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Old 20th Oct 2011, 4:13 pm   #1
howard
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Default c. 1973 Hacker RP38A Hunter VHF 12 transistor AM/FM portable

Hello again,

I acquired this Hacker Hunter VHF at the last Tonbridge Audiojumble event for not a lot considering it is in exceptionally nice cosmetic condition and complete with its original box. It didn't work at all though, not a peep.

The RP38A Hunter had at least three facelifts during its long production run which commenced in 1970 as the Hunter VHF, originally it had a drilled soft aluminium grille and a rounded aluminium handle, it was then fitted with a much improved slatted cast alloy grille, it was then renamed the Hunter FM/AM and was eventually fitted with a square handle. This mid production example serial number 51142 has a rounded handle and the later grille. I have examples of all the Hunters and keep loads of spares for them and they remain my favorite Hacker transistor portable.

Ron Bryan very kindly did most of the internal work on this one. Even though it was silent it was found to be taking 20mA at minimum volume so it was trying to do something. The loudspeaker was checked first and it was found to be open circuit, so another loudspeaker was attached and away it went. An original loudspeaker from a scrap Hunter was then fitted, pots and switches cleaned with DeoxiT, the quiescent current and mid point voltage adjusted and MW and LW were realigned and this Hunter was working well again.

It came back to me to be cleaned and completed. One battery clip was damaged so that was replaced with an original, the switched volume potentiometer had been replaced but when switched off, the pointer on the knob was pointing in the wrong direction so I replaced that with an original pot. Lastly I realigned FM (RF) as it was slightly out of adjustment. The case just needed a light clean and polish.

So another excellent Hunter to add to my Hacker collection. If you haven't encountered a Hunter RP38A then try one, you will be impressed with its performance, its build quality and its excellent sound quality.

We have another Hunter in theatre at the moment, which is needing rather more restoration work done to it. I'll add its write up to the thread when it's finished.

My thanks to Ron for his help.

Howard
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Old 21st Oct 2011, 8:37 am   #2
mhennessy
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Default Re: c. 1973 Hacker RP38A Hunter VHF 12 transistor AM/FM portable

Hi Howard,

The very last ones had black plastic tone control knobs - have you got one of those? Like you, I have examples from each production phase, but the black knob version is still missing from my collection. And because these sets fetch such high prices on the open market, I'm biding my time until I see a bargain one...

Very nice job

Mark
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Old 21st Oct 2011, 9:12 am   #3
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Default Re: c. 1973 Hacker RP38A Hunter VHF 12 transistor AM/FM portable

Nice one Howard. I also feel these are my favourite Hackers, more compact than the SovII but with similar internals, I particularly like the oak side cheeks. I use one in my kitchen now, in preference to a Bose Wave radio, solid wood beats plastic hands down.
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Old 21st Oct 2011, 9:29 am   #4
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Default Re: c. 1973 Hacker RP38A Hunter VHF 12 transistor AM/FM portable

I used to have one, badged as a Hunter VHF, but it didn't have the wooden end cheeks, it was black rexine all over like my Sovereign II. It only had a tone control, not treble and bass, must have been a really early one. Your one looks superb Howard!

Last edited by Jonster; 21st Oct 2011 at 9:30 am. Reason: spelling
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Old 21st Oct 2011, 10:50 am   #5
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Default Re: c. 1973 Hacker RP38A Hunter VHF 12 transistor AM/FM portable

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Originally Posted by mhennessy View Post
Hi Howard,

The very last ones had black plastic tone control knobs - have you got one of those? Like you, I have examples from each production phase, but the black knob version is still missing from my collection. And because these sets fetch such high prices on the open market, I'm biding my time until I see a bargain one... Very nice job Mark
Hello Mark,

No I don't have the variant with the black knobs yet. Hunters do command a good price on Ebay and elsewhere and rightly so, they are undoubtedly amongst the best transistor radios ever built in the UK. This one was £15, still a lot for a non working set I guess.

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I used to have one, badged as a Hunter VHF, but it didn't have the wooden end cheeks, it was black rexine all over like my Sovereign II. It only had a tone control, not treble and bass, must have been a really early one. Your one looks superb Howard!
Hello Jonster,

I don't have an all black RP38A but I do have a couple of the earlier RP38 Hunters in that finish. I suspect with the single tone control that yours is the earlier model too. I think the earlier RP38s had the wood effect fablon strip in the handle as well, I'm not so sure that the RP38As had that.

A pic of the two switched potentiometers below, the one on the left is the correct one with the locating tab on the right hand side of the spindle. They are in fact identical except for the locating tab which is 180 degress out on the replacement. It will be recycled as it's almost new, simply by carefully lifting the four bent over tabs securing its top plate which can then be turned around.

