Thank you!! You just helped me with an old boombox i just received. Everything works but there is a short in the knobs and switches at top. I will clean them up in the morning and see if that helps. Great job on this fix! Love old radio/stereo equipment and restores/fixes.
Hell yeah Vince has done a brilliant job bringing it back to full life and the sound quality is amazing, I have a Roberts bluetooth speaker and I tell you it's sounds good with some good bass on it.
used to bungie one to the handle bars of a Raleigh Grifter, but if you hit bumps the batteries fell out. Batteries were expensive, and crap Eveready ones.
It's a Hitachi TRK 8110E underneath, the 'auto' setting is the tape only feature, good quick fix. 70's & 80's Japanese made products are a PLEASURE to work on!
I found National / Panasonic the only that were designed to be service friendly, they dissmantle from the front while deck reamins in place, speed and azimuth can be adjusted. And they put connectors on everything. Ironically they dont need much service at all. This advantages were offered in the basic products and for a logic reason, it was easy to put together in the factory too. JVC and AIWA didnt got it ... they love soldered wiring. And you do not know how much painfull a boombox can be until you get into a big AIWA, the 990. The mechanism is a bad joke, connectors do not exist. Still one of the best sounding machine .... terrible when it comes to service
My parents have the same machine by Hitachi. Recordings made on it are hissy as anything, ghastly noisy, not a patch on a Sanyo MX315L for example. But it does have good speakers and a meaty amplifier, so OK if you are not using the nasty cassette deck.
It's a Hitachi TRK 8130 as it can record to Metal Type IV cassettes. The TRK 8110 can only record on Normal and Chrome tapes but not Metal. So I guess that's the slight difference between the two model numbers.
What a lovely looking boombox! 😍 I'm very jealous! The 2 way audio refers to the frequencies being split two ways (low and high) to each speaker channel. So, you have a woofer (low) and a tweeter (high) for left channel and another set for the right channel. Apologies if you already know this since filming, but I love all things audio and it's one thing I actually know a bit about! 😁
I didn't know that Steve, so thank you for sharing it. It is very unusual with the copper brown colour, maybe not to everyone's taste but it is certainly a bit different 👍👍
Some speaker systems with tweeters only have capacitors inline with the tweeters acting as high-pass filters, and run the woofers/main drivers "wide open". Proper 2-way speaker systems have crossovers (with one crossover frequency point of about 1.5KHz for a large, 3.5KHz for a medium or 7KHz for a small speaker system) which not only have high-pass-filtering capacitors (and attenuation resistors if necessary) for the tweeters, but also inductors etc to low-pass-filter the woofers. There are also 3-way speaker systems, whose crossovers (with two crossover frequency points of about 500Hz and 3.5KHz for a large, or as high as 1.5KHz and 7KHz for a small speaker system) not only have high-pass-filtering capacitors (and attenuation resistors if necessary) for the tweeters, and inductors etc to low-pass-filter the woofers, but additionally band-pass-filter (low-and-high-pass) the additional midrange drivers (or squawkers, but that term fell out fashion).
That was entertaining thanks! Hardly any manufacturer explained what the A-B switch was for. The tape deck has a bias oscillator for recording. The switch was to change its frequency slightly if it was causing interference on the radio station you were trying to listen to.
I don't know if you know that the Roberts is clearly made in Japan by Hitachi. I have a very similar one and the buttons and the switches are the same, so is the clock. Great to see someone with the passion to have a go at repairs. Keep it up!
Ahhhh it's so deeply satisfying if you manage to clean up something really grimy and dirty into such a nice shape. I often have that with handheld devices.
Exactly like the amstrad nc200 from 1993 one week there's like 2 of them for sale and then none and they are expensive think my nc200 was £90. 00 Great to have another trying to fix video
I find it amazing that you almost witout exception manage to repair things without breaking them permanently. We are cut from different cloth, we are :D
The videos on this channel make a great showcase of how basic logic and practice (and lots of elbow grease) lead to the desired results. And special thanks for filming in the process, i know it's not easy. Two thumbs up!
Thank you Chris 👍 That game that I nicked the zebra connectors from was in a fix it video a couple of years back. It would be handy to have a stock of elastomeric connectors but they are deceivingly expensive over on eBay.
I fixed an identical unit (not marked Roberts) some while back. The tape belt had completely converted itself into thick black greasy oil. Unlike your example, the plastic mechanical arms for changing channels had broken off. I did not plug it into the mains but used my bench psu from the outset, because it is so easy to make a mistake with mains. Also, the clock on my unit did not work at all, even after I put two AAs in the relevant slots. Great video. Thanks Vince
I remember these from the 80's, Boombox on the shoulder and a roll of lino under the other arm. I thought you was going to end the fix with a spot of breakdancing Vince!
