Roberts Rambler Radio : Spares Or Repair
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- Опубліковано 20 вер 2024
- Roberts Rambler Radio : Spares Or Repair
The Roberts Rambler is one of the basic transistor radios of the 70's. It is qute iconic in style but not quite a 60's retro radio or an 80's plastic monster. This Roberts Rambler though is meant to be broken, sold as spares or repair from eBay, I purchased it for the sole purpose of fixing it on the channel. However, my luck with things means it arrived working, with no need for repairs or modification.
The radio itself is a simple Superhet design covering thew Long Wave and Medium Wave broadcast bands using AM modulation. The dial plate shows stations names, long since gone and even the BBC markings are no longer accurate due to the mass frequency changes from the 1980's. The ends and the base are teak wood and the carcass of the case is plywood so definitely a step up in quality above the cheaper end of the market.
So looking at the radio, it works... To be honest, there is nothing there really to go wrong and if it does the components are all standard and can be changed easily. It needed a clean, and a knob fix but that was all... Just be careful using that Dihydrogen Monoxide to clean it!
I couldn't leave this video without thanking @Codeeze, @Radiocruncher and @The Mancave Workshop for their videos on the Rambler which gave me the idea to have a look at one myself. Channel links below:-
Codeeze :- / @codeeze
Radiocruncher :- / @radiocruncher
The Mancave Workshop :- / sweeneyttodd
A baby radio from eBay. So disappointed!
I never heard of a Roberts Rambler but it is a good performer.
They were domestic market only up until they were taken over and started to ship worldwide. It is a basic little transistor set and is easy to work on because there is so much space on the board. Glad you enjoyed the video Bill.
Good training from Radiocruncher George, like your approach to things. 👍👍
He hasn't trained me to faff properly though! The set is a nice little unit and it sounds surprisingly good for a small speaker in a tiny box. Some things need fixing, others don't... this was a don't. Glad you enjoyed the video. All the best.
I like how you are funny and serious at the same time 😂😂😂 good stuff bud! You’re quite entertaining I must say!
Many thanks. I can't be totally serious because that would be boring! So many channels are just so straight it makes a dull watch sometimes. Hope you stick around for more fun and games. All the best. George
Super video, hit the mark with me - gripped til the end. Well done George. Loved the hidden (almost) inferences. Thanks for the shout-out! - I love the Roberts Rambler in all of it's guises - simple set to work on, on the very rare occasion one doesn't work, it's usually nothing much. Caps on these would outlive us all. I'll pop you a bright for the on/off in with royal snail mail. You'll soon have a challenge of a radio on your hands - (once I track it down). Now, when that arrives, you have yourself a whole world of pain for your channel... a 52 part fix...
Many thanks Paul. I didn't make any references did I? ho hum!! 😉 No need to worry about the brights, It will be one of those common sets that will just be as it is. Not doing a full restore job on it. Now as for the challenge set... we shall see!
A very enjoyable video George.
I remember those Roberts Rambler radios first introduced onto the UK market in 1975 (four years after I began my five year apprenticeship). I’m not surprised you found it working: apart from dirty contacts, and volume potentiometers, they gave little trouble.
They must have had a nine year production run. That model was replaced with the Rambler II in 1984 that incorporated two ICs.
I’m about to begin repairing an Ekco, model A52, from 1947, which, if all goes to plan, should be uploaded onto You Tube towards the end of this month. It might be worth you taking a look.
Cheers, Phil.
I'll look forward to seeing your EKCo as I think I have one of those on the shelf waiting to be looked at too. I did actually like the simplicity of the rambler, there is really nothing in there to go wrong as you say. Not seen a rambler 2 yet, have too much in my workshop to think about getting more. I got told off today by the boss for getting another record player when I hardly can move for them as it is.
Take care Phil, glad you enjoyed the video.
Great video. Nice story well presented and edited thanks regards Chris
Ta Chris. A dinky little set that needs to be loved a bit more than I gave it. I hate working broken things...
Rambler On. Good stuff George.
Rambler, Rumbler, robots... whatever! Blooming thing worked before I could really take it apart..
Great job , Can’t all be broken !
It seems to be a common thing on eBay here to sell everything as not working/spares so there is no recourse on the sellers if there is a minor fault. If it works then its a bonus but if it is broken when it gets there, it is as described. As long as the price is right, I guess that I should be thankful, but it leads to very short videos!
Nice job George another Rambler saved from the recycling bin. Slightly alarmed that you store dihydrogen monoxide in an unmarked container... Thanks again for another fab video!
You do have to have some element of risk in life Victor. Unmarked containers make it fun!
