Calling Hacker Hunter owners!

[mhennessy]

Yes, I'm afraid it's original

The RP38 was also available in black, and those got a black Rexine strip in the handle - much nicer.

The earlier RP38As were also available in teak or all-black, but mercifully, all RP38A handles have no insert of any description - just plain aluminium.

The original RP38 was only in production for a year, so you've got yourself a rare model there - ironically that makes it somewhat collectable, despite the issue of poor taste!

Cheers,

Mark

[gavinhall]

Hi chaps,

Just got my RP38 out and it has a serial number on the chassis of 06072. It's a black rexine one with grey goodmans speaker, white print, alloy knobs and front grille, and a single tone control. It does not have the metal grille on the back or intact aerial. Difficult to date but it doesn't have a DC input socket and the alloy handle is missing its insert, so it would have had a black one (I think).

Gavin

[jjl]

I own 2 Hunter VHF models, one very rough one is here

- Hunter VHF, RP38A.
- Serial number : 51608.
- Handle type : single piece.
- Grille type : extruded.
- Scale print : all white.
- DC input socket : yes.
- Loudspeaker type and finish : gold Elac? no maker's name.
- Tone control knob style : Silver, bass and treble.
- Buttons : black with silver top.

The other very nice RP38 in navy rexine is "out on loan", I must get it back! Known details are

- Hunter VHF, RP38.
- Serial number : not known.
- Handle type : single piece with body colored rexine strip.
- Grille type : pressed sheet with HACKER embossed at bottom.
- Scale print : all white.
- DC input socket : no.
- Loudspeaker type and finish : grey painted Goodmans.
- Tone control knob style : Silver, single tone.
- Buttons : silver.

when this one returns, I'll add more detail.

Edit :

I've just noticed that the audio amp. module and method of securing the VHF aerial in the RP38A mentioned above are quite different in appearance to that in the RP38. The RP38A has a black heatsink that covers the whole of the top of the module and the base of the VHF aerial fits into a bracket screweed to the heatsink. The RP38 has a smaller heatsink and, from memory, the base of the VHF aerial is located in a rebate in the base of the cabinet.


John

[Darren-UK]

Please note that a "grill" is what you make toast under. Admittedly it's only a minor issue but I've corrected the spelling to "grille" throughout this thread as it becomes annoying after the first few posts with the incorrect spelling .

[mhennessy]

Originally Posted by gavinhall

Just got my RP38 out and it has a serial number on the chassis of 06072.

Hi Gavin,

Thanks for this number. Just one question: could you describe the wavechange buttons?

Most Hunters had black plastic buttons that carried a silver insert. But the very earliest sets had buttons that were all silver. The data I have so far suggests that yours should be all silver.

Thanks in advance,

Mark

[mhennessy]

Originally Posted by jjl

I own 2 Hunter VHF models, one very rough one is here <snip>

Hi John,

Many thanks for these. The first one sounds pretty standard - I have one that is very similar. As for the second one, I'm very keen to know the serial number - especially as it has silver buttons.

It's interesting that it's navy. I'm not sure that Hacker ever produced navy Hunters, so it might have been recovered. Or, perhaps it's discoloured with age? Either way, it's an interesting specimen...

Regarding the amplifier, you're right. I must admit that I'd forgotten the detail - it's been a while since I've seen my RP38 - but Jeffrey's photo in post #34 shows the internals pretty well...

Thanks again,

Mark

[mhennessy]

Originally Posted by Darren-UK

Please note that a "grill" is what you make toast under. Admittedly it's only a minor issue but I've corrected the spelling to "grille" throughout this thread as it becomes annoying after the first few posts with the incorrect spelling .

Many apologies - my fault for getting it wrong initially, and allowing it to propagate via copy and paste! I fear it's a mistake I've made frequently in the past, but will make a concerted effort now... Thanks for sorting out the thread

[westcliff]

Hi Mark,

Here are a few pics of my Hunter as requested. Hope they're helpful.

Gus.

[nebogipfel]

Originally Posted by Darren-UK

Please note that a "grill" is what you make toast under. Admittedly it's only a minor issue but I've corrected the spelling to "grille" throughout this thread as it becomes annoying after the first few posts with the incorrect spelling.

Good morning Darren,

Several online dictionaries define Grill as an acceptable alternative spelling for the item we usually know as a Grille

But I know how these things can be annoying

[mhennessy]

Originally Posted by westcliff

Here are a few pics of my Hunter as requested. Hope they're helpful.

Hi Gus,

Yes, that's very helpful indeed. It all looks pretty original to me. So your set is officially the earliest example with an extruded grille (44620). The next earliest one (44258) has a mesh grille.

I still have this problem with 45208, which with a mesh grille, but perhaps that's destined to remain a mystery. We're a bit short of sets in the 45,000 region, so perhaps as more data comes out, things might become clearer.

But thank you once again

Mark

[gavinhall]

Hi Mark,

Your guess is correct in the case of my set, it has all-silver wavechange buttons as it's the early one. I didn't realise there were so many variations.

Gavin

[mhennessy]

Thanks Gavin - that's great.

