16-07-2017, 09:00 AM
(This post was last modified: 16-07-2017, 09:04 AM by Murphyv310.)
Hi.
Now I know this is off topic and as Mark has asked in post 172 to keep it on topic may I please just say this.
I was in Czechoslovakia and Poland in 1981 and got to speak to some locals. Consumer technology in the former Eastern European states and the USSR was purposely kept basic.
There was no such thing as home computers, video games and very few video recorders indeed. During my trip in 1981 you couldn't go and buy a new car, you would have to be on a waiting list, keep your nose clean and then 10 years later you "might" get your car. Certainly in Czechoslovakia once you got your car (most likely a Skoda) you'd do your utmost to keep it running well and serviced. Their culture was they did home repairs, on cars and other items that we didn't.
The same went for TV sets and Radios, due to the restrictions of the communist state these items were kept, folk didn't go out and buy a new one, they were expensive and like cars not available to buy just over the counter even assuming you could afford to buy one, it was a one off purchase that involved saving up.
Don't think that Russian and Eastern European kit was any more reliable than Western products....... Far from it as they broke down like our stuff and in many instances were more unreliable. Remember people were stuck with the stuff and had to either fix it themselves or pay for repairs or do without. So there will be a large percentage of survivors out there but nothing to do with better quality.
Russian cameras and watches were indeed the exception. A Zorki or Zenith camera would be difficult for the masses to buy they were mainly sold abroad for foreign currency (as was Moskvitch, Lada, Rigonda etc) but these camera were top rate, reckoned to have the best lenses in the world, as good as if not better than the likes of Leica. Watches too were sold for currency, the Poljot being an amazing watch.
So I know you are into Russian electronics, but be mindful of why it sat on it's laurels for so long, although there was zero unemployment don't forget if you didn't work where you were sent, people didn't have the things we did, they didn't have free speech like we do and Russia certainly wasn't wonderful to its citizens.
Finally I do like pottering with Russian Rod Pentodes and have made many projects with them, they are quite amazing, I use Russian Germanium transistors as a replacement for AF117's..... why? Well they are available in large quantities and work just as well as the Mullard types and are cheap.
Anyway back to the topic....... Sorry Mark, please don't hit me too hard.
Now I know this is off topic and as Mark has asked in post 172 to keep it on topic may I please just say this.
I was in Czechoslovakia and Poland in 1981 and got to speak to some locals. Consumer technology in the former Eastern European states and the USSR was purposely kept basic.
There was no such thing as home computers, video games and very few video recorders indeed. During my trip in 1981 you couldn't go and buy a new car, you would have to be on a waiting list, keep your nose clean and then 10 years later you "might" get your car. Certainly in Czechoslovakia once you got your car (most likely a Skoda) you'd do your utmost to keep it running well and serviced. Their culture was they did home repairs, on cars and other items that we didn't.
The same went for TV sets and Radios, due to the restrictions of the communist state these items were kept, folk didn't go out and buy a new one, they were expensive and like cars not available to buy just over the counter even assuming you could afford to buy one, it was a one off purchase that involved saving up.
Don't think that Russian and Eastern European kit was any more reliable than Western products....... Far from it as they broke down like our stuff and in many instances were more unreliable. Remember people were stuck with the stuff and had to either fix it themselves or pay for repairs or do without. So there will be a large percentage of survivors out there but nothing to do with better quality.
Russian cameras and watches were indeed the exception. A Zorki or Zenith camera would be difficult for the masses to buy they were mainly sold abroad for foreign currency (as was Moskvitch, Lada, Rigonda etc) but these camera were top rate, reckoned to have the best lenses in the world, as good as if not better than the likes of Leica. Watches too were sold for currency, the Poljot being an amazing watch.
So I know you are into Russian electronics, but be mindful of why it sat on it's laurels for so long, although there was zero unemployment don't forget if you didn't work where you were sent, people didn't have the things we did, they didn't have free speech like we do and Russia certainly wasn't wonderful to its citizens.
Finally I do like pottering with Russian Rod Pentodes and have made many projects with them, they are quite amazing, I use Russian Germanium transistors as a replacement for AF117's..... why? Well they are available in large quantities and work just as well as the Mullard types and are cheap.
Anyway back to the topic....... Sorry Mark, please don't hit me too hard.
