Superradio II

[cyberdad]

As of this morning, I am the proud owner of a GE Superradio II. Picked it up at a rummage sale...the type of thing I never go to, but Mrs. Cyberdad dragged me along with her.

I paid exactly $1 for the radio, which seems to be in absolutely perfect condition. Just a little dust, but no dings, chips, or scratches, etc. of any sort, and everything works perfectly. Audio quality is awesome, and no static whatsoever when adjusting any of the knobs. I haven't had much of a chance to play around with it, but a quick "once over" reveals some impressive initial "barefoot" results on both AM and FM. The radio also came with the original owners manual, warranty info, and accessory order form.

I'm trying to figure out when this unit might have been made. My initial guess is early 1980s. The accessory order sheet has the number 83-39, which I'm thinking could refer to 1983. Next to the battery compartment, where the power cord is stored, there's a date code "2442", which I'm wondering might mean 1982. Model # is 7-2885.

Any thoughts? I'd also be interested in any other comments, suggestions, tips, "dos and don'ts" etc. on the radio and how to get the best use of it.

Thanks!

...Jack

 

[spunker88]

You got a great deal on that radio and it sounds like its in good shape for its age. The Superradios are known for their good reception especially on AM. They are going for around $50 on ebay and some units are in worse shape than yours. You could easily sell the owners manual for more than what you paid for everything.

 

[cyberdad]

Problem with the owners manual is that it was attached to the Radio with clear plastic tape. That had the effect of trashing The front page of what would have otherwise been a pristine document

 

[cd637299]

I own a Superadio II. Much better/sensitive than the III, but alas, no expanded band....you maybe can make the thing go up to 1640.

My late dad, who was good with tools/gadgets, fixed my broken on/off switch (be very careful pushing that button) by replacing it with a flip-switch.

It still works OK for me (I bought mine in early '82), but I think that the tuning needs re-alignment again.

Wow, one dollar!!! You just robbed the place!

EDIT: It may be possible to download another manual----you could Google as follows:

ge superadio ii manual 7-2885

www.fixya.com might have it.....

cd

 

[cyberdad]

Thanks, cd. No X-band was one of the first things I noticed. But I do think I can get it to 1640, as you suggest. I heard something all the way at the end of the dial which I think was probably WKSH/1640 out of the Milwaukee area. Thanks also for the tip on the on/off switch...I'll be sure to be careful with that. As for the manual, it's still intact....but just not in the perfect condition it would've been in otherwise.

I spotted the radio from across the room. As if it jumped out at me. My first thought was "can this actually be"? And indeed it was! Then I couldn't believe it was going for just a buck. When I told my wife that it was a true "stud" radio and probably about 30 years old, she couldn't believe that could be the age of the unit. It wasn't the only bargain in the area. I picked up two VCRs for $5 each. I know nobody uses VCRs anymore...myself included....but one of our sons has a huge VHS tape collection and he's always on the lookout for increasingly-hard-to-find "backup" machines.

I've got a long driving road trip coming up next week to Sioux Falls, Winnipeg, and Minneapolis, so I'll have plenty of opportunity to get a real feel for what the radio can do.

 

[Tincap]

Say, I've recently picked up a Superradio Mk 1. I'm rather curious as to the differences between the original and the II?

~BG

 

[Schroedingers Cat]

Mine gets up to 1630 kHz. Surprisingly, many radios from the 1960s and 1970s, notably Sonys and Panasonics, get up to 1670 or 1680. You could modify them, but at the expense of dial accuracy. I suppose you could adjust or replace the trimmers with lower values, but you also risk compromising the tracking between the RF and oscillator stages. Makes me appreciate those old 1930s radios with the presets that had separate variable oscillator and RF capacitors. You could often get the stations better on the presets due to the independent tuning.

 

[cd637299]

Thanks, cd. No X-band was one of the first things I noticed. But I do think I can get it to 1640, as you suggest. I heard something all the way at the end of the dial which I think was probably WKSH/1640 out of the Milwaukee area. Thanks also for the tip on the on/off switch...I'll be sure to be careful with that. As for the manual, it's still intact....but just not in the perfect condition it would've been in otherwise.

