Siberian Radio Communication during the Great Patriotic War

The article examines the technical modernization of Siberian radio communications and broadcasting during the war period. Under the conditions of a large-scale evacuation of industrial facilities and the population to the Siberian region as well as the organization of new telephone and telegraph highways in the eastern direction wire telecommunications worked at the limit of its capabilities and could not cope with the load. In these conditions radio communication was often the only means of communication. Among the evacuated enterprises deployed on the territory of Siberia most of them were the enterprises of the radio industry. One of the main problems faced by the Siberian radio communications, in addition to the shortage of qualified personnel, was the lack of backup equipment, which the front desperately needed. Another difficulty was the restructuring of the radial telecommunication system which entailed the modernization of the transmitters of the main radio communication. In the conditions of an acute shortage of material resources for civil radio communications radio communication activities had to be seriously limited. In general, it was necessary to temporarily abandon the program of continuous radio coverage of the country developed in the pre-war period. First of all, the radio stations were set up at enterprises, city and rural streets and squares, in clubs, libraries, etc. At the same time, as far as possible, the park of radio points was expanded and the operability of radio centers was maintained. Thanks to the mobilization of internal reserves and measures of an administrativerepressive nature in Siberian radio communications it was possible to strengthen the material and technical basis. The industrial production of radio products (mainly for military purposes) was launched in Siberia. However, the quality level of radio communication was low. Since the main efforts were aimed at meeting the needs of the front and the liberated regions the total power of the Siberian radio network has not yet been able to match a large territory of the region and the average power of broadcast transmitters has also remained low. Development of broadcast networks was primarily happened in cities. So, a significant disproportion between the density of radio coverage in urban and rural areas preserved and increased.