1964 red Hacker Herald RP30 MW/LW 9 transistor - UK Vintage Radio Repair and Restoration Discussion Forum

howard · 15th Aug 2008, 10:56 pm

Hello again,

I was given this red Hacker RP30 by Paul "radio gaga" last December along with a blue Hacker Herald VHF. It was in quite good condition, complete with no tears or marks on its leathercloth, but its brass trim was all in poor condition. It didn't work at all and needed one new battery clip.

So I replaced its 3 x AF117s with AF126s, cleaned all pots and switches with Servisol 10, fitted an original battery clip and a couple of PP9s and away it went, picking everything up on both wavebands but it sounded rather distorted so I took it over to Ron Bryan to take a look at its amp board. The quiescent current and the bias on the output transistors was successfully adjusted and the set sounded a lot better but the preset resistor was right at the end of its travel suggesting not all was well. So a suspect Daly electrolytic was taken out and tested and found to be leaky and with a high ESR so that was replaced, the quiescent current and bias redone and it then sounded really good. There are several of these Daly electrolytics on the RP30 amp board and I daresay one or two more of them probably need changing but the set is working perfectly so those have been left in place for the time being.

The chassis was removed and the case, handle and fittings were cleaned with upholstery cleaner. All the brass trim was removed, stripped, polished and revarnished, The red paint on the front grille was replaced with Tamiya acrylic red paint (X-7) which took a while.

This is the second red RP30 that I've restored, it's not quite as nice as the other one but it still looks gorgeous in its red and brass case. It works well, picks up everything on MW/LW and for a 44 year old portable transistor radio, sounds superb.

Howard

mark pirate · 15th Aug 2008, 11:50 pm

Nice job howard, i love these old hackers, imho better than most roberts sets & well
worth restoring as they sound wonderful & well built.
Cheers
Mark

howard · 16th Aug 2008, 12:18 pm

Hello Mark,

I think the Roberts R404 which came out in 1965 is the nearest spec to the Hacker RP30 but it's not as nice a radio.

BTW this one is s/n 67264 and it does have a handle which is not visible in the pics above ......

Howard

GJR 11L · 16th Aug 2008, 12:18 pm

Very tidy, especially in the red and I like the idea of replacing the brown paint in between the grille bars with red as used by Hacker themselves on later, RP35 and RP37 models to match their red badge.

15th Aug 2008, 10:56 pm	#1
howard Nonode Join Date: May 2005 Location: Godalming, Surrey, UK. Posts: 2,593	1964 red Hacker Herald RP30 MW/LW 9 transistor Hello again, I was given this red Hacker RP30 by Paul "radio gaga" last December along with a blue Hacker Herald VHF. It was in quite good condition, complete with no tears or marks on its leathercloth, but its brass trim was all in poor condition. It didn't work at all and needed one new battery clip. So I replaced its 3 x AF117s with AF126s, cleaned all pots and switches with Servisol 10, fitted an original battery clip and a couple of PP9s and away it went, picking everything up on both wavebands but it sounded rather distorted so I took it over to Ron Bryan to take a look at its amp board. The quiescent current and the bias on the output transistors was successfully adjusted and the set sounded a lot better but the preset resistor was right at the end of its travel suggesting not all was well. So a suspect Daly electrolytic was taken out and tested and found to be leaky and with a high ESR so that was replaced, the quiescent current and bias redone and it then sounded really good. There are several of these Daly electrolytics on the RP30 amp board and I daresay one or two more of them probably need changing but the set is working perfectly so those have been left in place for the time being. The chassis was removed and the case, handle and fittings were cleaned with upholstery cleaner. All the brass trim was removed, stripped, polished and revarnished, The red paint on the front grille was replaced with Tamiya acrylic red paint (X-7) which took a while. This is the second red RP30 that I've restored, it's not quite as nice as the other one but it still looks gorgeous in its red and brass case. It works well, picks up everything on MW/LW and for a 44 year old portable transistor radio, sounds superb. Howard Attached Thumbnails

15th Aug 2008, 11:50 pm	#2
mark pirate Dekatron Join Date: Mar 2008 Location: Worthing, West Sussex, UK Posts: 5,185	Re: 1964 red Hacker Herald RP30 MW/LW 9 transistor Nice job howard, i love these old hackers, imho better than most roberts sets & well worth restoring as they sound wonderful & well built. Cheers Mark

16th Aug 2008, 12:18 pm	#3
howard Nonode Join Date: May 2005 Location: Godalming, Surrey, UK. Posts: 2,593	Re: 1964 red Hacker Herald RP30 MW/LW 9 transistor Hello Mark, I think the Roberts R404 which came out in 1965 is the nearest spec to the Hacker RP30 but it's not as nice a radio. BTW this one is s/n 67264 and it does have a handle which is not visible in the pics above ...... Howard Attached Thumbnails

16th Aug 2008, 12:18 pm	#4
GJR 11L Heptode Join Date: May 2004 Location: Ellington, Northumberland, UK. Posts: 815	Re: 1964 red Hacker Herald RP30 MW/LW 9 transistor Very tidy, especially in the red and I like the idea of replacing the brown paint in between the grille bars with red as used by Hacker themselves on later, RP35 and RP37 models to match their red badge. __________________ John.