Many thanks to SWLing Post contributor and supporter, Chuck Rippel (K8HU), who shared the following comment on this post regarding his excellent Superadio restoration services. I wanted Chuck’s comment to get more visibility, so I am reposting it here (hope you don’t mind, Chuck!).
Chuck comments:
A number of folks have written, asking if I have any radios to sell. Every now and again, there is a model 1 or model 2 (they are electrically identical) that I offer for sale.
However, there is a better approach to obtaining a restored SR-1 or 2. Go up on E-Bay and look for a nice GE SR and have the seller ship it to me after you purchase it. Make SURE the seller encloses a note with your purchase with your name and contact information so I know to whom the radio belongs.
This one caught my eye and would be a worthy candidate for restoration and to add to a collection:
[Note: the eBay Partnership link above supports the SWLing Post at no cost to the buyer]
It’s also an excellent example of a decent SR being sold 2nd hand.
Couple things to watch for:
Shipping charges in excess of $20. Save for coast to coast or a rural area, $20 is about the reasonable limit. Many of the radios are picked up by people wandering through estate sales, thrift shops, garage sales, etc…. who have no idea what they are buying. Many see “GE Super Radio” and put it on E-Bay simply because the radio carries the “Super Radio” label. I would guess that is why there are so many Super Radio model 3’s on E-Bay. Those were made by RCA with a GE label printed on them but their performance is sub-par to the model 1 or 2.
Finally, if you have a SR-1 or 2 you’d like me to work on, drop a note and I’ll send you back a 2 page FAQ. It outlines what will be done, how to ship it and pricing which includes a couple of options from which to choose. Please read and understand the FAQ before shipping. If you decide to send it, please do it promptly and let me know it’s coming. I ask you to include your POC information with the radio and that’s best done on a word processor or note pad then printed. Sometimes, handwritten script is a bit difficult to read.
I’ve gotten radios with no return address or POC sent from a UPS store, (who does that go back to?). There are a few options from which to choose and I strongly recommend 1, having Conformal Coating applied to the solder side of the PCB’s. Solder is hydroscopic and can absorb moisture over time and we won’t get into battery acid. My conformal coating is similar to the “MFP” process used on certain mil-spec electronics save that unlike MFP, I only apply coating to the solder side of the board. A board treated to MFP has both sides coated.
Ok, now a general question:
I created a Groups.io page where those interested in the 2 GE Super Radios can share their experiences. The initial invitations went out, give it a couple days but if you did not get one and are interested, drop me a note. My e-mail address is in several location on this blog [including in this post].
I was sold a 2880B for a bargain price and have done restoration and alignment work as well as cleaning . The results were pleasing . The FM section needs a final touch up which I will do soon . It has only average sensitivity on FM compared to my Panasonic RF-D 10 DAB+ /FM receiver .
I have the SR III, not the best of the bunch, but I bought it from a friend of mine in 1997, when he wanted to sell it at a HAM’fest. Not, the best in AM / FM RX’ing today, in my mind, but its selling points, today, are the fact that it can run for days on “D” sized batteries and is through-hole technology, making it repairable. Case-in-point, The Power Button / Switch went out on me about 20 years ago, and I was able to install a better one than the OEM one. And, to improve FM selectivity, I did the Bruce Elving TOKO IF modification, from 150kHz to 110kHz. That does add to some FM radio distortion, since it’s really clipping full +/-75kHz deviated stations, but you can now hear weaker stations just adjacent to strong ones, making it ideal for reception of weaker LPFM, FM Translators, college stations, (And, yes…), pirates and permissible Part 15 stations. So, worth having today in 2024? Oh yeah…
At one time over 21 years ago I lived about 450 miles south of KGO (810khz) and I was interested in a superradio at the time because I wanted to try daytime reception of KGO during the day, (not just during the night) and had the notable experience of the RCA version of the No III model mentioned in the above article.
I have a no. II buried in my collection and it worked fine, the no. III not so well, fast-fwd to today and I no longer have a need for a superradio as KGO long ago changed their format and no longer have programs I wish to listen to using a good selectivity radio any longer.
Nowadays, I’m focused on weak AM signals and use DSP radios for good selectivity alone as there are 2 weak AM signals I always try to pick up night or day, (from over 100 miles away in L.A.) as it’s a good test signal for DSP radios in EMI filtering and notably, for weak AM signal capture without having to deal with clear channel bleed over into my weak AM signal listening routines.
I also have to use most units (DSP) by a window as it’s the only “Sweet spot” where most internal house wiring EMI is notably less so than other reception areas around the house.
Not surprisingly, during a power outage, I was able to pick up weak AM signals from anywhere due to the AC current missing from the internal wiring for a brief period of time.