Hacker Input/Output Sockets

[Kat Manton]

Hi,

I think I just found out the hard way that 'eighth-inch' plugs must've been a little different sometime before I started paying attention to these things...

I've just resurrected an RP18; wanting to see how it sounded fed from my PowerBook, I grabbed a lead and plugged it in.

Firstly the plug didn't seem to fit particularly well; secondly I seem to have killed the switch in the socket.

I could try to get hold of some of the plugs the sockets were meant for, but I think the sensible thing to do here if I want to actually use the input/output and 'phones' sockets is to forget originality and replace them with modern ones; which could be interesting as the holes for the original type are quite large. Some thin washers are called for, I think.

Just out of curiosity, can anyone post a side-by-side pic of old and new types of 'eighth-inch' jack plug? I don't think I've ever seen anything other than what must be the 'modern' type.

Ah well... back to the bench it goes...

Regards, Kat

[newlite4]

Hello Kat, join the club, I think we've all done it . The Hacker input/output sockets are not the best, especially since by now the contacts would be well and truly tarnished. The most common problem is using the earphone socket - it does not work, pull out the plug and the speaker does not work either. In this case it is common just to by-pass the socket to get the set playing again - one reason for this is that the socket is one of those types that are retained by a spring clip affair which is difficult to get to without dismantling the whole front panel .
Neil

[Kat Manton]

Hi,

Well, functionality has been restored by the advanced and highly technical method of wiggling a cocktail stick about in the socket.

I think I'll end up replacing the sockets. One of my less daft ideas is to use a pair of RP18 Sovereigns singly or in a pair as amplified speakers for PowerBook, mp3 player, etc. An RP18 sounds way better than the horrible plastic things intended for this and I like to have a bit of fun juxtaposing old and new technology. So reliable sockets would be somewhat useful.

Regards, Kat

[Dave Moll]

By the "new type of 'eighth-inch' jack plug", do you mean the 3.5mm variety? I must admit that I had never encountered a pre-metric version of this. All my previous encounters had been with quarter-inch (now metamorphosed into 6mm and slightly thinner).

I assume that you problem is caused by 3.5mm being slightly fatter than an eighth of an inch.

[Paul_RK]

Hi Kat,

Re. your photo request, I think I've only ever seen one jack plug made within the last 20 years: so here it is, along with one that was found still in position taped to the telescopic aerial of an RP18 Sovereign, as was Hacker's way when sending sets out from the factory. So I don't know whether the modern plug will be quite what you were using: it's on a lead with a couple of phono plugs at the other end, which I think came with my early Evoke 1 to enable its connection to an amplifier, and which is now in use to connect a Pure DRX-601EX to the computer here to act as its loudspeakers, as those of the LCD monitor are absolute rubbish.

The Hacker situation is a little complex, as you'll perhaps by now be learning to expect A table sent out with March 1971's Service Manager's News Letter (available in the group's files) details the various external sockets and plugs required for Hacker models. The Mini-Herald and RP18 Sovereign take a Continental 3.5mm jack plug, the Sovereign II family a British 3.5mm jack plug...

Paul

EDIT: BTW, I've met a couple of Sovereigns that were silent on arrival because of oxidised switch contacts or just accumulated dust in the earphone jack, and a shot of WD40 into the socket, with a few insertions of the plug, has been enough to put matters right. As I think you'll agree from the photos, the dimensions of your plug (unless it's somewhat different from my modern example) aren't likely to have led to any harm being done.

[Kat Manton]

Hi Dave,

Originally Posted by Dave Moll

I assume that you problem is caused by 3.5mm being slightly fatter than an eighth of an inch.

Hmm... this is true, 1/8" is 3.175mm. I've always called them 'eighth-inch' (and their larger brethren 'quarter-inch') though.

However, the plugs I've tried feel really loose, like they're not making contact, the expected positive 'click' feeling as they're pushed home is absent, too.

Maybe the plugs should fit fine but the sockets are all worn out (or were rubbish to start with)?

Regards, Kat

[Paul_RK]

Originally Posted by Kat Manton

However, the plugs I've tried feel really loose, like they're not making contact, the expected positive 'click' feeling as they're pushed home is absent, too.

