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B - 38
Crypto Machine
Information
aus Crypto Museum
more information
BC - 38
Entwicklungsbeginn : keine Angaben
Schlüsselsystem : Rotor - System
Arten der Chiffrierverkehre : keine Angaben
kryptologische Festigkeit : Adonis  high level;  Pollux low level
Betriebsart : keine Angaben mechanische - elektrische Konstruktion
Übertragungsart der Information : keine Angaben
Information :
Hagelin BC-38
Motor-driven pin-wheel cipher machine with keyboard

The BC-38 was an electrically-driven mechanical cipher machine designed and built by A.B. Cryptoteknik in Sweden (later: Hagelin). As the name suggests, it was derived from the purely mechanical C-38. The 'B' was added as a prefix to the model number, to show that the device has a keyboard. So, the BC-38 is in fact a C-38 with a motor and a keyboard.

The machine measures approx. 34 x 32 x 12 cm and is therefore significantly larger that its manually operated counterparts. It also needs an external power source. The advantage of having a keyboard and motor-driven operation however, is that it greatly speeds up communication, e.g. in large command centres.

Furthermore, the BC-38 is equipped with a double printer at the left; one for the plain text and one for the cipher text. The output is printed directly onto a narrow paper tape, and both printers can be used simultaneously.
Typical view of the BC-38 with the lever down

Although the machine is intended for operation from the mains power network (110 or 220V), it can still be operated manually, which is very useful in case of a power loss. For this, a retractable handle is present on the right. It is usually folded down and locked in a neutral storage position, but can be released easily when necessary.

The BC-38 was popular with the the US Army during WWII, where it was used to communicate with M-209 machines in the field. It was also used by the governments of other countries during and after WWII, such as Sweden and Norway. Production of the BC-38 started in the late 1030s and continued throughout the 1940s, until it was replaced with the slightly modified and improved BC-543 that look nearly identical.