The GE Superradios I have are older ones-now going on over 20 yrs old!Never seen the new ones.Yes,liked the older AM-FM Hi-FI receivers best-esp the tubed ones!Used to have a Sansui AM/FM tuner-but sold it.Now I wished I kept it.Used that as a monitor when I was at home.Glad I am out of the commercial radio biz-pay is low and working hours and conditions are getting really bad.The gov't SW plant has great pay,working conditions,and benefits.

Yeah, did you spend a lot of time "On the air"? as a disc jockey?

I'd love to find a tube FM receiver too.  But finding one in good working condition might be a bit of a challenge, no?

No,I wasn't a DJ-an engineer-kept the DJ's on air.Fixed studio gear and transmitters.

I've thought about being a station engineer...sounds like a neat job, albeit underpaying...

Since radio stations are no longer required under FCC rules to have a FCC licensed engineer on duty to work for the station-the stations now hire just about anyone and pay them low as well as use them as a janitor rather than an "engineer".Many engineers left the trade and went on to the cellphone industry,internet and computers and so on.Another that I know now works for a State police Dept repairing the cruiser radios and their state radio network.Better job,better pay and benefits.Instead of commercial radio suggest other jobs.And for commercial radio some people work as "contract" engineers-they get paid when they do a repair as a trouble call.For this you are contract to several stations and always on call.You can't have a life.Had a taste of this-not good.And the station could drop you at anytime.Oh yes,tubed radios are getting harder to find and more expensive.And they usually have to be "recapped" and realigned in the IF stages.But worth it.

Getting back to the topic of the thread...

I'm pleased to announce I've bought my first transceiver, a Yaesu FT-470! This is a dual-band handheld from the late 1980s / early 1990s, and it's one of the most sought-after handheld transceivers today. It was at the top of my list of older handhelds to look for, but I never thought I would actually find one - working examples go for a ton of money and are usually swiped up quickly.

I bought my unit for $100 USD on eBay - way over my budget, but I couldn't pass it up, as it's in excellent condition and tested working, and it comes with an aftermarket AA battery pack, so no dealing with old NiCD batteries. I decided to seize the opportunity. I can't wait for it to arrive!

Congrats, Trent!  Now you'll be on the air soon!

Thanks! I've been on the air already using the transceiver in the radio station at school, but it will be awesome to be able to use my own equipment anywhere I like.

Tomorrow another amateur radio examination is being held at school, so I'm gonna try for my Advanced (Canadian equivalent to Extra) certification. I've taken the Advanced practice test twice and failed just by a hair both times, so I won't hold my breath, but we'll see.  

I passed my Advanced test with 82%! I'm absolutely floored. I only knew the answers to half the questions on the test, and the other half was a mixture of reasoning my way to a plausible answer and blind guessing. I can't believe I've gone from nothing to Advanced in just 2 weeks and 5 hours of studying!

That's great! 

My radio came a few days ago - it's in excellent shape and works wonderfully! I get good audio reports with it, and receive audio is worlds better than the Baofeng at school.

Also, last night I made my first two HF contacts! I decided to visit the station at school, and the transceiver there was already tuned to a net happening on the 80m band in Freeport, ME, about 400 km away. I had to try several times, but eventually net control did hear me and call me in. Afterwards a found a net happening here in the Maritimes, and after several tries someone heard my callsign and alerted net control, but after they called me in, nobody could hear a thing from me. Funny how low-frequency radio waves travel.

It was all very exciting, and I can see now why most hams are on HF - the sheer challenge of it makes it fun. On VHF and UHF you have repeaters and services like Echolink and IRLP which make everything easy, but on HF you're on the back of your own radio and antenna, and the atmospheric conditions.

Now THAT HT is a classic.  I love em.  My newer Yaesu is a pain in the arse to try to figure out because it is loaded with features and not the simple layout I was accustomed too on my old Kenwoods.  So I got me another Kenwood TH-79A off of e-bay that has the common dreaded display issue that I believe I remember how to fix.  Looking forward to using it. 

I'm betting that thing is older then you are!

Ah yes, the TH-79A was originally on my list of older HTs to look for, but I knocked it off once I learned about the display issue.

It for sure is older than me! It really is a great radio - I can't be taxed to list all the reasons why I love it so. I paid as much for it as I would have paid for a brand new dual-band HT from one of the big four manufacturers, but it works so well that I don't anticipate it developing any age-related problems, at least for the next several years, so I should get my money's worth out of it.