Roberts P5A 1946
 

Another International Autojumble buy for me a couple of weeks back was this Roberts P5A Radio unit from about 1946.
Comes complete with a trader sheet and never seeing the radio before was thinking it was going to be a 90v HT LT battery unit but on opening it up found it was a mains unit .

Does anyone have any experience of this radio? anything to look out for?

Re: Roberts P5A 1946
 

I have one somewhere.

All the fun of a valve portable without the faff of making your own eliminator.

Note that the chassis isn't isolated, in spite of the mains isolating transformer, as it only supplies the heaters. And the mains switch is in the neutral line too! https://www.vintage-radio.net/forum/...4&d=1481033427

Mine had an off-centre voicecoil, which only became apparent when the set was warmed up.

Good luck with it,

N.

Re: Roberts P5A 1946
 

Thats a big bonus for me , the mains operation rather than Battery as i dont have a battery eliminator.
I did run it up on my lamp limiter briefly and got a few buzzes and hisses but will give it a good look over before i do anything else.

Re: Roberts P5A 1946
 

Hi Please could you post some pictures of inside of the set kind regards Bob

Re: Roberts P5A 1946
 

Here are some not very good ones I had on file from when I restored mine.

The catches came up a treat after a 15 minute soak in "Evaporust", one of those chelating de-rusting solutions aimed at car restorers. Sorry, only have the before pics, so you'll have to take my word for it.

The cream paint flaked/peeled off the back of the acrylic tuning scale after decades of dampish storage, but a piece of off-white card cut to the right shape and sandwiched behind the clear acrylic looked just as good IMHO.

Apologies, purists, for my "CCC" ;)

Re: Roberts P5A 1946
 

Hi Nick your set is looking good starting to like these sets very much like the Bush DAC / AC sets there are different versions of these sets in the same time period 40s & 50s & they are great to work on kind regards Bob

Re: Roberts P5A 1946
 

I restored mine a while back. https://www.vintage-radio.net/forum/...ad.php?t=88946
These are a great little set, mine has been in regular use and has not missed a beat, certainly one of easiest sets to restore, and an excellent performer :thumbsup:

I think these are quite rare, Roberts did not make many mains only valve sets.
There were a few later transistor mains only sets, but not portables.

:beer:
Mark

Re: Roberts P5A 1946
 

The P4D was the battery-only version.

The slightly later RMB is more common, using miniature valves and offering mains or battery operation, but in a very similar looking cabinet, see photos below.

These pics are from when I was restoring one of mine. It must have been a few years ago... Note the ancient "mobile broadband" dongle on my keyring from the days when my boss wouldn't provide us with an internet connection at work because he considered it unnecessary and too expensive (!). And my workbench is SO uncluttered! Not sure the apple right next to the lead-spattered soldering area was sensible though.

Re: Roberts P5A 1946
 

When we say "Roberts", everyone usually thinks of their transistorised sets from the 1960s and 1970s. But I find the valve ones more fun.

There were at least 18 valve portables made from 1936 to 1958, see the pics here: https://www.radiomuseum.org/m/roberts_gb_en_1~year.html

So the last of the valve line seems to have been the R88, after which the transistorised RT1 was released.

But as Mark says, none of these had the option of mains operation.

Re: Roberts P5A 1946
 

Hi Mark did not know they had a dial lamp what type & voltage is the Bulb . Hi Nick looks like i will be looking for a miniature valve version as well kind regards Bob

Re: Roberts P5A 1946
 

This is the inside of my unit as requested, although others have put up much better pictures than mine .

Re: Roberts P5A 1946
 

Hi Nick Thanks for the link some nice sets there did not know they made so many different valve versions kind regards Bob :thumbsup:

Re: Roberts P5A 1946
 

Roberts were quite a small company before WWII. I've an M4Q, from 1937 and their first model in the style of the P5A, but there aren't too many of those around, and still fewer of the earlier suitcase sets with Aladdin's lamp fretwork.

Actually there was one mains-only transistor portable, of a sort - the TVS1, which comes in a cabinet very like the R900 etc., but as the odd model number suggests it's a receiver just for television sound, intended for blind users and with six pushbuttons tunable to UHF channels.

Re: Roberts P5A 1946
 

[QUOTE=electronicskip;1407744]This is the inside of my unit as requested, although others have put up much better pictures than mine .[/QUOTE Looks like a nice untouched set kine regards Bob

Re: Roberts P5A 1946
 

From memory, I think it was a standard 6v MES type.

After a bit of research, I can find no mention of any other mains only valve set, it seems the P5A may be the only one.

I have several similar battery/mains or battery only valve sets, as Nick says, there were quite a few models until the RT1 transistor set started production in 1957.

:beer:
Mark

Re: Roberts P5A 1946
 

Lovely sets these. I got mine during lock-down one day when I was walking past a dealer friend who was clearing out his garage. A price of £10 was agreed and I have to say that it was the best tenner I had ever spent. Definitely a keeper, just love the dial lamp.
Neil

Re: Roberts P5A 1946
 

There are two other portables. The M5A came out in 1939

https://www.radiomuseum.org/r/roberts_m5am_5.html

and then 1953 brought the BR, CR and MR all in the same style of case: the BR a battery set, CR for battery or mains, and MR a mains-only design.

https://www.radiomuseum.org/r/roberts_mr.html

Roberts made at least one model of mains table set too in the early '30s, in a conventional upright polished cabinet with "Aladdin's lamp" speaker fretwork: hens' teeth might be easier to find.

Paul

Re: Roberts P5A 1946
 

Thanks for the info Paul, it looks like the M5A was the predecessor to the P5A.
I have a CR, but did not know there was a mains only version.

Interesting that there were conventional pre-war sets, I have never seen a Roberts set that was not a portable until the transistor table sets appeared.

:beer:
Mark

Re: Roberts P5A 1946
 

I think there's a photo of one in the Roberts company history book they published some time back, but in the meantime here's one forum member Stewart Clark kindly provided to the Roberts Radio Group: it's there along with many pictures of the early portables. I've seen C6 and AC6 as model numbers, I don't know which would be right for this set.

I don't have an MR either, though I've seen a few offered over the years. Valves are ECH81, EBF80, ECL80, EZ80, I'd expect it to be a creditable little radio.

Paul

Re: Roberts P5A 1946
 

Thank you Paul, I'd never seen one until you posted that picture. It's not in Radiomuseum's listings.