I spotted the radio from across the room. As if it jumped out at me. My first thought was "can this actually be"? And indeed it was! Then I couldn't believe it was going for just a buck. When I told my wife that it was a true "stud" radio and probably about 30 years old, she couldn't believe that could be the age of the unit. It wasn't the only bargain in the area. I picked up two VCRs for $5 each. I know nobody uses VCRs anymore...myself included....but one of our sons has a huge VHS tape collection and he's always on the lookout for increasingly-hard-to-find "backup" machines.

I've got a long driving road trip coming up next week to Sioux Falls, Winnipeg, and Minneapolis, so I'll have plenty of opportunity to get a real feel for what the radio can do.

Not to go OT, but I do use VCRs....TV DXers can't archive their good analog catches on DVD recorders....I learned that when I bought one in 2005.

The best one for recording TV DX is a Sharp VCR I have from 1990....

I have a small TV/VCR combo I use to record DX on trips. Found out that it doesn't duplicate E-skip like the Sharp does. Gotta remember to bring it from now on.

cd

 

[cd637299]

Say, I've recently picked up a Superradio Mk 1. I'm rather curious as to the differences between the original and the II?

~BG

The only difference I recall (I owned a I as well, but no longer) was the small extra speaker on the II.

cd

 

[cyberdad]

Say, I've recently picked up a Superradio Mk 1. I'm rather curious as to the differences between the original and the II?

~BG

The only difference I recall (I owned a I as well, but no longer) was the small extra speaker on the II.

cd

Yeah, this unit has a main speaker/woofer "front and center" with a tweeter up above it on the the right. I had it playing in the living room tuned to my Whole House FM transmitter broadcasting a winamp playlist from my desktop computer. At one point, Mrs. Cyberdad walked by and remarked about how good the audio sounded. Not the sort of thing she normally even notices.

And duly noted about the VCR. I may go back over to this sale tomorrow (it's at our church) and pick up one or two more. They had about a dozen....all of which were priced at five bucks and seem to be in pretty good shape. Ironically the other radios, boomboxes, stereos, etc. were pretty much all junk. More ironically (if that's the right word)...I think I paid something like $800 for my first VCR back in the early '80s. So much for being an "early adapter"!

 

[radioman148]

Thanks, cd. No X-band was one of the first things I noticed. But I do think I can get it to 1640, as you suggest. I heard something all the way at the end of the dial which I think was probably WKSH/1640 out of the Milwaukee area. Thanks also for the tip on the on/off switch...I'll be sure to be careful with that. As for the manual, it's still intact....but just not in the perfect condition it would've been in otherwise.

I spotted the radio from across the room. As if it jumped out at me. My first thought was "can this actually be"? And indeed it was! Then I couldn't believe it was going for just a buck. When I told my wife that it was a true "stud" radio and probably about 30 years old, she couldn't believe that could be the age of the unit. It wasn't the only bargain in the area. I picked up two VCRs for $5 each. I know nobody uses VCRs anymore...myself included....but one of our sons has a huge VHS tape collection and he's always on the lookout for increasingly-hard-to-find "backup" machines.

I've got a long driving road trip coming up next week to Sioux Falls, Winnipeg, and Minneapolis, so I'll have plenty of opportunity to get a real feel for what the radio can do.

Speaking of VCRs, I'd love to get my hand on a Beta machine. I'm one of the few people left with a large betamax tape collection.

 

[spunker88]

VCRs can be useful for recording TV DX like cd said. They treat analog better since they are analog themselves, may not be the best thing for DTV but since they are so cheap its worth it. You can usually find blank tapes for clearance prices.

 

[cd637299]

I just realized, I misspoke...I believe it was the Superadio I that I bought in 1982, and the II was bought around 1985....and ISTR that I bought it right when it came out. Whatever happened to the "I", I cannot recall.

cd

 

[Tincap]

Say, I've recently picked up a Superradio Mk 1. I'm rather curious as to the differences between the original and the II?

~BG

The only difference I recall (I owned a I as well, but no longer) was the small extra speaker on the II.

cd

Yeah, this unit has a main speaker/woofer "front and center" with a tweeter up above it on the the right. I had it playing in the living room tuned to my Whole House FM transmitter broadcasting a winamp playlist from my desktop computer. At one point, Mrs. Cyberdad walked by and remarked about how good the audio sounded. Not the sort of thing she normally even notices.

