The origin of the radio

China's official development of tactical radio communication methods began during the period of resistance to US aggression and aid to Korea. At that time, the front line urgently needed radio communication equipment between divisions, regiments, battalions, companies, and platoons. The task of development and production was handed over to Tianjin Radio Factory and Nanjing Radio Factory, which had just taken over. In November 1951, the Nanjing Radio Factory received the task of the development team and the shortwave radio station, and immediately organized the staff to seek cooperation from outside factories from design to trial production, from the complete machine to the parts, from the process to the processing, and the procurement of raw materials. Fully carry out work. Although it was a political movement of 'three against and five against' at that time, the green light was still given to the trial production of radio stations. According to the old comrades living in the trial production team at the time, this front-line radio required small size, light weight, moisture and water resistance, earthquake resistance, power saving, human back, communication distance of more than 10 kilometers, and the antenna can pass more than 100 kilometers when it is stopped and replaced. At that time, except for electronic tubes and mid-circle transformers, all other switches, connectors, transformers, casings, relays, whip antennas, etc. were almost all solved by the factory itself. Even the moisture-proofing agent in the machine was trial-produced by itself. The prototype was successfully trial-produced in March 1952.

In August 1950, Tianjin Radio Factory accepted the task of developing a 15-watt shortwave radio for the division and regiment. At the end of the year, it accepted the task of developing an ultrashort wave walkie talkie for battalion. The Model 81 radio was successfully designed by the technicians of the factory in June 1951 using the power transmitting tubes produced by Nanjing Electron Tube Factory and imported small electronic tubes from Hungary. It was successfully designed and put into production in 1952. Model 702 radio started trial production in November 1950 and was successfully developed in April 1951. It is smaller, lighter, less expensive than American SCR300 radio. The production of the two radio stations met the urgent needs of the troops and contributed to the resistance to US aggression and aid to Korea. In April 1953, China began to introduce Soviet radio technology and imitate Soviet products in accordance with Article 14 of the 'Sino-Soviet Friendship Regulations' memorandum and the 'Sino-Soviet Draft on Military Exchanges'. According to the American 'Signal' magazine and the British 'Jane's Defense-Military Communication History Yearbook', this period includes: the series of portable ultrashort wave FM radio stations used in coordination with the regiment, antiaircraft artillery, ground artillery, and infantry artillery of the Tianjin Radio Factory. The battalion company and company platoon ultrashort wave radio station and the short wave FM tank radio station produced by Hankou Radio Factory. In addition, the Chongqing Radio Factory used the four sets of small-scale production equipment seized by the Kuomintang and the U.S. military to stay in the original 'Sino-U.S. Special Technology Cooperation Institute' and various advanced measurement and control equipment at the time to imitate the Soviet 15-watt base station and the US STT-115 station. At that time, Soviet machines were generally bulky, low-frequency, and battery-powered. Although some machines were successfully copied, they were not adopted by the army for some reason. However, the factories have mastered first-hand new technologies and new processes through imitation. This is a key issue for future radio stations, such as frequency stability, insulation improvement, connector reliability, and the production and application of high-frequency ceramics, transformer sealing, optical calibration, electroplating, quality control, production management, etc. , Have played a catalytic role. Moreover, these technologies are not only applied to the Soviet-like products, but also promoted to the self-designed 71 and 81 radio stations, greatly improving their stability and reliability. The first-generation radio stations all used electronic tubes, which were large in size, heavy in weight, and consumed a lot of power.

Frontline fighters are quite exhausted in carrying the radio long-distance marches and assault operations. In the third battle on the Korean battlefield, the Type 81 radio machine was too heavy to keep up with the combat troops, and the aircraft was delayed. Therefore, how to reduce the size and weight has become the main contradiction, and it is also the biggest problem that the military factories in the rear urgently need to overcome. In 1956, the 0038 unit (the predecessor of the 19th Research Institute) began to develop a tactical radio with a mixture of transistors and electron tubes. In 1958, Wuhan Radio Factory also participated in this development. The capacitors and semiconductor devices trial-produced by the 11th Research Institute and the 13th Research Institute, after 6 years of hard work, completed 8 official prototypes in July 1962 and put into mass production in July 1963. Specially named the 62 type ultrashort wave FM battalion company radio (military industry number is 883 radio). The Fourth Ministry of Machinery Industry was established in 1963, and Wang Jing took office under the recommendation of Premier Zhou. Soon it was proposed at the All-Army Tournament that tactical radio should be miniaturized and semiconductorized. In September of the same year, he personally presided over the conference on 'Miniaturization of Semiconductors in Military Tactical Radio'. It is proposed to be light, small, energy-saving, and fast. The research and development of all-semiconductor radio stations and the coordinated development and production of components have been assigned to relevant factories, and the design principles and tasks of generalization, standardization and serialization have been emphasized. After continuous efforts, the all-semiconductor serial ultrashort wave radio 844 radio was finalized in 1972.