Quick Fix - Ever Ready Sky Leader

[coopzone]

I'd forgotten I had this radio, until I had a bit of a cleanup!

Just needed a good clean and a couple of caps, the normally dodgy red/yellow one you see in the photograph actually checked out ok! That's the first time ever for one of those, so i left it in place (i'll probably regret that in a few months)

This example is missing the carry handle - anyone know of a substitute i can use.

And I do have one other example that needs a lot of work, including the front speaker grill. It's all loose and flabby (bit like me, i know!) Any suggestions as too what to do with it.

Derek

[Davewantsone]

For the actual carrying strap you can find leather effect "dog leads" in Poundland. They have brown, black and red. I have used quite a few on Roberts R66 radios.

[AC/HL]

The handles (shoulder straps) are a bit bulky, it's no wonder they are usually missing. As for the speaker "cloth", they're all like that, but for a 60+ year old radio it's in remarkably good condition.

[Mike. Watterson]

I hunt the €1 or €2 "belt boxes" in Charity shops. I only worry about style, width, thickness and length. Not colour or fittings. The fittings can be tricky but some are standard.
I've used a "Pound shop" cat lead for a Sony. (Dealz here is Poundland, we have various other places).

[Biggles]

I have a couple of these sets and I find they are excellent performers. I also have the equivalent Berec "Demon", which is a brown/red colour instead of the usual blue. Well worth the trouble to get working. None of mine have straps, and one of them has a plastic push button switch cap missing. How long was the original strap? Was the set strap designed to be carried over the shoulder?
Alan.

[Mike. Watterson]

Yes, it's a shoulder strap. There are two versions of the Demon, one with triangular speaker cut out and one that's identical to the Ever Ready.
The Ever Ready is in blue or red and the BEREC is a browner red.
They also seem to have used two kinds of fasteners: A clip kind like a dog lead and a button style like a briefcase/bag/satchel lid catch. Either works on the radio body.

[coopzone]

Thanks for the replies so far,

I think the strap was shoulder length on this model, but not 100% sure. When i have seen similar radios on ebay etc they look that sort of length. But I have another one of these radios (in very bad shape) that has a short hand strap. Unfortunately it's in dark blue!


Derek

[Paul_RK]

The strap is adjustable, 24" between the end clips when it's doubled up, a little over 45" when fully extended. I've only seen one kind of fixing, a spring-loaded catch, but the similarly styled, later and smaller, Sky Master uses something quite different. The Sky Master strap doesn't detach quite as easily, so it's much more often found still attached to the radio.

Can't say I've noticed any difference in colour between the Sky Leader and the Leader-style variant of the Berec Demon: Leaders are more often tan than blue, I'm not sure if I've ever seen a blue Demon. The Sky Master also launched in tan and blue variants, but the option of red was added during produciton: the Sky Master service manual, at least the copy I have somewhere, gives part numbers for cabinets, knobs etc. only for the tan and blue versions.

Paul

[60 oldjohn]

The strap is between ~27 and ~ 47 inches long, it is extendable. Mine has a button clip, I wonder if the dog lead style clips were original? As already said the straps were very bulky.


John.

[Mike. Watterson]

Maybe I'm mixing up Master and Leader catches. No, I've never seen a blue BEREC Demon, either in the triangle or leader style.

I wondered about the dog style clip on my Demon, but otherwise the strap is the same as my Ever Ready strap, same satchel lid style catch as yours.