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write your own review of the GE Superadio III.
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KB8FNQ
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Rating: 1/5
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Jan 31, 2007 06:22
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Update Report
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Time owned: more than 12 months
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This is on the III B. I have had three now in over a year. The codes were in order 1535RA, 5602RA, and 4614RA. The first was new from Amazon.com. The other two were replacements of the one previous from Thomson/GE. All have the very finicky tuning that makes it a pure pain to use. It sounds like it is locking and unlocking as you tune, trying to tune in the station you just passed and the one you just got to. I have never in my 54 years had a radio with such an excuse for a tuner. The III B, as far as I can see, is nothing but a cheap excuse of the Superadios I have had in the past and loved. Once tuned in, it sounds great is the only reason I did not rate it 0. I advise anyone to look for a good used III A or a II instead. You will be much happier. Thomson should have to recall the IIIs. Fat chance. Be aware that they hold the warranty to the orignal radio's year, not the one they send as replacement, so you are out of luck after 1 year. I will never sell the one I have right now unless someone wants it for parts only. I would never pass this off as a real Superadio. It is junk.
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WA4053SWL
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Rating: 5/5
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Jun 16, 2006 00:12
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GREAT!!! for $50
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Time owned: more than 12 months
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This radio is a very sensitive for this price, I have the Sony 2010 [synchronous detector]$350.00 and Panasonic 2200 $200.00, and I do enjoy it!!!, audio fantastic, sensitivity and selectivity great, for the DX in medium wave [up 1000 miles]with his ferrite is sufficient!!!
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K3YD
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Rating: 5/5
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Jan 17, 2006 17:18
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Does AM well
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Time owned: more than 12 months
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The Superadios have a near cult following because of good performance at a low price.
I own both a SR2 (for the office) and and SR III (home). The SR2 must be 20 years old by now, the 'III about 12. Have never had a problem with, or need to repair, either. While the tuning is a little "vague," both sensitivity and selectivity are excellent for a radio of this price.
Example: I can listen to WBAL out of Baltimore, MD all day (1090KHZ; abt. 140 miles away) even though I have a local (9 miles) station on 1100KHZ.
Batteries (8 "D" cells) last for months. The audio, from a LARGE internal speaker has good reproduction for voices.
Between the two, I slightly prefer the SR2 because of its better dial calibration.
If you remember radios before they had digital readout, you'll enjoy this one. Oh, you won't be able to loose it in a drawer like an an I-pod, this radio has the physical presence of a small briefcase.
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WU1T
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Rating: 4/5
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Nov 17, 2005 13:22
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Unbeatable for the price.
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Time owned: more than 12 months
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This radio is readily available on Amazon.com for less than $50. I own one that is about 8 years old, and am so pleased with it that I have another one, new in the box, waiting to go should my original crap out.
AM reception is where this radio excels, but it is also decent on FM as well.
The slide dial and tuning is nowhere near precise but this thing will pull in stations like nothing else.
Audio from the large speaker is superb for a portable.
Battery life is excellent, making this radio a good choice as a part of an emergency kit.
For the price, this radio lives up to the reputation.
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K4IDX
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Rating: 3/5
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Nov 8, 2005 12:51
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Fragile
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Time owned: more than 12 months
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I've owned my SR3 for about a year now and thoroughly enjoyed it up until about 1 month ago. Now it loses it's audio and when adjusting the volume it goes in and out. I haven't had a chance to tear into it to research the problem, but anyone who knows me can relate to how protective I am of my radio's and how I baby them, so in my opinion this radio is, as I said above, fragile.
