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SUPERSTAR 4900B

Switch Kit

Switch Kit

Well-Known Member
Apr 6, 2005
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I've seen a few of these of late , anyone have any goods on this one ? Is it a good radio ? I've seen it two ways now , 1. were it was called SS 4900B and another were it was called a President Roosevelt , saw some stuff on cb tricks , looks like it's a 2166 driving 2 x 1969s , any reviews are info on this one would be interesting to know. Thanks ]SS 4900B
Front_Panel.jpg
 

This radio is famous for what happens as soon as you plug in a mike wired for a RCI radio. Uses the same plug, but the wiring is different. The 4900 has 12 Volts on one of the six pins. Presumably to run toys inside the mike, like maybe a touch-tone pad?

The RCI-wired mike will feed this 12 Volts into the 5-Volt CPU chip. But not for long.

Do a Google on this model, and count the number of forum/bbs posts asking where to buy a replacement CPU chip. But no replies with a source.

Never have seen one before its brain got scrambled, always after.

73
 
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There has been a number of posts about the 4900B over the years and the majority of them have advised to stay away from them.

I had one and knew a guy that had one as well. Neither of us have them anymore.

Nomad is right about incorrect mic wiring. It can destroy the CPU in the radio. This is true of the Magnum 257 line of radios too. The stock mics are actually power mics and receive voltage from pin 6.

The 4900B was a poor performer on sideband. Weak modulation made it unusable. A stock 40 channel SSB CB would blow it away. I even installed a speech processor kit to try to boost audio. Didn't help enough.
Some people said it performed ok on AM, but I can't confirm that. Kind of overkill for AM, and there are radios that cost less and do better job.

I don't think the President Roosevelt version was ever made because of issues with the radio.

It was a good looking radio, too bad it tanked.
 
same thing happens to a president george when a duck trys to wire a turner base mic by trial and error, 12v back into the up/dwn scan pin smokes the cpu.
 
OUCH !! AND OUCH !! AGAIN !! I do know this much , it's the same wiring as the Magnum Delta Force , I was also told to make damned sure that I didn't wire it wrong ,after wiring a mic for it ,I checked it on a mic tester and it was in the good , plugged it in the radio and then turned it on , the radio said "Hello" to me on the read out , went to check to see what it was doing and the face would blacken out on PTT on show nothing on the meter ? all though when unkeyed I could get all the channels and everything else seemed to work , just no transmit and a blackened face when keyed down , I did hear some recieve ,static when turning the volume up hi and low , does this sound like the cpu to you's ? Thanks guys for the reply's . Switch Kit .........I only know one thing , I did not wire it wrong .......I made sure of that before I started on this journey.
 
i have one of these radios its very loud on am and great on ssb now that i had the ssb reworked. great radio if you can find someone who knows how to fix the ssb. the clarifier is very very touchy though. mine needs a new mic gain pot/knob << not sure what to call it. its like mic gain is either wide open or off. other than that it works great.

just sits on top of my 2995dx now though :) dual antenna outputs is very cool option. to bad like that said above that it tanked out. wish more radios had the options that that radio has.
 
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Thats what your problem is Jim the CPU I have one here that needs the CPU.. I believe it recieves faintly also if my memory serves me correct but i am not positive great lookin radio I wish it worked. I did research on these and also found out about the people cooking the cpu with rci mics. Otheres have no problems and love them. Maycom makes these and has one under a different model number in there radio lineup. Theres actually 2 models an export and a regular I think they are the Maycom BS-27 and the BS-29. Mine is in nice shape and a shame it doesnt work so I was actually thinkin on selling it for parts or trading it its just such a neat radio dual antenna hookups with a digital push button for the Antenna A abd B anyways I like them and would like to try one I believe if left alone they will last as long as any of the others. Here are the names this radio chassis uses.......President Roosevelt

STABO XF-9082

SuperStar 4900B

(MayCom BS27 & BS29) heres the mods ... http://www.geocities.com/dre_cb/roosevelt/4900b_freq_mod.htm .... heres the inside info.... http://www.geocities.com/dre_cb/roosevelt/4900b_tour.htm
 
:( I actually have one that use to work pretty good for some un explained reason it doesn't want to recieve anymore. i bought it back from a friend that needed cash, iyt worked great out in the garage as basically a monitoring radio and one day nothing. Anyone one know of someone REPUTABLE that works on this unit? :( :(
 
I would love to buy a good 4900b from someone. Fire communications has one for sale at $350!!!!! tHATS MORE THAN THEY COST NEW.
 
i have one that has the SSB reworked. needs a new mic gain pot though kids knocked it off the desk other than that it work great. cant ajust mic gain. its all the way on or off. but is right on freq on SSB crystal clear and loud as fark on AM.

i would sell it or buy your mic gain pot. ??? in your broken radio.
 

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