science

Roberts Radio

Roberts Radio is a science topic covered in the lgStudy science library. This page brings together a partial reference excerpt, illustrations, worked examples, real-world applications and a short study plan, so you can understand Roberts Radio rather than just read about it. In short: Roberts Radio Limited is a British consumer electronics company that produces radio receivers including digital and internet radios, as well as related audio equipment. Based in Chertsey, the company has been making radios since its foundation in 1932 and claims to be the oldest active radio manufacturer in the UK.

Key takeaways

Roberts Radio belongs to science; place it in that map before memorising details.
Learn the definition first, then one example that makes the definition concrete.
Connect Roberts Radio to a quantity you can measure, compute or draw — that is where exam questions come from.
Reproduce the core statement of Roberts Radio from memory before moving on to harder problems.

Reference excerpt

Roberts Radio Limited is a British consumer electronics company that produces radio receivers including digital and internet radios, as well as related audio equipment. Based in Chertsey, the company has been making radios since its foundation in 1932 and claims to be the oldest active radio manufacturer in the UK. Roberts Radio have held a royal warrant since the 1950s.

History Roberts Radio was founded in 1932 by Harry Roberts (1910-1969) of Mile End and Leslie Bidmead of Kilburn. They financed the down payment on a small factory in London's Soho by selling Bidmead's motorbike. A few years later they moved across Oxford Street to no. 41 Rathbone Place. During the Blitz in the Second World War, they moved to East Molesey in Surrey. During this time the majority of production shifted from domestic radios to morse code tappers.

Roberts resumed producing domestic radios after the war and eventually gained a reputation for quality. They received a Royal Warrant to the Queen in 1955 and later another to the Queen Mother and the Prince of Wales in the 1980s. Another warrant was granted via the purchase of Dynatron Radio Ltd in 1981.

The R66 portable valve radio was launched by Roberts in 1956, followed by their first portable transistor radio the RT1 in 1959. Its box-shaped design with a carry handle became popular among the public and celebrities in the 1960s, shaping the familiar Roberts design. It was designed by Bidmead, apparently inspired by a handbag belonging to his wife Elsie. In 1962, the company had a purpose-built factory constructed in West Molesey. Co-founder Harry Roberts died in 1969, succeeded by son Richard who served until his own death in 1991.

The company was struggling in the 1980s with the rise of television and imported Japanese electronics. In 1989, a classic red Roberts radio appeared in a Martini TV advert, which revived interest in the product. A replica of the 1950s radio was created and sold out in two limited runs. Public popularity led to the full reissue of the original design as the Roberts Revival (250 series) in 1993 in original red colour, with various new colours and designs numbering sixteen by the year 2000. The Revival has been Britain's best selling portable radio ever since.

Roberts Radio was purchased by privately owned GlenDimplex Group in 1994. The company then moved headquarters and production north to Mexborough in South Yorkshire joining other GlenDimplex ventures. Roberts introduced their first DAB digital radio in 1999, the Classic 2000, which was released in May 2000. Roberts produced their first internet radio, the WM-201, in 2007. Its follow up was the Stream 202, which launched the Stream series of internet radio products from Roberts. The company launched the first solar-powered DAB radio in 2008. The company moved to Chertsey in Surrey around 2020. Roberts later released the Revival Petite, which became the UK's best-selling radio receiver in 2022. This led to the release of a second generation Roberts Revival Petite 2 in 2024.

Gallery

Notes

References

External links Roberts Radio website

Illustrations

Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with Roberts Radio

Start with the simplest possible case. Write down what Roberts Radio claims or describes in one sentence, then invent the smallest concrete situation in which that sentence is true. In science, the smallest case is usually a single object, a single equation or a single measurement. Check that every symbol or term in your sentence has a meaning in that case.

Example 2 — changing one variable

Take the situation from Example 1 and change exactly one quantity: double it, halve it, or set it to zero. Predict what should happen to Roberts Radio before you calculate. Comparing your prediction with the result is the fastest way to find out whether you understand the idea or only the words.

Example 3 — an exam-style question

Typical questions about Roberts Radio ask you to (a) state it precisely, (b) apply it to given data, and (c) explain a limitation. Practise writing all three answers in under five minutes; the third part is what separates a full-mark answer from an average one.

Applications of Roberts Radio

In research: Roberts Radio appears in science research whenever the underlying quantities have to be modelled precisely. Papers usually cite it as a starting assumption and then explore where it breaks down.
In technology and industry: Engineering practice reuses Roberts Radio in design rules, simulations and safety margins. Knowing the idea lets you read a specification sheet and understand why the numbers look the way they do.
In the classroom: Roberts Radio is common in secondary-school and first-year university syllabi. It links to neighbouring topics 1932 establishments in England, Audio equipment manufacturers of the United Kingdom, British brands, so understanding it makes those chapters shorter.
In everyday life: Look for Roberts Radio outside the textbook — in sport, cooking, traffic, electronics or the sky above you. An example you found yourself is remembered far longer than one you were given.

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How to study Roberts Radio in 20 minutes

Read the reference excerpt below once, without taking notes.
Close the page and write down what Roberts Radio means in your own words.
Compare your version with the excerpt and mark what you missed.
Work through the three examples above with pen and paper.
Explain Roberts Radio out loud to somebody else — or to Teacher Smith in the lgStudy chat.

Frequently asked questions

What is Roberts Radio in simple terms?

Why does Roberts Radio matter?

Because it connects several science ideas at once: it gives you a definition you can apply, a quantity you can calculate, and a way to check whether a result is plausible.

How should I study Roberts Radio?

Read the excerpt, restate it from memory, then work through the examples and applications listed on this page. The five-step study plan above takes about twenty minutes.

What does this page cover?

It gives you a compact reference excerpt plus original lgStudy explanations, examples, applications and study material on Roberts Radio.