When Radio Ljubljana began broadcasting in September 1928, there was widespread demand for radio receivers. Initially these were crystal sets with an earphone which could only be used by one listener at a time. In the years that followed, radio sets with valves and loudspeakers became increasingly popular. Up until the end of the Second World War, all radios were imported from abroad. In 1946, the “Radio Industrija Nikola Tesla” factory was established in Belgrade. The following year, the new factory put
the first domestically manufactured radio broadcast receiver, the Kosmaj 47, on the market. Thanks to its low price, this radio was accessible to a broad range of listeners.
The Slavček radio receiver was manufactured by the “Telekomunikacije Ljubljana” factory. This was spun off in 1951 from the Institute of Telecommunications, founded in 1947 by the Ministry of Heavy Industry of the Federal People’s Republic of Yugoslavia. The Slavček [Nightingale] RA 40 model from 1952 was the first product of this factory and, as far as we know, the first mass-produced product of its kind in Slovenia. The radio operates on both the shortwave and medium wave bands. It is a tabletop model in a wooden housing with five valves and a circular frequency dial.
It was followed in subsequent years by the Savica, Bistra, Kras, Vesna, Triglav and Soča models. In 1961 Telekomunikacije Ljubljana merged with the Kranj-based company Iskra. From then on radios were manufactured under the common brand in Pržan, to the north-west of Ljubljana, where the production of television sets had also begun. The success story ended with the company’s bankruptcy in 1991.
