VEF Spidola 10 USSR Radio

[@seigesund3348]

ПР is short for ПРОИГРЫВАТЕЛЬ in Russian. That's turntable in English. It means that the radio works as the amplifier of a signal from a turntable.

[@stevenking2980]

That was a very generous gift. Thanks for giving it to shango and shango thank you for the last 4 EXCELLENT videos. Man you are good sir.

[@ytrewq6789]

I only once seen a turret tuner in a radio in all my life of playing with radios and TV's. It was a German made one, with all German writing on it and sadly I do not remember the make of it because of that. I found it at a yard sale for 50 cents back when I was 9 years old and It was a multi-bander, like this one only a bit larger in size. It was very much the same shape and layout as the one shown and also It was a solid state one as well from the early 60's. The latest date I could find on the Transistors was 1964 and the earliest was 1962 and it had no circuit board in it at all. It was all point to point connections just like in a tube chassis but in a really neat looking 3d layout. I wished I had not given it away at this time but at least it was to a friend that wanted it for a fathers day gift for his dad that wanted it for his hunting camp. He was a ham radio operator that not only loved the gift but still has it till this day. I could get it back but there is an ethics issue on why I will never ask. but it is still working till this very day and still sounds great. I wished they still made stuff like this today instead of all this cheap throw away crap they do today, that's only just draining our precious resources. Some of which are non-renewable. But it's polluting our environment just for corporate capitalist selfish fiscal gain. that only cares about having money for assets for no other reason other than to just to show off and brag to everybody that they have it, and that makes me better then you!!!.

[@helioshaul3924]

Beautiful Electronic Art. The speakers were fantastic for the time. And lets face it it Still Works . Thanks for the Video. May I Wish You a Very Happy Christmas, and a Happy New Year.

[@JerryEricsson]

Extremely cool radio, man if I got my hands on one of those, I would spend weeks getting everything back to original, cleaned to the max, all epoxied back together, all clear plastic polished till it looked like glass then coated with clear lacquer, yes indeed a real lovely radio, and installing lipo's just makes a lot of sense. Personally I have around 50 extra cells recovered from bad laptop batteries, I find when I tear them down and test the cells, usually only one is bad, the rest are very healthy. Thanks for the wonderful videos, I have been watching all your stuff for the past couple weeks you see, I am an old fart and disabled to the point where the most I can do is sit on my ass and play with a laptop, or perhaps build an arduino project, things like that, so I use these type videos to add to my knowledge collection. Hell by the time I die, I may even be smart!

[@wadehicks9270]

You Sir are an awesome repair tech I'm sure you have your battles with a few here and there, but for the most part your not afraid to dive into nothing with a circuit board.... Very cool 😎

[@MrUbiquitousTech]

Very cool! Like the way it's built too. I was expecting Khrushchev, but what you got was even better; the sound of unicorns being tortured!

[@muzikasskanas1251]

This radio is made in Latvia in Riga the VEF factory I am Latvian

[@KrisisVal]

how did I know that there was gonna be a comment from a Latvian saying that the radio is from Latvia not Russia.

[@TheRichardSpearman]

Were the Vega Selena range made in Latvia? I thought so, but other websites say Minks, Belarus. i own a later model that says Made in Republik Belarus on the back. Are radios still manufactured in Latvia?

[@toomaskotkas4467]

USED to be made in Latvian Soviet Socialist Republic. Then "Freedom and Democracy" (c) have happened.

[@danmackintosh6325]

I was about to say the same, Latvian radios. I used to have some Rigonda speakers that were huge & sounded really good. Still have a VEF "Vega" 206 which is a bit like the CCCP answer to Trans-Oceanic or World Monitor kind of thing i think. It has LW/MW and 6 SW bandspreads. Solidly built bits of kit and maybe the Zenith of the bloc?

[@danmackintosh6325]

Oh, and i think (don;t know) the Selena Vega was French built...

[@galaxyflyer6374]

That's awesome! That's gotta be a keeper radio. And this is the first time I've ever heard a song made with a squeaky toy and pots and pans.

[@DjResR]

Soviet era latvian made radio, nice one too. Made since 1963. СВ stands for "Средние волны" that means Medium Wave and ДВ stands for "Длинные волны" that means Long Wave. There has been at least one "dissident" criminal case in Soviet Union, that involved confiscation of that type of radio as "instrument of crime". 67 on a pot is a year code for 1967.

