Help with identifying an old valve Rambler
 

Hi old radio fans,

I am a newbie here and know little about old radio sets, so while I've read the FAQs ect. apologies for any faux pas. My other half has inherited some old stuff from her family home, amongst which was a rather anonymous beige box with old fastenings.
I opened this up yesterday and it is an old portable radio, with the name "Rambler", it has an access panel underneath with a circuit board containg a mix of small valves and chunky transisters. This still has batteries attached and despite being left switched on these don't look like they have caused damage. I've had a Google but the only Rambler radios I could see looked like 70's/80's Roberts radios - this one looks at least 20 years older.
Can anyone tell me anything about it? Is this going to be an easy restore? I have basic physics/electronics knowledge and can use a soldering iron.
I'll try and post some pics although this may need to wait until my registration has been approved.
Thanks in advance for any info.

Re: Help with identifying an old valve Rambler
 

Pictures should allow easy identification.

It sounds like a 1950s battery valve portable, in which case there won't be any transistors inside. The batteries for these haven't been made for several decades but you can build replacements from modern batteries. The radio is likely to be restorable but won't be worth a great deal, so you may be better off keeping it in a non functional state.

Re: Help with identifying an old valve Rambler
 

Pics...

Re: Help with identifying an old valve Rambler
 

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

?

Lawrence.

Re: Help with identifying an old valve Rambler
 

Lawrence has it. It appears to have started life as a kit which is why a google search doesn't find much info. There won't be many of them around.

Re: Help with identifying an old valve Rambler
 

I thought it looked a bit 'home-made' when I saw that green/white wiring....looks like old GPO stuff. Generally it looks like someone has made a reasonable job of construction so definitely restorable.....more so since as Paul stated, there won't be many about. Great find but don't expect 'worldwide' reception! It should give reasonable results and treat the battery valves with great care. The filaments are very delicate and can be destroyed in an instant with careless battery connection. I'd be inclined to have a careful check of the wiring and then make up some batteries...a couple of 'D' cells in parallel for the LT (1.5V) and a string of 10 PP3 9V types in series to make the 90V HT. Connect them up carefully and then switch on.....it may work to some extent and you can go from there.

I can't see any old 'waxy' caps except a low value mica type which will likely be OK. All the others look ceramic which will also likely be OK so it may only require very little work to get functional again.

It's great that you have the old batteries....when the set is working you can gut them and use the boxes to make replicas fitted with the modern batteries.

Should any be required, the valves are still readily available.

Re: Help with identifying an old valve Rambler
 

Thanks Lawrence + Paul, will get some new batteries to have a play next time I have some free time.

Re: Help with identifying an old valve Rambler
 

Radio Constructor May 1957
Page 683 here: https://www.americanradiohistory.com...RC-1957-05.pdf
and part 2 page 750 here: https://www.americanradiohistory.com...RC-1957-06.pdf

Re: Help with identifying an old valve Rambler
 

No excuse now....Shouldn't be too difficult to get it working.

Re: Help with identifying an old valve Rambler
 

There's a full page advert for it too- p651 in first reference.

Re: Help with identifying an old valve Rambler
 

Thanks all - I feel a bit of pressure to get the thing working now... :)