Sokol СОКОЛ 310 Soviet Radio Diagnosis and Repair am pocket transistor radio

portable AM transistor radio repair, a tough one repairing failed tuning capacitor microsurgery requiring a lot of time and patience to make working this radio again
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[@tomtke7351]

Cannot begin to appreciate REBUILDING the tuning cap. That was remarkable!

[@televisionforever]

Yeah after seeing them all spread out I thought, "welp, no getting that back together." Serious props.

[@donbest5024]

Like taking a 300 piece puzzle apart with no picture on the pieces and putting it back together.

[@NoPegs]

Respect for nice things is a state of mind... I respect anything designed in a way that allows manual repair, and will try my best to live up to the quality workmanship ideals... Something that's glued or ultrasonically welded together, uses rivets or heat-staking instead of removable fasteners? Lower than dirt, which is food for thought because even scum floats higher up than dirt...

[@moisessan1]

It was really amazing!!!! Este chango es muy bueno!!!

[@annaplojharova1400]

The distortion when tuned off comes from the sharp edges and even side notches of the (likely 4 element) resonator ladder filter. The carrier just went into the notch, so the signal remained SSB with very suppressed carrier, hence the distortion. This kind of filter is normally used with professional communication radios, where good filtering is a must and the higher cost not that much of an obstacle. For some reason this kind of filter became popular in Soviet radios (before that they've used 3 LC coupled resonator - again a Soviet specialty). I used the modern 6-resonator version (ltm455g or similar), it really allows to receive a station just beside the way stronger one just 9kHz (non US) away. The drawback is the distortion when not tuned right.

[@electrofan7180]

Back in time I've repaired like 10 to 20 of such tuning caps. Surely one of most problematic failures but still fixable in most cases. You may be proud you made it☺

[@LakeNipissing]

"I'll never do this again... that's it." ... three months from now, Shango has another tuning capacitor in pieces. LOL

[@OldSonyMan]

I bought one of these, in England in 1992-3 and it was very cheap (£3), I very foolishly sold it, thinking it would be easily replaceable but I never saw another one for sale. I do still have it's (pristine) box although it now houses a Lima 'n gauge' model railway train set. Thanks for your excellent content and 'in-depth political analysis' ! ! !

[@nonamex3052]

These are beautifully built radios. Inside and out

[@CopeCory]

Hi Shango, I have used scotch tape to fix the shorted tuning capacitors before. I use scissors to trim around the plates. Pretty easy, just takes time.

[@argoneum]

Wow, impressive. Remember those capacitors from when I was a kid: every time those plates unmeshed the capacitor was a goner: brass plates started peeling the plastic layer from copper ones, and that was it. Had many of them just laying around at my old place. Congratulations on precision, patience and tenacity!

[@mikemoyercell]

i just fixed a Universal Transistor Radio I had from the early 60's made by Candle. I replaced all 4 electrolytics and found the one 5mfd cap by the interstage transformer open as it had very little volume. THAT little sucker blasts now. 6 transistors and its not too bad of a performer, but its no transoceanic ;-). Very nice work on this one. You got me liking those old soviet radios. They really do perform well are built damn solid too. -Mike M.

[@LyonsArcade]

I cannot believe you took the time and trouble to rebuild a cheapo tuning cap, that is very impressive. ALL FOR THE LOVE OF TEH GAME

[@johnsampson1096]

Shango's capacitor rebuilding shop! Patience of a saint..........Great results!@

[@javierbiaggi3072]

You are the best! If I had a radio museum surely you will be my curator. Its fantastic how you resurrect these beauties. On the sensitivity of that radio that is a must in such a huge country of 11 times zones!

[@chriscimino7854]

I had the same bad problem with a tuning capacitor on a Sony boom box and it was a nice one too. Had a cd player tape deck and all it needed was a discontinued obsolete can't find one tuning cap. Same darn loose plates. I attempted to repair it but I couldn't it made me mad. You're incredibly talented

[@RadioHamGuy]

That was great to watch, good job! Sure seems like a great radio for number of components. Very sensitive and selective it seems. You did put a lot of work into that one but was sure fun to watch and follow along!!