What a cool video Watching this brought me back to my youth I used to buy those things quite cheap from garage sales and I was always taking them apart when I was a kid. Sometimes I fixed them most times. I didn’t know what I was doing, but it was sure a lot of fun. Those old boom boxes are really hard to find nowadays good on you for fixing it bringing it back to life👍
I had one of these and used it at work at a noisy metalworking shop a plater was furious because his expensive and huge boombox had loads of Watts but the sounds were lost not very far from where it was playing but mine was so clear with such a range you could hear it all over the factory... Only problem was it was so good someone else liked it and it went missing one day.😢 Thanks for the video great memories
I had one of these, it was about 1980 because I used the alarm to get up for my Saturday job whilst at school. My one was Silver. Used to record new songs from Radio Caroline and Radio Luxembourg before their uk release
This has an equivalent hitachi of the same style from the same period Had that roberts a few years back and it was a superb little machine.great video!
Great video! Had the same stereo. Just the Canadian version. Added some phono jacks on the side for some extra speakers. Was my main stereo forever. Sold it because someone thought the added speakers was cool.
I watched this video when it was new, and I'm watching it again now as you've inspired me, Vince, and I just bought a faulty one for myself because I wanted to give fixing one a go. So, thank you for the inspiration, the entertainment and, I hope the information and ideas in the video which I'll likely be watching repeatedly over the next week. Cheers 😁👍
Seen alot of your videos, I know nothing of electronics but love watching you fix things. Once it was opened it became apparent it was one of your more complex items. Well done, it looks as good as new and sounds a treat. Very inspiring, keep up the good work 👍
A very nice piece and lovely to see it running again so well done. The label on the side reminds me of the early days of PAT testing if the item was running on a business premises, as you say with the oil residue then possibly in a garage set up. We used to have them in our work place when i was making F1 bodies in the early 80's. We had a smaller Waltham and i personally ran a Phillips 'Spatial' 5 speaker boom box. That was one big heavy beast.
I believe the auto is used for setting an alarm (say to wake up from the radio) - I've seen other radios of the time also have a feature to set a time and then begin to record at that time (say for a radio show/program that starts at 7:00pm) - I had a timer component as part of my "hi-fi" setup in the mid 80's so I could record concerts that were scheduled to be "simulcast" - I recorded on to cassette and later played them back in the car during my weekly commute...
It's identical to the Hitachi TRK-8130. I had one of those in the 80's, in fact I've still got it but only the radio works now. The AUTO does indeed allow it to make unattended timer recordings from the radio as I used that function many times, or it can be used to control the SLEEP timer, basically any of the automatic functions controlled by the clock section. One button on the clock will allow you to set the start time for a recording, set it to radio and tune in the station, then put the switch to AUTO then finally press REC & PLAY buttons. When the set time is reached it will switch on and record until the tape runs out, as there was no stop timer it would remain powered up. It came with an external FM aerial for that socket around the back. It was a sort of ribbon that formed a T-shape with plastic tabs that you could stick to a window with blu-tack to improve stereo reception. Other accessories it came with was a cable for that 12 volt socket and a C-60 cassette. If I remember correctly it cost just over £100 around 1981/82, it was definitely bought before 1983, so an early 80's model.
Auto is for the alarm function - well thats what I'd assume - put in your favourite tunes, set the volume appropriatly, set the alarm and at the time the alarm sounds, the machine turns on, and plays whats in the cassette, or the station you are tuned to on the radio.
That moste have taken hours and hours to clean up that mutsh oil and dirt! Normally it dose not come out in the camera if you don't zoom in like you use to, this time it did even in my small mobile :) Thank you for your hard work!
If its not been said AFC = Automatic Frequency Control just keeps a clear radio signal by shifting quarter cycle measuring signal amplitude. This is a rare beast and better than Sanyo Hitachi but from the same factory made especially to Roberts high standards consider this the better copy with all the extras radio alarm Afc metal tape quality i could not afford. Thumbs up Vince 👍
Ive got a 10 year old Roberts ecologic 4 stereo DAB/Fm stereo radio and it picks up digital perfectly in my home where other makes have failed miserably. I was so impressed with it I bought my son one. a later model with Bluetooth. The quality surpasses a lot of other radios out there. The sound is amazing with proper dial bass and treble knobs they also have RDS, it could do with a little servisol switch cleaner sprayed into the volume control potentiometer as it can crackle a little, its begining to show its age now but thats all really. I used to have a Solavox Boom box in the 1980s and Ive never seen another one like it, it had a 250 watt RMS amplifier, it was left by a customer for repair at Comet and was put up for sale after he ddnt collect it, apparently he was an american serving in the Navy and was staying at Portsmouth dockyard, Id love to find another one if I could, I think the Boombox was available on the British market as it had a UK power supply inside it, pity ive forgotten the model number.
