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The Hellschreiber, Feldhellschreiber or Typenbildfeldfernschreiber (also Hell-Schreiber named after its inventor Rudolf Hell) is a facsimile-based teleprinter invented by Rudolf Hell. Compared to contemporary teleprinters that were based on typewriter systems and were mechanically complex and expensive, the Hellschreiber was much simpler and more robust, with far fewer moving parts.[clarification needed] It has the added advantage of being capable of providing intelligible communication even over very poor quality radio or cable links, where voice or other teledata would be unintelligible.
The device was first developed in the late 1920s, and saw use starting in the 1930s, chiefly being used for landline press services. During World War II it was sometimes used by the German military in conjunction with the Enigma encryption system. In the post-war era, it became increasingly common among newswire services,[1] and was used in this role well into the 1980s. Today, the Hellschreiber is used as a means of communication by amateur radio operators using computers and sound cards; the resulting mode is referred to as Hellschreiber, Feld-Hell, or simply Hell.
- ^ Freek Simon, Kijkje achter de schermen bij het ANP, 1974: 1:31 ‘Zoals het nu gaat: Via de Hell-zenders komen de berichten uit Parijs, Londen en Berlijn binnen en zonder dat iemand zich hiermee bemoeit worden de uitgezonden ethertrillingen onmiddelijk in leesbaar schrift op de papierband vastgelegd.’ How it's done today: Via the Hell-transmitters the messages from Paris, London and Berlin come in and without any human intervention the broadcast vibrations of the ether are instantly recorded in readable writing on the paper tape.