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Old 17th Sep 2014, 5:03 am   #161
G8KBG Tony
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Default Re: Calling Hacker Hunter owners!

And yet another -

- Model designation: RP38A, "Hunter VHF"
- Serial number: 44785
- Handle type: Single piece,
- Grille type: Punched, plain aluminium,
- Scale print: White,
- DC input socket present - Yes - Pin Negative,
- Loudspeaker type and finish: Gold - Make unknown - Unreadablle black stamp on magnet,
- Tone control knobs style: Silver fluted with black skirts
- Royal Warrant - No
- Teak sides

Tony
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Old 17th Sep 2014, 11:10 am   #162
mhennessy
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Default Re: Calling Hacker Hunter owners!

Hi Tony,

Your set is an interesting one, as it is just on a "change boundary". It looks like yours is the earliest to have a dial with no green print. Out of interest, what sort of badge does yours have? In theory, you should the later pressed aluminium type, rather than the earlier chromed brass affair...

I'd be pretty confident that you have the Elac loudspeaker (of course, it's possible it's been changed, but they are generally very reliable). There would have been a black sticker on the side of magnet with the Elac logo, but these commonly fall off. The print will say something like 58HE/146 and 15 ohms, but they are often smudged or faded.

Thanks,

Mark
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Old 17th Sep 2014, 3:11 pm   #163
G8KBG Tony
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Default Re: Calling Hacker Hunter owners!

Hi Mark,

The badge is aluminium and a close look at the loudspeaker stamp reveals ??HE/14? so it's probably an Elac.

Hope this helps,

Tony
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Old 17th Sep 2014, 3:38 pm   #164
mhennessy
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Default Re: Calling Hacker Hunter owners!

Thanks for that, Tony. Yours is the earliest to have the all-white scale and aluminium badge - a change that looked as if it was coming in at 45,000 until yours came along. That boundary has now moved to 44,500 now.

I note that it's been a while since I last uploaded my findings, so please find the latest version attached.

All the best,

Mark
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Old 17th Sep 2014, 5:22 pm   #165
Jamesdb
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Default Re: Calling Hacker Hunter owners!

Hello Mark, another Hacker hunter joins my small collection of radios.

- Model designation - RP38A
- Serial number - 57089
- Handle type - Single piece
- Grille type - Extruded aluminium.
- Scale print - All white
- DC input socket - Yes
- Loudspeaker type and finish - "Gold" Elac.
- Tone control knob style - Silver.

I have been looking for one like this because I prefer the one piece handle and the extruded grill.

Best regards, James
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Old 17th Sep 2014, 8:59 pm   #166
mhennessy
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Default Re: Calling Hacker Hunter owners!

Brilliant - thank you

You can never have too many Hackers! And I agree - this is probably my favourite iteration as well. I find the newer handle looks a little "hard" somehow...

All the best,

Mark
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Old 4th Feb 2015, 5:26 am   #167
David Delf
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Default Re: Calling Hacker Hunter owners!

Hello Mark.

I am a new member and thought you might be interested to add the details of my Hacker to your data base. I acquired the radio from my mother many years ago who always said it had a "beautiful tone", and she had many hours of use from it. I haven't used it but am determined to get it going which will involve me getting two PP9 batteries which I can source from a site here in Australia for about ten dollars each ie. five pounds each. Unfortunately I don't have the expertise to adapt it to mains power. Anyways here are the details:-

Model Designation Hacker Hunter VHF
Serial Number 08381
Handle Type One piece Wood Grain finish
Grille Type Mesh type aluminium Hacker name bottom right hand
DC Input No
Headphone Socket Yes
Loudspeaker Goodmans Grey colour
Tone Control Yes Silver with black base

Hope this information is of interest to yourself and members.
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Old 8th Feb 2015, 3:09 pm   #168
mhennessy
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Default Re: Calling Hacker Hunter owners!

Hello David, and welcome to the forum

Many thanks for those details - I'm pleased to report that your set fits all expectations for the serial number. The only questions concerns the side panels - I assume that they are teak rather than black?

All the best,

Mark
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Old 9th Feb 2015, 3:55 pm   #169
Osiris69
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Default Re: Calling Hacker Hunter owners!

Hacker Hunter RP38, Serial 11473 speaker is grey painted ELAC, handle 1 piece aluminium with rexine wood patern insert. pressed aluminium grille with HACKER pressed in and painted Black.
No power in, only earphone and aerial sockets. Tone control is single 1 piece silver colour.
Dial, white on black.
Interestingly there is a QC date stamp to internal front woodwork of 14 Apr 1970 tats only noticable once stripped down, this must be a great way to tie serial numbers to date of manufacture.
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Old 9th Feb 2015, 5:51 pm   #170
mhennessy
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Default Re: Calling Hacker Hunter owners!

Thanks for that - a lovely looking example, and the date accords well with other information. And lovely pictures, showing how easy these sets are to strip down for restoration

Cheers,

Mark
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Old 11th Feb 2015, 12:57 pm   #171
David Delf
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Default Re: Calling Hacker Hunter owners!