Auto power switch is for timer. You set the alarm for whatever time and the radio or tape will play to wake you up! At least that's how my dad's tape deck used to work!
Thank you so much ... You are truly blessed ... Your patience is to be given much credit and im so glad someone took the time to bring color into my world ... I love these types of radio cassette players much love and respect to you ... Maybe next time you can test the recording capability ... Still you are excellent in your trade ... Blessings to you and your family ... Thank you ... Ps ... Can i have it ? ...
Vince, An unashamed fan of Roberts, I currently have two of their modern offerings. The build quality is still excellent. Incidentally, the AFC is for automatic frequency controol. I loved this when I first got a Roberts in 1972. If you're slightly off station, and you press this, it'll tune you in automatically. Give it a try. I'll be amazed if it still works...
That cracked board is right on the inside of a sharp corner. That's why metal workers often radius corners when possible to avoid stress cracks at sharp edges. I surmise this is what lead to the cracking.
@@PUHCsi My father was sent out when those ships were off the Scilly isles to help repair them , standing out on deck in the rain to protect the welders
When these were made in the 1980s Roberts sold two distinct ranges, the classic wooden cased made in Britain radios and they bought in plastic radios and radio/tape decks from overseas like this one. Roberts also sold the Dynatron TV brand which were often sold with a luxury wooden TV cabinet with doors (remember those?) - nice to see you got this one working, cracked print from a drop is common especially if the transformer is bolted to the PCB.
"2-way" means separate tweeter and woofer for highs and mids/bass. Proper 2-way will have a high/low pass filter/crossover, otherwise they just stick a resistor in the tweeter circuit.
Best boombox to have today. Wish we could go "Back To The Future" (1985) like 👍 the movie 🎥. This was probably from somewhere around that era. Could be late 1970's. Your friend, Jeff.
if you look at the clock I believe it allows you set a time for the radio or tape to turn on or off which is the auto on the switch plus sleep which lets you listen to it while going to sleep turns it off after the time you set it for
I'm new to your channel and I like so far what i have watched! Nice job on this boombox! You can't find these things always in good working condition unless someone went to the trouble of fixing them and cleaning like you did!
It is a rebranded Hitachi if memory serves me right, Hitachi was quite a high quality brand in its own right so no demerits it being a rebadge imho and I quite like the idea of something uniquely named for us Brits outside the mega mass produced stuff the world outside got to use. Might be worth checking for machine schematics as audio machines there seems to be a half hearted attempt with some to produce schematics for high quality audio machines.
Outside the big Japanese brands and Philips, pretty much all products of this type were made by someone else and rebadged. Outsourcing was the only way the smaller players could compete. Interesting you identify it as a Hitachi, because they (together with Sanyo) also made many Ferguson audio products from this era.
Lamp oil will clean grease/nicotine from faceplate with no damage to chassis or printed material. Zero abrasion, just dissolves it and it usually wipes up first pass. Top tip
Another awesome fix, and what a beautiful piece of history! It's amazing how things like this never really age. They definitely don't make them like this any more. Great job again!
The 'Auto' setting is a very old sleep timer function these older radios used to have. If you set it to 'Tape' and turn on the tape player It will play the tape and shut down when it reaches the end of the tape and clicks off, but if you set it to 'Auto' and play a 30-minute tape it will play the radio (not the tape) and automatically shut off after it reaches the end of the tape and clicks off. So it is using the tape player as a rudimentary timer. You can make it play the radio and automatically turn itself off with whatever the longest tape you have. One side of a 90 minute (most common) is approximately 45 minutes and if you can get your hands on a 120-minute cassette then it will play for a full 60 minutes before shutting off, and so on. Oh, and the term 2 way 4 speaker system means it uses 2 different types of speakers. In this particular radio, it uses 2 bass or full-range speakers and 2 tweeter speakers, making a total of 4 speakers. 😅
The, 'auto', might be to do with making automatic recordings from radio via a timer set by the clock. I've never heard of a Roberts machine before, but this one looks like a good one. I would have loved to have had this, back in the early 80's, so I could record off the radio, TV and record player in my bedroom.
