Soviet radio little look inside- VEF 221

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crazygamer

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Hello BBers,

I recently acquired an interesting Soviet radio named VEF 221. It´s manufactured in 1988 i guess, it´s 5 band radio (FM,MW,LW,SW1,SW2) and it´s export version which means that it has english lettering, 88-108 Mhz FM band and slight cosmetical changes, built quality is quite the same on Soviet version.

Here is one photo of it front, forgot to make photo myself of it. I opened it up ( It even had one seal on one screw that had a VEF factory logo on it, like a seal of quarantee)

vef221.jpg

I opened it up, it dismantles into 3 sections- back cover, front cover and middle section where all electronics are attached, that´s a clever engineering :lol:

Here is the circuit board when back cover is taken off

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This is how it looks like from the front when front cover is taken off, looks like there´s some space for playing around too. I still wonder how it still works as soviet electronical components don´t last too long. But it works ! Sliders in the upper left needed some deoxit, that´s all.

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This grey metal box is actually a huge variable capacitor, for 1988 it sure looks very old technology.

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Here is the rotating band selector, with each circuit on the side for each band, this one on photo shows FM circuit, when you turn the band selector it switches to another circuit and makes contact with circuit board. This is also quite old way to do it, think about it, this in 1988 ? :lol:

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And here is it´s loudspeaker that produces "Soviet average" sound.

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Here is a photo of it´s russian domestic version, the VEF 214.

VEF214.jpg

This one had OIRT FM band (65-74Mhz) and people actually made decent money from making FM conversion circuits :lol: Oh the times. I have one VEF 214 too with rebuilt FM circuit, fun thing on those both VEF radios is that radio dial moves from right to left, i´ve never seen anything like that before.
This radio is a nice piece from Latvia with a hint of Soviet manufacturing culture, in VEF and RRR plant they actually made quite nice audio equipment, for example, Radiotehnika amplifiers, tuners, cassette decks and turntables and this kind of boomboxes :-D

RadiotehnikaML6201_p1n.jpg

radiotehnika.jpg

That´s all for now, plenty of those around, very cheap but many of them don´t work anymore because of poor electronics inside. Soviet made boomboxes are quite rare here and also with poor electronics and engineering, but fun to have, just hard to operate :lol:
 

crazygamer

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Radio-Active said:
Very Interesting. Thanks for sharing.
If only all boxes were that easy to access for repair.
Thanks for interest, oh yes, Latvians back then were very smart and this radio had a good name all over the USSR, other factories also produced radios but they aren´t as good as this one here. :yes:
 

crazygamer

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MyOhMy said:
All very nice, they don't look as bad as I was expecting but my first thought at seeing that tuning string was: It's a Soviet shoe lace!! :lol: :lol: :lol:
Oh yes, it looks bit bland and out of fashion for 1988, i guess they used very handy items to build one :lol: I´ve seen varicap this big on soviet radios that were made in 60s, they have bad habit to rust also.

Another common radio in USSR was a Selga 405, a MW/LW portable radio, everybody had one, even my dad who used it for listening to Radio Luxembourg during summertime at countryside in his youth :lol: Every Selga radio was in faux leather pouch too and Selga radios were also produced by VEF factory in Riga, Latvia. Will include a picture of it too. I have also 1 working one and 2 non-working one, bad capacitors, i guess.

selgaraadio.jpg
selgaraadio1.jpg
 

crazygamer

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toshik said:
What would be the practical purpose of paying for such conversion?
Let me explain. Estonia used to be part of Soviet union, no possibilities to hear and see through the iron curtain. Radios had 65-74 Mhz FM band, TVs had SECAM color standard, but the closest non-Soviet capitalist country, a republic, had a FM 88-108Mhz and PAL TV color standard. Electronic masters made quite good money on this illegal, but very well paid job, making FM conversion and TV PAL color and sound modules so people could see Finnish TV and listen to Finnish radio, but only those were able to do that who lived in Northern part of Estonia as they were closer to Finland. :yes:
 

goodman

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crazygamer, I have the same radio VEF 221! :yes:
Work very good on FM and catch many stations.
I made a liitlle mod - line in to connect portable mp3 player! :-D
 

crazygamer

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goodman said:
crazygamer, I have the same radio VEF 221! :yes:
Work very good on FM and catch many stations.
I made a liitlle mod - line in to connect portable mp3 player! :-D
Hello goodman, that´s nice ! :-D Yes, if it´s in working order you got yourself a nice superhet multiband radio :lol: :thumbsup: Very nice mod, i prefer mine as original :yes: . I guess they are very common in Bulgaria.
 

crazygamer

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Reli

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RFT actually made some hi-fi receivers and components too. But styling was not their strength. No need for good styling in a situation where competition is blocked from retail stores.
 

goodman

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Here are the promised pictures of my radio.
On the left side are visible two cinch input jacks and knob for adjust input level.
On the last picture - user and service manual.








....
 

crazygamer

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Very cool circuit bent radio you got there, mine isn´t that great looking, but works ok, band switch has bad connection as you wiggle it, it´ll tune itself to another station, but hey, it´s old and you can´t really expect any quality from Soviet-built electronic device :w00t:
 

crazygamer

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It sure is, i kinda love it, but lacks from good quality components, even varicap looked like it´s straight from 60s by the size. Latvian VEF radio factory just wasn´t supplied any better components.
 

goodman

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I have the same problem with band switch - bad connection.
I use only FM, and fix band switch to the FM position.
I add LINE IN for portable players, and now this radio is more functionally.
If you want more info about these modifications, I can share it soon...
 

Ambience

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I wish I had seen this earlier. I have a soft spot for Soviet technology, cars to be specific. It's always so interesting how they do things so differently, I love it.
 

crazygamer

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Ambience said:
I wish I had seen this earlier. I have a soft spot for Soviet technology, cars to be specific. It's always so interesting how they do things so differently, I love it.
Interesting, i have an allergy to Soviet technology, cars are made to last and some are not, but no style, no engineering, no nothing, electronics have very bad components inside, many of Soviet made radios don´t work because of poor quality caps, not even ones that are made in 2nd half of 80s. VEF radios were quite quality pieces actually but ones that came from Soviet Russian factories were total garbage. But maybe it´s just me as i see those Soviet radios around just so often, when you have a ton of nice boomboxes to choose from, i have a nice selection of VEF and other Soviet audio devices to choose from which i don´t do as i have most popular Soviet radios already in working condition.
 
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