[@bobbyk6585]

Took one of those tuning capacitors apart decades ago just to see how it worked. Never even considered one could be repaired. Impressive fix, Shango.

[@thedogbarked123]

I enjoyed watching your transistor radio repair video. I think that you did a good job of demonstrating how to repair the tuning capacitor. The receiver seems to work rather well. I looked on eBay for such a unit, but did not find any for sale (not that I need any more radios). Thank you for a great presentation.

[@RJDA.Dakota]

Your time and patience with these radios is tremendous. You have a great skill. And you do better than most, you can read the Cyrillic script.

[@luigirofartsylvain266]

I can't wait to see how it will perform on your next DX-ing expedition in the desert 🙂 in any case, congratulations for your patience and perseverance Shango 👍

[@jimw7ry]

Thanks! That was ALLOT of WORK Shango! Well done! I just ordered one of these on eBay.

[@zorka4098]

Admittedly, you have me convinced as to the quality of reception of these Soviet era transistors. Great job rebuilding the tuning capacitor. You may have hated it, but you brought pleasure to those of us watching.

[@Bartok_J]

Just rediscovered this. My Sokol is model number RP-210 but seems to be identical. It was sold in Britain in the early 1990s, very cheap because (as the catalogue warned) everything was in Russian. It came with instructions, circuit diagrams, a divider for the battery compartment and even a tiny plug for an external antenna. Yours is missing the divider - just a couple of pieces of rectangular thin board (material similar to the pcb) that slot together and sit between the cells to stop them rattling around. It's very over engineered - TEN transistors just for a pocket MW/LW set (not even FM), but does have great performance. ♥

[@kano8474]

SHANGO!!! Thanks for the video. Hope all is well.

[@chetpomeroy1399]

It's rather odd to me that this manufacturer did not key or spline the capacitor shaft to the rotating plates. Other than that, this appears to be a quality receiver that originated from a defunct Cold War adversary. I would suggest Shango set this aside for a future desert DX-ing trip.

[@jimw7ry]

He said he was going to take it out.

[@edwardallan197]

Ooooh! I was craving virgin repair territory. And here it is! Those little plates.... delicate tracking.....

[@tompsheridantsheridant7354]

I had no idea what was in those cheap film tuning capacitors. Thank you shaving for showing me this.

[@teacfan1080]

Your 5 to 6 hours of patience really paid off. Great performer!

[@Suddenlyits1960]

Shango,I’m impressed. Nobody else would have devoted 5 hours to rebuilding that damaged tuning capacitor on this radio. This one definetly found the right home in you!

[@johnmadow5331]

You probably are the last radio technician in America that spend the time to rebuild the damaged tuning capacitor that I know. The shop time for this type of service in America would cost close to $500.00 that excess the value of radio easily! I used to have my antique clock and watch rebuild and no one (except one clock smiths) can do this type of rebuild and repair.

[@hadibq]

Awesome job on that capacitor, hat's off sir👍 impressive speaker build quality!

[@albear972]

7:30 Holy cr@p! I'm *super* impressed by that old Soviet schematic! 6:44 CalTrans radio station? I had never heard of that except very low powered information announcements. That repair was astonishing! You have the talent and the patience of a saint to do that.

[@aerotro]

Nice job fixing that VC Shango066 yeah as we get older fixing small stuff becomes really hard with shaky hands, bad eye sight and patience or lack their of. But it was worth it as a one off.

[@pleasecho2]

your persistence is impressive

[@sergejsyvak7863]

Привет из Испании! 👋Лайк! Настроечный конденсатор просто сломали, возможно дети.😒 Удачи в вашем деле! Смотрю ваш канал постоянно.👍

[@matthiase.1747]

The mixer/converter-transistor KT368 with ft=900MHz is very unusual for an am radio. Usually transistors with much lower ft are used. Good for high gain.

[@davidfarrell7318]

brilliant video shango loved your work and description of the radio when you took the tuning capacitor apart very enjoyable .