I recall seen a very similiar Hitachi machine in a local site here. During the 80s, rebadge was pretty common. But the typical scenario was taking a product from an OEM manufacurer, like Samsung, made in Korea / Taiwan / Hong Kong. Rebranding models from bigger brands but not as common. I have seen Rebranded Panasonics and Toshibas. Some boomboxes can have 5 or even more different brands. Here some recorders from PANASONIC were sold under a very popular local brand that paid the licensing. But during mid 70s, Panasonic was taking off, probably they didnt bother too much appart from the cashflow.
Great video. Unlike the wooden cabinet Roberts radios, none of the plastic cased sets were made in the UK. This would be sourced from an OEM in Taiwan, S. Korea or Japan, almost certainly the same concern that was also supplying Ferguson and GEC with more or less identical products. The only Roberts contribution was the name! They were decent for the money. I had the little brother to this machine and still use an RP20 radio from the same range and era. A step down from Sony, Panasonic and JVC though. If you are interested, Roberts ended all UK radio production ~2005/6 but understandably were not keen to draw attention to the fact!
I never knew that Roberts made “Boomboxes” & loved the segment at : 14:28 where you discover the Battery compartment also takes 2 x AA Batteries for the LCD Clock / Timer functions, I own 2 x Big Panasonic Boombox’s & they take 10 x D Cell & 4 x AA Batteries a piece, I need to dismantle them both as one of the Cassette decks on the one needs maintenance and both of the Cassette decks & the CD Player on my Big Cobra top one need looking at as well, I do have a smaller one as well and that one takes 8 x D Cells & 4 x AA batteries and that one works perfectly fine! 😂
Looks to have a lot in common with the GE (General Electric) Boom Boxes of the same era here in the USA. I wish I'd kept mine - I still have the manual and cardboard box but sold the radio years ago at a yard sale.
Spoiler Saver & Riddle
What do these words have in common... civic, eye, level and madam?
No
Palindromes
they read the same way backwards
Hey
I don't know.
Thank you!! You just helped me with an old boombox i just received. Everything works but there is a short in the knobs and switches at top. I will clean them up in the morning and see if that helps. Great job on this fix! Love old radio/stereo equipment and restores/fixes.
Nothing is more 80s like holding a boombox over your shoulder blasting rock right into your ear. Great vid Vince 👍
🤣🤣 Cheers Paul 👍
Very quick method to get tinnitus too! Highly recommend 👍
Hell yeah Vince has done a brilliant job bringing it back to full life and the sound quality is amazing, I have a Roberts bluetooth speaker and I tell you it's sounds good with some good bass on it.
used to bungie one to the handle bars of a Raleigh Grifter, but if you hit bumps the batteries fell out. Batteries were expensive, and crap Eveready ones.
Hokey religions and ancient weapons are no match for a good blaster at your side, kid...
It's a Hitachi TRK 8110E underneath, the 'auto' setting is the tape only feature, good quick fix. 70's & 80's Japanese made products are a PLEASURE to work on!
I found National / Panasonic the only that were designed to be service friendly, they dissmantle from the front while deck reamins in place, speed and azimuth can be adjusted. And they put connectors on everything. Ironically they dont need much service at all. This advantages were offered in the basic products and for a logic reason, it was easy to put together in the factory too. JVC and AIWA didnt got it ... they love soldered wiring. And you do not know how much painfull a boombox can be until you get into a big AIWA, the 990. The mechanism is a bad joke, connectors do not exist. Still one of the best sounding machine .... terrible when it comes to service
My parents have the same machine by Hitachi. Recordings made on it are hissy as anything, ghastly noisy, not a patch on a Sanyo MX315L for example. But it does have good speakers and a meaty amplifier, so OK if you are not using the nasty cassette deck.
What did you clean the out side with
TRK 8020 I had which came out at the same time.
It's a Hitachi TRK 8130 as it can record to Metal Type IV cassettes. The TRK 8110 can only record on Normal and Chrome tapes but not Metal. So I guess that's the slight difference between the two model numbers.
What a lovely looking boombox! 😍 I'm very jealous! The 2 way audio refers to the frequencies being split two ways (low and high) to each speaker channel. So, you have a woofer (low) and a tweeter (high) for left channel and another set for the right channel. Apologies if you already know this since filming, but I love all things audio and it's one thing I actually know a bit about! 😁
I didn't know that Steve, so thank you for sharing it. It is very unusual with the copper brown colour, maybe not to everyone's taste but it is certainly a bit different 👍👍
@@Mymatevince auto is likely to be an automatic timer to turn on or off.
Some speaker systems with tweeters only have capacitors inline with the tweeters acting as high-pass filters, and run the woofers/main drivers "wide open".
Proper 2-way speaker systems have crossovers (with one crossover frequency point of about 1.5KHz for a large, 3.5KHz for a medium or 7KHz for a small speaker system) which not only have high-pass-filtering capacitors (and attenuation resistors if necessary) for the tweeters, but also inductors etc to low-pass-filter the woofers.