Howard
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Old 21st Oct 2011, 12:31 pm   #6
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Default Re: c. 1973 Hacker RP38A Hunter VHF 12 transistor AM/FM portable

Now you come to mention it Howard it was a plain vanilla RP38, not an RP38A. One day I will have an RP38A as I love the styling and it would nestle nicely amongst the Roberts sets I have here!
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Old 21st Oct 2011, 2:02 pm   #7
mhennessy
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Default Re: c. 1973 Hacker RP38A Hunter VHF 12 transistor AM/FM portable

That's right; single tone control = RP38, bass and treble = RP38A

The RP38 was available in all black, or black and wood. On a brochure somewhere on the Hacker Radio Yahoo group, the differences are listed (IIRC, the wooden version was an RP38T). As to the fake wood strip in the handle, I'm not sure that was fitted to all, but I certainly have one in my RP38.

The earlier RP38A, the ones with the mesh grill, were also available in all-black and with wooden sides. They also had some green print on the tuning scale - rather nicer than the all-white later models in some ways.

Apart from the very earliest RP38s, they all had that Elac loudspeaker, which is largely responsible for the superb audio performance. The RP38 had a simpler amplifier (the amplifier in the RP38A is electrically equivalent to the Sovereign II), but still sounds very good indeed.

Of course, the later sets had a DC input socket. This came in at some point in the RP38A with mesh grill run - meaning that all sets with the extruded "bar" grill should have it. Saves a few pennies in battery costs

Glad to see the Hunter is still causing interest; I haven't bothered posting my restores because I thought they were a passe now. Will think about posting some when I've more time...

Cheers,

Mark
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Old 23rd Oct 2011, 8:11 pm   #8
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Default Re: c. 1973 Hacker RP38A Hunter VHF 12 transistor AM/FM portable

Nice one Howard. Love these radios. Some say they are better than the Sovereign. I have one of these on my large to do pile.
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Old 23rd Nov 2011, 6:45 pm   #9
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Default Re: c. 1973 Hacker RP38A Hunter VHF 12 transistor AM/FM portable

Nice write up Howard. Some say they're the best sounding portables of their size. Good luck with the next one
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Old 24th Nov 2011, 3:04 pm   #10
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Default Re: c. 1973 Hacker RP38A Hunter VHF 12 transistor AM/FM portable

Nice one Howard, a really nice good example you have here.
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Old 24th Nov 2011, 5:04 pm   #11
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Default Re: c. 1973 Hacker RP38A Hunter VHF 12 transistor AM/FM portable

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Nice write up Howard. Some say they're the best sounding portables of their size. Good luck with the next one
Thanks Taz,

The Hunters are my favorite British transistor AM/FM portable radios, I always have one out in my living room.

The other Hunter is finished now and is looking as good as this one. Ron is likewise impressed with the Hunters and has kept it. It took a lot of work to get it working properly and to restore it though, write up coming shortly.

Howard

PS I see that a Hunter was chosen as a prop in the Inspector Morse TV series.

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Old 24th Nov 2011, 8:39 pm   #12
mhennessy
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Default Re: c. 1973 Hacker RP38A Hunter VHF 12 transistor AM/FM portable

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PS I see that a Hunter was chosen as a prop in the Inspector Morse TV series.
And an Autocrat RP33 (in "Promised Land", amongst others)

Mark
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Old 24th Nov 2011, 9:24 pm   #13
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Default Re: c. 1973 Hacker RP38A Hunter VHF 12 transistor AM/FM portable

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Originally Posted by mhennessy View Post
That's right; single tone control = RP38, bass and treble = RP38A

The RP38 was available in all black, or black and wood. On a brochure somewhere on the Hacker Radio Yahoo group, the differences are listed (IIRC, the wooden version was an RP38T). As to the fake wood strip in the handle, I'm not sure that was fitted to all, but I certainly have one in my RP38.
My RP38 has navy blue rexine, with the same colour strip in the handle. Having never seen another RP38, but plenty of the wood sided RP38A, I'm not sure whether my RP38 is typical.

John
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Old 25th Nov 2011, 9:23 am   #14
mhennessy
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Default Re: c. 1973 Hacker RP38A Hunter VHF 12 transistor AM/FM portable

Hi John,

That's very unusual indeed. I wonder if the black has somehow faded (although it seems unlikely that it would have faded uniformly). Perhaps it's been re-covered? Or maybe it was a limited edition or custom version for some reason? A friend of mine has changed the colour of sets in the past by using vinyl treatments - leaning aside the question of originality, I must say the results were very good indeed.

As an aside, a good friend and colleague tells me that he has a navy blue Sovereign II, although I haven't seen it myself yet (he's recently unearthed it - his workshop is rather full, so hopefully soon).

Pictures would be good if possible - I can also add them to the picture library at the Hacker Radio group...

(Perhaps the mods might start a new thread if that's deemed best.)

All the best,

Mark
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