[FULL RUN OF RADIO ENTHUSIAST]

Radioliubitel' [i.e. Radio Enthusiast]
# 1-7 for 1924, #8 (January 15, 1925);
#1-6, 7/8, 9, 10, 11/12, 13, 14, 15/16, 17/18, 19/20, 21/22, 23/24 for 1925;
#1, 2, 3/4, 5/6, 7, 8, 9/10, 11/12, 13/14, 15/16, 17/18, 19/20, 21/22, 23/24 for 1926;
#1-10, 11/12 for 1927;
#1, 2, 3/4, 5-11 for 1928;
#1-12 for 1929;
#1-6, 7/8, 9, 10, 11/12 for 1930;
Overall 81 issues.

Moscow: Izd. MGSPS "Trud i kniga", 1924-1930. 30,3x23 cm. Six full-cloth 20th-century bindings with stickers on spines; original illustrated wrappers preserved. Overall very good condition of the issues, clean internally. Front wrapper of #1 (1926, 1927), p. 1 of #1 (1927) repaired, front wrapper of #1 (1927) almost detached, back covers of many issues lost coupon fragments. Pale water stains (1924-1927), pencil notes occasionally, minor spots around rusty staples, some stains in #7 (1924), some sections detached from each other. Advertising leaf detached from #10 (1927), no advertising leaf of #12 (1927). Back cover of #12 (1929) soiled. Full run of "Radioliubitel'" with original illustrated wrappers.

Six bound sets contain all issues of a popular monthly magazine "Radio Enthusiast" printed before it merged with the periodical "Radiofront". Along with "Radio for Everybody", "Radio Enthusiast" is an essential printed source on a radiofication process and a common amateur radio engineering in the early USSR. Initially, receivers were set up in factories and collective farms - for official announcements and ideological broadcasting. Then the quantity of programs increased and they became more diverse. The promotion of broadcasting and interaction intensified. Radio equipment began to be produced by amateur radio engineers themselves and was made of both pre-existing materials and special details provided by the Society of Radio Friends. Schemes with instructions were printed in radio periodicals and books on this topic. When a receiver was ready, it was registered through a post or telegraph office. Issue #23/24 (1925) published "Map of [Soviet] Radio Broadcasting Stations in Work, under Construction and in Plans".

The magazine was designed with a vast number of photomontages. They feature portraits of magazine creators (#14 for 1925), amateur and state radio organizations, radiofication of the province, structures like the October Radio Station in Moscow (#11/12 for 1925), rescuing of the airship Italia (#7 for 1928), musical groups performing for radio programs, morning exercises with radio music (#5 for 1925), exhibits of the All-Union Radio Exhibition (#10, 13, 15/16, etc. for 1925). Occasionally, constructivist layouts appear: for example, the front page of #8 (1929) features a constructivist call for mass raising funds for construction of "a radio airplane". The typography is illustrated with a picture of an airplane with standing people above it.

Front covers are illustrated with small photographs of radio engineers or events. For instance, issue #2 for 1925 features a photo of Nizhny Novgorod resident F. Lbov whose radio signal was first to be received abroad. The issue also published a photomontage showing his home laboratory and details of how his message was received in Al-Shirqat (Iraq). Back cover designs display radiorelated advertisements for equipment suppliers, organizations, books and periodicals. Issue #4 for 1925 includes a double-page illustrated article advertising the Gosmetr enterprise that dealt with switching the state to the metric system.

The periodical covers contemporary news and chronicles of radio organizations, technical articles, and satirical materials. Among the latter is a group photo of younger children singing and blocking each other - all of them are named as Moscow radio stations. Through this picture, the magazine lets us know how much stations disturbed each other because of restricted distances. The Soviet zest for radio capabilities is shown in articles like one published in issue #3 for 1924. It is written on space exploration and photographing the Earth (and transmitting images) using radio waves. Issue #3/4 for 1928 contains a critical review of the first Soviet film promoting radio (most likely, directed the same year) that, according to the author, wasn't satisfying, so the work was named "a Sovkino sin". Despite excellent scientific minds involved, the production failed because of
inexperienced staff.

Importance of radio waves for expeditions and rescue campaigns was outlined in the article "Radio and Its Operators on Krasin (#10 for 1928). In 1928, the best-known duty of "Krasin" took place - rescuing General Umberto Nobile and the airship Italia crashed on the ice upon returning from the North Pole. A journalist had spent a few months on the icebreaker "Krasin" watching the work of radio operators - "crucial but noteless participants". The following issue (#11 for 1928) includes an article "Radio on Aircraft" on the contemporary state of radio equipment of airships and airplanes.

Not found in Worldcat.