There are also 3-way speaker systems, whose crossovers (with two crossover frequency points of about 500Hz and 3.5KHz for a large, or as high as 1.5KHz and 7KHz for a small speaker system) not only have high-pass-filtering capacitors (and attenuation resistors if necessary) for the tweeters, and inductors etc to low-pass-filter the woofers, but additionally band-pass-filter (low-and-high-pass) the additional midrange drivers (or squawkers, but that term fell out fashion).
That was entertaining thanks! Hardly any manufacturer explained what the A-B switch was for. The tape deck has a bias oscillator for recording. The switch was to change its frequency slightly if it was causing interference on the radio station you were trying to listen to.
Thanks Chris 👍👍👍
I know Vince creates great content but credit must be given for his editing and quality production. Good work Vince 👍
Hey there Vince, thank you so much for the shout out, caught me completely offguard on that one
Thank you Felipe! 👍👍😁
This is the kind of thing Techmoan would probably like.
right vintage, Techmoan yes yes
I am sure Teddy Hashee would as well (he may also add a Bluetooth mod).
Techmoan doesn’t really have the skills to these kind of repairs
But techmoan would drone on and on and on and on.........
I don't know if you know that the Roberts is clearly made in Japan by Hitachi. I have a very similar one and the buttons and the switches are the same, so is the clock. Great to see someone with the passion to have a go at repairs. Keep it up!
Ahhhh it's so deeply satisfying if you manage to clean up something really grimy and dirty into such a nice shape. I often have that with handheld devices.
The AUTO setting on the power switch is used in combination with the clock to facilitate waking up to music or timed recording etc.
Wasn't sure at first but it looked amazing in the end
Great video Vince. I had a Sony Zilbap that my sister brought me back from the Middle East. It was an amazing piece of kit.
Exactly like the amstrad nc200 from 1993 one week there's like 2 of them for sale and then none and they are expensive think my nc200 was £90. 00
Great to have another trying to fix video
Great love seeing vintage tech getting fixed
I find it amazing that you almost witout exception manage to repair things without breaking them permanently. We are cut from different cloth, we are :D
My 70 year old dad owns a boombox similar to that one. He's still using it almost daily! It's great to see one being restored like that.
The videos on this channel make a great showcase of how basic logic and practice (and lots of elbow grease) lead to the desired results. And special thanks for filming in the process, i know it's not easy. Two thumbs up!
Wish you didn't skip the cleaning process. Really enjoy seeing it get cleaned up!!
Nice job. I love they way you tackle the problems. Being that old.. maybe a recap is required and then an alignment.
I really enjoyed watching this and love how you manhandle the internals, it gives me confidence 👍
Another enjoyable repair =D The way you fixed the clock screen was a touch of genius! I wouldn't have thought of doing that!
Thank you Chris 👍 That game that I nicked the zebra connectors from was in a fix it video a couple of years back. It would be handy to have a stock of elastomeric connectors but they are deceivingly expensive over on eBay.
I fixed an identical unit (not marked Roberts) some while back. The tape belt had completely converted itself into thick black greasy oil. Unlike your example, the plastic mechanical arms for changing channels had broken off. I did not plug it into the mains but used my bench psu from the outset, because it is so easy to make a mistake with mains. Also, the clock on my unit did not work at all, even after I put two AAs in the relevant slots. Great video. Thanks Vince
Nice one Vince, remember repairing similar models, when working for Mastercare, whilst a student during the 80's.
Just brilliant, well done.
I like that you keep the label, it makes box look like an antique and it is!
I remember these from the 80's, Boombox on the shoulder and a roll of lino under the other arm. I thought you was going to end the fix with a spot of breakdancing Vince!
What a cool video Watching this brought me back to my youth I used to buy those things quite cheap from garage sales and I was always taking them apart when I was a kid. Sometimes I fixed them most times. I didn’t know what I was doing, but it was sure a lot of fun. Those old boom boxes are really hard to find nowadays good on you for fixing it bringing it back to life👍
I had one of these and used it at work at a noisy metalworking shop a plater was furious because his expensive and huge boombox had loads of Watts but the sounds were lost not very far from where it was playing but mine was so clear with such a range you could hear it all over the factory...
Only problem was it was so good someone else liked it and it went missing one day.😢 Thanks for the video great memories
Just lovely Vince! Well done, night and day.
Thank you soooooo much for the big shout out, finally got to watch this fully 🤣. Thanks Vince.
Yes, always bridge broken tracks with wire because just a solder bridge will fracture and fail over time. Good one Vince.
