VEF Spidola 1965 model

VEF is short for, Valsts Elektrotehniskā Fabrika, (State Electrotechnical Factory. VEF Spidola (Latvian: VEF Spīdola, Russian: ВЭФ Спидола) was the first mass-produced transistor radio with short wave band in the Soviet Union. It was manufactured by the VEF factory in Riga, Latvia, since 1962. A small series under the name "Spidola" (СпидолаПМП-60) was manufactured since 1960. It was named after the fictional witch Spīdola from the Latvian epic poem. The word "spidola" was a genericised trademark for "transistor radio" for long time in Russian (other synonyms included "transistor"). In many cases, the Spidola was used to listen to Western stations (such as the Voice of America).. The criminal prosecution of at least one Soviet dissident involved confiscation of the Spidola as an "instrument of crime," but without specifying the "crime" committed with the confiscated Spidola. (Wikipedia)

Wireless World ad from 1966 (found on Net)

This model I found was imported to the UK and sold at Headquarter & General Supplies in London. It was USSR made for UK with 8 bands that included Medium Wave & Long Wave, popular in the UK and 6 Short Wave bands 13, 15, 19, 24, & 41 Metre bands (that's 12-21.5 Megahertz) for amateur broadcast. The band switch used here is a rotary tuner with biscuit type tuned sub panels for the coils, these were common in 405 line televisions at the time, and easy to clean.

My repair

On close inspection the radio had been re-glued inside before, perhaps the result of dropping, 6 U" battery's make it quite heavy when falling down.. All the 4 fixing brackets had sheered off again and some crack to the chassis had also opened up, out comes my beloved clear Aroldite, at £7.00 for 2 small tubes that you mix together, worth every penny. Good news was all the broken pieces were still inside, the other problem was the battery terminals had turned to dust. Most tubular type batteries will expel acid when drained and it will end up over all the battery connections. I used some copper strips cut to size for the positive terminals and removed the doggy springs and fitted modern ones pulled from cheap China reproductions on the market (Isn't everything now made there?) I also with wire wool removed the residue from the side of the battery compartment, just a feel good thing, make it look nice again, even though nobody can see it, you know in your mind it's NICE, lol

Turret type tuner and main circuit board, battery box's either side

Luckily I didn't need the circuit diagram because set was working after glued and battery box  repairs. Inside the back cover is battery diagrams and that give you the choice of either 6 x U2  1.5 volt or 2 x 4.5 volt torch battery's, so I decided that the latter would be less likely to damage the set when flat. They are about £2 each and still around for French early type radios.

The 10 transistors are PNP USSR 'top hat' types with plug in sockets, a dream for the repairman, but I've never known one to fail yet. I cleaned the tuner contacts with a dry cloth screwed the chassis back when the glue set and all worked well. The printed circuit panel comes away nicely after releasing two screws either side. The sound was a little low, I may check that when my battery's arrive in the post. May be a dried-up feed electrolytic capacitor, we'll will see.

'Top hat' P-N-P transistors in plug in sockets

All in all a very impressive first outing for the USSR, strong enough to survive 60 years and hopefully many more now after it's reverb.

Inside front view tuning cable crosses speaker (generate an extra note, lol)