{"id":64373,"date":"2025-10-25T07:44:37","date_gmt":"2025-10-25T11:44:37","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/?p=64373"},"modified":"2025-10-25T07:44:37","modified_gmt":"2025-10-25T11:44:37","slug":"astrad-mikado-f8-tr17-b205-mark-discovers-this-ussr-radio-at-his-local-charity-shop","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/2025\/10\/astrad-mikado-f8-tr17-b205-mark-discovers-this-ussr-radio-at-his-local-charity-shop\/","title":{"rendered":"Astrad “Mikado” F8-TR17-B205: Mark discovers this USSR radio at his local charity shop"},"content":{"rendered":"

Many thanks to SWLing Post<\/em> contributor Mark Hirst, who writes:<\/strong><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

This gem arrived in the charity shop where I volunteer yesterday, a radio made in the USSR (Minsk) in around 1975.<\/p>\n

It was in fantastic external condition, although after checking it out discovered that the band changing control on the right hand side had been disconnected.<\/p>\n

I suspect something went wrong with the very mechanical way it switched frequencies (shown in the video below), which rotated individual circuit boards into play.<\/p>\n

Somebody seems to have opened it up, set it permanently on VHF, and then disconnected the control to prevent any further changes.<\/p>\n

It was evidently sold in the UK as it has BBC radio stations on the dial and I even found a UK service manual for it.<\/p>\n

I was tempted for a while, but I’m learning these days that this sort of thing just ends up as clutter.<\/p>\n

Hard to believe that only five years after this electro-mechanical radio was made, Sony would release the ICF-2001 !<\/p>\n

Mark<\/p>\n

Manual:
\nhttps:\/\/archive.org\/download\/Trader_ASTRAD_B205\/b205_text.pdf<\/a><\/p>\n

Radio Museum:
\nhttps:\/\/www.radiomuseum.org\/r\/minsk_radi_astrad_f8_tr17_b205f8tr17.html#<\/a><\/p>\n

YouTube – Astrad “Mikado” F8-TR17-B205:
\nhttps:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=osDxKNdun98<\/a><\/p>\n