GE General Electric SSB Superbase and other GE Radios

[Foxhunter]

Saw a couple of other guys commenting briefly (in another unrelated thread) that they liked the old GE General Electric Superbase.


Has anyone had one? What do you think of them? What do they have in common with other rigs of the time (chassis boards etc) ? What about any of the other GE models ?


The comments were made that they liked the GE Superbase and thought it was a good radio and somewhat close to the Cobra 2000GTL in quality.


I've always liked GE General Electric for other reasons aside from consumer electronics. I DID NOT like their dealings with the embargo nation of Iran that came to light a few years ago, however that is a different story. GE is a technically sophisticated company and maker of many high end scientific and military instruments. They have made satellites and even rocketry for the US Space Program as well as complex weaponry components for the US Military. So far from being a maker of dishwashers and laundry machines. Although not perfect I'm sure, they still do know what they are doing it seems.


But what about their Citizen's Band CB radios they made a decade or more ago? Anyone find them to be decent? Anyone still have one or even use one?


I have 3 GE General Electric CB's and have never even used them, only plugged them in to see if they power on (so if I were selling them on Ebay I would say----"they work great !!").



I have one GE mobile radio and two GE base station CB's.

GE General Electric Model no. 3-5819A
40 channel mobile radio AM

GE General Electric Model no. 3-5869A
40 channel base radio AM

GE General Electric Model no. 3-5875A Superbase
40 channel base radio AM SSB


Does anyone else have these units or any other General Electric CB radios ? What do or did you think ?

[preacherman]

The GE Superbase has become somewhat of a collector's item.
It had the 02A pll and a rather unique two board system that
was a pain to work on. On the positive side, the radio had
many features that were ahead of it's time.

It had a switchable speech compressor that really gave the AM
audio punch. It had a dual clarifier like the Cobra 2000 and had
two SO239's on the back for A and B antenna connections. They
didn't make much power...about 15w, but the one I had was an
audio monster.
Preacherman

[209 first class]

im curious too. how would the superbase compare with a tram d201, or browning eagle or rci 2990 in terms of recieve and transmit sound quality and sensitivity ect? everyone says those dak radios are great too, but i never hear anyone on the air bragging they have one so i have no clue what they sound like. (or superbase for that matter) 209

[01Bravo92]

I'm running an old 40ch GE am Base with a Firestik mounted on the gutter of the house. I've managed a skip of about 50-55 miles two wks ago. No sideband, but good audio.

[shakuna]

i saw the ge ssb superbase on ebay for sell a few days ago for around 100$. i started to bid on it, but did,nt . its a real nice looking base radio. has alot of features that some of the newer have . and its sorta like a offstyle of a cobra 2000 gtl base.

i,m sure its a real talker and could be upgraded some to realy sound great and have extra watts. i,m impressed about its style and quality. perhaps 1 day i may try it out. i like any base radio that has tons of extras on it lol. the more, the happier i get lol. like my dx 2547 it has many extras and features which realy impresses me amd its a real talker. many have told me it sounds so well and crisp. ah the good ole days . gota love them.

[TheCBDoctor]

Hi,

Most of the GE's that I have worked on over the years were made by Cybernet. The same company that made the Tiger 40A. In fact, many of the GE's where identical to the very popular Tiger 40A.

What I always liked about the GE are the features. They were always trying something new. The radio was made of "real" metal and very sturdy. They had a nice modern look to them. The Super base is hard to work on, but it was fully loaded and capable of channel expansion.

There are three main versions of the board. The first was a 3 crystal loop and very versatile. The second version eliminated the need of one of the crystals. The last version used a single crystal and the 03A PLL. This limited any channel expansion. Before I would buy a Super Base I would get a money back guarantee first. Trying to fix a radio that old and having to deal with separating the two boards inside, and still make tests is a pain in the AAAASSSS.