And duly noted about the VCR. I may go back over to this sale tomorrow (it's at our church) and pick up one or two more. They had about a dozen....all of which were priced at five bucks and seem to be in pretty good shape. Ironically the other radios, boomboxes, stereos, etc. were pretty much all junk. More ironically (if that's the right word)...I think I paid something like $800 for my first VCR back in the early '80s. So much for being an "early adapter"!

The Superradio does have a nice big sound, but I'd be using it with the headphones on. As much as my wife enjoys the music we transmit from my computer, she'd never put up with what the Superradio is famous for...DXing!

~BG

 

[phil]

I bought a new Superadio many, many years ago, but wasn't especially impressed so took it back the next day. I think I paid $89 for it, but don't remember if it was a II or not.

For the record, I paid $1250 for my first Sony Betamax, with a recording time of one hour! Still have it. No remote control. I have two newer Sanyos, one has hi=fi audio recording.

 

[radioman148]

I bought a new Superadio many, many years ago, but wasn't especially impressed so took it back the next day. I think I paid $89 for it, but don't remember if it was a II or not.

For the record, I paid $1250 for my first Sony Betamax, with a recording time of one hour! Still have it. No remote control. I have two newer Sanyos, one has hi=fi audio recording.

I'm one of the few that was never impressed with the Superadio either. I much prefer the C Crane.

 

[cyberdad]

The Superradio does have a nice big sound, but I'd be using it with the headphones on. As much as my wife enjoys the music we transmit from my computer, she'd never put up with what the Superradio is famous for...DXing!

~BG

We're both in the same boat with the wives! I was listening with phones last night...as I always do for DXing. Although mostly I was listening to classical music. Have to say the sound via a good set of "cans" is impressive. Rich and clear.

I noticed a couple of things with the little bit of DXing that I did do. First....the radio at least goes to 1630. I had a good signal on KCJJ. Second, I knew the unit was seletive, but it's also very good at nulling strong local signals. I had both WCBS and WFAN without any splatter from local blowtorch adjacents (WSCR and WLS). WFAN is especially surprising given my close proximity to their stick. But I think they may have had their noisemaker (IBOC) turned off.

As for Radioman's comment about the Betamax. I didn't see any Beta machines yesterday....and as things have developed, I probably won't get back to the event today. If I had seen any....or if I come across any in the future....I'd be happy to pick one up for you if you want. If/when the occasion arises, I'll pm you and we can make arrangements to get it to you.

 

[radioman148]

The Superradio does have a nice big sound, but I'd be using it with the headphones on. As much as my wife enjoys the music we transmit from my computer, she'd never put up with what the Superradio is famous for...DXing!

~BG

We're both in the same boat with the wives! I was listening with phones last night...as I always do for DXing. Although mostly I was listening to classical music. Have to say the sound via a good set of "cans" is impressive. Rich and clear.

I noticed a couple of things with the little bit of DXing that I did do. First....the radio at least goes to 1630. I had a good signal on KCJJ. Second, I knew the unit was seletive, but it's also very good at nulling strong local signals. I had both WCBS and WFAN without any splatter from local blowtorch adjacents (WSCR and WLS). WFAN is especially surprising given my close proximity to their stick. But I think they may have had their noisemaker (IBOC) turned off.

As for Radioman's comment about the Betamax. I didn't see any Beta machines yesterday....and as things have developed, I probably won't get back to the event today. If I had seen any....or if I come across any in the future....I'd be happy to pick one up for you if you want. If/when the occasion arises, I'll pm you and we can make arrangements to get it to you.

Thanks Cyberdad--that's really nice of you. I appreciate it.

 

[ddsparxx]

I also have the Superadio II, too. Bought it at a flea market 5 years ago just north of Richmond, VA, took it to Oregon with me shortly after that. In Sutherlin, OR, about 95 miles from the CA border and along I-5, I could heard KTTH 770 up in Seattle with it, aound noon, though barely. It was unlistenable on the Superadio III. I still have the II. A fun radio to have around.

 

[cd637299]

Must add, for those who own any Superadio....by all means, get a Select-a-Tenna or that Terk AM antenna that you only have to place next to it....listen to the AM audio go boom!

cd