@@GeorgeChristofi 😂😂
Well done George, but would have been nice if it was broken to give you something to fix. Keep em coming.
Indeed.... Ebay is full of parts sets that are working to get round the returns rule.
That's pretty good though buying it as a radio for parts or not working and it works well that just means you move to plan B and check out all the parts and switches. So you did the same thing I would have done except I use De-oxit on every switch and contact. Great video George. Better luck next time George getting a broken one to fix.
I keep hoping! Strange isn't it... Most people want working things but I'd rather have a broken one to fix.
@@GeorgeChristofi No it's not strange George. I understand the feeling you get when something is broken and you work on it and all of a sudden it springs to life. No better feeling of accomplishment exists.
Nice video George..great shots and amusing edit and dialogue
Thanks a lot for the feedback. I won't admit to having massive technical problems after the video was made with the pc that I do my editing on but hey!!
Very entertaining video george.shame the brights were missing on this tuning and volume knob and one of the select buttons,but a very nice looking Robert rambler.was trying to get one of these with the rectangular buttons myself especially in black.keep up the great work
Yep, the brights being missing is a bit of a shame. If I were to restore it fully then I would either get original knobs or make some custom ones with the brights being polished discs on the top of the knobs.
Nice radio and free spiders to boot. Sometimes it is nice to get one that dose not fight you.
I know Stan... dead spiders in a set is a sure sign they were comfy. Not sure they ate too well in there though!
Hi George. At least yours was together and had all the bits! i notice you had an early one - you can tell by the buttons. They are lovely sets though...
It wouldn't be the first time something arrived in several pieces when it should have been only one. Yes, a square button one puts it more at the 1975 end of production. I actually spent the rest of the night listening to it because it sounded pretty good for a baby set. Take care, all the best... George
Done, sorted, great video ..... next lol
Best regards Shaun .
Indeed Shaun, another old bit of rubbish finished.
i love your channel!
Very many thanks. Glad to have you on board.
Heh Heh George, great little video! I know what you mean though, the fun is in the fixing. If everything is fine then what's the point? I find I tend to gravitate towards the ugliest most worst condition radios when they are available, because they give the most dramatic results and satisfaction. The added plus is they are usually cheaper too!
That is the whole thing though Gregg. Why buy a mint condition unit when there is nothing to do? I'm not a collector, just a guy who fixes stuff so the challenge is the fixing. I buy stuff as cheap as possible because it usually means it is in need of a repair but this turned out to be one of those 'nothing really wrong' sets. I also want to make interesting videos so having a worker is a bit of a let down! All the best..
Hello George. Enjoyed the video mate. Nice editing for sure. It's just not fair that the radio actually works. I think the postal service guys should have roughed up the package a fair bit to encourage damage and disrepair. What do you think? lol
At least you would have thought they could have broken something but even the dial plate was fine... Can't get the staff at the post office these days.
Nice cleanup! Looks like a nice radio...disassembly of newer gear intimidates me, I can never get it to ho back together correctly, lol... Please educate me a bit??? The battery? I dont believe Ive seen one of those this side of the pond! Thanks for sharing!!! Take Care--Larry
Hi Larry. It is a very basic set and at the time Roberts were domestic market only. On checking, that was from 1975 when they still used wood so there are ordinary screws in it. Plastic monsters frighten me because they are getting so brittle and after 1980 they were made cheaply in the far east. The Roberts sets generally have fairly simple disassembly methods but there is always one screw hidden somewhere or the antenna has to be pulled to remove the chassis from the cabinet. The battery is a 9v PP9 size unit, if you actually break them open, these days they are cases full of AA batteries. Originally, they were proper filled cells. The range was a lot larger than today, going from pp3 to pp9 but the pp6 6v cell is no longer manufactured. Unfortunately, a lot of battery suitcase sets were 6v powered so you have to make up adaptors these days to take either 4AA or 2 18650/14400 lithium cells.
Dang!!...another Ebay working Radio...
It is such a problem... I have yet to get a real non worker from all the duff ones I have bought. The usual switches and battery contacts but no real dead challenge sets.
This is a cruel joke played by an eBay prankster. How dare they label it "Not Working"
another good funny video love it.
Glad you enjoyed it Rob. Even if I didn't use fire!
Nice I had one of those it was destroyed by Fire it was in a caravan that was on fire there was nothing left of either although the caravan chassis remained ! I do have another radio that doesnt work and it does have a very stiff Knob I think its a Marconi
Having a stiff knobbed marconi does not surprise me, I think I have an early one here that is like that. Shame about the fire, lots of stuff is lost that way and I don't think many of us could salvage a wooden radio after that sort of destruction.
