KGB ESPIONAGE Museum offers you to see by yourself the technological progress and evolution of spy radios.
KGB spies often used special radios to communicate with controllers, or to send emergency intelligence reports that were time sensitive. As well as being powerful enough to transmit over long distances, these radios had to be small enough to carry and conceal with ease.
A “suitcase radio” was a term used to describe any transceiver small enough to be transported into the field and operated covertly. A suitcase was also a great way to carry and conceal a portable transceiver: it was just the right size for the miniaturized radios of the day. A suitcase had good operational ergonomics and was perfect for quick setup and teardown.
Enemies were always scanning the radio waves, so transmission needed to be fast. Almost every suitcase rig operated on the high-frequency bands between 3 MHz and 30 MHz. All KGB equipment was also constructed for use on the short-wave band. At the KGB Espionage Museum, you can see the same radio set that the spy William Fisher (Rudolf Abel) would have used, the KGB’s most celebrated radioman!
In addition to radios, KGB agents also used direction finders. These radio direction-finding devices could be carried under the outer layer of clothing. These were used to track down illicit radio-stations, which the Soviet government was very interested in finding and destroying.