The first Soviet mass superheterodyne R-set model
"CRL-8" designed by the Central
Radio Laboratory was produced by the Leningrad Kozitsky Works at
the end of 1935. On its base
the a radiogramophone was created. The set
used the tubes SO-182 (RF amp), SO-183 (mixer-oscillator),
SO-182 (IF amp), SO-185 (detector-AF amp), SO-118 (AF step
II), SO-187 (2 tubes in output
"push-pull"), VO-188 (rectifier). It had 4 bands
including 2 SW: 17-30 m
and 30-60
m.
However, attempts to construct a home
superheterodyne were made earlier. For instance, as early as
1931 the Kozitsky Works produced some units of 6-tube
battery-sourced "super" model
"SG-6". The set
included a loop aerial and worked on tubes of PT-2 type.
Soon afterwards the Orjonikidze Works in Moscow commenced
output of the "SI-646"
superheterodyne(AC-net Individual Six-coil Four-tube Model of 1936"). In the first
detector a SO-183 tube worked, in IF amp - a SO-182 one. The
AF-step was using a SO-187 tube. The set had three quite modern
bands - SW of 19-50 m, MW of 200-550 m and LW of 714-2000 m. It
had a number of interesting constructive peculiarities. Among
them there was a device for fine tuning in the form of an
additional round scale with a revolving pointer and a tuning
indicator on the base of a shadow galvanometer -
"orthoscope". Similar indicators were used in some
imported sets of that time ("Tefag"
etc.).Unfortunately the super "SI-646" was produced
only in small lots. Soon after the Kozitsky Works produced its
all-band "super" -
"CRL-10Ê".
Almost sumultaneously the Alexandrov Radio Works started
production of its famous superheterodynes of first-class series
"SVD" ("Superheterodyne All-band
with a Loudspeaker") using as models the best American
receivers of that time.The RCA radiotrones
6D6, 6A7, 6D6, 6V7, 76, 53, 80
were installed in
the set.
At the beginning of
1938 the
"Electrosignal" Works in Voronezh began mass
production of none the less notorious radio of those times - the "6N-1" (initially spelled
"6NG-1": 6-tube Tabletop with a Loudspeaker). It
worked using metallic tubes with 6,3 V heating, production of
which successfully began in the USSR in1937(6A8, 6K7, 6F5 - with
a connection to the cap of the tube, 6F6, 5C4, 6X6, the 6E5
"magic eye"). The first batches of the this set were
equipped with American tubes
produced by the companies
"RCA", "Ken-Rad", "Tung-Sol",
"Sylvania" etc.
Then followed: the "SVD-M" using home-made
metal tubes, the
"SVD-9"
and "SVD-10".
They were followed by the console radio-gramophone
"SVG-K" (on the base of the
"SVD-9" receiver), the receivers models
"9N-4", "10N-15",
"5NU-8", "5N-12",
and the R-gramophone "D-11",
"10MG-16". Shortly before the Great Patriotic
War (WW2), the following models were constructed: the "Marshall",
the "Pioneer"(the R-set and the
radiogramophone), the
"KIM", the
"Orlionok", the
"Moskva"
(Factory of Culture
Goods of the Rostokin District Industrial Trust), the new outer
design of the
"6N-1" receiver.
Together with the superheterodynes cheaper
receivers of direct amplification models
"T-35" and
"T-37" were
produced by Tula Radio Works. The set
"TESD-2"
was
manufactured by the same works.
During the war the output of home receivers was practically
stopped but by the end of the war the working out of new models
was resumed. The first set produced at the end of the war was a
mass "super" model "Rekord"
with many later modifications (1
,2
). It was turned out by several works. By 1946 mass
production of receivers of pre-war models started and many new
models followed. Some of them are the "VEF
M-557", the
"Moskvich"(not to be confused with
the mass R-set "Moskvich-B"
of 1949's make), the "Salyut", the
"M-648"(Moskow Krasin Radio Works),
the "VV-661",
the "Riga T-689"and the cheaper "Riga
T-755", the "Minsk",
the "6N-25", the "Vostok
7N-27", the
"Ural-47" (the R-set and the radiogramophone), the "VEF
M-697", the "Baku
6S-47",
multi-tube the "Belarus"
and the "Leningrad". With introduction
of 2-volt
glass direct-heated tubes
battery-sourced "supers" the
"4NBS-6" and
"Rodina"("Electosignal"
Works in Voronezh) appeared. The modification of the latter the
"Rodina-47"
("Electrosignal-3") gained a wide popularity. The AC-fed
version of this set was produced by the works named
"Electrosignal-2".
