1978 Hacker Ranger RP70

[howard]

Hello again,

I've spent today totally restoring a Hacker Ranger RP70, one I bought from Carol (Radio_Sophie). As it had had a few bumps around the edges and its bottom door had had a slot cut in it and the station markers were all missing, I acquired a second Ranger locally for under £5 with a virtually undamaged case complete with station markers but apart from that it wasn't very good with a shoved in grille. Both sets worked, Carol's had had some new caps fitted to it and was working well, and the other one which was original was OK but its waveband switch was knackered and didnt always work. Both sets were falling apart, all their leathercloth covers were falling off. So I decided to strip the sets right down, leathercloth as well, and then to build a really nice one from the two, using the leathercloth, grilles, handle and chassis from Carols, and just the bare case and base from the other one.

The chassis on these come out like most Roberts (sic) sets, take off the bottom, unclip the two loudspeaker wires, undo the two screws securing the handle and out it comes through the top. I removed the knobs, dial trims and dials for cleaning and the badges for repair as both were missing most of their paint. I then dismantled both cases, the front grilles virtually fell off (stuck down with four strips of double sided tape, two of which are adjacent to the side panels, the rear grilles pull off with little effort and the leathercloth peeled off with little effort, all the glue had all but expired I assembled all the bits for the rebuild (see pic below) and then cleaned them all.

I treated the teak side panels with Teak Oil, after sanding the panels down well and then working the teak oil into the wood with coarse wet and dry sandpaper. That worked very well, and a consistent colour I achieved all over the panels very quickly. I stuck the leathercloth back onto the wooden case with Evo Stik Timebond, then the rear grille, and the front grille. Its important to overlap the leathercloth over the slots top and bottom of the front grille so that the trims will stay in place. I then restored the badge, first I stripped off all the existing paint with nitromors, the resprayed the badge with satin black Halfords paint and then when dried, scraped the paint off the raised edges and lettering with a stanley blade.

The waveband switch and volume pot were a little noisy so I cleaned them with a little switch cleaner and that was all. I then completed reassembling the radio.

I have to say that these Rangers are the worst quality Hackers that I've encountered. As mentionned already its more like a Roberts set in construction than one of the earlier Hackers but not as good quality build as a Roberts. The Roberts RIC2 is similar in size and feels a lot more solidly built than the Ranger. Theres not a lot to choose between them in sound quality though and the Hacker does sound OK. It's come up extremely well, and it's genuinely difficult to spot that it has had so much restoration work done to it. Still its another Hacker to add to my Hacker collection.

Incidentally, I suspect that this was one of the last Hackers to be built at Maidenhead, it doesnt have the Royal Warrant on the dial and the Maidenhead address label inside has had Hacker Radio Ltd changed to just Hacker, a black felt pen has been used to cross out the other two words.

Howard

[matthewhouse]

That looks great Howard, another superb restoration.

[mickjjo]

Another splendid job Howard , I admire your dedication . I've had a red RP70 Ranger kicking about for years, serial 45900, but this one never had provision for station markers and still has the royal warrant on the dial, must be earlier than yours. I thought those bits of black foam strip on the base were added by a previous owner , but I see your set has them as well. I really must get it going properly one day. .

Regards Mick.

[GJR 11L]

Now that's interesting, 'cos I have a (slightly scruffy, but then it hasn't been restored) Ranger, chassis number 40328. Interesting because mine has a silver dial rather than black, and has no station markers nor any way of fitting them, and no, I haven't cheated and turned the trim upside down to hide the track, it's only Consorts that get that treatment around here!

Inside the bottom of the box is the yellow label showing that this is a Maidenhead set, and it has the Royal warrant, though I doubt whether the warrant would have been granted if it had depended upon a Ranger being submitted for the Royal Family to examine.

I prefer my RIC 2, or indeed anything with a decent-sized oval speaker, but the Ranger looks quite attractive and the (peeling, now I examine it closely ) covering is very rich in its colouring.

As ever, it took me ages to write this, so when I posted it I hadn't seen the follow-up comments about those bits of foam, but they're present in mine too, and as an aside, this is the set into which I can quite easily place a fresh PP9, but once that battery's been in there for a while, and swollen a bit, there's no shifting it short of brutality, though fitting a Panasonic has eased that situation as it's slimmer than the Ever Ready red one.

I tried to get rid of this one once, but nobody wanted it and now I'm rather glad as they do have a certain charm about them.

[Superhet Si]

Hi Howard this makes interesting reading for me. I bought one of these radio's because my Dad's mum had one years ago. They are on par with the Roberts Rambler series in build quality and are obviously built for the budget market.

[Superhet Si]

Well mine is Black and wasn't it MR Hacker who said any colour as long as it's Black?
http://images.fotopic.net/?iid=yjbkf...024&quality=70

[Paul_RK]

Hello all,

Yes, there were quite a few variations in Rangers. The earliest are from Hacker Radio Ltd., and carry the Royal Warrant. A very large order must have been placed for those yellow paper labels, as ALL the Maidenhead Hacker Sound sets I've seen carry one with "Radio Ltd." obliterated by black felt-tip: that's about a year's worth of production. And only the other week I bought a Ranger wiith a completely different tuning dial devoid of station names, which, as I'd expected as soon as I saw it, hails from Bournemouth. Serial number of that set is B90006, and I rather suspect they began at B 90001. There are also a few Rangers around with multi-coloured webbing straps in place of the usual rigid handle - I remember seeing one of those on sale new, and a couple have turned up lately on eBay.