[@vanadiumV]

this device is 37 years old and outstandingly /amazingly still sharp like razor

[@niklogin96]

Раньше такие приемники отлично ловили только атмосферные помехи. Поэтому их использовали как набор радиодеталей для технического творчества.

[@gustavevilleneuvedehoff-un5459]

Да ладно, у меня был такой - нормально ловил. Атмосферные помехи он стал ловить лишь после моего вмешательства, которое случилось не позднее, чем через неделю после попадания в мои любопытные руки :)

[@jimmooter]

I'm very impressed of the way you fixed it. If I got it to that point it would have gone in the garbage for me.

[@DG-zp2wz]

The radio is very hot and well worth fixing. As you were tuning the radio, I think I heard it pick up KSDO 1130 (Spanish religious programming) from San Diego between 1110, formerly Disney, and 1150 the Patriot. Also, I think I heard KCBQ 1170, the Answer, from San Diego. Impressive!

[@ZXRulezzz]

"ОТК" is "отдел технического контроля", basically a "quality assurance" marking. No part info in that, unfortunately.

[@billmyke746]

You really outdid yourself in rebuilding that tuning cap. Nice work doctor.

[@joeblow8593]

The way it's going in this country, it won't be long before you can use that to find out the waiting times for the bread lines. And maybe listen to the forecast for the crop reports for next year.

[@volvo09]

Nope, you'll have to get that information from your registered and verified mobile device, the app will turn green and display a QR code when you are ready to pick up bread and 3d printed "meat". How else would they ensure I don't take your meat? It's to help YOU!

[@Karl63601]

Nice work Shango. That baby needs a nighttime trip to the desert for some DX playtime. Great video.

[@PapiDoesIt]

When I lived in Germany back in the Cold War days I could sometimes pick up an English speaking Soviet propaganda station. "The Soviet Union today flew the world's first aircraft powered by LPG" was a typical example of the broadcasting.

[@davemould4638]

No different to the propaganda broadcast by Western countries. It's just that you believed our propaganda so didn't see it for what it was.

[@DiAngeloTheSecond]

did it end up as a submarine?

[@frankowalker4662]

Holy crap Shango, what a horrible job to take on, and you did it so well. Congrats on a fantastic repair.

[@Seiskid]

I love how that blm station was talking about "if you are a pregnant person". I guess pregnancy is one of those things that could literally happen to anyone now. Loved the radio. It might have been a pain to rebuild that cap, but I'm so glad you did. This was a good video.

[@mauanderuk]

Well worth the time you spent on it what an amazing radio.

[@Roland_Tr909_Swing]

Awesome videos as always shango

[@stevencarlson5422]

Tough repair for sure, but totally worth it, look forward to seeing it perform out in the open cause it sure is a hot one for sure

[@vintageradios7790]

As usual intriguing and entertaining videos by Mr Shango

[@markmarkofkane8167]

That is such an interesting looking radio! Imagine. Having to assemble the tuning caps by hand! Is that how it was done during manufacturing?

[@volvo09]

Agree, I think they look good, especially in that deep red.

[@kareno8634]

my thought of 'manufacturing' - person assembling Tuner was having a Bad Day. looked as if one corner tightened too much.

[@darrensmith6999]

Bought the exact same model a few months back, mine works great infact nearly as good as FM Haha

[@alexandertorres5809]

Nice looking baby Radio. Mirandolo right now. Good day sir.

[@SpinStar1956]

