ARTICLE OVERVIEW

The "thing"

This was a gift from the Russians to the American embassy, and they accepted this nice trojan horse. They liked it so much, they hung it on the wall. However it was a spy transmitter, but inside is nothing which looks like electronics. But there is! Inside is only metal bar, which in fact seemed to hold the construction together. This bar however is an antenna also, because also it is isolated by the wood. So if a radio frequency was beamed on it from a distance, it would resonate, and its electrical Q-factor is very high, because nothing is connected to it. Then, there was a membrane near by, which acted as microphone, to modulate the transmitted frequency. And there you have, a nicely working spy bug. But there is nothing inside which looks like microphone or a transmitter, or something "electrical" of any kind. Only a metal bar and small plate of metal.

This Trojan horse was in action for many years!

At one day it was discovered by a radio amateur, but could not be find the source it. He noted there were voices at an unexpected frequency, and he discovered it came from the embassy, and he alerted the officials.

However the device was impossible to find. This is because the Russians would operate from their spy car, parked in front of the embassy In that car was the beam transmitter. They could see if it was unsafe and stop transmitting. And then the spy bug becomes only a dead piece of wood, on the wall.

Later it was discovered, and "the thing" is now in a spy museum.