Vef 202 Radio - Soviet All Band Radio Restoration

Vef 202 Radio - Soviet All Band Radio Restoration
The VEF 202 is a Soviet era radio manufactured in Riga, Latvia sometime between 1971 and 1980 at the Valst Elektrotechniska Fabrika, which translates to Valst Electrotechnical Factory or VEF for short. The VEF 202 is the Soviet only version of the VEF 206 and the difference is the length of certain bands, deliberately shortened to prevent good Soviet citizens from being corrupted by western pop music. I bought this on eBay from a seller in Latvia because it was very cheap and in pretty poor condition. I thought that a video on a Soviet all band radio would make a change from all the British radios I have been playing with recently. I also wanted a shortwave radio to listen to and the VEF 202 is reported to be a good receiver and a low current user. I thought this would make an interesting radio restoration project because the set is suffering from old age, rust and other age related illness. Let's have a look at this set and bring it up to its glory days condition together!

[drosselmeier]

Well done Georgiy )) I declare gratitude from the command!

[fishyrider]

Instant subscribe! Love the man, the content, and old radios! Cool humor!

[Lechoslowianin]

I have this radio in the attic. It used to be my pride. As a boy, I bought them from Russian tourists. It picks up radio stations very well

[greggsvintageworkshop]

Very great video George! Awesome Russian impersonation! Loved it! The radio is a keeper for sure. Can't wait to see it clean and in all its glory. Good call on keeping the lights original.

[Northern-Rambler]

Very entertaining video George, special thanks to the props dept. I do like a good Soviet vintage radio myself, big fan of the turret band switching. Eagerly awaiting part 2.

[davidmalick]

Great video George. Loved the beginning. Actually loved the whole video.

[darrencoe]

Very good, comrade. Hat and beard go well. I have something similar on the shelf with turret. I like the waveband indicator with the little box.

[philtaylor]

спасибо Джордж
Excellent video, made me laugh.
Looking forward to episode 2

[xsc]

You guessed it wrong at 0:35 . In fact this radio was ideal to receive western radio station like Radio Free Europe / Radio Liberty, Voice of America or BBC World service. Or Radio Luxemburg for the western popmusic :-) This radio was sold all over the eastern block and even exported to west. The blank slot was used in model VEF206 for 13m band.
BTW Latvians really dont like to be called Russians. They were occupied by USSR in 1940...

[zxztv]

Ha ha you bad man, i had to laugh at the impression, i swear it started to sound like wolverhampton accent a bit, well maybe :-D
I fully understand your choices with that radio, original as possible with careful cleaning.
Russian radios were always made really well, amazing for the era.
Ive always loved the unusual components, the bowler hat transistors, solid looking capacitors and very strong resistors often red coloured.
I had a little tv from russia called a Regonda, every pcb was on a hinge and string to stop it opening too far.
So unusual and unique.

[keithbrandaw]

George, It has military heavy duty transistors, Seems to be work swell ! Keep up the good work !

[danielJohnWeasner]

Nice old Soviet Radio -- Solid built Radio.

[dougmcartin]

Comrade Georgiy. You must complete full recap and alignment of this fine example of Soviet advanced technology. You must not fail in this. Mother Russia demands it.

[rciancia]

Your Russian was an all star performance George !!!! Way to go brother. That is really a well made radio - its cool because its gives a glimpse into what Russian electronics are like. Don't work to fast on that radio. If you do, you'll be russian !!! Looking forward to a follow up on this one :) Thank you Comrade

[VintageElectronicsGeek]

Great accent! Nice radio! Imagine the stories it could tell...or have told? Either way, enjoyed the video! :) I have been loosely looking for a Russian and British radio...one day... Thanks George! ~Jack, VEG

[kdbyb]

I've got a VEF202 on my workbench right now. So far, to get it working I needed to clean the turret contacts and bend away a plate in the tuning capacitor that was shorting it out. The antenna on mine is broken, so I have yet to fix that. My battery compartment looks about like yours does! I think the blank band may be to allow the use of the tape input on the back? If it is a tape input and not a tape output? So you can play tapes thru the radio without any radio noise? Just a guess.

[BoBjjjjs]

I bet that was a very good radio in its day. However, it is more like 60s tech than 70s to 80s tech. The transformer/tuning cans are more like something you would find in a valve radio. Excellent radio. I would have still changed the dial lights to LEDs just to save power. In fact I might have put LEDs and left the original ones there for when it is plugged into the mains. Yeah, I think that is what I would have done, the hash LED for battery and the softer light from the bulbs for mains operation. :-))

[Radiocruncher]

Great video as always comrad Yuri. These Russian sets are quirky but work very well. The axial electrolytics will be totally shot but the uprights should be good. Look forward to the next instalment. Cheers Graham

[jndominica]

Export versions had an extra shortwave band in the blank section. I have a VEF 206. Unfortunately I threw out my VEF 202. I had bend the blades of the tuning capacitor, and the power supply unit passed AC through. Could you use sandpaper in the contacts of the rotary switch? They are bad.

[ssmdkxn]

I thought that this crow is croaking, but it turned out that this is a russian accent!
I like it