Rickresource Rickenbacker Forum

"In the era of the old regime, it would have been utterly impossible to visit Svetlana. Today, everything has changed: I was given a very friendly and complete factory tour, which was arranged by the California office. Nothing was out of bounds, and I was urged to photograph anything I wished. In its period of peak activity, the whole Svetlana enterprise occupied a large area, spanning many city blocks and comprising some 15 large buildings. Due to rearrangements, reorganizations, and reductions in production, many of these buildings are now quiet and lifeless.

The operation of the Svetlana Electron Devices and the production of glass and ceramic tubes is gradually being consolidated into four adjacent buildings. A small imperial-style red-brick building, where the incandescent lamp factory initially started, still stands among the newer, gray and drab buildings. Appropriately, it houses the Svetlana Museum. A tube factory is a surprising collection of chemistry, physics, metallurgy, machine shops, precision mechanics, clean-room manufacturing, glassworks, vacuum technology, high-voltage engineering, electronics instrumentation, and testing. Thus, it is a combination of many highly specialized branches of industry.

Inside, to its benefit, the factory differs from most other Russian factories. Since Svetlana produces and manufactures some of its raw materials and all parts on its own, the company uses many machine tools, lathes, milling machines, cutters, and presses. The machinery, albeit aged, is well maintained and the production materials and facilities are well organized. Many of the special machines needed in tube manufacture are designed and built in-house."