[Foxhunter]

Well with what Shakuna was saying about prices, the only models I've recently seen on Ebay are asking $225-$265 each----not exactly cheap. There are exceptions at both ends of the price spectrum that I know, and I'm not sure if those listings are typical or not. I do take Ebay prices with a grain of salt both ways-----sometimes high quality items actually sell dirt cheap far below their value and at other times prices are seriously inflated.


With what CB Doctor said, I do have a couple of nice condition Gladding Corp radios----the Pearce Simpson (Gladding) Lynx 23 and the Pearce Simpson (Gladding) Bearcat 23B although I haven't checked to see if they had anything to do with Cybernet like you said the Tiger 40A did. Now I didn't know that the Pearce Simpson shared any components with the GE Superbase. It does seem like a well-featured radio and the built-in antenna switch is definitely unusual for a Citizen's Band unit. I'll have to get it out and put it on the Termaline and test it.


I appreciate the input everyone.


I'm not very familiar with GE CB radios so I'd wonder how I would tell which of the 3 versions I own? Early, middle or final?

GE General Electric Model no. 3-5875A Superbase
40 channel base radio AM SSB
Date Code: 4839
Doc. No.: 42000587

Here's an example pic for anyone interested

[Ryder505]

I had a GE 3-5875A Superbase about 15 years ago. It can be modified for extra channels(26.435-27.705 with 2 switches) and I had the finals replaced with bigger ones so it would do 30 watts out of the radio. I made a great big mistake by trading it for a Galaxy 2517 base and some cash. I wished that I had never got rid of that radio, though the galaxy had FM(I barely used) and barely had a little better transmit power the GE had better recieve. If you can get one that has not been all messed up it would be a great deal. Also the other GE's you have one will take the exact same channels as the base, the other one can only be modified with a kit such as the expo expander100.

[Secret Squirrel]

I did have a GE 5813B that I had tuned up by Sparky's with a Cybernet, board made in Japan. It was a clean sounding radio from the 1980's, and it had a full sized meter. Al had used it for a week as his base radio at the shop, to check out his tune up job, prior to sending it back to me. He repeatedly had drivers asking what radio he was talking on. Right now I have two Lafayettes and a Pearce Simpson Pussycat 23 that use similar Cybernet boards. The Lafayette HB740 is a great sounding radio and I just have the stock tune on it 3.5 watts swinging to 16 watts. The Pearce Simpson Pussycat 23 is all deadkey with little swing. It hears and talks great, with a stock mic.

[TheCBDoctor]

Hi Foxhunter,

The Photo of the GE in your post is exactly what I am talking about the GE being a beautiful radio cosmetically and the features always ahead of the competition. They rarely need maintenance. You can tell what version you have by counting the crystals. You should have a 10.240 MHz for a PLL reference crystal and also used as a mixer, a 10.6950 MHz crystal for transmit, and I forgot the specific frequency of the last crystal, but there should be a total of 3 for the earliest version.

The second version only has two crystals and the latest version has one crystal and possibly a 03A PLL instead of the versatile 02A.

An interesting thing about the early version is the PLL crystal 10.240 MHz is 2 to the 10th power, which is 1024. This makes it easier for using a binary counter. All modern CB's use this crystal. This is common, but what is interesting is it is used to mix with the 10.695 crystal. The first IF is 10.6950 MHz. If you subtract 10.240 from 10.6950 you get 455 KHz which is the second IF. Very clever huh?

FM broadcast uses 10.7 MHz for its IF and AM broadcast uses 455 KHz for its IF. The GE and the Tiger 40A radio was designed so commonly made parts already available can be used to keep the cost down when manufacturing the radio. Very clever Huh?

I like the GE, it comes in 3rd behind the Uniden HR2510 and the Cobra 2000 GTL in my book. I know it is not fair to compare the GE to the 10 meter HR 2510. As for maintenance it is superior to the Cobra 2000 GTL. The only feature that is not as good as the Uniden and Cobra is the efficiency of the ANL-NB circuit. It works opposite of the way the Cobra works and does not do as good of a job.

