4-valve broadcast band radio known as the 'Ultimette' in company literature
The model RBP was designed in a slim cabinet made from bakelite, supplied with screw-on wooden feet for table or mantle use along with a string for wall mounting on a picture hook. They gained a reputation for falling and breaking - hence the widely accepted nickname of the 'Hanging Horror' (possibly coined by John Stokes) although the factory assigned model name was the 'Ultimette'.
The design is somewhat unusual but works well enough for local radio signals and even decently well in city fringes with a long aerial.
Repair videos:
Radio Ltd also released an extension speaker in the same cabinet, here are a couple of examples
A Hanging Horror alongside its matching extension speaker
A variation of the extension speaker cabinet design
And the media release for the extension speaker:
Frequency Bands: 1
Chassis Notes(most schematics can be clicked to download a full size version)
General Construction Notes for Radio (1936) Ltd:
Early Radio Ltd. schematics did not show the models, just the year, valves and bands, so some sleuthing is required to find the right one.
Early 30's Ultimate models with three digit model numbers indicated both the number of valves in the set, and the price it retailed for - for example, the model 856 was an 8-valve radio which retailed for $56 pounds. The equivalent Courier models were reversed, so an Ultimate 856 was a Courier 568 (theoretically, at least). This was the Auckland price though, and often the sets would retail for 1 or 2 pounds more in other centres, presumably to cover the freight cost of moving them around the country from the Auckland factory.
Note the use of old resistance terminology on older schematics: ω means ohms and Ω means megohms.
Some 1936-onward 3-letter chassis codes vary the last letter between brands, for example:
BBU - Ultimate model BB
BBR - Rolls (and Golden Knight) model BB
BBC - Courier model BB
All use the same chassis.
Golden Knight, Courier and Rolls appear to use the same copper-painted chassis while Ultimate chassis' are painted silver
After the war a new model code system was introduced, whereby radio models all began with R - the first model being the RA, a dual-wave 5-valve set commonly released in a pressed tin cabinet.
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