Shango: Great video and hats-off for the perseverance to stay with the tuning condenser! And, as you can see, the radio was well worth it. Has it been field-tested? When I was kid repairing these, I would often find the insulating coatings or most of the time sheets to be either torn from their mounting or all balled-up inside the enclosure. I tried without success to find the right plastic (either baggies or report-covers) that was both thin and stiff enough but sometimes found that I could cut a TO-3 mica-sheet (Radio Shack always had the thinnest ones!) even if it had the holes as the remainder of the sheet would still have enough spacing to keep the plates apart. Later I found that using thinned-down clear fingernail polish (with laquer thinner) or acrylic or even thinned spar-varnish. I would dip them to apply a watery-coating to the plates and that worked well. This radio is really built with quality. The first thing I noticed was the ceramic tuning capacitors; you don't see that often. Another thing was the brass and copper plates used in the tuning condenser. Brass, and especially copper have lower linear expansion coefficients than the cheap aluminum ones your normally see--this adds to stability which might have been a thing in a freezing Siberian Gulag! Additionally, these copper or brass plates can be plated with nickel or silver for corrosion although silver is often times problematic. There is conjecture out there, that the silver plating will enhance the Q but I have never had opportunity to have one, test it, plate it, and then measure the Q--but I have both seen it in high-end test equipment and VFO's (usually with gas-sealed enclosures so I wouldn't bet against that being true. Anyway, as we get older, we have less patience for BS but you really hung in there and got a good long term result which I don't think (your-fix) will ever fail...

[@edhorse13]

I collect pocket CB tuners and I rly want a Soviet one after this. super cool

[@larry8253]

Very good audio quality. Nicely done! :-)

[@zx8401ztv]

Shango, your determination has saved a really nice radio, it was worth saving.

[@mikefinn2101]

Another very educational video great job enjoyed this learning new stuff

[@michaelblack5011]

I have Sokol-304 and working great , nothing change

[@robertkaniszewski8574]

Trzeba wymienić wszystkie kondensatory elektrolityczne. Pozdrawiam Robert.

[@Valvulo]

Recently I got a Sokol 304 from a chap in Bulgaria, and it performed very poorly when first powered. After some analysis, a failed solder joint in the AM antenna coil was found and fixed. The tuning was peaked and the radio now performs HOT, getting many DX stations at night! What makes these so selective is the piezo filter. It's sad that it's getting harder (and more expensive) to get radios and parts from these eastern countries.

[@radio-ged4626]

Now that IS a resurrection!!!

[@rolfsinkgraven]

A great repair well done.

[@erikdenhouter]

Surprised how far you went for this one, but.... quality demands.

[@jtveg]

Thanks for sharing. 😉👌🏻

[@johnnytacokleinschmidt515]

2:45 With captioning on it says ”Applause." 😂 And we thought it was static...

[@volvo09]

Good find on the tuning cap... Wonder if that was manufactured broken and that's why the radio was never used? Dosen't look like something that would happen from hitting the tuning knob? The mystery on some of these is 1/2 the fun. Edit... Now I wonder if someone twisted the hell out of that tuning knob.

[@kareno8634]

NO Stations but Buzz. LA Special - fixit.

[@111000100101001]

Delicious quality built right in, well except for the chineseium tuning cap.

[@jsciarri]

Looks like it had its original electrolytic capacitors replaced one time, since it now has garbage Chinese Chong branded capacitors installed. Nevertheless, that's one solid performer no doubt. Cudos to the tuning capacitor repair.

[@Artist1974CH]

It could be American, European, or British brand capacitors. Anything the westerners make is junk and their brained is filled with junk.

[@andrewagner2035]

It even has a ceramic IF filter, making the IF section very selective, which is why the audio sounds distorted, when the station is not tuned in correctly.

[@kennynvake4hve584]

Im Impressed, I coiuld have never fixed that cap.....

[@kareno8634]

Not so "stupid" if the work you did, Worked. : } _Now if there was something to be done about those "Duraleaks"._

[@beamer.electronics]

Blimey, if that were billed to a customer it would've cost at least 200 bucks - brilliant work :)

[@jdmccorful]

You are "extraordinary", without a doubt! The KING of Soviet radios State Side, I give you the "Blue Gloved Devil" of radio repairs. Thanks for your time and skill.

[@thedogbarked123]

A quick way to see if the tuner is working is bring your Malachite SDR near the radio and look for the oscillator signal. That way you know if the oscillator is running, what frequency it is tuned to, and if the tuning capacitor is turning.

[@LazorVideosDestruction]

Oh god, it's the test lady from my nightmares again!

[@gustavevilleneuvedehoff-un5459]

“Turn the radio on… Listen to propagadna… Maybe it could work today” - what a pun :) 2:05 How this world actually turned around.

