VEF 206 (Riga, Latvia) from the NVCF

[howard]

Hello,

As I mentionned in the NVCF thread, I bought a USSR VEF 206 MW/LW/SW radio today that folk were taking no interest in, so I bought it, for £5 It did work, but the tuning scale pointer only moved about an inch and then stopped. Also it suffered the usual crackling due to dirty contacts on the turret tuner. Externally it was unmarked, mild pitting on the chrome work and a few paint specks but absolutely no cracks or even scratches ! I immediately made up my mind to buy this one cos I was certain it would come up mint.

This radio was built from 1976 - 1980 in the same Latvian factory as my Spidola, and yes, even though there's 14 years between them, they are more or less the same radio internally ! It also bears the TENTO logo which was the trademark of the Soviet Foreign Economic Association "Technointorg" formed in 1979.

The case I simply cleaned with upholstery cleaner and a toothbrush, and the chromework came up like new with some autosol chrome polish. Getting inside this one is easy, off came the battery cover (2 screws) and then four more (one still covered in the factory seal wax so it had never been repaired before) and off came the back. I cleaned the series of brass pins along the turret waveband switch with duraglit and that then worked fine. The tuning control didnt work cos the nylon cover on top of the variable capacitor had fallen off and was jamming the works! I just put it back on the VC and away she went. And that was it .....

It took me about 5 hours to restore this one but now I have another mint 26 year old Latvian 10 transistor radio which works perfectly for a fiver, and as always with these Soviet sets its super sensitive on all wavebands, especially on Shortwave. Its not quite as pretty as the Spidola but its not bad and I like it

Howard

[howard]

Hello again,

I forgot to mention that the "VEGA" name on the front of this VEF 206 was one of Mashpriborintorg's/Tento's invented brand names often used on exported electrical goods including TV sets. Very confusing as there was a Vega radio factory in Berdsk Siberia but this set was definitely built in Riga .....

Howard

[Mike Phelan]

For a USSR set, I think it is quite attractive.
Up to your usual restoration standards as well, Howard!

[howard]

Thanks Mike,

Many USSR radios are rather austere looking but this one's not bad at all The case is robust too, but the knobs and spindles are a bit flimsy ......

I feel that these USSR radios are underrated by UK collectors, they pick up more radio stations than many Western European built sets of their time and if they have been looked after (and they do need servicing from time to time), then they survive well. Sure, internally they may not have changed a lot over the years but it was a well proven design .... as is the Porsche 911

Howard

[howard]

Hello,

I bought another VEF 206 at Harpenden for £8. This one has the Mashpriborintorg symbol on the back so was made prior to 1979. Its factory seal was still in place so it had never been opened, so after 30 years it was long overdue for an overhaul and just touching it caused it to crackle.

I dismantled the set, cleaned all the brass pins on the turret tuner with brasso and switch cleaner, cleaned the volume and tone pots and the earth springs on the tuning capacitor with Servisol 10 and away it went, working perfectly. The dial was a bit scratched so I took that off and polished it with brasso and Mr Sheen. The rest of the case just got a quick scrub with upholstery cleaner.

Two hours work and I've got another of these rather good MW/LW/SW transistor sets from the former USSR in perfect working order and in excellent cosmetic condition too. Not bad for £8.

Howard

[MultiDERrentals]

Hi Howard,

Great to hear of your success restoring these classics. This model was my first transistorised short wave receiver. I bought mine back in Oct 1977 with all my 12th birthday money LOL! You are right they were very sensistive on SW and I had great success DXing with it for a couple of years. I still have it boxed up somewhere in my loft. I must dig it out and see what state it's in.

Chris.

[Dave Moll]

I hope no one minds, but I've removed the "today" from the thread title as the NVCF was some time ago.

[howard]

Hello again,

And another VEF 206, this one I built from two scrap sets, the chassis from a set amongst a box of sets won at the last Wootton Bassett auction with a badly scratched dial and half covered in varnish but working well and another, an early 1975 example with a troublesome chassis but with a nice dial which I won in a box of sets at the previous Wootton Bassett auction. Not only did I swap the dial but I also had to swap the wheel with the wavebands printed on it, the short wavebands on the early model are marked in metres rather than SW1-SW6. That is screwed onto the turret spindle so I had to remove the turret from the chassis which was surprisingly straightforward - just move the ferrite rod aerial (support it well to avoid broken wires), PCB, DIN socket and the dial lamp earth wire to one side, undo two screws at the front of the chassis which secure the turret assembly and it then lifts out.

I think the earlier set with its pale green/black/silver dial looks nicer than the later sets.

Howard

[slidertogrid]

A Suburb job Howard!
I worked as a Saturday lad for a shop that did repairs for Woolworths, they must have sold thousands of these Vega radios, (this was before the days of the "give em a replacement and bin it" mentality) the repairs would come in with the customers complaint and name, most problems were down to the customer, batteries in wrong or flat etc. The build quality was good, apart from the knobs!
Woolies also sold the Regonda range, from the huge motorized tuning radiogram to the horrid little red telly that ate lopts! I still have some Regonda stili if you ever get into their radiograms
Rich.

[howard]

Originally Posted by slidertogrid

A Suburb job Howard!
I worked as a Saturday lad for a shop that did repairs for Woolworths, they must have sold thousands of these Vega radios, (this was before the days of the "give em a replacement and bin it" mentality) the repairs would come in with the customers complaint and name, most problems were down to the customer, batteries in wrong or flat etc. The build quality was good, apart from the knobs!
Woolies also sold the Regonda range, from the huge motorized tuning radiogram to the horrid little red telly that ate lopts! I still have some Regonda stili if you ever get into their radiograms
Rich.

Hello Rich,

I didn't know Woolworths sold Vega radios but then these VEF sets were considered 'class 2' quality sets in the USSR. They do work well and are quite well built except as you say for their knobs which are flimsy but I've not had a broken one on a VEF206 yet, indeed if anyone needs VEF206 knobs I have some spare now. Sadly I don't have room for a Rigonda radiogram, or any radiogram

Howard