I had one of these, it was about 1980 because I used the alarm to get up for my Saturday job whilst at school. My one was Silver. Used to record new songs from Radio Caroline and Radio Luxembourg before their uk release
This has an equivalent hitachi of the same style from the same period
Had that roberts a few years back and it was a superb little machine.great video!
Great video! Had the same stereo. Just the Canadian version. Added some phono jacks on the side for some extra speakers. Was my main stereo forever. Sold it because someone thought the added speakers was cool.
It's a Hitachi. I had one in 1981. I just bought another one for $30 after exactly 40yrs later. It cost $200 in 1981. About $800 in today's money.
I watched this video when it was new, and I'm watching it again now as you've inspired me, Vince, and I just bought a faulty one for myself because I wanted to give fixing one a go. So, thank you for the inspiration, the entertainment and, I hope the information and ideas in the video which I'll likely be watching repeatedly over the next week. Cheers 😁👍
I love how as time passes, you become more and more successful in your fixes!
Fantastic restore Sir, great work to revive this bit of old kit👍🏻
Seen alot of your videos, I know nothing of electronics but love watching you fix things. Once it was opened it became apparent it was one of your more complex items. Well done, it looks as good as new and sounds a treat. Very inspiring, keep up the good work 👍
Once again, Vince works his magic. Great video. Keep em coming.
Nice video, Too stop the crack in the PCB drill a small hole on the end of the crack it will stop the crack from going any further. 👍👍👍👍
was going to say that too.also the auto switch could be for setting alarm to useradio etc to wake you up.
Good little trick AR👍
damn, too late here to say that :-)...
Genius
A very nice piece and lovely to see it running again so well done. The label on the side reminds me of the early days of PAT testing if the item was running on a business premises, as you say with the oil residue then possibly in a garage set up. We used to have them in our work place when i was making F1 bodies in the early 80's. We had a smaller Waltham and i personally ran a Phillips 'Spatial' 5 speaker boom box. That was one big heavy beast.
Wao looks brand new now, am sure a lot of collectors would like to buy it.
I believe the auto is used for setting an alarm (say to wake up from the radio) - I've seen other radios of the time also have a feature to set a time and then begin to record at that time (say for a radio show/program that starts at 7:00pm) - I had a timer component as part of my "hi-fi" setup in the mid 80's so I could record concerts that were scheduled to be "simulcast" - I recorded on to cassette and later played them back in the car during my weekly commute...
This clearly become one of my favorite fix , so nice boombox . Vince, ace of fix
Thanks Herve 👍👍👍
I LOVE this series and you channel. Keep it up 👍
It's identical to the Hitachi TRK-8130. I had one of those in the 80's, in fact I've still got it but only the radio works now. The AUTO does indeed allow it to make unattended timer recordings from the radio as I used that function many times, or it can be used to control the SLEEP timer, basically any of the automatic functions controlled by the clock section. One button on the clock will allow you to set the start time for a recording, set it to radio and tune in the station, then put the switch to AUTO then finally press REC & PLAY buttons. When the set time is reached it will switch on and record until the tape runs out, as there was no stop timer it would remain powered up. It came with an external FM aerial for that socket around the back. It was a sort of ribbon that formed a T-shape with plastic tabs that you could stick to a window with blu-tack to improve stereo reception. Other accessories it came with was a cable for that 12 volt socket and a C-60 cassette. If I remember correctly it cost just over £100 around 1981/82, it was definitely bought before 1983, so an early 80's model.
work in the repair shop and that was one duty I would do when cleaning cassette decks
Wow thanks mate, a blast from the past!
Roberts radios were the best, my mom always has them, the last one I brought her though was utter garbage, plastic cases buzzing rubbish.
I always find watching your videos therapeutic 😌
I used to have one of these in the 80's,in Australia they were bright silver and sold as Toshiba
Vince getting excited over little intricacies like a baby? Sign me up. :)
Auto is for the alarm function - well thats what I'd assume - put in your favourite tunes, set the volume appropriatly, set the alarm and at the time the alarm sounds, the machine turns on, and plays whats in the cassette, or the station you are tuned to on the radio.
That moste have taken hours and hours to clean up that mutsh oil and dirt! Normally it dose not come out in the camera if you don't zoom in like you use to, this time it did even in my small mobile :)
Thank you for your hard work!
It did take hours Anders, it was filthy! Thank you 👍
What a beautiful Boombox. I really like it.
AFC = automatic frequency control. Supposedly stops FM drift when moving about.
