Hello

I've been trying to look round on the net but have had no luck. I have this VEF Transistor radio (old radio built in the Latvian SSR in the 60s and imported)


I know you can power it up by opening the back up and placing batteries in it. However there are also a few sockets on the back and I do not know what they are for.




Am I correct in thinking the two flat ones are for connecting to external speakers...?

Also I know one of the holes has an earth socket... but I am not sure what the Y stands for... What kind of power socket would fit into this thing (ignoring correct voltages for now, just wondering if anything can still be obtained or if it is just a hand-made-job)??

Is the one without any symbol for headphones?


any help will be much appreciated!

Welcome to the ARF Forums!

To answer your question, you would have to know Russian or have a schematic.
Can you post a pic of the inside of the radio? That way we can see where the wires go.

~ Mitch ~

I think that the Y is for an external antenna, and the Q is for a phono pickup.

Colin

A long insulated wire laying on the floor or draped around won't harm anything by connecting its bared end to the Y or other terminals to see if one terminal is an antenna connection. Ground we got, that seems to translate OK. A DMM could check for any surprise voltages to be aware of. A junk speaker could be tried next to the presumed output. I'd be most leery of trying an input, but some prechecking could be done or a cheap source could serve as a test subject so you don't blow your expensive ipod or whatever in case you guessed wrong or something was amiss.

-Ed

If an audio/phono input exists, expect a switch or other means of disconnecting regular programming. After checking for any rogue high voltages, touching a wire connected to an (enabled) audio input should typically cause hum in speakers. Ask any musician..

Thanks for the replies although some of it is going beyond my electrical knowledge of old equipment... :p

I have found the radio on the radio Museum website but I am not a member so can't see all the details.

http://www.radiomuseum.org/r/vef_vef_tr ... ort.html#b

Are you saying that the unusual metal screw is for phono output? How would that work or would you have to unscrew it and connect a wire to it it, then screw it up again..


I don't quite understand the purpose of the ground socket tho... or is that most likely just for power using one of those 3.5mm audio connectors that you sometimes get in old tv-pong machines??

and was I right in thinking that those two flat sockets are for speaker(s)?

Thanks in advance again!

In nearly every electrical system, you need a ground. A 'ground' is essentially a return path to complete a circuit.
Opening up the radio and tracing the wires will probably answer all your questions.

~ Mitch ~

The antenna and ground seems to me to be(for the time) normal banana jacks.
The gram input Q probably is a 3,5mm plug(or it's a banana jack with breaker inside)
The two narrow holes might be a special socket for headphone or loudspeaker.
All need cleaning judging by the picture!
The screw is just that-a fastening screw.
A similar schematic here(take a look at the very unusual circuit where the gram signal is routed through the last IF transistor and amplified by it and then taken to the volume pot.Strange,but it works and gives a higher input impedance through the 390k resistor):
http://www.bertibenis.it/Radio%20a%20tr ... 10%20E.htm

I think some of this is going over my head. I am a computer-guy so I'm not totally ignorant but some of the things you have mentioned I have no clue.. XD

So pardon my ignorance.. what is a 'gram input'?

I do know that everything electrical has to be grounded for safety. but I suppose my question is what is meant to connect into the ground socket? Just a wire that connects to something metal like a radiator? Is it meant for use if you have connected other devices to the radio such as an antenna?

Sadly I don't have access to the radio at the moment to take any further pictures.

Thanks for all your help so far!

I expect that he means phonogram (record player). Antennae such as a "long wire" for AM broadcast band and shortwave work best if referenced to earth ground. Thus the ground connection. As for the flat (blade) connections, they may well be for audio in or out. Bang and Olufsen and other European makers used two pin blade-style DIN connectors for their speakers. But, it is best to know before trying.

As previously stated, the Y is for an external antenna,

the Q is the phono input.

The ground connection, however, may be for the ground connection from the phonograph player.

The two spade type inputs could be for an external speaker, but I haven't seen one like that before. The European type external speaker connector I recall from that era was a small connector with one spade lug and one pin lug, sort of like this: I o

Thanks all again...guess it's pretty much cleared up for now.. I'm not really going to do anything to drastic with it.. bar giving it a good clean! Was just interested in what everything was for..

I did forget about the tiny socket at the very top which I can only assume is for external power... but I think I am happy just running the thing off battries rather than mess around with some home made adaptor



I am still generally interested in this grounding business.. for this and any other radio... would a person have attached a ground wire back to the record player? or would the record player have its own ground... and it connects like a 3.5mm to 3.5mm cable.?

Some phono attachments may have come with a separate ground wire to connect to the radio chassis. Banana plug or a lug to attach to a chassis screw most likely. That pin hole at the top may be associated with the two slanted flat inputs, again possibly for an external speaker.

Can you post a photo of the radio? I'm curious what it looks like.

Edit: Never mind, I saw the link about to RadioMuseum. Neat radio.

Is it one of these...



...if it is, I have the schematic. Your's may be a VEF Spidola, mine says "Convair" on the front, with a "Foreign" sticker on the back.

I puzzled over that socket too. The schematic shows:

2 sockets for an external speaker, one for ground and the other cuts out the internal speaker.

1 socket for a phono input.

2 antenna sockets.

Unfortutunately the schematic doesn't use the symbols!

(I have just read through Rolf's post and he's covered all the bases- and it's quite a strange arrangement for the phono input!)

no

it's a 'VEF-Tranzitor' altough does seem to be using a lot of the same parts/molds.


image of the same model on radio museum.org:

I would hazard a guess that the only difference between those two models is the label on the front!

Even the other models with a slightly squarer case had the same guts!