VEF Spidola (, ) was the first mass-produced transistor radio with short wave band in the Soviet Union (tube short wave receivers were produced for many years before). It was manufactured by the VEF factory in Riga, Latvia, since 1962. A small series under the name "Spidola" (áÿøôþûð ÃÂÃÂÃÂ-60) had been manufactured since 1960. It was named after the fictional witch Spëdola from the Latvian epic poem.
In many cases, the Spidola was used to listen to Western stations, such as the Voice of America, Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, BBC, and Deutsche Welle. The criminal prosecution of at least one Soviet dissident involved confiscation of the Spidola as an "instrument of crime," but without specifying the "crime" committed with the confiscated Spidola.
The word "spidola" was a genericised trademark for "transistor radio" for a long time in Russian (other synonyms included "transistor"). In Chukchi language, the word "spidola" is generic for any portable transistor radio.
First, "Spidola" was a ten-transistor, seven-band superheterodyne. Some versions were eight-band.