Beginner looking for a vintage radio

[Sideband]

When you say 'stereo', was it a stereo radio playing? If so it wasn't 'old' as such...none of the radio's mentioned from the 70's would have been stereo. There are radios described as 'builders radios' and are designed for use on building sites etc. These are substantially built for rough usage, in a fairly large cabinet and sound surprisingly good (I pass one every day being used at a local site and it does sound good). It may have looked very tatty and paint-spattered but it may not have been that old.....

[Radiocruncher]

Hi Jonaldo

I’ve only just caught up on this thread. I have to agree that Hacker is probably the best way to go. The Sovereign 2 RP25A or Hunter RP38A are both great sounding radios. If you want a mains option then a Sovereign 3 RP72MB is a good bet and is from that era. The Roberts sets are okay with the R707 being the best of the bunch. These need considerable work though to be made reliable into the future. I can supply any of these restored with a guarantee so if you are stuck then drop me a private message and I will sort you one out.

Good luck

Graham

[AC/HL]

If that ITT radio was older, you may be more familiar with the name KB.

[Viscount]

hacker every time,you wont be dissapointed

[Michael.N.]

I've had a Hacker RP38 for a few years now which I bought from ebay. Case wasn't the greatest condition but it worked. I run it on rechargeable AA's - all 12 of them. OK there's a bit of cost involved in the radio and the batteries but it's such a good radio. I also have a Roberts R23 and whilst it's nice enough it doesn't really compare to the Hacker.

[stevehertz]

Go Grundig or Hacker and buy a known, good set from a collector or restorer who knows what they are doing. As has been said, Roberts sets tend to be overrated, however there is one exception that offers superb performance, the Roberts 707. These are very common. A measure of this being the amount that turn up on Ebay, about three every week. But again, only buy one from a reliable source. Grundig, Hacker or Roberts 707, and only buy a 'guaranteed' set from a trustworthy source. Best of luck.

[Paul Stenning]

Originally Posted by Ed_Dinning

Hi Jonaldo, the Goldborne event starts at about 9-30/10, good bacon butties as well as plenty of stalls and live 405 TV demonstrations.
No problems about entry, I or one of the other members will sign you in.

Ed

Signing in my a member isn't really needed now. The BVWS welcome guests to events on a sort of "try before you buy" basis. Just turn up, say you are thinking of joining and that members of the forum recommended the event, and you will have no problems.

[Mike. Watterson]

Originally Posted by jonaldo

I just find that they lack something.

Decent cabinet, decent speaker. Also often use a portable gadget headphone amp for the speaker.

No comparison between a table model 1956 to 1962 Grundig and a Roberts. I think the Hacker RP25 is a good transistor portable. The Hacker RP18 is also very good.

The modern "Roberts" sets sold for over €100 here are €15 Chinese chassis with tiny speakers. It's now a badge owned by Glen Dimplex.

Roberts did few mains table models. The later ones relied on Mullard modules. The main good feature was the speaker and box. The 1950s battery valve ones are pretty good, but no FM and really you don't want a battery valve set for everyday listening. A 1957 to 1962 German AM/FM table model would be best. Very many brands. There were some good UK copies of the concept, but many of the German ones have tweeters and even stereo amps (few have decoders) with DIN sockets for tape and gram. A 3.5mm jack to DIN will work well with external BT adaptor or direct to phone/MP3 headphone socket.

Note that the FM band was up to 101, then 104 before 108. Only export models for USA had full up to 108 MHz until quite late.

[Phil G4SPZ]

You're probably wise to choose a transistor set, but if you wanted a valve radio, a restored Bush VHF81 would be my recommendation. Very good sound quality, really sensitive on medium waves, VHF band too (tuning up to ~100 MHz) and relatively compact. Do choose a restored example, though; these are 'live chassis' designs and need to have been properly serviced.

[Boater Sam]

We may be speaking into an empty post, has the OP come back at all?

Adding to my previous post recommending the Hacker RP38A. Today I have had the set for a couple of hours, and I have noticed (because I looked at this thread) that it doesn't "strain" me, some days it's on all day still no "strain". It is one of those undescribable things.

[jonaldo]

Hi all,

Thanks so much for all your replies - I have been checking back! I've not always had time to respond as I've been busy with work and overtime but I've been reading and I honestly appreciate the time everyone has taken to give recommendations.

I would love a valve radio, but as I said I'm completely inexperienced with electrics and I really don't want anything what I'd consider old/dangerous (forgive my ignorance if they aren't!). That said, I do remember as a kid having an 'antique' radio in the house for a while! The smell of the valves warming up, the wood and the dust was something I'll never forget however, I've got to be practical so I know I'm restricted to portable, transistor sets that run on batteries and if possible mains. I would only use mains if I'm present to make sure it's safe to use.

I have had a look on ebay for sets and honestly, I just love the look of most of them from the 50s/60s/70s - they just look absolutely amazing. I love some of the B&O ones they truly look space age. I can quite easily spend an hour looking at them, no matter what the brand is, just looking at the styling and wondering what music or news was heard through them. Hacker, Bush, Grundig, Roberts, Tandeberg, ITT, Defiant, Philco, Koyo, Selena - I want them all!

However, most people have recommended Hacker sets which is great but they are pricey and I'm just dipping my toe in the water at the moment. I don't want an unhappy wife either ha ha! Christmas is coming up so I've got to save for that, but I get a bonus in the New Year and I'm going to splash out for a Hacker. I know it will be the best sounding but part of me feels I've got to go through the mill of a few 'crap sets' before I get to the best.

