Hacker Sovereign II (RP25) tuning extended to 104 Mhz?

[Specmaster]

Arh yes, I see it, its 36790 there also another number stamped by ink pad stamp, H.R.30 by the AM tuner?

Many thanks for the heads up on the sockets, I'll have a look there.

[mhennessy]

Thanks for that - 36790 is quite a bit earlier than our previous lowest number, so that helps narrow down the time of the change, assuming it's the original loudspeaker. Should you have cause to take remove it from the set, you can normally get an indication from looking closely at the marks made by the shake-proof washers.

[Specmaster]

Any idea what the H.R.30 stamp is, my guess is it could be the person who assembled it or checked it?

[mhennessy]

Yes, that's my best guess too.

[AC/HL]

And mine, I was Test 20 at Bairds many years ago.

[Specmaster]

I've had a little play with the FM Oscillator in conjunction with the HF and Antenna trimmers and so far have managed to bring in all the required stations above 101 Mhz and only lost BBC Radio 2. So that's a result, thank you all for the tips so far so once a fine tune is completed I'll move on to replace all the sockets, try and locate a correct aerial and get a rear grille for it.

Once that's all done, I'll attack the handle and recover it and clean up the rest of case in general and I will also fit external power supply socket and fit new battery holders internally to accept 12 x AA rechargeables and then the external 18v PSU will be able keep them topped up and power the radio at the same time.

This is the same as I did with the HMV Diplomat which also was designed to use 2 x PP9 batteries and the system appears to work well.

[mhennessy]

I'd be cautious about a non-standard approach to a DC input socket. Think about the next owner...

Later sets came with a DC input jack mounted on the side, though some earlier sets have them - we think Hacker supplied a mod kit for dealers. Adding one in the original style is definitely worth considering, but I'd wire it in the conventional way, and charge the batteries out of the radio.

At the risk of stating the obvious, it's quite feasible to fit 6 or 7 AA nicads (and a fuse!) in the shell of a dead PP9.

As an aside, I have a VHF Herald that had a hole in the side because of a bad mains conversion. Luckily it was in the right place for a DC input socket. But for added realism, I made a copy of the surround that Hacker used. Admittedly on card rather than aluminium, but from a distance (and not in bright sunlight!), it looks pretty convincing.

[Thyristor]

I'm really not a fan of twiddling and butchery, I like to keep everything as original as possible.
Hence my comment about the later Sov III; it will be mains/batt, and will solve all of your problems.

[Specmaster]

My next Hacker might well be a later Sov III but for now, I have now I have no use for a radio that does not receive my local stations.

But everyone keeps telling me just how wonderful these Sov II's are and indeed my late Mum always said that she wanted one but ended up with a Radionette as at the time none was available. So this was my chance to try out one against my Diplomat. I think the Diplomat has the edge for sound quality, may be because it has a bigger cabinet?

The Sov II has the far superior build quality and attention to detail though.

I have to say though that the Radionette was also extremely good for build and sound quality but lacked the bass and treble controls, would mind getting one of these either but have not seen one for years.