The boombox was made like in the year 2. :) Just like we had in Czechoslovakia in the 1980s
If its not been said AFC = Automatic Frequency Control just keeps a clear radio signal by shifting quarter cycle measuring signal amplitude. This is a rare beast and better than Sanyo Hitachi but from the same factory made especially to Roberts high standards consider this the better copy with all the extras radio alarm Afc metal tape quality i could not afford. Thumbs up Vince 👍
Nice one Mark, cheers for the info 👍
Ive got a 10 year old Roberts ecologic 4 stereo DAB/Fm stereo radio and it picks up digital perfectly in my home where other makes have failed miserably. I was so impressed with it I bought my son one. a later model with Bluetooth. The quality surpasses a lot of other radios out there. The sound is amazing with proper dial bass and treble knobs they also have RDS, it could do with a little servisol switch cleaner sprayed into the volume control potentiometer as it can crackle a little, its begining to show its age now but thats all really.
I used to have a Solavox Boom box in the 1980s and Ive never seen another one like it, it had a 250 watt RMS amplifier, it was left by a customer for repair at Comet and was put up for sale after he ddnt collect it, apparently he was an american serving in the Navy and was staying at Portsmouth dockyard, Id love to find another one if I could, I think the Boombox was available on the British market as it had a UK power supply inside it, pity ive forgotten the model number.
Auto power switch is for timer. You set the alarm for whatever time and the radio or tape will play to wake you up! At least that's how my dad's tape deck used to work!
Thank you so much ... You are truly blessed ... Your patience is to be given much credit and im so glad someone took the time to bring color into my world ... I love these types of radio cassette players much love and respect to you ... Maybe next time you can test the recording capability ... Still you are excellent in your trade ... Blessings to you and your family ... Thank you ... Ps ... Can i have it ? ...
Vince,
An unashamed fan of Roberts, I currently have two of their modern offerings. The build quality is still excellent.
Incidentally, the AFC is for automatic frequency controol. I loved this when I first got a Roberts in 1972. If you're slightly off station, and you press this, it'll tune you in automatically.
Give it a try. I'll be amazed if it still works...
Thanks David👍👍👍
That cracked board is right on the inside of a sharp corner. That's why metal workers often radius corners when possible to avoid stress cracks at sharp edges. I surmise this is what lead to the cracking.
Yes that's what sank the liberty ships " during the war "
@@PUHCsi My father was sent out when those ships were off the Scilly isles to help repair them , standing out on deck in the rain to protect the welders
Brilliant fix and a beautiful boombox!! Enjoyed watching 👀 this. 👌
When these were made in the 1980s Roberts sold two distinct ranges, the classic wooden cased made in Britain radios and they bought in plastic radios and radio/tape decks from overseas like this one. Roberts also sold the Dynatron TV brand which were often sold with a luxury wooden TV cabinet with doors (remember those?) - nice to see you got this one working, cracked print from a drop is common especially if the transformer is bolted to the PCB.
You saved this beautiful old boom box well done!...., sir 😁
"2-way" means separate tweeter and woofer for highs and mids/bass. Proper 2-way will have a high/low pass filter/crossover, otherwise they just stick a resistor in the tweeter circuit.
Great job man! Your reaction when it worked, the satisfaction 😀.
🍻
Best boombox to have today. Wish we could go "Back To The Future" (1985) like 👍 the movie 🎥. This was probably from somewhere around that era. Could be late 1970's. Your friend, Jeff.
if you look at the clock I believe it allows you set a time for the radio or tape to turn on or off which is the auto on the switch plus sleep which lets you listen to it while going to sleep turns it off after the time you set it for
Excellent video Vince! Really love the color of that boombox!
I'm new to your channel and I like so far what i have watched! Nice job on this boombox! You can't find these things always in good working condition unless someone went to the trouble of fixing them and cleaning like you did!
It is a rebranded Hitachi if memory serves me right, Hitachi was quite a high quality brand in its own right so no demerits it being a rebadge imho and I quite like the idea of something uniquely named for us Brits outside the mega mass produced stuff the world outside got to use. Might be worth checking for machine schematics as audio machines there seems to be a half hearted attempt with some to produce schematics for high quality audio machines.
Outside the big Japanese brands and Philips, pretty much all products of this type were made by someone else and rebadged. Outsourcing was the only way the smaller players could compete. Interesting you identify it as a Hitachi, because they (together with Sanyo) also made many Ferguson audio products from this era.
Thanks Ian, yes others have also mentioned Hitachi. Cheers for the info👍👍
Lamp oil will clean grease/nicotine from faceplate with no damage to chassis or printed material. Zero abrasion, just dissolves it and it usually wipes up first pass. Top tip
Nice fix vince. I've got myself one of these that's just as filthy! Shortly my hands will be red-raw too, lol. Enjoyed the video mate, thanks :)
😂🤣 Good luck with it Jon 👍
Another awesome fix, and what a beautiful piece of history! It's amazing how things like this never really age. They definitely don't make them like this any more. Great job again!