Hello Mark, The side panels are indeed teak, there is one input socket on each side, one for headphones and one looks like an aerial socket, I think!! By the way I connected the radio up to a couple of PP9 batteries today, first time in 25 years and its working beautifully. I am just so thrilled to have it "come to life" again, and it sounds lovely..
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Old 11th Feb 2015, 2:34 pm   #172
mhennessy
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Default Re: Calling Hacker Hunter owners!

That's great - thanks for the confirmation. Glad to hear that you're enjoying your new set

Mark
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Old 16th Apr 2015, 2:16 pm   #173
steve ash
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Default Re: Calling Hacker Hunter owners!

Mike
I have just acquired one of these so I hope that the following information helps.

Description: HUNTER fm-am
Ser. No: 59209 (both stamped on chassis and label on bottom)
Handle: 3 piece
Grille: extruded
Scale: white plus royal warrant
DC input: yes
L/S: gold
Tone Controls: silver

I reckon that this particular set was manufactured in 1974, do you agree?

Thanks and regards
Steve
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Old 26th Aug 2015, 10:18 pm   #174
Takapuna
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Default Re: Calling Hacker Hunter owners!

Hello Mark,

I've stuck pretty much with valve sets in the past but all the good things said about the Hacker Hunter forced me to get one!

I fitted a pair of PP9s (from CPC; not a bad price considering the free delivery) and it works, drawing 20mA on VHF. Maybe I shouldn't be too surprised. First impressions are that it's very good and I can see why the Hunter has such a following. I did not listen for too long before stripping it for a good clean...couldn't help myself.

Details of my Hunter are:
Model Designation: Hacker Hunter VHF RP38A
Serial Number: 13676
Handle Type: One piece (No insert)
Grille Type: Pressed aluminium mesh, Hacker name embossed bottom right hand
DC Input: No
Headphone Socket: Yes
Scale: White with some Green lettering.
Loudspeaker: Elac, Grey painted with gold magnet
Tone Controls: Yes Silver with black skirt
All black Rexine covered.
A.209 Amplifier board.

I notice that according to your list it should have an insert in the handle. However, I can't see a serial number on the case to tie it absolutely to the chassis.

It has been fitted with a replacement volume control (47k Log), the work being neatly carried out other that the fact that whoever fitted it made a flat on the shaft in the wrong position so the index is approximately 180 degrees from where it should be. Not a big issue really. However, I note that the volume control is very coarse immediately past the point of switch-on. There is a rapid increase in volume over just a few degrees of rotation. Is this usual?

Also, I note that on the track side of both the IF and tuner sections there is a considerable amount of flux remaining around most joints. I don't think that the joints have been re-touched but it looks a bit like that. No other components have been changed. So I was wondering if they are all like this and not cleaned after manufacture?

Thanks for any comments.

Regards,

Phil.
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Old 27th Aug 2015, 10:21 am   #175
mhennessy
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Default Re: Calling Hacker Hunter owners!

Quote:
Originally Posted by steve ash View Post
Mike
I have just acquired one of these so I hope that the following information helps.

<snip>

I reckon that this particular set was manufactured in 1974, do you agree?
Hi Steve,

Massive apologies - I think that managed to miss this post at the time. Pleased to say that all details sound good to me, and I've added your set to my records. Yes, I reckon that 1974 is entirely possible

Thanks for the info,

Mark
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Old 27th Aug 2015, 10:49 am   #176
mhennessy
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Default Re: Calling Hacker Hunter owners!

Quote:
Originally Posted by Takapuna View Post
<snip>

I notice that according to your list it should have an insert in the handle. However, I can't see a serial number on the case to tie it absolutely to the chassis.

It has been fitted with a replacement volume control (47k Log), the work being neatly carried out other that the fact that whoever fitted it made a flat on the shaft in the wrong position so the index is approximately 180 degrees from where it should be. Not a big issue really. However, I note that the volume control is very coarse immediately past the point of switch-on. There is a rapid increase in volume over just a few degrees of rotation. Is this usual?

Also, I note that on the track side of both the IF and tuner sections there is a considerable amount of flux remaining around most joints. I don't think that the joints have been re-touched but it looks a bit like that. No other components have been changed. So I was wondering if they are all like this and not cleaned after manufacture?
Hi Phil,

Thanks for the details. I agree that it should have an insert in the handle. It's possible that it's been lost - and it's not too hard to clean the glue residue from the handle leaving no clue that there ever was anything present. Also, handles get swapped from time to time. And, this set is quite close to the change to plain handles; some "fuzziness" around a change does seem to happen. As I said in post #150, I suspect that some of the chassis got taken off the production line for attention, and by the time they rejoined, some details around the final assembly might not tally with the serial number.

So, not anything to worry about

Volume control replacements are common, and the problem you mention is common.