Aside from that I would put the GE on the same level as the Cobra 2000 GTL except I make money repairing the Cobra 2000 GTL. I rarely need to fix a GE so that is why I like the 2000 more.

Respectfully,

[Foxhunter]

Hi there CB Doctor I appreciate you writing me back with such a detailed and thorough post, I'll be cut & pasting it into an email draft for safe keeping.

I'll have to get mine out and go over the radio. Clean it up a little and test it out to see what it's condition truly is. It looks to be in nice shape and does power on, that's all I know. It still has some original manufacturer 6-inch triangular GE feature labels on the top of the case even, unfortunately they are faded some as it looks like someone used Windex on them. I'll have to be sure and open up the cover to see what particular model I have and will label the information about the radio on the underside.

With most items I receive, I write the information down on wide blue painter's tape and adhere it to the underside of each radio I get in. That way I can tell at a glance what I paid, where I got it, any specific model details, it's output, things wrong etc.


Thank you for your help and everyone else who's written in, haven't seen too much written about them. Anyone else with anything to add for either me or other CBRT Forum visitors or members-----I'd appreciate it.

[TwentyTwo-Zero]

I owned one several years ago and was delighted by all the 'ahead of their time' bells and whistles the radio offered - like speech compression. After having it in the shop 3 times in two months for repairs I was even more delighted to get rid of it. The foil traces on the boards tend to lift and even when repaired it's not long before another area lifts. They are sweet looking radios, but leave a lot to be desired as far as performance and reliability goes. There are other reports on the Interenet of this same thing happening to others, so I think it's safe to say this problem is common. Personally, I wouldn't think about trying to put it in the same 'class' as a 2000GTL, but that's just my opinion. The reason you don't see many come across the bench is because the majority of them ended up in the garbage dump...

[TheCBDoctor]

Hi TwentyTwo-Zero

That is not fair to the GE. The Cobra 2000 GTL has its inherent flaws as do many radios. If you want to talk about a radio that was garbage then I would say I it would be the DAK.

At least the GE and the 2000 GTL can be fixed, except for the 2000's counter that is a pain in the assets.

Respectfully,

[TwentyTwo-Zero]

That is not fair to the GE...

Not fair? How is giving an honest opinion regarding my personal experience with this particular radio not fair? As I stated previously others have expressed having the exact same problem with the radio as I had, so my experience doesn't appear to be an isolated case. That would indicate to me that it is definitely a potential problem - something that a person may want to be aware of if they are considering obtaining one of these radios. Opinions about the radio were asked for, and I gave my honest opinion...how is that being unfair?

[Foxhunter]

If you want to talk about a radio that was garbage then I would say I it would be the DAK.

Why is that ? I had thought (not knowing) that DAK might have been right up there with CPI or possibly Stoner. Not true ? I almost bid on a DAK on Ebay about 2 months ago but felt guilty over my finances and didn't. It had 4 panel meters on it's face and looked impressive like it was a serious radio. Never saw one in-person. Just how bad are they ?

[TwentyTwo-Zero]

The biggest downfall of the DAK radios I'm familiar with is the power supply board, but that's not to say there weren't others. Oh yeah...there's also the spagetti wiring nightmare if you ever work on one...lol. Wire everywhere and no particular color codes to follow...

[TheCBDoctor]

Hi TwentyTwo-Zero

It is not fair to say the GE has flaws without pointing out that many radios including the Cobra 2000 GTL have inherent design flaws. I don't doubt your experience with the GE Super base. I have never seen that problem on GE's mobile units. I respect your opinion. I think GE made a great radio, but then I can fix my own radios, so I never have complaints about a radio's inherent design flaws.

The only exception I make is for the DAK. That is a piece of garbage. From the 40 some-odd screws just to take the cover off to the mixing of solid state with a tube audio circuit and Final. We are all entitled to our opinion, including you. I respect your opinion.

