Roberts Rambler II, external sockets.

[Darren-UK]

I've just acquired Rambler II s/n 236387 and, having cleaned the muck off, found it to be in near-perfect condition.

On its r/h end is a socket for an external 9v supply. This certainly appears original but can someone please confirm this is so ?

TIA.

[Paul_RK]

I can't - the latest Rambler II here, and the latest of the 25 on file at the Roberts group, serial 238125, just has an earphone socket on the right hand end - no other external connections. Its one difference from nearly every other Rambler II I've seen lies iin its having a rigid handle rather than the usual strap.

Regards,
Paul

[howard]

Hello Darren,

I've got a couple of Rambler IIs and both have sockets for a 9V PSU.

Howard

[Paul_RK]

Hmm... very curious. Just retrieved 235326 and it doesn't have one either - again just the earphone socket.

Paul

[Darren-UK]

Attached is a pic of the relevant end of the radio. Not readable on the pic are the markings on the socket escutcheon; at top 9v, at bottom Pin -ve. Note it doesn't say 9vdc, just 9v. I wonder how many people have, in ignorance, connected an AC psu ? Mr J. Public probably wouldn't know that the 'Pin -ve' bit indicates DC.

On the inside of the wooden endpiece, just above the psu socket and to its left, is a counterbored hole. A blind hole, obviously, it's smaller in diameter than the psu socket. Would this be the position for an earphone jack? If so, it seems these wooden ends were machined to permit any combination of jacks.

(I've edited the title of this thread to allow the inclusion of the earphone jack subject, btw).

[Paul_RK]

The earphone jack position is at least very nearly the same - first picture. A reflection makes the left hand set's socket appear closed off, but they're actually identical. My sets have a counterbored hole too, as the second picture shows. The third is I think the only separate 9v jack design I've seen on Roberts sets: 'DC' included, though I confess to expecting myself that anyone not alerted to the DC requirement by 'Pin -ve' probably wouldn't know whether his supply was wired with negative or positive pin either. Seems very odd at least if your set was released with the DC jack closely sandwiched in the production run by my two with earphone sockets: I can't imagine Roberts offering purchasers the choice, or putting out an instruction leaflet saying that one or the other might be fitted. Would be interesting, though, to know how the jacks on Howard's sets (or any other Rambler IIs that have them) appear.

Paul

[mickjjo]

I have a tan coloured Rambler 11 here, serial No 208358, This one has a DC input jack marked "9v, pin -ve" , same as Darrens, no earphone socket. .

Regards, Mick.

[Darren-UK]

Originally Posted by Paul_RK

.......the only separate 9v jack design I've seen on Roberts sets: 'DC' included........
Paul

What's the s/n of your set that has 'DC' on it? On the face of it, logic says there were indeed problems/complaints about the less-than-obvious (from Joe Public's point of view) DC requirement - so Roberts added it to the socket. Presumably these sockets were bought-in components.

[Paul_RK]

Originally Posted by darren-uk

What's the s/n of your set that has 'DC' on it?

That's a different Roberts set altogether, a much later RP28. Howsoever, I've now found my third (and last) Rambler II, serial 232199, and it has a 9 volt socket just like yours, with internally a second blind (but not counterbored) hole above. Ah well. Evidently enough Roberts were fitting one socket or the other, while having thoughts of fitting both...

Paul