[@kevmichael2064]

LW I Get Sibera and Tibet on 250 and 285khz.... Japanese and Korea on 774 and 1503khz on MW

[@Catswhiskerdetector]

The Chinese music @ 21 minutes is a Chicom shortwave jammer. It's known as the 'firedrake'

[@059metafrast]

ПР means radio acts from aux sound source. Not reciever in that position.

[@Pyridox]

Very interesting to see how the Soviets made their radios back in the 70's. The radio looks well made, and built to last. In general, radios from the late 60's to 70's were made better.

[@missionpassed4584]

Apart from the plastic bits! lol

[@tracyscott3261]

it's cool watching you get an old partially apart radio working. That's just COOL! I bet that be fun camping out and finding one and getting it receiving. I hated to see this one end. Really neat video. Thank you.

[@skycarl]

Very cool radio. Built like a darn tank. Fun to watch. Thanks Carl

[@smlw]

I’m from USSR. I have not this radio in my collection 😄 But You have.

[@MsCori76]

I miss shortwave, specially the time announcement. Brings back childhood memories & I use to use the time announcement to put my son to sleep when he was a baby. Not long after that, Australia ceased shortwave! :(

[@Elfnetdesigns]

In Soviet Russia the VEF Spidola 10 listens to you!

[@billmyke746]

ElfNet Gaming Spetnatz!!

[@markmarkofkane8167]

Lol

[@pyeltd.5457]

in USA iPhone listens to you

[@Коммун]

@@pyeltd.5457 bruh lol

[@LakeNipissing]

The tuning string and tension spring crossing right in front of the speaker!! HAHA

[@gregorymalchuk272]

Built-in spring reverb!

[@kevmichael2064]

LW is 150-400khz where I live it is Tibet and China ....MW is 510-1600khz... Japan Australia...Korea.... also Canada and USA and Mexico too...At Night....740 is KCBS San Francisco and 1070 is KNX Los Angeles California.....Comes In At Night... when we have a Cold Spell...it is almost a Local... Australia is on 1017 and 1215khz.. with my Bose Austrian Made.Tuner...it can beat my Sangean 909x... even if it is 10khz stepped...

[@GeoNeilUK]

21:10 I think you might have found the the Voice of America in Chinese of 31m, with the Chinese government providing their own alternative programme. Yeah, the Chinese are still up to the same shenanigans that the Soviets were up to. It's a super cool radio just going by the description, never mind anything else.

[@leathandrubb]

MY DAD GOT ME ONE OF THESE IN 1969.IT LASTED FOR YEARS.I'M 67 NOW BUT THE VEF RADIO HAS LONG SINCE GONE.I GOT THE VHF ONE LATER WITH THE OTHER MED WAVE BANDS ALSO AND NOW NEXT DOORS HAVE IT AND IT STILL WORKS.

[@msylvain59]

I had 2 or 3 of these radios, found cheap in fleamarkets, Sadly, I sold them all because of lack of storage space.

[@Richardproctor]

I had one of these radio many years ago it was a powerful radio. Thank you for your wonderful video's you post

[@RetroGamerVX]

I was going to say it's an absolute shed until I read your description there, did this thing actually unscramble a signal for dissected communists? Ok, some really weird transmissions around 21:57, I think you picked up et right there lol

[@dallasdorrington7449]

A shot of vodka in the volume pot and she work great mate YEAH! Hahaha

[@robot797]

it sounds good for such an old messed up radio

[@Amp497]

In the early 1970's I believe Sony or Panasonic put out an AM/FM shortwave radio with a vertical turret. As one turned the selector knob the different frequency ranges would appear on the screen. My aunt had one. Does anyone know anything about it?

[@hugomorenoreyes6235]

En México se fabricó como el DeVal 10 TR, un excelente radio para onda corta. In Mexico, it was manufactured as the DeVal 10 TR, an excellent radio for short wave, I had one. В Мексике он был изготовлен как DeVal 10 TR, отличное радио для короткой волны, у меня был один

[@buddylight2191]

I think it's neat how you get all this old stuff working.

[@alexmihai22]

that's from 1966-67'? It's more than 50 years old. It's older than the flight to the Moon.

[@ianrazey8412]

Coroi Alexandru-Mihai my parents had one. My dad bought it when my mum was in hospital prior to me being born, in 1965.

