ERRES 620
Obtained: Bought from fellow collector Gerard Tel in The Netherlands (Feb 1999).
Manufactured: The Netherlands
Date: 1963
Bands: LW (Longwave) & MW (Mediumwave); calibrated in meters
Materials: Sheet metal cabinet covered in textured plastic wrap; plastic speaker grille, triplex back panel.
Power source: 6 Volts DC (1.5V X 4 D-cells)
Controls: Thumbwheel for volume/power; Knob for tuning; pushbuttons for bandselector
Date:
Comments: A very sensitive and selective set with very good sound. There
is a 4x reduction in
speed between the dial and the pointer behind it. Band switching is
achieved by pressing either of the two red buttons to the right of the
tuning dial.
VEF VEGA-206
Obtained: Another one from Gerard Tel (there were a whole bunch of radios
on his website that I liked and had the good fortune on stumbling on a
sale)
Manufactured: Soviet Union (the VEF factory is in Riga)
Date: 1970s or 1980s
Bands: LW, MW and SWx6 (Shortwave) calibrated in kilocycles
Materials: Black Plastic with an aluminium speaker grille
Power Source: 9 Volts DC (1.5volt x 6 D-Cells or external AC/DC "wall
wart" adapter)
Controls: Starting at the front, the larger knob is for tuning, the small
one is for power/volume. On the right side the top knob is the
band-selector and the lower one is for tonality. The jacks for
tape-recorder (DIN plug), power and earphone are on back. The earphone is
not a standard mini-jack or sub-mini jack. It is a size in-between. I
haven't been able to find an adapter.
Comments: Americans usually dismiss Russian electronics (and most Russian
products, for that matter) as being of low
quality. This radio puts to rest such thoughts. Solidly built, this
machine has a large oval speaker and is very good as a portable DX set.
The design of the electronics, however is old. According to Gerard, this
design has been around since the 1960s (The VEF-204 was its predecessor)
and wasn't changed much - which might explain for the lack of an FM band
in a 1980-vintage set. It's really unfortunate that we can't get radios
like these in American shops. Another attractive fact of this radio is
its low battery consumption. Used at low volume settings, the batteries in
the radio could last for about a year before having to change them.
RCA #RZA-202B
Obtained: Goodwill Industries second-hand store (Summer of 1994)
Manufactured: ?
Date: Approximately late 1960s or early/mid 1970s
Bands: MW (550 to 1600 kHz)
Materials: Cream-colored polystyrene plastic adorned with silver trim
(brown knobs)
Power Source: 110 volts A.C. at 50/60 Hz
Controls: Lower knob is power/volume control, upper knob is tuning.
Comments: Your basic, cheap, no-frills table set from the 60s/70s;
usually intended for the kitchen or bedroom. It's 4-inch speaker
gives good sound, but the radio itself is not very sensitive. It does,
however, pick up local stations adequately. This set has no transformer -
the radio's circuit is connected directly to one side of the AC mains.
Voltage is reduced using a small dropper resistor in series with the
radio's circuit. In addition, the set's audio output transistor uses a
high voltage and the rest of the radio operates on voltages normally found
in a battery radio. Eliminating the mains trafo. helped manufacturers keep
costs down. Don't operate these radios (or their AC/DC tube
cousins) without the knobs or back panel in place; you could be in for a
painful electric shock!!
General Electric
Obtained: Goodwill Industries second-hand store (Summer of 1994)
Manufactured: ?
Date: Approximately late 1960s/early 1970 Bands:
MW (550 to 1600 kHz)
Materials: Cream-coloured polystyrene plastic
(copper-plated steel decals on knobs) Power Source: 110 Volts A.C. (at
60 Hz only)