I've never done one in a Hunter - I generally prefer to repair the potentiometer. The position of the tags, and the deeper than usual flat section of the shaft all make it awkward to do a good job. In case you haven't seen it, I have written about replacing volume controls in Hacker radios. I've just taken some photos of a pot repair, and plan to add them to that article soon. But new, I reckon that the green Omeg pots are probably best suited to a Hunter because you can cut your own "flat" wherever you want it.

One way to fix your problem is to remove the aluminium cover from the plastic switch and glue it back on in the correct position. However, it is a law that these fall off when they don't need to, and when it would be nice if the original glue was to fail, it never does! Good old Murphy!

Regarding how the volume control behaves, it's reasonably progressive with the standard pot, but replacements can be a bit abrupt. Adding a resistor between wiper and ground might tame it - perhaps 4k7 or similar?

As for flux removal, it seems a bit random to me. I guess it depends on who actually assembled the PCBs - I'm not sure how much PCB assembly was done at the factory, but "none" to "not much" wouldn't surprise me, and wouldn't be at odds with industry practice (how many small radio companies wanted to buy their own pick and place machines and wave solder baths?). For example, Airmec made some: http://www.richardsradios.co.uk/airmec.html

Personally, I don't like flux, and I will often remove it if I have to do significant soldering as part of a repair. But it's not a big deal - with a transistor radio, it's mostly cosmetic (although removing flux does make inspection of the soldering much easier). Back in the days of CRT TVs and monitors, flux could cause no end of bother. Back in the day I used to fix broadcast monitors by defluxing after the previous repair - happy days

Hope this helps,

Mark
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Old 27th Aug 2015, 11:07 am   #177
wireful3
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Default Re: Calling Hacker Hunter owners!

Hi Mark,
I have just found in my to do notes an early Hunter . It is serial No 4891 this seems suspiciously low to me. There is no type designation that I can see.

It is fully covered with black rexine.
Handle is one piece with no rexine trim but there is a channel in the handle as if there was trim originally.
Dial black with white printing no Royal Warrant
Selector buttons are metallic
Tone control is a single one with a narrow ribbed metal knob.
Speaker grille has perforated slots not ribs
There is no Hacker badge but the name is embossed on the grille surround.
I did not make a note of the speaker type but when I find the set I will check it.

I have two notes about the internals that might interest. The first is that the aerial fixing looks odd. The second is that the battery guides are a bit tight and so modern batteries are difficult to fit

Regards
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Old 27th Aug 2015, 11:39 am   #178
mhennessy
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Default Re: Calling Hacker Hunter owners!

Hi John,

The earliest Hunter I have on record is 2208, which I'm pleased to say is one of my sets

Although very early, 4891 will have already seen a change in loudspeaker - yours should be from Goodmans.

Everything else sounds reasonable to me. Yes, the handle should have a black Rexine strip, but these frequently get lost as the glue fails.

I don't recall any difficulties with batteries, but it's been a while since I last put batteries in an early one. Certainly, some of their other small sets (e.g. RP17A Mini-Herald, RP34 Democrat) are a bit of a squeeze.

Regarding the aerial, a picture would be helpful, once you've uncovered the set

I'll wait until you've confirmed the loudspeaker type before adding it to my records.

All the best,

Mark
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Old 28th Aug 2015, 10:20 am   #179
Paul Adams
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Default Re: Calling Hacker Hunter owners!

Hi Mark,

I bought this Hacker Hunter originally for spares as the VHF section wasn’t working, and the front grille had numerous ‘dings’ in it, and a very badly scratched front Perspex tuning scale, bent aerial and the feet were missing.

But after rectifying the very simple fault on the HT1 rail (C28/25uF was measuring 1.7 ohms) I decided to restore the set as it seemed a shame to have this just for parts.

I dismantled the set to deal with the dents in the front grille, these came out using a piece of wood on a flat surface, a good clean and polish restored the grill to it’s former glory.

I also removed the tuning scale, and polished out the scratches, a new replacement aerial was found although not the same internal length, it was the same length externally and does have the knuckle joint.

The feet that were missing, were replaced using the ‘protective rubber caps that are found on new PP3 Batteries’ I glued these on using ‘Araldite’ and a small panel pin, as there was already a hole in the top of the rubber cap.

So glad I didn’t have this just for parts, as it’s come up a treat and works really well, the set’s serial number is: 16818.

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Paul.
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Old 28th Aug 2015, 10:38 am   #180
mhennessy
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Default Re: Calling Hacker Hunter owners!

Very, very nice

I've had a couple of "no FM" faults caused by that very same capacitor, and in each case - just like yours - the offending article was something other than the highly reliable blue Philips/Mullard types. With that in mind, it might be worth changing the other one? And any that might be hiding under the heat sink on the audio amplifier?

Looking at my records, your set looks good for the serial number - it should have the grille with the integral Hacker logo (check), white and green dial print (check), the painted Elac (check), no DC input (check). Also, the handle should have no Rexine trim - I can't see that from the pictures, but as soon as you confirm that, I'll add it to the records.

Congratulations again - I really must try to restore some of my earlier sets. Remove all evidence of dents from those grilles is not easy, but yours looks superb.

Cheers,

Mark
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