[@tonyblackmon6356]

I had one just like that and it was made in late 1966. They're great and very sensitive. I gave it to a friend who was interested in getting a ham license.

[@michaelturner4457]

Transistors made by Svetlana factory, in Leningrad(St Petersburg).

[@ranuts2]

Very different and interesting. I figured you'd get it operating too. Thanks for this one.

[@2davydo]

Maybe you could do a vid of an if alignment on it and really get it to perform .

[@HBC101TVStudios]

shango066 23:09 is time signal station WWV Fort Collins, Colorado, and WWVH Kekaha, Hawaii

[@MANINAMOPPSUIT]

The atomic clock ?

[@Hunter-xy6qq]

Shango the Mr. Fix it. You're great man

[@globin010252]

love them parting comments, love the nuke proof radio too...think you could get a bigger knife for ceremonial tape cutting?

[@NJPurling]

I am very surprised that the radio didn't need a handful of bad capacitors replaced. Which is not a surprise in any radio of this age. This thing was left with batteries in. I suppose that 'D' cells would have lasted so long you forgot about them? The next thing you know they look like rotted fruit. Particularly if you used the cheapest batteries you could find. In the UK that was the Flying Bomb brand. They leaked even when they still had good voltage! Made Dura-leak look good.

[@brum57]

I had a couple of radios by what looks like the same manufacturer back in the 70's when I was a short wave listener. They were badged VEGA for the UK market, good radios, built like a battleship and a great price!, loved the turret bandchanger on those sets. - The station you refered to was probably Radio Australia, do the BBC still transmit on Short Wave? not sure but probably not!

[@thecooldude9999]

I think they only are on long wave now.

[@pekarj]

VEF Latvia used the VEGA brand on "western" markets, this was common with eastern european manufacturers back then because of the import/export restrictions.

[@arjanwilbie2511]

There are a few stations still on shortwave, bbc is indeed longwave till parts run out :(

[@1L6E6VHF]

BBC has a very small number of shortwave broadcasts in English to Africa.

[@rogertyler3237]

I had a sound design boombox around 983 & the speakers whent out So I put some realistic 4 inch home stereo speakers in it & it sounded just great.

[@TonyButchT]

They do not skimp on solder...I like that! Very nice radio with a good sound! The "music" on the 31M band might be associated with pure opium!

[@MisterTalkingMachine]

I have heard that stuff on radio before, it actually seems to be old Chinese folk music, which the Chinese government uses for radio jamming, to get rid of unwanted broadcasts that could be heard by chinese listeners inside the country.

[@PhilXavierSierraJones]

MisterTalkingMachine Korean government also uses something like that to mask off band at (44.7KHz? I am unsure because it was a while ago). They use blank signal, or use something that sounds like cellphone interference.

[@MisterTalkingMachine]

Phil Sierra Jones Oh yeah, I have heard of those methods, but never actually heard them happening on the radio. The folk music is commonly used in china, yet there are other methods like those you mentioned, broadcasting an unmodulated carrier or noise that can be confussed with interference. 44.7 KHz is on the LF band, well below the commercial Long Wave, so I would need to get a new receiver to try and find such stuff out of the common shortwave.

[@HBC101TVStudios]

MisterTalkingMachine FYI, the name of the jammer is known as the "Chinese Firedrake".

[@PhilXavierSierraJones]

***** Good information! Thanks :)

[@poofy53]

United forever in friendship and labor our mighty republics will ever endure the great Soviet Union will live through the ages long live our soviet motherland built by the people's mighty hand

[@billybassman21]

I remember picking up scrambled programming from Russia on shortwave back in the 80s, it was a continuous lower pitched laser sound.

[@MrJohndoakes]

21:34 The Chinese Firedrake jammer. www.sigidwiki.com/wiki/Chinese_Firedrake_Jammer That variant of VEF Spidola looks to be from the mid-1960s, 1966-67.

[@petermaxwell2965]

You "must" get this radio working comrade, we don't have much time !!

[@Коммун]

yes sir

[@drfalcon4102]

At 20:41, I think that was Yoko ono.s greatest hits

[@justinthomas2458]

Remember that scene from dumb and dumber about the most annoying sound in the world? Go to about 20 minutes mark

[@plinkleton]

Dang , that thing preforms better than a Zenith !