It is good that others see a variety of opinions on this forum. It allows each of us to make up our own minds. I am sure I will catch hell for bad mouthing the DAK.

Respectfully,

[209 first class]

im glad to hear the negative replies, keep em coming,lol. its important to those considering purchasing these things. i hope someone can vouch on the performance of these radios. (recieve/transmit quality ). a fancy expensive car is no fun when it needs fixing either... 2zero9

[Foxhunter]

I have a chance to buy one locally right now, brand new unopened in the box for a $95. It gets me sick because I don't have much money to spare right now. It's killing me I wish I didn't know about it.

[209 first class]

superbase for 95$ ??? got paypal ?

[hotrod02]

I recently aquired a GE "superbase". Everything works flawlessly, at present I'm seeing about 12 watts. Its no powerhouse but its audio is excellent , and useing a sedelta echo master classic, it really talks. In My opnion it compares very well to a Cobra 2000

[darkseid]

I have had both the Cobra 2000 and the GE Superbase, both are great radios.... wish I never sold both of them, but if I had a choice to buy both again, I would only buy the GE Superbase..... I never had one problem running that radio, RX, SSB and the audio was awesome. It is one sweet base...

The only GE I have right now is a GE 3-5813B from the 70's, the ears and the audio is just as good as my malaysia made 148, except no SSB... I think the boards they used in these where common with other brands like RCA, Tiger 40, Lafayette etc..

[disciple177]

I have owned several Ge Superbases and also Cobra 2000's...both are tremendous on RX, but when i talk SSB on either of them; most say the GE Superbase is one of the best clearest sounding SSB CB bases they have ever heard. The Cobra 2000 over the years is going to need simple repairs like the zen diode on the Freq counter, meters need replaced because no Jewels in them etc etc. Both are top notch radios to listen too and TX on. Which one do i end up using the most??? The Superbase everytime....What radio have i ran the most since the mid 70's??? The Tram D201,,,what radio do i feel has the BEST RX of all CB radio base stations??? The D201. And yes i have owned the Browning MK 2 and MK 3, but the D201 takes the cake. I still have a Dak X and it is where it should be....in the closet...If one of the top electrical engineering companies ran both the SuperBase and the Cobra 2000 i would like to see what their assessments would end up. In 1969 i do know that 39 products of GE went to the moon in July, but we all know the radios that went to the Moon were Collins.

[Kikker]

I also have a Cobra 2000 GTL and a GE SuperBase 3-5875A. Both of which I bought brand new. I would have a hard time deciding which is my favorite but I think it would be the SuperBase. I like how all of the controls are laid out on the Cobra 2000 GTL better.

-- Thursday, 05 February 2015, 10:50 AM --

My Cobra 2000 GTL hears a lot better than my GE Superbase. I would like to find someone that could tuneup the Superbase. It hasn't ever been touched.

-- Monday, 30 March 2015, 8:14 AM --

I think it's only fair to evaluate or compare a GE Superbase 3-5875A if the radio is stock and being compared to any other completely stock radio. Having said that, I have found that there are very few radios out there that someone hasn't been into. For some reason the golden screwdriver operators always seem to know more than the engineers and designers of these radios. Grant it, some of these radio could stand a little tweeking but most of them have had far more attention than they deserve.

I bought a new GE 3-5875A Superbase and a Cobra 2000GTL in 1978 and until 3 days ago both has been working flawlessly. The GE Superbase finally died with a power switch that failed to come on when push. Neither radio had ever been opened much less worked on or PEAKED and TUNED and I have been able to talk anywhere I wanted to.

[Turk182]

Roger that Kikker, my power switch died also, and replaced it w/a simple Radio Shack button switch....but last night my function (AM/SSB) switch failed, leaving only AM working. Don't know where I can find one of them, or how to fix the broken one?!?!...Otherwise, over the years it's been a kickin' radio, gettin' me as far as Western Canada barefoot on SSB.