GE superadio III score $5

[Lefty]

I've been reading for years about this radio but never came across one until last weekend. Found it at a near by thrift marked for $5, but it did have a few issues. If it hadn't been for the rep that this radio has I would have left it for someone else as I'm certainly not short of other projects or space for more stuff.

Anyway issues were:

Missing battery cover, not sure how I will deal with this but something with Velcro might work.

Non functioning power switch. Checking the web sites that deal with this famous radio it seems to be a common failure. This one had fallen apart and someone had just soldered the switch wires together so it was always powered up. That wouldn't be cool for battery operation which if I keep this radio is because it would make a good emergency radio. Anyway searching through my parts junk pile I found a push-on push-off switch that was a close match to the original. I installed it but the existing switch button cover wouldn't quite fit so I went with a different switch knob that works fine if not stock.

Last problem was an intermittent that would cause the radio to power off and on anytime you moved or tapped the case. I first thought that the soldered power wires might be the cause but it turned out to be a broken trace on the PCB that I was able to re-solder and now everything is solid.

So what do I think of the radio as a whole? Well I can understand the rep it has. The large speaker and tweeter gives it very solid volume and tone. I was listening to a baseball game and was amazed to be able to hear the wack of the ball off the bat, I hadn't heard that sound on a radio (mostly from the car radio) in years and always assumed it was my aged hearing, but that sound is back

Seems to not have any of the Bridie's and crackles and noise that many portable AM/FM radios seem to pick up. I haven't tried any late night DX hunting yet but can tell this is also a very sensitive radio. I like it a lot and for $5 I couldn't be happier with this find.

Now to check out sites for possible mods on this rig.

Lefty