The first attempt to create a light portable
R-set was working out and production of a trial lot of the
"Efeer-48" produced by the radio
works in the town of Alexandrov (Central Russia). It
used
direct heating tubes with
1 V filament:
1A1P, 1B1P, 1K1P, 2P1P which had appeared by that
time. The set looked like a small suitcase weighing 2,5 kG and
had a built-in frame aerial. Later the portable models
"Tourist",
"Novj",
"Dorozhny" using tubes of the same
series became more popular.
Before the war the "VEF
M-1357" receiver was also constructed. It was a
14-tube(!) device with auto tunning heterodyne, with an expander
widening the dynamic range of the sound. It also had a preset
tunning. A small lot of such R-sets was produced soon after the
war. But it was a simplified version - without preset
tuning.
All AC-net receivers produced after the war applied home
metallic tubes of rather a high quality or their glass analogs
(appeared later). Many receivers are in working condition even
now and rather often use originally installed tubes of those
times. The mass R-sets models the
"Moskvich-B", "Minsk
S-4", and "ARZ"
were constructed with an economical reflex circuit which by the
way showed a good stability.
To make the radios cheaper and reduce their
weight universal power- transformerless source was provided in
some models (the "Rekord", "Rekord-47", "Leningrader", "Moskvich",
"Moskva"). In models the "Moskvich-B",
"Record-52" and "ARZ" a power autotransformer was
installed. For transformerless schemes with series connection of
tube filaments the tubes 30C1S, 25P1S, 30P1S with high-tension
heating were specially designed. In basic models of few-tube
receivers selenium pillars were applied to rectify the anode
tension. In further modifications they were, as a rule,
substituted for the vacuum rectifiers because of instability of
the selenium ones which were produced then (the
"Moskvich-B", "ARZ").
In those years fixed tuning to prechosen
R-stations was applied not only in expensive sets (the
"Belarus", "Leningrad") but also in mass
ones (the "Moskva", "Leningrader"). As
material for making cabinets apart from wood bakelite was used
(the "Moskvich-B" and later the "Ogonyok", "Strela", "Zarya", "Riga-6") as well as metal
(the "ARZ", "Riga T-755", later the
"Zvezda-54").
Perhaps the biggest achievement of the home
tube radio industry of the USSR of those days became the
high-grade radiogramophone
"Riga"
put out by
the "Radiotechnika" works in Riga. This apparatus
absorbed all theoretic and practical achievements in the field
of home radio of that period. The set was placed in a console of
1,3x0,5x1,0 m and consisted of a gramophone block with an auto
10-disk changer and an electronic block on 21 tubes. The
characteristics of the set were considered very high which was
ensured by the following schematic peculiarities: a complex
speaker system of 3 woofers and a horn tweeter, a powerful
push-pull output step using 2x2 6P3S (6L6) tubes, a deep tone
control with bass boost system, wide range three-coil IF
transformers with auto changing the range according to the level
of incoming signal, a supereffective automatic gain control
system, a noiseless tuning block. However, this
"monster" did not go into mass production and existed
only in several units. One of them is exposed at the
Polytechnical Museum in Moscow. It is interesting to note that a
mixed variety of tubes was applied in the receiver's scheme. For
instance, in the IF-tract "old" 6K7 tubes were
installed, but the oscillator was assembled on a Noval-penthode
- 6G3P. All the rest are octal tubes quite usual in those
years.
The further development of home radio industry
was connected with improvement of technical characteristics and
technology of production of R-sets. But it were the first years
after the war which laid a foundation of diversity of models and
makes of the Soviet tube R-receivers reflected in the virtual
exposition of the present
site.