No, I didn't realise either! I might not have started if I'd realised just how involved things were

All the best,

Mark

[jjl]

Originally Posted by mhennessy

Many thanks for these. The first one sounds pretty standard - I have one that is very similar. As for the second one, I'm very keen to know the serial number - especially as it has silver buttons

I now have the serial number and a correction on my navy RP38. The serial number is 12913 and it has black wavechange buttons with silver insert, not all silver as I first posted.
The navy rexine is definitely original; it is the same colour inside and out and the quality of cut and fitment of the material is as one would expect from the factory.

John

[Aub]

I don't know much about Hackers. Is the Hunter better than the Sovereign, with regard to VHF performance?

Regards to all.

Aub

[Jonster]

From my experience, the VHF performance is similar on both. The Sovereign has a bassier sound, the Hunter (especially the RP38A) has a slightly more 'natural' sound.

[mhennessy]

Hi John,

Thanks for getting back to me

Originally Posted by jjl

I now have the serial number and a correction on my navy RP38. The serial number is 12913 and it has black wavechange buttons with silver insert, not all silver as I first posted.

The navy rexine is definitely original; it is the same colour inside and out and the quality of cut and fitment of the material is as one would expect from the factory.

This is fascinating - I'd love to see a picture of two if that's easy to do. A Hunter in anything other than black is a very rare beast indeed - I'm only aware of one, which Paul King owns, in tan. He bought this one out of curiosity, but upon receipt it was clear that it had been re-covered. But from what you say, yours might indeed be original; it's hard to imagine any environmental factors that could perfectly and uniformly discolour all of the Rexine, including the hidden bits inside. And assuming yours is blue at the sides as well, it would be difficult for an enthusiastic tinkerer to do a job that looks factory original...

Also, is the loudspeaker definitely a Goodmans? By this stage, it should have been an Elac. It could easily have been replaced in service, of course.

I've attached the latest copy of the "time line", and as you can see, I've collected a lot of data and am becoming fairly confident in my conclusions so far. More data is definitely welcome, however, as it all helps to confirm and refine the picture of events.

Thank you to everyone who has contributed so far - it's been quite an undertaking, but ultimately really good fun, and hopefully of interest to Hacker fans everywhere

All the best,

Mark

[mhennessy]

Hi Aub,

Originally Posted by Aub

I don't know much about Hackers. Is the Hunter better than the Sovereign, with regard to VHF performance?

I suspect that a full discussion about the relative merits would probably be considered OT for this thread, but this has been discussed in the past - this is a good place to start: https://www.vintage-radio.net/forum/...ead.php?t=5125

Very briefly, the situation is somewhat complicated. There were 4 versions of the Sovereign, and you don't say which one you're thinking of. A lot of people draw comparisons to the Sovereign II, but this model saw 3 different loudspeakers in its lifetime, and they sound different to each other! Electrically, the audio stage is very similar to what you'll find in the Sovereign II and Sovereign IV, but in sound quality terms, I feel that the Elac fitted to the RP38A gives this model an edge over all the first 3 generations of the Sovereign (the Sovereign IV uses a 4 ohm version of the Hunter Elac) . But if you live in a difficult reception area, the Sovereign II/III has the edge on FM sensitivity. For me, the VHF Herald RP37A works well because it has the electronics from a Sovereign II (minus the AM bits), but many of them came with an Elac loudspeaker - not the same as the Hunter, but actually slightly better. And, the VHF Herald is generally much cheaper to buy.

Lots and lots of good info about Hacker sets on here - get searching

Mark

[Aub]

Thanks for the replies chaps.

[credible58]

Set 1,

- Model designation, RP38A. "Hunter VHF"
- Serial number, 13934.
- Handle type, Single piece with woodgrain plastic insert.
- Grille type, Sheet aluminium with pressed-in Hacker badge.
- Scale print, White/Green.
- DC input socket, No.
- Loudspeaker type and finish, Grey painted Elac.
- Treble and Bass control knobs, spun aluminium over a black plastic body.

Set 2,

- Model designation, RP38A. "Hunter VHF"
- Serial number, 15993.
- Handle type, Single piece with no insert.
- Grille type, Sheet aluminium with pressed-in Hacker badge.
- Scale print, White/Green.
- DC input socket, Yes - but looks to have been added later.
- Loudspeaker type and finish, Grey painted Elac.
- Treble and Bass control knobs, spun aluminium over a black plastic body.
- Wood stain is darker than the colour of Set 1 above

I noticed on the circuit diagrams that some resistor values were changed on 7th October 1970. Both of the above sets have the later values so that places their manufacture after this date.

Best regards...Paul

[mhennessy]

Hi Paul,

Many thanks for these details - I've added them to the development document that I'm maintaining, and you'll see them next time I upload it. Also, I've added the sets to the Hacker Radio Yahoo group database.

All details fit perfectly with my timeline - although I'm glad you were able to tell that the rogue DC socket came later. I reckon you're spot-on with the dates as well.

I must admit that there seems to be a fair variety in the finish of the earlier sets, which is presumably by design, perhaps subject to variations in ageing. The sides of the later sets (with the bar grille) are much more consistent by comparison...

Thanks once again for the details

Mark