Talk:Palace of Culture

Amateur Radio?

Could someone clarify if Amateur Radio was really an allowed hobby in the Soviet bloc? It looks like the kind of thing that would get the enthusiast into trouble with the law.Zagubov (talk) 00:21, 31 August 2011 (UTC)

It certainly was "allowed", and more or less encouraged, in the USSR during most of its history. There were of course various licensing requirements, and probably "supervision" and "monitoring" from appropriate government agencies. I am sure in 1937 some people would go to jail for "communicating with imperialist powers by radio", but then in 1937 plenty of people went to jail for nothing at all. There may also have been a temporary prohibition during WWII.

The Russian wikipedia has articles on a number of Soviet amateur radio magazines and periodicals, such as ru:В помощь радиолюбителю ("Amateur radio enthusiast's tutorials" - a series of pamphlets published since 1956), or ru:Радио (журнал) (the Radio magazine, originally Radiolyubitel, i.e. "Amateur radio enthusiast", published since 1924).

I understand that ham radio was considered a "good hobby" for a teenager, since with an experience like this he could end up with a "cushy" position of a radio operator, rather than a regular infantryman or sailor, when drafted to the Army or Navy at the age of 18. Some training was even done at OSoAviaKhim/DOSAAF clubs. -- Vmenkov (talk) 15:51, 31 August 2011 (UTC)

P.S. Here's an article about the restrictions that were from time to time imposed on amateur radio operators in the USSR: РЕПРЕССИИ КОРОТКОВОЛHОВИКОВ; Автор: Члиянц Георгий (UY5XE) ("Repressions against short-wave radio operators", by Georgy Chliyants, based on his book published in 2002). He mentions that during the last years of Stalin's rule (from 1949 on, possibly in preparation to the Korean War) members of the Soviet military were told not to operate amateur radio stations. During 1951-1956 it was prohibited for Soviet ham radio operators to communicate with operators in "capitalist countries" (i.e., everything outside of the "Soviet bloc"). He also mentions several cases of radio operators actually being arrested and sentenced to a prison term (in the early 1950s) or community service (in the 1970s) - one actually for "espionage", another on weapons charges, yet another for supposedly abusing the free-postage privilege (but the real reason for his persecution, according to Chliyants, was his criticizing the local DOSAAF leadership). -- Vmenkov (talk) 16:37, 31 August 2011 (UTC)