The history of the legendary radio plant. A.S. Popov "Radio Engineering"

2024 Author: Seth Attwood | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-16 15:55

For some, interest in this topic is generally incomprehensible. What kind of plant? What kind of radio engineering? So what! But who had such a tape recorder at home as in the photo and who knows how it was mined in the USSR and how then they were proud of it, there is interest in this topic. And it was also written - "Radiotehnika", generally cool at that time!

So, Riga, 1927. There is a massive fascination with radio, in just one year the number of radio subscribers in Latvia increases from one and a half to ten thousand people. At the same time, the owner of a photo studio, a native of a Jewish family, Abram Leibovitz, quickly realized that selling radio equipment was quite a profitable business. But the production of our own models is a very time-consuming process, but selling foreign finished equipment is much more interesting.

But in Latvia there is a law on competition, which nullifies all the benefits of such activities.

The natural-born businessman Leibovitz comes up with a way out: to buy ready-made radio receivers in Germany, disassemble them right on the spot, pack up spare parts and bring them into the country under the guise of radio components. Already in Riga, the receivers were reassembled and sold under the guise of locals with the A. L. Radio label. This is how Ābrama Leibovica foto radio centrāle JSC became the progenitor of the legendary Radiotehnika plant.

Second dad

In the thirties, Leibovitz hired a brilliant technician who, at the age of 22, won a competition from the Ministry of Internal Affairs and collected two hundred regenerative three-lamp battery radios for border guards. Alexander Apsitis, who is often mistakenly considered the founder of the Riga plant, did not work for Leibovitz for long, as they did not agree on some work issues. Subsequently (in 1934) Apsitis decides to register its production: A. Apsitis & F. Zhukovskis, which produces Tonmeistars receivers, and also produces radio accessories.

At the same time, Leibovitz has a new problem: Adolf Hitler comes to power in Germany, who aggravates the "Jewish question". At the beginning of his reign, the country's enterprises were advised not to work with representatives of this nationality, so Leibovitz loses his main supplier of radio components, and he has to start developing his own models.

The strategies of the Leibovitz and Apsitis companies were completely different: the former was a “merchant to the core,” he attracted customers through the appearance of his products and powerful advertising. The absolutely commercial component of Leibovitz's business made itself felt: if there was an opportunity to make a profit due to the loss of quality, he did not miss it. This still affects today - now the original radios of its production are extremely difficult to find in working order.

Apsitis, being an excellent radio technician, was chasing just for quality. His different models sometimes differed little from each other in appearance, but they were assembled perfectly. Ultimately, it was Apsitis who made the maximum contribution to the development of the enterprise, which would later become known as Radiotehnika.

Merger of a merchant and a technician

In 1940, Soviet troops entered Riga, and the new government nationalized the Apsitis enterprise, merging it with several small private companies, and made the equipment itself general director. Now the association was called "Radiotehnika". In turn, Leibovitz's company was also nationalized - it became part of the Radiopionieris enterprise. During the war, the Germans merged Radiopionieris and Radiotehnika, making them a branch of Telefunken Geratewerk Riga.

By the end of the war, in 1944, they tried to export all the enterprises to Germany, but thanks to Alexander Apsitis, they managed to keep most of the equipment (he quietly put bricks and scrap in the boxes for transportation), and when the German occupation was lifted, the plant again received its former director and the name "Radiotehnika".

The enterprise intended to resume the production of radio equipment, but had to start with assistance in the restoration of the bridge over the Daugava, destroyed during the war. At the same time, traces of Abram Leibovitz are lost, the last mention of which can be found only during the period of the German occupation.

New production and legendary developments

In 1945, first the “Riga T-689” receiver, and then “Riga T-755”, entered the conveyor. The T-755 was designed with an emphasis on reducing production costs and housed in a metal case. Although there is an earlier version - in a wooden case, but this can only be found in collectors.

In subsequent years, the demand for the plant's products increases sharply, and there is a need for expansion. New workshops are under construction: assembly, galvanic, mechanical repair, etc. By 1950, Radiotekhnika was becoming an example of Stakhanov's work, traditional for the Soviet Union.

A year later, the plant was named after the electrical engineer and inventor A. S. Popov. But for the director of the plant, Alexander Apsitis, bad times come: at first he is demoted due to “failure to fulfill the plan”, after which he is arrested altogether. Four months later, he is released from prison, but already broken, he never returns to the Apsitis plant.

In 1938, the production of Ābrama Leibovica foto radio centrāle was moved to a place beyond the Dvina River (this is the name of the left bank of the Daugava River, where one third of the city is located). Near the coast there is a place where for many years later the first workshops of the RRR plant were located - at Mukusalas street, 41 (in Soviet times, this street was called Radiotehnikas iela - Radiotekhniki street).

