358
Item nr.
Ocean Boy was before the Grundig Satellite.
| Production | Germany, 1964.
Price was 595DM. |
|---|---|
| Bands | LW 145-340kHz), MW (510-1620kHz), SW1 (2-6MHz), SW2 (5.9-11MHz), SW3 (11-20MHz), FM (87.5-108MHz). |
| Semi- conductors | 17 transistors: FM Front end has AF102 AF125; AM front end has AF125 as RF amp, OC71 as oscillator and AF125 as mixer; IF amplifier has four AF126 AF126 AF126 AF126; AF section has AC151 input, AC151 and AC151 amplification, TF65 phase splitter, TF65 and TF65 drivers, and AC153 and AC153 output. |
| Cabinet | Canvas and plastic. Size 35x22x11cm. Weight 4.9kg. |
| Power | Batt (7x1.5V) or mains (with extra unit TN11), radio circuitry gets 9V and dial light gets 1.5V. |
| Documents | Schema. |
| Obtained | 7/2013 from NVHR Swap meet; sn=22088. |
|---|---|
| Condition | 8; signs of usage, fully functional. |
| Value (est.) | 22€. |
| Sound sample | PLAY SOUND Boney M sounds English, but it is a German band, formed in 1975. |
I was happy to find this set at the NVHR swap meeting, because it came with a Satellite whip antenna, which alone has a value higher than my purchase price (15€). 
The set did not work but turned out to be OK, only the fuses in the power supply were heavily corroded. The 204 originally came with either a battery holder or a power supply. I don't know if perhaps the previous user of this set had both, but I only have the mains power supply (right in inside picture). After cleaning the fuses the set worked fine. The antenna has been repaired, one segment won't pull out. But the set works on all bands and is quite sensitive.
Transformer-based power supplies have a high vampire consumption, and this radio (like most portables) is DC-switched. Measured OFF/FM, this radio consumes 1.8/2.4W from that mains and, being plugged in continuously, this is expensive (4 euro's per year). I installed a DC jack and found that te Ocean Boy plays well on a 5V iPad charger, consuming 0.1/0.2W. With a 9V switched mode power supply, consumption is 0.1/1.0W, but noise is heard on the AM bands and between FM stations. So, my preferred supply of the radio is to install a switch in the line chord and use that to silence that radio.
When the AM tuning stopped working, I feared a broken dial chord (hard to fix usually). After pulling the chassis, the chord proved fine, but a drive wheel on the tuning axis was not properly fixed. Fastening a screw solved the problem.