Spy radio. Burst encoders. Dead drops. For sale. About us. This report was completed on 1 December and was distributed to a selected group of people three days later [46].
This means that no harmonics were used and that the cavity does not behave as a tripler. It was immediately apparent that the device was designed for use as a microphone unit without any external wire connections by beaming a UHF radio signal of suitable strength and frequency toward the antenna of the unit and by using suitable UHF radio receiving equipment which would pick up and demodulate the re- radiated and modulated signal emitted by the antenna of the device.
This article has several issues and should not be considered accurate. It is often quoted in other publications, but the assumptions and conclusions in the article are incorrect. The Great Seal Bug. The Thing. It is called a passive device as it does not have its own power source. Instead it is acivated from the outside by a strong electromagnetic signal.
Unknown to the Americans however, the carving contained an RF radio bug of a novel design, in that it didn't have its own power source and was not connected via wires. Instead, the device was illuminated by a strong radio signal from the outside, which powered and activated it. It gave the bug a virtually unlimited life and provided the Soviets with the best possible intelligence. The bug was finally discovered by the US State Department in , three ambassadors later, during the tenure of Amb.
George F. Kennan [1]. Something similar happened to an American interceptor in , when he overheared a conversation that appeared to come from the ambassador's residence at Spaso House. After a search by the Department of State, the bug was finally discovered by means of a so-called crystal-video receiver , s whilst the Russians were actively illuminating the bug [8].
