Talk:Volksempfänger

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Nonsense[edit]

All this is straightfoeward nonsense! The most silly thing is believing in one's own propaganda :=)

""All Volksempfängers sold on the domestic market were purposely designed only to receive the Deutschlandsender and regional stations of the Reichs-Rundfunk-Gesellschaft, so as to ensure that Nazi propaganda broadcasts could readily be heard while other media, such as the BBC's European Service (now the World Service), could not. To this end most Volksempfängers lacked shortwave bands and did not follow the practice, common at the time among other receiver manufacturers, of marking the approximate dial positions of major European stations on its tuning scale. Generally only German (and later Austrian) stations were marked [1] [2] and cheaper models did not have a proper scale at all (an example pictured above has its dial marked in arbitrary numbers rather than metres or kilocycles). The sensitivity was lower than a normal radio although in practice it could with some difficulty still be used to receive foreign stations (including the BBC)[2] particularly as these stations increased their transmission power during the war.

Listening to foreign stations became a criminal offence in Nazi Germany when the war began, while in some occupied territories, such as Poland, all radio listening by non-German citizens was outlawed (later during the war this prohibition was extended to most other occupied countries coupled with mass seizures of radio sets[3]). Penalties ranged from confiscation of radios and imprisonment to, particularly later in the war, the death penalty. "" — Preceding unsigned comment added by 84.183.120.189 (talk) 13:28, 19 December 2012 (UTC)[reply]

Nonsense ? It actually debunks the oft-quoted claim that these receivers were incapable of picking up anything other than Nazi-controlled stations. 2.216.170.200 (talk) 21:43, 22 November 2013 (UTC)[reply]
The claims that the set couldn't receive foreign stations are the the kind of urban myth that consisted of a tiny grain of truth exaggerated out of all proportion. Yes the lack of shortwave (on non-export models) impaired sensitivity (on cheaper models) and absence of foreign senders on the tuning dial (on models that even bothered with a proper dial) might have made attempts to tune in to such stations more challenging but barring the latter deficiency are more attributable to design economies rather than attempts at censorship. As for the tuning dials while the designers mightn't have been able to totally prevent citizens hearing ideologically dubious programmes they saw no point in facilitating this endeavour either. Its worth noting that the prohibition on foreign stations appears to have come into force in September 1939 [3] and that it was perfectly possible (although more expensive) to purchase a non-Volksempfanger set for at least the first six years of Nazi rule although after the war had broken out there were instances of citizens attempting to purchase shortwave sets coming to the attention of the Gestapo. Also after 1939 there were labels [4] attached to the tuning knobs or cables of all new sets reminding listeners of the penalties for listening to prohibited stations [5]. The restrictions on radio listening in occupied countries varied by location but tended to become more draconian in the later years of the war. In some countries owners of shortwave sets were required to have their wave switches sealed or the shortwave bands otherwise disabled. In some countries Jews (and later all non-German citizens) were required to hand in their radios to the authorities. Many complied but many others hid their sets or replaced them with homemade devices. In the Netherlands there was a mass confiscation of receivers in 1943 [6] but for several months after hobbyist magazines (with articles on how to construct sets) along with the necessary components to do so were still legally on sale[7]. Interestingly there were export versions of the Volksempfanger with full shortwave facilities, good reception and proper dials produced initially intended for sale to ethnic Germans in other countries to enable them to hear German stations but later these sets were marketed to other foreigners as well as their export yielded valuable foreign currency for the regime. 90.220.48.250 (talk) 13:06, 11 July 2015 (UTC)[reply]

Utility Receiver[edit]

This section seems to have become a tad longwinded. While the Utility receiver certainly merits a mention there is far too much detail about it in an article which is supposed to be about the Volksempfänger. A short mention with a link to a separate article would be better surely ? 2.216.170.200 (talk) 21:53, 22 November 2013 (UTC)[reply]

Also, it's inaccurate from my personal experience. I once had one of these Utility Receivers. It did have an external antenna socket and, with that connected, was very sensitive. Near Glasgow, it picked up Radio Caroline loud and clear from Isle of Man: this was barely audible on more modern sets. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 80.4.93.191 (talk) 17:13, 8 August 2016 (UTC)[reply]

External links modified (January 2018)[edit]

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TRF vs Regen[edit]

Phil Nelson [8] says the circuit is a TRF design...and “Radio Remembered” [9] (recently inserted by an IP user [10]) says the circuit is a regenerative design. Which is authoritative? Note that some TRFs have Regen controls: [11]. - LuckyLouie (talk) 21:38, 3 April 2021 (UTC)[reply]

There was more than one model produced and there were several design changes over time. Most Volksempfanger's used regenerative circuits but not all. 19:51, 4 June 2023 (UTC) 109.144.19.16 (talk) 19:51, 4 June 2023 (UTC)[reply]

Export models.[edit]

Not mentioned in the article but there were export versions of the Volksempfanger produced with higher sensitivity and the shortwave bands which were missing from domestic models. Their purpose was two fold.

  • Enabling Volksdeutsche (ethnic Germans) abroad to hear stations from the Fatherland.
Thanks. Please provide a source for this content. - LuckyLouie (talk) 16:17, 30 June 2021 (UTC)[reply]

Sowjetunion[edit]

Gehört eigentlich zum Punkt Siehe auch: In der Sowjetunion gab es vor allem in Neubauten fest installierte Radioapparate. Die sog. "Radio Totschki" (Радио точки, dt. Radiopunkte).--213.142.97.181 (talk) 14:59, 10 January 2022 (UTC)[reply]

This is interesting. Apparently Russia provided "wired radio" or "wired broadcasting" services. Citizens connected what appears to be a small audio speaker/amplifier to a wall plug installed in their apartments. The programming was transmitted via wire rather than over-the-air radio signals, in a kind of "cable radio" scheme. [12] It would be great to find some WP:RS for this topic. - LuckyLouie (talk) 17:50, 10 January 2022 (UTC)[reply]
It is mentioned in Linjesender#USSR/Russian_Federation but unfortunately, of the two references cited, one is unavailable and the other is doesn't actually discuss the topic. - LuckyLouie (talk) 19:48, 10 January 2022 (UTC)[reply]
Quite a few countries (from Britain to Russia) used such systems. They are still used in some former Soviet territories but are longsince obsolete elsewhere. 109.144.19.16 (talk) 19:54, 4 June 2023 (UTC)[reply]
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