RRR Selga 402 8 transistor pocket radio Latvia ca 1970

[howard]

Hello,

As you all know I have a penchant for radios built in the former Soviet Union, probably cos they nearly always work well .... which is probably just as well as spares and information on these sets is hard to find (and I'm not that good at diagnosing electronic problems any way). I have in my collection several unused Soviet sets still in their original boxes but this little £5 Selga 402 came well used. Even so, on arrival it was working OK, obviously needing a little switch cleaner to the waveband switch and off/on/vol pot but cosmetically it was grubby and the chrome was a little pitted so needed a good clean and polish. The leather carry case had survived well, hardly any signs of wear and all stitching intact .... as usual with leather cases made in the SU.

Getting inside is very straightforward, remove battery cover and battery, undo one screw and off comes the back. Complete removal of the chassis from the case requires removal of two screws securing the PCB, four screws securing the loudspeaker, and the aerial and earphone sockets lift out as they are simply slotted into the side of the case .... brilliant, no unsoldering or removing of metal clips to be done here ! I gave the case a good clean with upholstery cleaner and toothbrush, polished the chromework and perspex dial with a small wad of duraglit, and polished the outer plastic case with SafeCut and Mr Sheen. One thing that looked bad was the badge (see below), so I took it off by running my fingernail around the edge of it, scraped off the remains of the black coating on the back with a Stanley blade taking care not to disturb the silver wire lettering, and then repainted it with Tamiya black acrylic modelling paint. I stuck the badge back with a little Pritt Stik. I wiped the leather case and polished it with Kiwi clear shoe polish. There was a loose replacement piece of sponge in the battery compartment, but underneath there was the gooey remains of the original sponge so I removed that mess with B&Qs sticky stuff remover and glued the new sponge back in place with Pritt Stik. Finally a quick squirt of switch cleaner into the waveband switch and the off/on/volume pot. I then reassembled the set.

This Selga 402 is a nice little set and it has come up well, it sounds as good as any radio it's size and it works as well as it did when it was built, picking up every single station on MW and LW loud and clear. It's plastic case is robust and the leather case is superbly made and with its tidily built PCB and 8 Russian germanium transistors, it's a real gem

Howard

[howard]

And here is a pic of the important bit ...

[Paul_RK]

Another fine job The only small USSR set I have is the Vega Ruby with built-in alarm watch, which doesn't have much in common with this one at all beyond the size and the leather (albeit black) carrying case. As you say, SU leather does seem to survive remarkably well even including the stitching. Smells pretty good too...

The inside view gives the impression that the designers weren't even having to try very hard to fit everything in. Probably it's the presence, I think very unusual in pocket sets, of so many components parallel to the board. Those green resistors do look extremely small.

Paul

[Brian R Pateman]

Another fine job from Howard!

It seems that Russian radios are another area sadly lacking in my collection - having got me into Hackers, will Howard shame me into the Russians

Watch this space.

regards,

[Colin]

They are indeed nice little sets and The Russian components give them an added level of interest. Just that little bit different. I have one and it's quite an impressive performer for its size.

I've attached the schematic for you howard ... just in case!

rgds
Colin

[howard]

Hello Paul, Brian,

These really are great little radios, and if you see any on that well known online auction site then the only bidder will probably be me as no-one else seems interested in them

All the radios and radiograms built in the USSR RRR Riga Popov Radiotechnika works (aka Rigonda) in Riga Latvia were considered 'high class', ie: the very best built in the Soviet Union yet in Western Europe many would consider their transistor radios cheap and tacky. But if you take a closer at them they are well designed both externally and internally, well built and even the earliest one I have (1963) works perfectly.

Here's a pic of four of my RRR Selgas, only the earliest one cost more than £5 ! Bottom left the first Selga 7 transistor (1963), bottom right the second Selga 7 transistor (1965), top left Selga 402 (1970) and top right the Selga 405 (1977). None here use integrated circuits but the Selga 403 built in 1971 was the first USSR radio to employ an IC but was then replaced by the conventionally built Selga 404 in 1974.

Howard

[howard]

Hello Colin,

Thanks for the schematic, fingers crossed it won't be needed !

Which reminds me, I must order some KT315 transistors before they vanish altogether which I've just noticed are silicon rather than germanium (the BC146 is a suitable replacement). There are a couple of MP41 germanium transistors in the Selga 402 and I have a stock of these.

Howard

[Colin]

Hi Howard,

Some more documentation for your 405

Even if you don't need it in anger it's an intersting complement to the radio and adds to the collection.

rgds
Colin

[howard]

Thanks Colin,

Its always a very good idea to keep the circuit diagrams for the radios in ones possession, just in case. I've stored all the above away on CDROM.

Interesting that RRR continued to use an output pair of the ancient MP41 germanium transistors in their later 405 sets which were built well into the 1980s, no doubt due to their good audio quality. To complete my collection there is a nice Selga 404 now on its way to me from the Ukraine, again only £5

Howard

[howard]

Hello again,

The 1974 Selga 404 arrived from the Ukraine today. The Selga 404s were imported into the UK but probably only in small numbers. This one wasn't working on arrival, but I quickly found out what was wrong with it, a bad solder joint on the PCB and it's very flimsy earphone socket was coming apart. I resoldered the joint and fitted a new Russian made earphone socket and away it went. A quick clean and it's turned out near mint It works just as well as all my other Selgas and this one has cyrillic lettering and of course CCCP stamped on the back

Howard

[howard]

Hello again,

I forgot to mention that Soviet products bearing the CCCP 'Quality Rosette' were considered 'high class', the very best quality.

Howard

[howard]

Hello again,

I acquired this Selga 405 for £3.23 which isn't much for a MW/LW transistor set in good cosmetic condition and working order. This model was released in 1977 but this one has a Tento label on the inside of its battery door so is post 1979. On arrival it was working but with very noisy volume and waveband change controls. It had never been opened as it still had its factory seal covering the left hand screw on the back cover. I removed that screw and two more in the battery compartment, lifted off the back and gave the waveband and volume pot a quick squirt of Servisol 10. The case was given a quick clean and that was it, around an hours effort.

This really is an austere looking set, maybe a sign of the times in the former USSR .... it was still considered a high class product there though, although its carry case is not made from leather. Still, it's quite robustly built and remarkably sensitive on both MW and LW but sounds bit shrill. But at £3.23 I can't complain as it's almost mint.

Howard