In 1924, the Soviet Union established regular radio broadcasting. Radio became very popular. To fuel the people’s interest, the periodical press started printing thematic articles and publishing separate editions of various almanacs dedicated to this popular pastime.

The popular science magazine called “Nauka i tekhnika” (Science and Technology), which specialized in covering a wide variety of issues — from medicine to woodworking — started the “Books chosen by the magazine” series. It included, for example, the booklets titled “The Wonders of Modern Surgery”, “The World Ocean”, “How to Build a Flying Model Airplane”, and “How to Bind Books”.

In 1927, the series was joined by a small-sized booklet called “Reference Guide for Radio Enthusiasts”. The reference book was published in Leningrad by the Krasnaya Gazeta publishing house. This guide could also be mailed to any place in the Soviet Union.

This piece of literature proved necessary, for the editorial staff received numerous questions connected with radio-frequency engineering from radio enthusiasts. The editors of the guide also welcomed questions from their readers and encouraged them to share their comments and suggestions.

The guide addressed issues related to both theory and practice. For example, readers could get advice on setting up receiver antennae, find out about varieties of detectors, and broaden their knowledge on how to install the equipment.

The booklet also included diagrams of detector and tube receivers, brief characteristics of thermionic and electron tubes used in them, reference tables, formulas, and calculations.

Since the reference book was part of the series of booklets prepared by the “Nauka i tekhnika” magazine, it mentioned other publications, so that the readers could use them to gain further knowledge about radio-frequency engineering. The previous issues of the series were dedicated to the basics of radio-frequency engineering, the structure and installation of a radio receiver. For those interested, the guide’s cover listed all the booklets in the series.