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K2ROK
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Rating: 4/5
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Aug 28, 2005 10:26
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Hi-Fi AM
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Time owned: more than 12 months
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I wanted a radio that had decent AM reception and good audio reproduction, and the GE Super Radio III, which I have had over ten years, does the job well. It is hard to find anything that really does a decent job, off-the-shelf, for AM reception. Using the inside, long ferrite bar to peak stations by swinging the lightweight yet sturdy radio around yields nice groundwave reception locally. Strong stations sound even better when you widen the AM filter -- allowing close-to-FM sound on the AM band, which gets a bad rap from misinformed listeners who think AM always sounds bad. When AM stations that are properly processed (not over-modulated and have a clean audio-chain) are combined with a quality receiver, AM shines. (Can you tell I worked for several AM stations over the years)
If manufacturers simply built better receivers, like the GE Super Radio, more would know AM can sound close to FM in quality.
Aside from that, this radio took a tumble down some stairs, and still works fine. Only the front grill was slightly dented and part of the FM whip broke off. So it is quite rugged. The dial has always been not accurate in terms of frequency, but not a major problem. FM is nice and the AFC seems to do it's job, but sometimes the radio will still hunt for a stronger signal even with AFC on. FM reception with the stock whip is fantastic and audio from the nice speaker is clear and clean.
Overall, a quality rig that can be run for weeks and weeks of D cells, which adds some more weight, but stability to the radio.
There are not a lot of reasonbly-priced options out there for those wanting more than a digital-clock radio for real radio reception in this price range, but the GE SuperRadio fits the bill nicely.
I would have given it a 5 if not for the FM drift.
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K9WD
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Rating: 5/5
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Jul 31, 2005 12:27
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great unit
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Time owned: more than 12 months
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This radio is top notch and a bargin. It's a great DX radio. Rugged and great for trips
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WA2CLP
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Rating: 5/5
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Jul 31, 2005 10:29
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Great Radio for the price!!
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Time owned: 0 to 3 months
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You won't find this radio in many stores. After all it's nothing more than a 70's style am/fm portable radio with the old vernier tuning that's big and clunky. You buy the Superadio for one purpose and that's the am receiver and antenna. I'd heard about this radio from a fellow "Ham" who recommended it.
The first night I tried this radio we were staying in a motel near Brookfield, Pa. on our way back from Wisconsin. It was brand new so I cracked open the box, plugged it in and immediately heard KCNZ "The Fan" from Cedar Falls Iowa on 1650 KHz. Also heard Radio Disney from Milwaukee on 1640. When was the last time you heard any am station from Milwaukee on the east coast? Right next to KDKA was CFRB on 1010 KHz from Toronto. This radio really works!
Using the FCC website, http://www.fcc.gov/mb/audio/amq.html you can look-up and search for any of these am or fm radio stations. In addition to general information you will be able to see day and night am antenna patterns on graphs. I didn't realize that there were so many "omni directional" low power stations above 1610 kHz. On 1670, for example, there�s only 4 stations listed in the U.S. and 2 are in California. I listened there and heard WMWR from Dry Branch, Ga. If you go lower down the band the frequencies are more crowded.
At home in NJ I've heard 950 WPEN every night and its loud: Real loud from "Philly," about 90 miles to the south. Of course you have to do some guessing as to what frequency you're on but you get used to that in short order. Also there are external antenna terminals on the back which are perfect for connecting a long wire, fm antenna and ground. I've had great luck with my 125' "snake antenna," which lies on the ground. Missing, however, is a dial light but for the price, you get a basic radio that sounds decent and should run for a long time on those 6 "D" batteries. The sound works best at low to mid range so don't try to blast the volume. And one more thing I just noticed: Strong, local am signals seem to overload the receiver so if you tune about 20 KHZ or so below one of the locals, you hear a 2nd signal from the same station, that's not supposed to be there. As far as FM is concerned, I'd say the receiver is above average with good sound.
Getting back to that vernier dial: It's about six inches from one end of the dial to the other and you can tune "in-between" stations: That's where the European am broadcast stations are located. With the sunspot cycle at a low point this might be the perfect time to listen for one of those "trans-Atlantics" this winter when it's nice and quiet on the am band. Happy listening!
P.S. Ingredients for success: A clear frequency, an omni transmit antenna, some patience and the GE Superadio, of course.
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