[@dl7ary]

DURALEAK ! The best way to describe these horrible chinese junk !! Thank you for this nice video, I often repair USSR Radios, here in Germany common from the late sixties on. In both Germanies, for valuta they exported large numbers of SW -Radios (eg. SELENA 215 from Latvia) and mini-TVs . inexpensive in the west, expensive in east Germany. Today collectors items !

[@kevtris]

wow a differential pair in the audio amp. that's class-cee. it should have pretty good audio fidelity with the negative feedback that brings. you won't find that in your average hong-coidial model. no output transformer in there either- direct drive too.

[@BretFrohwein]

"I'll never do this again, that's it..." we know you will! 🙂

[@garylawson4595]

Special tuning capacitor operation

[@patf2444]

Good vid!! Thanks

[@asdcxzvbgft58457566]

Greetings from Russia. Thanks for the interesting video)

[@Steven-re7xt]

Universal.... is the diagram.... Chinese, French. German, and ussr. I amazed my friends when I put one together. And threw a Chinese diagram on the table......pointed out the equipment locations.

[@Antony_Jenner]

And here's me thinking I'm the only idiot that does shit like this, nice work Shango.

[@hugoegon8148]

"Duraleak batteries" 😂 You made my day. 👍🏻 These red square disk capacitors are crap. They tends to short.

[@111000100101001]

So good I had to watch again! I wonder if would receive music in its home country or just some crackpot trying to save face as it does here.

[@klafong1]

Given the bent appearance of the plates in the first tuning capacitor, I wonder whether it jammed, and a frustrated person decided that it would be a smart solution to free the shaft with a pair of pliers!

[@martinda7446]

Shango were the pair of TO126 in the audio output factory?

[@matthiase.1747]

The schematic says so. Two KT639 transistors are original. They have similar data like BD140 transistors.

[@MrHBSoftware]

4:33 those are modern capacitors....."Chang" they are the standard chinese cap that sells here in Portugal on our local electronic component stores...that radio looks like it was recapped

[@dedmazai9212]

Even cast-iron plates break in the hands of children. 😊😊😊📻

[@hestheMaster]

An amazing repair on a Russia AM radio! Take it on your next desert adventure to see how well it performs!

[@brianmoore5498]

idk ,…as crazy hot and high quality as that radio is i would think it is time well spent and you are halfway up the learning curve

[@deepblueskyshine]

It's basicly the same as other soviet pocket radios, but all silicon transistors, multitank IF filter is replaced with ceramic one (these were 7 resonating elements in comparison with japanese, now chinese 5 elements) and half bridge transformer matched stages of LF amp is replaced by a regular push-pull. Sadly, it's an 80s example, when quality control and strict technology requirements following have gone far south. You can see some improvements though - i.е. PE or PET plastic coil formers instead of paper or polystyrene ones.

[@jeffreyhickman3871]

Cokoa or Cokon radio 📻. They’re clearly Russian 🇷🇺. It’s worth a restore. Keep that schematic, that’s where the value is. And it’s a great 👍 looking radio 📻. I. Really like 👍 the colors. You’ve got a little static there. Just needs a recap, and she’s ready to go. That’s very beautiful 😻 circuitry for it being Japanese. Looks like 👍 the Japanese really put their time into this. Your friend, Jeff.

[@Radiowild]

That was impressive!

[@stevehead365]

Great fix.

[@johnchildress6717]

Shango did you check how many milliamps it was drawing?Just for the heck of it.Time to take it out to the desert.You did a good job on this one.As usual.

[@bigmotter001]

Shango006 always exceeds our expectations. Great fix on the tuning part! Thanks for posting and take care!

[@tomcarlson3913]

Shango. Look for Panasonic Batteries. They're made in Poland (not chinnesium like the big brands) and are far less prone to leaking. The dollar stores out here carry them and also some of the thrift shops that mix some cheap new merch into their donated items. I'd also Imagine batteries from a former Soviet Bloc country like Poland are more appropriate for Soviet Russian radio to lizen to yooo.😆

[@wadeolson8903]

Couple pages of that manual almost have that Passport look..