{"id":726,"date":"2015-02-12T23:01:08","date_gmt":"2015-02-12T22:01:08","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/storycase.co.uk\/radio\/?p=726"},"modified":"2025-07-14T17:34:36","modified_gmt":"2025-07-14T17:34:36","slug":"roberts-revival-drive-cord-tuning-fault","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/storycase.co.uk\/radio\/radio\/roberts\/roberts-revival-drive-cord-tuning-fault\/","title":{"rendered":"Roberts Revival Drive Cord Tuning Fault"},"content":{"rendered":"

Has your analogue Roberts radio become difficult to tune?<\/p>\n

The Roberts Revival range including the R250 and R760 can develop a fault with the drive cord and become stiff to tune. This may occur towards one end of the range and a clicking noise can be heard when the knob is turned. You may be tempted to pull off the control knob and find the whole spindle comes away leaving a tangled cord behind!<\/p>\n

Don’t throw it away, it may be possible to fix with a little patience if you follow the steps below.<\/p>\n

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  1. First remove telescopic aerial and then the top dial and main chassis by undoing the two screws either side next to the handle. For the R250 remove the wooden blocks that hold the dial in place.<\/li>\n
  2. Remove both volume and tuning knobs by gently pulling them off – the tuning spindle may pull out as well\u00a0– if it does be careful not to break the cord. If the volume control\u00a0won’t move, place some masking tape on the dial to avoid damage and use a flat blade to lever the knob from beneath.<\/li>\n
  3. Prise off the plastic dial ‘glass’ using a small screw driver to lift it free. It’s held in place by double sided sticky tape and fairly flexible. Take care\u00a0not to scratch the print underside. The drive cord should now be visible with the four pulleys and drive spindle.<\/li>\n
  4. Look at the photos below to see where the cord should run if it’s come away. In many cases the cord catches under the drive spindle and becomes tangled causing the fault. The drive spindle needs at least\u00a0three neat turns of cord without overlapping.<\/li>\n
  5. Check the cord is located correctly on the large drive wheel. If\u00a0the spring tension is too tight the cord tends to tangle on the drive spindle.<\/li>\n
  6. To thread the cord start by making sure the drive wheel is fully one end and align\u00a0the cord so the pointer (red below) is at the corresponding end of the dial.<\/li>\n
  7. Ensure the cord is correctly wound around the spindle – image 7 shows the cord returning to the drive wheel from the lower end. If you have it the other way round the pointer will move in the wrong direction when the control is turned. It should move to the right when turned clockwise.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

    Apologies for the poor quality on some photos – I’ll try to update with better examples.<\/p>\n\n\t\t