VINTAGE 1970S CONQUEST 2 PR128 SUPERSONIC RADIO MADE IN OLD RHODESIA WORKING

A VINTAGE 1970S CONQUEST 2 PR128 SUPERSONIC PORTABLE RADIO. MADE BY CHASSAY BROTHERS IN BULAWAYO RHODESIA OF ALL PLACES. IT IS A PORTABLE TABLE MODEL RADIO WITH PUSH BUTTONS.
 
THE IDEA THAT RHODESIA OF ALL PLACES IN AFRICA COULD PRODUCE RADIOS WAS UNHEARD OF TO ME BUT CHASAY BROTHERS (JACQUES AND ARTHUR) DID JUST THAT IN 1951 WHEN THEY OPENED A FACTORY IN BULAWAYO RHODESIA.
 
TESTED THE RADIO AND IT IS STILL WORKING. THE AERIAL IS MISSING WHICH AFFECTED THE QUALITY A BIT BUT I PICKED UP A ZIMBABWE RADIO CHANNEL ON THE BROADCAST FREQUENCIES. ALSO SOME UNFAMILIAR FM MUSIC CHANNELS WERE PICKED UP. I COULD NOT PICK UP THE FAMILIAR SOUTH AFRICAN FM CHANNELS THOUGH.
 
CONDITION: TESTED IT AND IT POWERS UP. ALTHOUGH THE AERIAL AND BACK COVERS ARE MISSING I COULD PICK UP SOME CHANNELS ON THE BROADCAST LONG WAVE FREQUENCIES AND ON THE FM FREQUENCIES.
 
CHASSAY BROTHERS BYLAWAYO RHODESIA (1933-2021):
From the time of their arrival in the Union of South Africa, in 1934, Jacques and Arthur Chassay were engaged in the importation and distribution of radios in that market. The major problem they encountered was to obtain a radio which was right for the conditions existing in Southern Africa and it seemed to then only logical that a product that was to be ideally suited to the conditions peculiar to Africa must be made in Africa. This idea was thought to be fantastic and did indeed seem an almost impossible task.
Bulawayo was chosen for the site of our factory because of its advantageous geographical position for distribution of completed radios to various points throughout Africa and also on account of the fact that a good Native labour force was readily available. They commenced work at the beginning of 1951 with a team of only a handful of Europeans and about two dozen Africans.
There nearest sources of supply of components were over 6,000 miles away. The home market was small and great distances separated points of population.
When they launched the venture the entire European population of the Southern Rhodesia which was, larger than the combined areas of France, Italy, and Eastern and Western Germany, was 180,000, the equivalent of a large English county town. The African population exceeded 6,000,000.
In August 1953, Southern Rhodesia merged with Northern Rhodesia (Zambia) and Nyasaland (Malawi) the two other British Central African territories, to form the Federation of Rhodesia and Nyasaland. By 1963 the federation was dissolved and Southern Rhodesia declared unilateral independence in 1965 to become Rhodesia. After years of unrest and a bush war Rhodesia became Zimbabwe in 1980.
Supersonic radios have won acceptance in many parts of the world. An important customer was the Ford Motor Company, Port Elizabeth, to whom Chassay Bros. supplies on contract for assembly-line fitting. Other markets included all parts of Africa, Iraq, Iran, Cyprus, Malta, India Malaya, British West Indies, Fiji, Tristan da Cunha, Mauritius, Madagascar, and parts of South America. The company has also entered the Canadian market.
Since going into production Chassay Bros. has marketed 51 different models, all designed and developed within their own organisation. Because of greater general usage they have concentrated on shortwave coverage and have attained a high sensitivity on these wavebands. Among some of their most attractive-looking radios are their portables for which there is a ready demand. They have no delicate heating elements to give trouble, are hermetically sealed in metal containers, and will last almost indefinitely.
Isolation from their main sources of supply has bred self-sufficiency in many items not normally produced by a radio manufacturer. It came as a surprise to many visitors that the factory produces many diecast and molded components while other departments handled metal-pressing, transformers, coil winding, and electro-plating. Nonetheless components from dozens of addresses in Britain, America, France, Italy, Holland, and Denmark were fed to the assembly line through stores. A Supersonic radio wears its Rhodesian-made label proudly and deservedly so.
 
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