HACKER SOVEREIGN RP18 three-band portable radio (1964-1967)

One of the largest - and at around GBP 40 most expensive - transistor portables available in the UK in the mid-1960s. This one had three separate circuit boards, eighteen transistors, three wavebands, a decent sized speaker and very good sound quality. 'Which?' magazine tested one of these sets and found it 'exceptional' - and they were't that easy to please. It's an attractive set, and much more modern-looking than the Defiant (see my post on that) which preceded it only by a few years. Wooden case, of course, and two nine-volt batteries.

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stratosranger · M

Radios in those times were some handsome looking hardware.

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stratosranger · M

@supersnipe On the subject of radios, a question. This is something I’ve always wondered about and never thought of asking someone who might be in the know. Back in the 80’s in Long Island there was this odd signal being broadcast on the FM band. It consisted of two tones, the first being a high octave, the second a lower octave that would repeat three times but grow fainter with every repeat and then go silent for a second, then repeat the same cycle again. Odder still the same sound could be heard on several different frequencies and in some cases was being played over frequencies that had a station already broadcasting on them. It reminded me of cold war numbers stations in a way. Do you have any idea what that might have been?

supersnipe · 61-69, M

@stratosranger No, I'm sorry.My first reaction was that it might be some kind of beacon. The 'walking over' other stations is a bit weird though...

stratosranger · M

It was weird. The same signal could be found in three different locations on the FM band. All of this predated the internet so (no surprise) there is zero info on it or any mention. But thanks for replying. @supersnipe

BridgeOvertroubledWaters · 61-69, M

Beautiful machine

hunkalove · 61-69, M

My first radio was a Westinghouse 7-transistor midel that I got for Christmas 1960 when I was 10. After that all I cared about was rock&roll. Late one night in January 1964 I first heard The Beatles on it.

supersnipe · 61-69, M

@hunkalove They were such a huge deal that even our non-pop-music household was aware of them. A brief look at the No.1 records in the UK for the first half of 1963 tells a story...for the first few months, Cliff Richard/Shadows/spin-offs thereof. After that, Mersey....It all erupted in the USA some months later.

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