Thanks Coder👍👍
Would love to have piece like this at home.
Good find and good job finding (and fixing) the crack.
(edit: typos fix)
Ah! I too love the Blitz kitchen paper 😝 another nice vid Vince 👌🏼
The 'Auto' setting is a very old sleep timer function these older radios used to have. If you set it to 'Tape' and turn on the tape player It will play the tape and shut down when it reaches the end of the tape and clicks off, but if you set it to 'Auto' and play a 30-minute tape it will play the radio (not the tape) and automatically shut off after it reaches the end of the tape and clicks off. So it is using the tape player as a rudimentary timer. You can make it play the radio and automatically turn itself off with whatever the longest tape you have. One side of a 90 minute (most common) is approximately 45 minutes and if you can get your hands on a 120-minute cassette then it will play for a full 60 minutes before shutting off, and so on.
Oh, and the term 2 way 4 speaker system means it uses 2 different types of speakers. In this particular radio, it uses 2 bass or full-range speakers and 2 tweeter speakers, making a total of 4 speakers. 😅
I like the Copper colour, it’s a bit different from the black/silver colour which are the usual colours as you mentioned!
The, 'auto', might be to do with making automatic recordings from radio via a timer set by the clock. I've never heard of a Roberts machine before, but this one looks like a good one. I would have loved to have had this, back in the early 80's, so I could record off the radio, TV and record player in my bedroom.
Great job and fantastic content, loved every minute of it! 👍🏻
It works a damned fine better than when ye started out with I'll tell ye. Well done. Keep em coming My Jammy Mate Vince👍🏻
I can imagine Vince bouncing about his workshop screaming "ALIVE! ITS ALIIIVE!!!!"🤣😊👍❤️
I recall seen a very similiar Hitachi machine in a local site here. During the 80s, rebadge was pretty common. But the typical scenario was taking a product from an OEM manufacurer, like Samsung, made in Korea / Taiwan / Hong Kong. Rebranding models from bigger brands but not as common. I have seen Rebranded Panasonics and Toshibas. Some boomboxes can have 5 or even more different brands. Here some recorders from PANASONIC were sold under a very popular local brand that paid the licensing. But during mid 70s, Panasonic was taking off, probably they didnt bother too much appart from the cashflow.
AFC automatic frequency control on the vhf fm band. It pulles the stations in on the fm band so they are tuned in correctly.
Thanks Derrick👍👍👍
I reckon that red LED goes out when it's powered up, seen that kind of thing before
Great video. Unlike the wooden cabinet Roberts radios, none of the plastic cased sets were made in the UK. This would be sourced from an OEM in Taiwan, S. Korea or Japan, almost certainly the same concern that was also supplying Ferguson and GEC with more or less identical products. The only Roberts contribution was the name!
They were decent for the money. I had the little brother to this machine and still use an RP20 radio from the same range and era. A step down from Sony, Panasonic and JVC though. If you are interested, Roberts ended all UK radio production ~2005/6 but understandably were not keen to draw attention to the fact!
Thanks Paul. I have just been working on a beautiful 1980s Roberts wooden side panels radio. Cheers for the info👍👍👍
I never knew that Roberts made “Boomboxes” & loved the segment at : 14:28 where you discover the Battery compartment also takes 2 x AA Batteries for the LCD Clock / Timer functions, I own 2 x Big Panasonic Boombox’s & they take 10 x D Cell & 4 x AA Batteries a piece, I need to dismantle them both as one of the Cassette decks on the one needs maintenance and both of the Cassette decks & the CD Player on my Big Cobra top one need looking at as well, I do have a smaller one as well and that one takes 8 x D Cells & 4 x AA batteries and that one works perfectly fine! 😂
Oh Man! The radios were cool back then. Radio Shack and Sears. Multi-band , Pa, reverbs.
Thank you for sharing, nice Receiver!
Wow! well done. I really enjoyed watching you restore this unique machine. Cheers :D
Looks to have a lot in common with the GE (General Electric) Boom Boxes of the same era here in the USA. I wish I'd kept mine - I still have the manual and cardboard box but sold the radio years ago at a yard sale.
Such a nice 80s looking item.
That boombox is awesome! A little before my time, but amazing nonetheless.
The 'auto' setting on the power switch is for the alarm. I know this as I have a newer smaller Roberts boombox which has the same switch basically.
Really nice nostalgic radio
Rebranded a Zenith model from the early 80's.