Originally Posted by howard

I have to say that these Rangers are the worst quality Hackers that I've encountered.

Maybe you've yet to meet the Consort with its IC amplifier and self-destructing speaker grille. In a day or so I should be receiving what's probably the very worst, an RP82 Herald, which looks much like a Consort but without tone controls, mains unit or FM, and has like the later Consorts a plastic handle. The poor thing needs someone to love it

Paul

[howard]

Thanks all,

What struck me most of all about this set (chassis number 454118) is how similar it is in design to a Roberts with the same teak side panels, chrome trims, rear grille, bottom door and when you look inside its laid out in much the same way too. What isnt so good about this set is the quality of the grille (which is a thin cotton sheet stuck onto a frame made from flimsy plastic, similar to the moulded packing material used in tins of biscuits) and its horrible knobs, and it all feels a bit flimsy in operation. What I do like about this set though is that it has 9 transistors and no integrated circuits.

I took another pic of it this morning in daylight and I must say its not such a bad looking little radio after all

Howard

[GJR 11L]

Originally Posted by Paul_RK

Maybe you've yet to meet the Consort with its IC amplifier and self-destructing speaker grille. In a day or so I should be receiving what's probably the very worst, an RP82 Herald, which looks much like a Consort but without tone controls, mains unit or FM, and has like the later Consorts a plastic handle. The poor thing needs someone to love it

Paul

Come on Paul, what's Howard done to deserve a Consort?

Truly http://popularclassics.forumcircle.c...smiley-015.gifin every respect. I saw the late Herald for sale, and was tempted, but each set has to justify its inclusion in the collection here and I've plenty of nondescript am-only cheapies so perhaps I'm not a proper collector at all!

Actually, I'm being a little harsh about the RP79 Consort, I did get one for 50p at a fleamarket once that supplied a perfect aerial for a Roberts 600 I was building up at the time.

Getting back to these Rangers though, do most have the black dial background like Howard's one and Simon's crested example? Is mine some sort of mutant with its silver dial?

I've had a listen to it this morning and would rate it above a rambler, but like the man says, below an RIC2.

They are bonny wee things though and well done for spending so much time on one!

[Paul_RK]

Oh, the Consort's not that bad. The cabinet's pretty solid (apart from that grille), mains unit's OK (because no one had found the time to redesign it?)... decent enough Audax speaker... and, hey, it has bass and treble controls and FM (unlike that poor Herald ) But, to be sure, it's no Hunter...

Returning to Ranger matters, both my brown examples have silver dials, so the pattern generally seems to be that brown and red sets take the silver version, black ones get the black - the rule holds for my two Aviemores as well, a dark red one with silver dial and a black one with black. Only exceptions so far noted are Howard's (but were the dial and cabinet from the same set?) and my Bournemouth set, but perhaps only black versions were made of the new dial. The last Ranger with shoulder strap I saw was blue and I've saved the eBay photo, but the dial isn't shown.

I do like the Ranger, but perhaps my not having had to tangle with the speaker grille helps: none of mine have needed any attention, even the brown one where the side of the cabinet has been very visibly gnawed by something. The set seems to have sold at £21-£23, which I think would have put it in direct competitition with the Rambler, and to me it looks the better bargain.

Paul

BTW, on Howard's comment about the set feeling "flimsy in operation", the tuning control's spindle and bush in early versions were brass, in later ones plastic. More obvious cost-cutting. Older sets' tuning knobs stand vertical, later ones lean in the direction the drive cord pulls 'em

[mickjjo]

Originally Posted by Paul_RK

Returning to Ranger matters, both my brown examples have silver dials, so the pattern generally seems to be that brown and red sets take the silver version, black ones get the black -

Hi Paul, My unrestored red Ranger RP70, serial 45900 has a black scale, The same as Howards but with the Royal warrant badge......... .

Regards, Mick.

[Paul_RK]

Right: so that seems to leave a tentative rule as, black sets get the black dial, tan ones a silver dial, red ones get whatever's going, and blue... something My two tan sets, both with warrant, are 37898 and 45682: the black one is A 57903 (the A-prefix is used for all Maidenhead Hacker Sound products). Further examples will be watched... as in several other matters

Paul

[howard]

Hello again,

Correction, the chassis number of this RP70 is A54118 and yes it does have a plastic volume pot spindle. I think I'll pass on the later Hackers in future if they're even cheaper build than this one ......

Howard

[Paul_RK]

Well, there isn't much that's later. You already know the Sovereign IV/ Cassette Sovereign, which like the Ranger and Aviemore were late Hacker Radio Ltd. introductions which survived well into the Hacker Sound period. The only later models I know of are the Consort family (Consort itself, the stripped-down Herald, and, I now discover, the Windsor table model which looks to be a mains-only Consort). And they're really not that bad (chassis pic. of a Consort attached). Except for that dratted grille...

Paul

[howard]

Hello again,

I acquired another Maidenhead built Hacker RP70 Ranger s/n 44319 in black a couple of days ago in dilapidated condition, with much of its leathercloth peeling off. It was complete except for its station markers and I was sure I could put it back into excellent condition. It was working well with just a noisy volume pot and waveband switches.

So I took out the chassis, removed its badge and rear grille and then all its leathercloth covering, and stuck it back on with EvoStik Timebond. Then I gave the case and handle a gentle scrub in upholstery cleaner with my toothrush, repainted the badge and treated the wooden side panels with Topps medium wood scratch cover polish. I cleaned the volume pot and waveband switches with Servisol 10 and reassembled the set.

It's as good as new now, about 3 hours work.

Howard