@@GeorgeChristofi your right George the only thing that was left of the radio was a speaker frame
All Ways Love Your Videos George And Your Funny Bits !! How Much Was That Big Can Of Kontakt 60 Looks Super !! Why Dont You Get Your Self a Lovely Broken Sov RP18 To Fix George Or a Little Cute Set Like Greggs Emerson That Would Be Much More Challenging To a Man Of Your Obvious Talent Regards mike.
Many thanks Mike. I would love to get one of those radios but I have a full rack of Broken, spares or repair radios on the shelf and most of them work flawlessly... the rest need switches and pots cleaned. I think that can of Kontact was about 8 quid on ebay.
@@GeorgeChristofi George Been Watching a Guy Called Diabolical Artificer He Just Finished Makeing 2 120w Monoblock Amps Useing EL34 Volves And Its Quite a Monster Hardly Anybody Subed Him Or Even Watched Him But I Think Hes Pretty Good He Even Makes His Own Toroidal Transformers And Their Monster 600VA Ones Thought You Might Like To Check Him Out...ua-cam.com/video/p9PTg3DPk-Y/v-deo.html Regards mike
@@raceingdemon6464 always like monster amps. cheers Mike
I have an R505 it aint bad, far better than the crap they make now, but at best it's OK and works, does the job does it well just a tad dull? All the best.
Not worked on many of the transistor sets yet but I have a rack full of them to go on with. There might be a 505 on there, but I haven't listed everything. I know there is a vhf herald, a couple of 606mb's, an r600 and I do have an rp10 hacker to play with as well as a lot of others. I must get round to sorting them out!
@@GeorgeChristofi I only have the R505 which to be fair is used a bit being tone-deaf helps with the sound from it, I used to have 2x Hacker Hunter RP38A but gave one away, stupid I know, and when I fancy some loud radio with a good bass the RP38A comes out, nothing can beat them I find.
Never mind, at least it's not one of the almost empty case revival ones with 3 chips and bugger all else.
No not potato chips&fish george :-D
Are those ker nobs supposed to have an aluminium cap on them, or am i just daft :-D.
You are totally correct. The aluminium brights are missing from both knobs. I have yet to decide whether to get new brights, change the knobs for similar ones or just leave it as it is because I'm lazy.
No your not lazy, the amount of work you put into your videos shows that.
We all lose interest in things, since i hit 53 i have lost a lot of interest in everything, odd that.
I will have to kick my leo birthsign right up the tail, lazy lion lol.
@@zx8401ztv I'm also 53 and the virgo is saying do perfect and the other voices are saying just watch cat videos. I go in fits and spurts, when I'm elbows deep in a radio trying to figure out what is wrong the world doesn't exist. Then I realise I forgot to press record or the camera ran out of storage and some things you cannot do again...
Hi George.
Hi Harvey
Great little radio, might look out for one, lol
@@conundrum112 it's not bad. Very simple little set.
It certainly is. I like your channel, you open the radio quick clean, repair etc
@@conundrum112 no point in faffing.. just get on with it and finish before people get bored.
Demand a refund George. You bought a radio described as non working. The radio was not as described. The disappointment of being deprived of a nice juicy trouble shooting session has caused you emotional distress. It's just not right and needs to be addressed ASAP. Tell them that when you buy a non working radio by Jove you want a non working radio. ATB Doug.
Doug, it seems to be an eBay UK thing to sell everything as not working/spares so you cannot complain about anything being wrong with an item. If it works, eBay just say 'isn't that a good thing' instead of not as described! You can't win but then again, it let me have a quick video rather than having to bore everyone with an epic! Take care and see you on the cruncher stream.
Whatis a pp #9
A PP9 is a type of battery, large and square that was fairly common up until around 10 years ago. You can still buy them, just not in so many places.
Roberts Rambler
...oh, this isn't a giveaway is it? George, I'm unsubscribing, this is pure click bait. You promised us a broken radio and it works. Very, very disappointed ;-)
I was promised a broken radio... I am so unlucky when it comes to buying broken stuff... It gets here and 99 times out of 100 it blinking well works. How can I make interesting videos of stuff that works?
Got a beautiful blue Mini Herald. Defo not working. If you you would like to make it work George I'll send it with return postage?. Because you look so sad.
if you drop me an email at the channel address or get hold of me via facebook I'm sure we can get it going for you..
@@GeorgeChristofi Will do that George. Looks wise its a little favorite of mine that needs to work.
A while back someone stole it and cut the shields on the AFs. I then found it on my door step. Honest.
Legs are solder repairable. Cheers
@@jeffsmith50001 it may end up with replacements...
@@GeorgeChristofi Im sure your right George. I will email.