, which today would equal $527,000, according to the US Bureau of Labor Statistics CPI Inflation Calculator: https://bit.ly/3z2OaNQ.

On Nov. 30, 1956, The CBS television network first used an Ampex VR-1000 video recorder in a coast-to-coast broadcast of “Douglas Edwards and the News.”

This month 45 years ago, the start of the VCR era began in earnest, and the rest, as they say, is history.

I still have a working VCR player and plastic bins filled with VHS tapes — no Betamax.

I took a photograph of my (working) combo CRT/VCR/VHS

player with an old NASA VHS tape playing on its screen.

(Another NASA VHS tape lies in front of the VCR player)