In the meantime, I've popped out to local 'house clearance' and similar type places to see if there's anything in there which would be suitable. I've been quite surprised though how much Roberts sets go for at these places - I saw a Roberts R200 which was in a filthy condition, rotten in the inside and was untested and was quoted £40 for it. Not a chance! However, I did get lucky and thank you to the member who suggested ITT (I think it was @crackle) as I've never heard of them. I managed to pick up an ITT Golf at a local 'antique' warehouse for £20 and I love it. It's in good condition and working fine on MW which is my main thing. It's been great value and I've spent many nights working listening to the 'golden oldies' stations. I love the sound and it really has taken me back to being a kid again. What's also been great is my young son, who's never seen a radio before(!), loves playing with the tuning knob and aerial and just listening to music on it to.

To be honest, I'm going to buy a few and try them out! I feel I have to get a Roberts 707 as they seem to be well regarded and I love the Grundig's.

I've got one final question though: are they are any radios you can recommend that have the dial light on the front? I've seen some of the Grundig Yacht boys do and I love the idea of having the tuner and international cities lit up with the old fashioned light (I don't like led lights). On a cold, wet winters night it would be great to switch on a set which lights up playing 'golden oldies' and sitting back with an ale - perfect.

Again, thank you all so much for all your help and advice, it's very much appreciated!

[TonyDuell]

In general battery-powered radios do not have dial lights that are on all the time (and many don't have them at all). The battery life would be significantly reduced by having to power the bulbs all the time -- the bulbs would draw a current comparable to the rest of the radio. In a mains-powered set this is not a problem of course.

Some battery radios had dial lights that were switched on by a button on the set, or by pushing the tuning knob, or similar so you had an illuminated scale when you were tuning the radio. They went off when you released the button/knob to save the battery as they were not needed when you were not looking at the scale for tuning. But that would not give the effect you want.

[jonaldo]

Hi all,

I just wanted to thank you all again for your suggestions! I've took the plunge and managed to pick up a well priced Hacker Autocrat as I really wanted a good MW sound. It looks fantastic and the sound was exactly what I was looking for. It really is surprising how good a set from 40-50 years ago can sound and not to mention the styling of the Hackers in particular is superb. The build quality, the sound, the style - they truly do not make things like this anymore and it's a real shame but it's great to know that there are people out there that are keeping top quality pieces going!

One problem though is the batteries - 6 Duracell batteries at a £10er a go from Tesco ain't cheap. Is it possible to convert it to use something like AA batteries or can it be run from the mains?

Also, another question - is there a mains transformer set that you would recommend for general radio use? Something that can do several different voltages and with different adaptor sizes?

I've now got 3 radios in total and really enjoy listening to them. I daresay in time I'll get bored of the 'golden oldies' stations, but for now I am really enjoying the songs on there and listening to Radio 5 on these radios just sounds far better than it does on the TV.

Cheers all and happy listening! Thank you all so much for your advice, you've made a middle aged man very happy

[Jolly 7]

Hi there
Happy to hear you're enjoying your radios. I have two Hacker radios myself and have converted them to run on AA cells. It is fairly easy and inexpensive to do this but if running them on rechargeable AAs, using a fuse for each battery pack is recommended. Your Hacker Autocrat would originally have been designed to run on two 9 volt PP9 batteries. Which battery size was this converted to by the seller and how many are you using ?
My personal choice is to avoid mains adaptors because more often than not they introduce noise that can spoil radio reception. However, I do have a spare multivoltage one lying around. Please PM me if interested. Cheers.

[G8UWM-MildMartin]

There were loads of suitable mains-operated Power Supply Units (PSUs) on sale around 10-15 years ago, before the legislation requiring them to be the higher efficiency, but generally more prone to generating unwanted signals (RF "noise" on the frequencies you want to listen to and beyond) switch-mode PSUs. Those older types are relatively heavy (several hundred grammes), run warm, and are in two types: "regulated", which are ideal, especially the ones with switchable outputs, and "unregulated" which would give around their rated output at full load, but much more at less, e.g. over 12V from a nominal 9-V PSU, and are not generally to be recommended unless the exact model specified by the radio's manufacturer, and even then a regulated one would be likely to give less hum.

[jonaldo]

Apologies - of course, the Hacker runs off two PP9s, it was my third radio that had the 6 x Duracell 'D' batteries!

[crackle]

Originally Posted by jonaldo

I've now got 3 radios in total and really enjoy listening to them. I daresay in time I'll get bored of the 'golden oldies' stations, but for now I am really enjoying the songs on there and listening to Radio 5 on these radios just sounds far better than it does on the TV.

I think I see a new radio collector in the making.

Mike

[TrevorG3VLF]

I would not recommend a multivoltage power pack unless the switch is disconnected and it is wired permanently.

My brother has just rung me to tell me his radio does not work. He was using it on a multivoltage supply which had an output lead which could be plugged in either way to change the polarity. Another job for Trevor !

I have added a PSU to a USA ghetto blaster which had been run fot a few seconds on UK mains. It did not like 240V on its 120V input. The replacement feeding in at the battery compartment worked well.

[Boater Sam]

I would never recommend Duracell batteries, they are notorious for leaking and destroying equipment.
You can buy rechargeable PP9s, expensive. Or make your own by putting 6 rechargeable AAs into an old PP9 case but put a fuse in each, rechargeable batteries can pass many amps when shorted, fire risk.