Having run a little ahead of events, one can notice that this house on the banks of the Daugavi is still standing. The building was leased by Leibovitz, before that there was a branch of the Zeiss company, which produces optics.

Open Joint Stock Company “A. Apsitis & F. Zhukovskis”was founded in 1934. At first, workshops and a shop were located in Old Riga, but in 1938 - in a new two-storey building specially built for the needs of production behind Dvina, at 16 Dārza (Sadovaya) street. During its existence, this company has created about 20 models of radio receivers.

Surviving product samples

Riga T-689

In the last quarter of 1945, the production of radio equipment was restored at the plant. The plant became the "Plant" Radiotekhnika "of the Ministry of Local Industry of the Latvian SSR". Produced loudspeakers, subscriber transformers, amplifiers. The production of equipment for broadcasting radio broadcasts over telephone lines was mastered.

In the fall of 1945, the first experimental batch of Rīga T-689 radios was sent to the shops, and their mass production began the following year.

In connection with the emerging demand for the plant's products, it became necessary to expand the production area. German prisoners of war were used in construction work.

In 1947, a new building was built for the experimental and mechanical repair shops. A year later, an electroplating workshop was built, and in 1951, a radio box workshop (this is how the receiver bodies were always called at this plant). An assembly shop was built two years later.

In 1949, the production of the battery receiver “Riga B-912” intended for rural areas was started.

But the radio giant continues to operate without its founders. In the early fifties, the receivers "Riga-6" and "Riga-10" appeared. The sixth model weighed 12 kg, had six lamps, and consumed 55 watts from the mains. It could play records from an external player. The tenth model (the number ten here also means the number of lamps) weighed 24 kg, consumed no more than 85 W from the network and (like Riga-6) received broadcasting in the HF, MW and LW bands. And to ensure good sound, this model uses a full-range loudspeaker.

According to Inars Klyavins, who worked at Radiotekhnika for 33 years, the plant's equipment was in demand not only in the USSR - it was bought in Germany, France, Britain and other Western countries. Consumers liked the simplicity and reliability of Riga radio sets.

Later, one of the first in the Soviets, a small-sized serial transistor radio "Gauja" appeared, it was produced in two variations - with and without a battery charger (then it worked on a "krona" battery). By the way, the popular "Gauja" can be seen in Soviet films: "Three plus two", "Beware of the car" and others.

In the early sixties, the plant produced the AVP-60 and APV-60-2 car receivers, which were mounted on the Chaika and the one hundred and eleventh ZILs. The first model even had a remote control; the receivers had both a manual wave search and a system for automatic tuning to the station.

Separately, we would like to note the stereophonic radio "Simfonija 2" - this is a modernized version of the first "Symphony". She had two versions: in one, the player was located next to the receiver, in the other - under it, each column weighed 16 kg.

Assembled on seventeen transistors and eight diodes portable "Neptune" was developed for the 60th anniversary of October.

By the way, video tape recorders were also developed at Radiotekhnika. For example, a recording of the docking of the Soyuz-Apollo spacecraft was played on the Malakhit.

Reel video recorder

A decade of success and fading

The eighties for "Radiotekhnika" became "golden" - the rate of production of radio equipment is growing, the plant produces about 35% of all Soviet audio equipment. Cassette recorders ML-6201 with a tuner, two acoustic systems, a tape recorder and an ULF appear.

At this time, the "Radiotekhnika" association also included the "Orbita" design bureau and the "Emira" microelectronics plant. A cassette player "Duets PM-8401" appears, to which you can connect two pairs of headphones at once.

The company produces a million radios, amplifiers and tape recorders and more than a million acoustic systems annually. This dizzying success continued until the collapse of the USSR.

Political events in the world, gaining independence of Latvia and economic reforms were accompanied by a massive entry into the market of Chinese cheap consumer goods on the one hand and products of well-known, primarily Japanese, brands, on the other. Radiotekhnika was disbanded into several autonomous enterprises, which caused the giant of the radio industry to decline even more. Unable to withstand competition with imported models, the plant discontinues production of part of its products.

At the same time, prices for parts that are produced in the countries of the former Soviet Union are growing, the prices for the plant's products have to be raised, but they are no longer bought up, since they are morally outdated in comparison with new products from abroad. The plant cannot afford to develop new models, since its design bureau does not receive sufficient funding.

A typical situation begins for many factories in the 90s: wage arrears are growing, but there is practically no profit. Most of the enterprises that emerged after the dissolution of Radiotekhnika almost immediately "died", including the Orbita Design Bureau.