Somewhere I have a steel rule, but it disappeared about a week ago and I can't imagine where it could be. So all I can say is that looking at the plugs in my photo side by side the Hacker ("Continental") one is about two or three millimetres longer, and a tad chunkier at the business end. I do remember 30 or so years ago trying to use the then-current Japanese 3.5mm earphone plugs with Hackers and finding them pretty hopeless. The genuine plug does go into the sets' sockets with a reassuring positivity

Paul

[GJR 11L]

I use a pair of Sovereigns in exactly the way you are trying do do, and have no trouble when using the original, taped to the aerial when the set was new, 1/8 Inch or 3.2mm plugs.
I am lucky in that the sockets in that location on both sets are working fine as the spring contacts obviously haven't become work-hardened or corroded away yet!
There are those who think that using those original plugs rather than leaving them attached with their little bit of masking tape (why masking tape I wonder?), is an act of sacrilege far more severe than using an Ekco chamber pot as such, but Hacker put those in there for me to use, so every one I get is fitted to one end of a coaxial lead terminating at the other in a 3.5mm plug to fit one channel on the stereo>2x mono socket adapter that plugs into my soundcard.

(I also use a suitably baffled Hacker AL42 as sub woofer for the pc sounds but won't mention that as it really would be o.t. )

Here a wee picture of the thing that came with every new Hacker Sovereign:

[newlite4]

When I first encountered one of those special Hacker plugs taped to the aerial, I thought that someone had just left it there. I promptly thought "ooh, nice plug, I'll put it into stock ", until I saw earlier postings about SovII's and their plugs. I quickly found some fresh masking tape and re-instated it to its rightful place to preserve originality.
Neil

[Kat Manton]

Hi,

Paul, when I saw the photo you posted I thought the 'Hacker' plug looked a bit longer; that would explain a lot. The ones I've tried just don't go far enough into the socket to latch in or make proper contact.

Unfortunately, neither of my RP18s came with the plug, though one has traces of decaying yellowed sellotape (not masking tape) on the aerial.

Now I'm torn between asking if anyone has a plug or two they'd spare, or replacement of the connectors... decisions, decisions... I'm still leaning in the direction of connector replacement as I will use them, and would like them to be reliable.

Regards, Kat

[brunel]

To add to the confusion, 3.5mm plugs are usually stereo, as used on computer equipment and stereo headphones etc.

The original Hacker type is mono, these also used to be known as miniature, there is/used to be a sub miniature mono type as well.

Brunel

[Dave Moll]

Originally Posted by brunel

To add to the confusion, 3.5mm plugs are usually stereo, as used on computer equipment and stereo headphones etc.

... but by no means exclusively. Mono 3.5mm plugs are still around, though it's usually cheaper to use a stereo plug with the middle and outer ring connected together. I do, however, have a vague recollection of one instance where the socket connector for the outer ring managed to find the ring of insulation and failed to make good electrical contact with either of the surrounding conductors.

there is/used to be a sub miniature mono type as well.

... which are 2.5mm. Was there ever a pre-metric version of these?

[GJR 11L]

Originally Posted by Kat Manton

Unfortunately, neither of my RP18s came with the plug, though one has traces of decaying yellowed sellotape (not masking tape) on the aerial.


Regards, Kat

Ah, I may have snaffled the one from the RP18 that you had from me! Or did that come with the shorter RP25A aerial, in which case I had both the aerial and the earphone plug from an RP25A that I seem to be unable to find!

[rovereab]

I successfully use the Input socket on my Sovereign to connect my iPod as per my profile pic.

Touch wood I have not had any problems to date!

Regards.

Eamonn

[ColinB]

Surely Hacker wouldn't have supplied just a jack plug on its own, for the new owner to fit, would they?

Having said that, it seems like a long time since I had to fit a mains plug to a new bit of kit

[GJR 11L]

Judging by the number of original Sovereigns that have been through here, I reckon that's exactly what they did! Not only that, but the earlier (RP10) Heralds were supplied with plugs for both earphone and external aerial, no wires, no actual earplug. The tight-fisted s, eh?!

[Paul_RK]

Yes, the plugs were always supplied, taped to the telescopic aerial. RP18 and RP25 instruction leaflets make no mention of their presence though they specify the plugs' types (Continental and British respectively), so probably they were there mainly as a convenience to any Hacker dealer whose customer wanted to make one or other type of connection to his set.

Paul

[Brian R Pateman]

Hacker were not the only ones!

Extract from the manual for the KB "Cavalier" TP41:-

"The microphone complete with plug and cable is an optional extra, but the plug fro the tape recorder outlet is supplied as standard."

Regards,