Hacker Super Sovereign RP75-MB auxiliary playback function

[Deeje29]

Hi.

I'm new here and was hoping to find a little bit of information about a radio I recently acquired. It's a Hacker Super Sovereign RP 75-MB, but it has a function I've not seen on any other Super Sovereign. It is a playback function allowing playback via a 3.5mm aux cable. I was wondering if anybody else had seen a Super Sovereign with that function or the general rarity of the model with that function included.

Thank you for your help and replies.

['LIVEWIRE?']

Have you checked if it is wired in parallel with the o/p side of the DIN Tape socket? If so, it could be simply an alternative 'tape out' connection as the designation 'playback' implies.

[stevehertz]

I agree with Livewire. Just connect that socket using a suitable lead to the auxiliary, tape or cd input of an amplifier and see what you get. It is mono so you'll only get sound out of one speaker of a stereo amp. I too have that set but I'm hundreds of miles away from it at the moment. Although in wireless parlance MB can mean multi-band, in this instance I think it's mains-battery.

[Deeje29]

Thank you for your replies I know if I plug a mobile phone or iPod into it it plays music through the radio itself I don't know if this helps

[Paul_RK]

Is the set tunable to 104 MHz? Extension of the top of the FM frequency range was about the last production change in the Super Sovereign - most RP75MBs and all RP75s stop at 101 MHz - and the one Super Sov. here with a playback socket is the one with the estended FM range, so perhaps the socket and the range extension were introduced together. Must admit I hadn't registered the playback socket before!

Regards,
Paul

[Deeje29]

Yes the radio set is tuneable to 104MHz. So you believe that these additions make this a later version of the model?

Thanks.

[stevehertz]

It does yes. The later, last version had the extended FM range and mains power capability. For me, it's one of the best Hackers looks, versatility and sound-wise.

[60 oldjohn]

This is mine, with playback socket and 104 MHz. Rare or normal ?


John.

[Paul_RK]

I wouldn't quite say rare, but not nearly so common as other varieties of Super Sovereign. Total production of the model seems to have been somewhere around 8000-9000 sets, half of them battery-only (RP75) and half battery/mains (RP75MB). Most of the RP75MBs are only tunable to 101 MHz on FM, but the very last ones, like yours, go up to 104 MHz. I would guess around 500 to 1000 of those were made: I would be able to give you a better guess if Yahoo wasn't currently telling me that I don't have permission to enter the serial number database of the Hacker group I set up there in 2003. 9325, though, is a high serial number for the Super Sovereign - my memory says that none were issued above 10000.

Without having further sets to check, it seems quite likely that the extended FM range and the playback socket were introduced at the same time.

Paul

[mhennessy]

By way of an additional data point, my latest RP75MB (08757) goes to 104MHz, but does not have the "playback" socket. So from that, we can conclude that the arrival of the socket did not coincide with the range extension.

I'm not surprised. When you investigate their other sets, it seems that they don't like to make too many changes at the same time

[mhennessy]

Originally Posted by 'LIVEWIRE?'

Have you checked if it is wired in parallel with the o/p side of the DIN Tape socket? If so, it could be simply an alternative 'tape out' connection as the designation 'playback' implies.

By default, the DIN socket provides output only, via a 15k resistor. It might be possible to "force" audio in by tuning to a quiet part of the band and using a high level source, but that's not the design intent. It's for recording, not playback.

I expect that this extra socket in wired in series with the audio signal as it travels from the switch PCB to the top of volume pot, breaking the audio when a plug is inserted in the usual way.

The socket is occupying the hole used for the DC input socket on the earlier non-MB models. They didn't re-tool, so that hole is present in the metalwork on later sets, albeit hidden by the black card.

[Paul_RK]

Thanks, Mark. I checked just now the serial number of my late RP75MB, and it's 09327: just two from John's! I wonder how 09326 is doing...

Paul