[@arjanwilbie2511]

Royal mail is always expensive, next time you buy from a EU person, have him shipping through interparcel, he gets quotes to ship cheaper.

[@agris8859]

''Uzmanību, runā Rīga. Klausieties ziņu pārraidi!''

[@abandonedsc4261]

That radio is just too cool!

[@AMStationEngineer]

Thank you for this video view of another era, and from another world. BTW, I've had excellent luck in removing corrosion from both (older) plastic and plated metal when using Lestoil/water in a 50/50 concentration. Hardware stores are the only locales which carry it anymore, and most of the time, persons younger than 50 look at you like you have three eyes and a 1950's TV antenna sticking out of your head - when inquiring about it's availability. Could he have been assessed VAT when paying for the post to the USA??

[@umajunkcollector]

Um looking for an older Unitra radio from Poland.

[@marksmediatv7734]

21:11 Is that firedrake Chinese radio blocker?

[@williamhelms9942]

Number 1 All Time Favorite shango066 Video!

[@leyland9999]

I once owned a Spidola 250, technically almost the same other than the cabinet, it has the dial on top. The same rotary band selector and FM. Basically, these radios were fine pieces of good old craftmanship. However, quality control was something the former USSR had not in their dictionary. So getting a good one was a gamble. It all depended on the moods of the workforce. Mine died, no parts available, I still have it though. It is yours if you pay for the shipment. The VEF you have was for the domestic Sovjet market only. The export units all had FM, European and USA frequencies other than the standard USSR low frequency FM frequencies. These radios originated from the country you got it from, nowadays sovereign states, The Baltics.

[@7c3c72602f7054696b]

I get screwed being north of the border on shipping so badly it's unreal. Throw in the great global shipping ebay program and not only do I get to pay extravagant amounts but my items often end up abused or broken. What a bonus!

[@adid.5585]

I see you actually got something on LW. I knew US doesn't use this band, so I guess the stations you picked up might be offshore.

[@1L6E6VHF]

My guess would be that a harmonic of the local oscillator is mixing with the very strong signal of a local mediumwave (usually called "AM" in the USA) station. This radio has more birdies than Capistrano!

[@luthmhor]

That pulley system is so cool haha

[@officialcanadianshackster]

24:03 No Your Right That Is 10000 MHz On 31 Meters That Frequency Is WWV & WWVH In Fort Colins Colorado And Kauii Hawaii

[@JerryEricsson]

Really cool radio, kind of wish I had one like that, but now days there isn't much on short wave anyhow I guess. I do have a nice SONY multi-band that works great, and my little Grundig almost pocket digital tuned radio with AM/FM/SW*3 that works great, never listen to them anymore, but I guess I do have them, probably as much as you have listened to the Russian set you had here in the last 5 years.

[@KrisisVal]

the VEF radios were made in latvia, not russia!

[@ArlenMoulton2]

The speaker looks very solid, I bet they need it to get the full amount of bass when playing Narkotik Kal.

[@vonzigle]

I used to listen to VOA all the time. They had better news than the U.S. Networks!

[@rogertyler3237]

I Remember I Had A Radio Like That With One Of The Coil Wires That Came Un Soldered Then All I Had To Do Is Solder The Copper Wire Back On. So I Checked The Other 2 Wires The Green Wire & The Black Wire. They Wh'er Good.

[@markmarkofkane8167]

300 divided by meters= Frequency in MHz. I think. I need to learn how you can listen to longwave on a short antenna. Is it like Quarter Wave?

[@MattExzy]

21:11 - A Firedrake Jammer appears

[@klafong1]

The Firedrake jammer is cool. Given the dreck that many US domestic radio stations broadcast, I would be happy to see a group of Chinese expatriates jam their broadcasts with this. "Jack FM" type stations should be the first targets!

[@mechadrake]

radio probably has history of jamming too:) my mother said that western radio stations could be heard here but were jammed by soviets. forbidden to listen. could tune to listen to free world anyway.

[@qrplife]

I must admit I was a little surprised when you turned it on and we heard English language broadcasts. For some strange reason I expected it to receive in Russian 😉

[@ModMokkaMatti]

If the radio was a sentient being, I reckon that it would be quite bewildered by that as well.

[@luisantoniomarrega1120]

Muito bom e aida sintoniza as ondas curtas! Rio de Janeiro RJ Brasil

[@peterconrad8416]

great radio - a fantastic gift

[@1marcelfilms]

I would love some old soviet stuff. But I live too far from the eastern Europe so this stuff would never be in thrift stores here.