Despite vain attempts to adapt to the new market, in 1993 the Riga Radio Plant, which survived the collapse of Radiotekhnika, was divided into two parts by the State Property Fund. One was subsequently declared bankrupt. The second part turned into "Radiotehnika RRR", which was bought at an auction in 1998 by businessmen Eduard and Yuri Maleevs.

From 1954 to 1961, the workshops created conveyor lines for radios and radios “Daugava”, “Festivals”, “Sakta”, “Dzintars”, “Gauja”. printed circuit boards. This practice was here for the first time in the entire USSR.

The plant was the first in the Union to develop and start producing the “Simfonija 2” stereophonic radio (1967). It should be noted here that the first "Symphony", released three years before the second, is not completely stereophonic - its receiver does not have a stereo decoder. In 1964, the developed radio "Simfonija" was slightly modernized by releasing "Simfonija-2", which already has a full stereo path.

For the 60th anniversary of the Great October Revolution, the factory team prepared a gift - a portable transistor receiver of the first class "Neptune", which was equipped with long, short and VHF bands. Nevertheless, this device did not survive mass production, as well as several other products, for a number of reasons.

In the seventies, most of the production was moved to a new facility in Imanta.

Before the collapse of the USSR, the plant developed and produced in large quantities several dozen different receivers, radios and other models of equipment to supply the domestic market and for export. Exterior decoration and their quality have always been at the highest level.

The most successful period for the plant was at the end of the eighties, when the production association "Radiotehnika" employed about 16,000 people. The association as the main enterprise included the plant named after I. A. Popova, design bureau "Orbit", Riga electromechanical plant "REMR", Kandavsky radio plant, micro-electronics plant "Emira". Over the years, the Radiotehnika association has produced about 35% of all Soviet audio equipment. During the year, about a million different units of radio equipment and about 1.3 million acoustic systems came off the assembly lines. Latvia in these years even surpassed Japan in the number of receiver production per capita.

What is happening now with "Radiotehnika RRR"

The new director of the plant, Eduard Maleev, said that for a long time the enterprise was not in the best shape. The reason is banal: there are orders, they want to buy updated columns in the West and even in the Emirates, but banks do not give money for production. In addition, buyers want "new" sound, better models and innovations, but this requires investing in patents and research.

On the site of the plant in the section "today" the situation is described more optimistically: "VEF Radiotehnika RRR" has the latest equipment, one of the largest anechoic chambers in Europe and provides excellent opportunities for the development and production of the latest acoustics."

Judging by the statistics of the Latvian State Revenue Service, now the profile business of Radiotehnika RRR is not developing very successfully. Today, the main activity of the company is the rental and management of its own or leased real estate (most of the buildings of the plant have been converted into retail space).

And on October 1, news appeared in the press that the administrative building of the plant would be dismantled within the next five months. In 2015, the building and adjacent areas were sold to a company that operates a chain of home improvement stores - what will be built in its place after dismantling has not yet been specified.

But something else lives on

In 2011, World Audio Distribution, a member of the Audiomania group of companies, launched its own full-cycle acoustics production in Riga - from the manufacture of enclosures to finished products under the Arslab brand. Previously, Arslab speakers were manufactured in China. The choice fell on Riga, among other things, because of the specialists living there, who previously worked at the Radiotehnika plant. Now the production is headed by Viktor Lagarpov, who was formerly the chief engineer at Radiotekhnika. Thanks to the experience gained at the legendary plant, Viktor knows everything about acoustics. Over the six years of operation of the enterprise, the plant's capabilities have significantly expanded - additional German machines have been purchased, new personnel have been hired. In 2017, the number of workers employed directly in production reached fifteen people.

In addition to assembling acoustics and producing the necessary electronic components, the factory also manufactures cases for speakers (unlike many manufacturers of audio systems who buy ready-made from third-party companies). The company also produces a large number of cases for other manufacturers from Germany, France, Italy and other countries.

In 2014, World Audio Distribution acquired a majority stake in Penaudio, whose products are now also manufactured at the plant. According to the founder of Penaudio Sami Penttila, who continues to lead the company, the quality of the finished products has improved. And the production capabilities are now enough to meet the demand for this acoustics all over the world.

In addition to the "traditional" home audio systems (under the brands Arslab, Old School and Penaudio), the plant in 2016 began producing ICE home cinema equipment. This is another Audiomania's own brand. This acoustics was also developed by the F-Lab company under the leadership of the famous engineer Yuri Fomin.

Acoustics ICE, Old School and Penaudio, assembled at the plant in Riga, are sold not only in Latvia and Russia, they are in great demand all over the world, including China, Taiwan, Japan, USA, Mexico and European countries.

The number of products produced in 2017 under Audiomania's own brands, according to our forecasts, will approach a thousand, which means an almost twofold increase compared to 2016.

Modern products