1961 VEF Spidola

[howard]

Hello again,

As this column seems to be bit quiet at the moment (must be the hot weather !), a quick note on a newly acquired Soviet set which I have just cleaned up and got going again .... surprisingly it took very little effort. I have successfully restored a couple of other sets as well but I have covered those before in this column.

The original VEF Spidola built in Riga Latvia in 1961 was the first mass produced transistor radio built in the Soviet Union and the second of all transistor radios built there. All the info I found on the net about this radio suggested it was not exported but in fact it was, as mine has instructions in English on the inside of the rear cover on how to load the batteries. The Soviets employed a staggering 20,000 people to build radios in their Riga VEF factory, and 40% of the sets built there were these Spidola radios but only a tiny percentage of the 1+ million of the sets built per year were exported into Western Europe.
This was also the first Soviet set to have that familiar turret waveband switch which Soviet radio manufacturers of transistor radios favoured so much for the next 30 years ! But on this one, the entire dial moves around with it as well !

The case needed a good clean but that was all. Inside was very dusty so I carefully brushed that away with a paintbrush. I also reattached a lead to one of the battery boxes and gave the metal parts in the battery box a quick clean with my copper brush. It didnt work well so I cleaned the contacts on the turret switch inside and that brought it back to life. This 45 year old radio worked perfectly after that simple bit of maintenance, I didnt even need to clean the volume switch !!

These are remarkably resilient old radios even with with their early germanium top hat transistors, concrete capacitors and old-fashionned turret waveband switches. Different they may well be but my goodness they were built to last ! And in my opinion they are really nice looking radios as well, and I am really delighted to have this one in my collection which as you can see below is in excellent undamaged condition.

Howard

[Cobweb]

Hi Howard,

That looks a very tidy set! Glad to see it survived its journey intact. Doubtless Kat will be on the lookout for one of these beasties at some point IIRC she already has at least one from the same factory...

I assume the set is all functioning as it should?

Cobweb

[jay_oldstuff]

nice one Howard, these are very nice radios i did own one in my youth baught from a jumble sale when i was about ten for 20p and subsiquentely dismanteled. i am now on the lookout for one for my collection, are they fairly common over here or am i going to have a job getting one

Jay

[howard]

Hello Cobweb,

It's always a worry when sending sets as old as this through the post but Im glad to say that it was well packed so survived the journey fine It works on all wavebands, picking up loads of stations and attains full volume so yes is working as it should

Howard

[howard]

Hello Jay,

This 1961 model is the first one I've ever seen on eBay so I fear that it is quite rare. Competition for it came from a Swiss bidder so it reached a good price too (£23). Also I have only found the 1961 model mentionned on Russian and Baltic websites. The 1962-1965 VEF Spidola aka VEF Tranzistor and the Convair which looks very similar with a fixed tuning dial (and it has a better quality PCB) is quite common, four times as many of them were built so I reckon you'll find one of those quite easily. Spare parts may be a problem, replacement transistors are now scarce in the former Soviet Union (although its unlikely that you'd need any) but suitable replacement capacitors can be found over there OK. Well worth getting one, they're good radios.

Howard

[Paul_RK]

Yes - to me this model is visually the most attractive of all the USSR portables that were imported (though a red leatherette Astrad Solar, a very different beast, runs it close ) I have a Convair but haven't secured a Spidola yet, though I've noticed several in the two and a half years I've been watching eBay. Two or three of those have been the rarer version with the main case powder-blue rather than black, but predictably they seem still more eagerly sought.

Paul

[howard]

Hello Paul,

The 1961 and 1962 Spidolas were both designed by Latvian designer Adolfs Irbite who designed all the Rigonda radios and radiograms of the 1950-1960s and he won many prizes for his designs not only in the Soviet Union but in Western Europe as well. They are attractive

Take a look at this other stunning Latvian designed transistor radio with a marquetry wooden case !

http://www.radiopagajiba.latbs.lv/RRR/riga103c.jpg

Howard

[Paul_RK]

Hello Howard,

Ah yes, another Solar but a rather special one. I have a couple that are like it but for the decorative marquetry, and that set richly deserves the speaker grille from one of them

Paul

[howard]

Hello again,

As all of you who were at the Harpenden meet on the 1st October are aware, one of these rare 1961 Latvian VEF Spidola radios appeared in the auction and I won it for £22. This one is in the rarer turquoise coloured case. I gave the case a quick wipe with a damp cloth, loaded 6 new batteries into it and it works absolutely perfectly, even the turret waveband switch contacts are clean. It is immaculate inside and apart from some minor scratches on the bottom of the outer case is likewise on the outside.

Gosh

Howard

[howard]

Hello again,

I found another 1961 Spidola recently sold as working and 'new in box'. This has serial number 55484 so is from the first months production of the Soviet Union's first massed produced transistor radio as these were built at the staggering rate of over 80,000 per month in Riga. It certainly had its box and all its original documentation but it was nowhere near new, cosmetically inferior to both the other 1961 Spidolas in my collection with quite a few scratches on its case. But it did work, until one moved it and then it would stop.

I soon found out why it wasn't working, two of its battery terminals had been destroyed by leaky batteries and had two new springs precariously soldered onto the remains, one of which had broken off. So I removed those and pinched two battery terminals out of a later scrap set and fitted those, after scraping off bits of solder embedded in the plastic chassis. Then I cleaned the on/off/volume pot and the brass connectors on the turret tuner. Unfortunately, the MW wafer was cracked in the middle so I took that out (just slide out the scale and remove one screw and these lift out) and stuck it back together with superglue and put it back. The case was cleaned and then polished with Brasso and it's come up nice.

This one isn't quite as good as the other two in my collection but it works OK now, although it has a noisy germanium transistor in it which slightly veils the sound at low volume. Still it's nice to have one of these its original box.

Howard

[Paul_RK]

Hello Howard,

Very nice job again, and the box is quite a find - can't be many of those around at all after 47 years! I've always liked these sets, and finally have one of my own (for £2.99 - a good coating of grime and being listed as a 'Spinola' in the DAB section must all have helped). On/off switch is a little intermittent still, so I'll endeavour to take that apart and fix it: also the telescopic aerial's not as it should be, but at least it's looking pretty much the part and generally working well already. And seems to be of a third colour... it looks blue under some types of light, grey under others, and is decidedly a grey-blue rather than a definite turquoise. 'Before' and 'after' photos attached

Regards,
Paul

[howard]

Hello Paul,

Your Spidola cleaned up well. I just asked my son what colour mine is and he reckons it's pale blue so you're right (I'm hopelessly colourblind). It's difficult to get Servisol into the volume pot as it's sealed, but it will creep through the case and past the rivets on the back and will eventually reach the switch contacts inside.

As for the aerial, which has to be fully extended before it works, I'm pretty sure that the one in the later and far more common 1962 Convair 1 / VEF Tranzistor model is the same so if you have to replace it you could use one from a scrap set. Come to think of it, I have a spare ....

Howard