[@hectorodio1564]

Yes, i remember my forst battery russian radio model vef 206 and selena b210 thats radios with a lot short wave band .i listen ever night the voice of america, bbc , ant other anti-communist station of course with headphones . If the communist catch me listen that they guive me a lot of year in prision. I remember the korean air liner destroyer in mid of the air by the russian pilot . And tbe soviet invasion pf Afghanistan for me thats radio was a window to the freedom and true .

[@gregoriagregg7411]

That knife is very appropriate for a russian radio

[@rsattahip]

Don't contaminate it with CNN.

[@Synthematix]

merry christmas shango

[@Mike1614YT]

That's not a knife!

[@andygozzo72]

Nice radios...when they work! I have 2 similar but different 'rounded edged' case, the power switch was dodgy on both mine so maybe common problem.

[@andygozzo72]

and now got hold of another !

[@andygozzo72]

this one had bad oxidation on the earphone socket!

[@andygozzo72]

i have a Vega Selena B215 'new in box' (some surplus company 'rediscovered' a load of them some years ago), works but rather 'hissy' , very poor dial markings, you never know what you're tuning to !

[@mechadrake]

friend gave me one like this but it had someone inside before and it was missing pieces inside. it was made in baltics during sssr occupation. I'm in baltics too

[@radiopower4150]

Хорошее радио вам досталось.

[@kevmichael2064]

It is 10mhz...WWV Fort Collins USA....at the tone ....etc.... Great Radio

[@kennynvake4hve584]

I can almost guarantee that radio never heard a spanish word ever...............till now.

[@Wildman9]

Think I heard the mating call of a Dolphin.🔌🔨

[@mikebell2112]

I would translate the wave labels as C=S=short, A thing=D=distal=long. And the B is a V for some reason.

[@andymouse]

Nice Knife....cheers.

[@MsCori76]

Cool radio. I was wondering how much you would charge to fix my old all tube radio?

[@vefm-5579]

в СССР приёмников ловящих западные радиостанции на КВ было огромное количество и всё было вполне легально.Изымались приёмники только во время 2 Мировой войны. Единственно, что вражеские голоса глушились до времен Перестройки

[@stevenking2980]

I think I have a ferrite antenna that's similar. Want me to send it?

[@jimhibbard1546]

Hey why are my pots and pans dented ?21:12

[@douro20]

I wouldn't mind having an old Soviet radio receiver.

[@Kennynva]

Im impressed...wow you got it going..

[@bwc1976]

This must have really been something when it was new, I wonder how much a fully restored version would cost. Also, 7 years later that cat-torturing song on 31 meters is still unidentifiable by either Google or Shazam.

[@muzikasskanas1251]

in factory of Radiotehnika or in the full name Rīgasrādiorūpnīca (RRR)

[@davidbarts6144]

The "hardware" was illegal to have? Why were such radios openly manufactured and sold in the USSR, then?

[@alberttatlock5237]

They weren't illegal to have in The USSR at the time, another thing to consider is this was actually sent from the UK and not from Latvia, you pay the postage in the currency the item is sent from. Paying that amount of money to send a worthless old radio to someone you don't know, I'm guessing the guy had more money than sense

[@jonathaneastwood2927]

@@alberttatlock5237 or was just a nice person . Not many about i know

[@danholmes7039]

You fixed it on your front walk 👍

[@DoRC]

21:30 what the hell is that?

[@nor4277]

Lytz wire on the antenna,stuff a pain to fix.

[@aaravaarav5337]

I repair this radio in 1975

[@DAVIDGREGORYKERR]

I wonder has someone snaffled one of the tuning biscuits as this is not normal there should be 8 tuner biscuits and I wonder where that missing biscuit went, was the missing biscuit confiscated from the person who owned it so the owner could not listen to VOA.

[@badscrew4023]

No, it's by design, this missing biscuit is when you use it as amplifier for external record player.

[@HBC101TVStudios]

Nice Soviet shortwave radio receiver!

[@wadehicks9270]

If the KZbin copy rite flagged you on that one thing with all the high pitched stuff going on they gotta wild taste of music haha 😂

[@cyberpunk004]

when are you posting the 10 hr mix to give them to put something more interesting to put the ads on?