My depressing visit to RadioShack - Page 1
Forum section: electronics / general

author: buck converter
author_rank: Regular Contributor
timestamp: August 08, 2017, 05:06:06 pm
content: Today was the first time I stepped into a RadioShack. The outside of the store had a big "EVERYTHING MUST GO" and "UP TO 70% OFF" In side there was one employee at the counter. I walk in. To my right I am surrounded by cell phone cases and batteries. To my left there are other consumer electronics. The components were in the back. The metal drawers that used to hold a hefty supply of components was now unsorted, half empty. The ICs had bent, broken leads protruding from the packaging. Against the back wall were boxes of unsorted components from all of the surrounding stores that closed. All bags were $2USD. Apparently this store is not closeingI bought a microphone, zener diodes, copper clips, and an annoying 90dB alarm

author: aiq25
author_rank: Regular Contributor
timestamp: August 08, 2017, 05:23:22 pm
content: There was 4 RadioShack within a 15 mile radius from my house. All of them closed down. 3 of them very recently (within the last 2 months or so). Another one close to my work closed down. A little sad to see but I guess it's reality. I was able to catch the sale at one of the location and got great deals.

author: aargee
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: August 09, 2017, 02:01:36 am
content: Yes, I agree, memories of Dick Smith here... funnily enough a few years after they took over Tandy/Radio Shack .

author: Brumby
author_rank: Unknown
timestamp: August 09, 2017, 05:44:47 am
content: It wasn't the takeover of Tandy/Radio Shack that did the damage.It was certainly partly to do with the changing availability of electronics - but more to do with the sale of the business to greedy idiots that completely stuffed it up.I realised that the end of Dick Smith Electronics as I knew it was at hand when it had been under the ownership of Woolworths for a while. I went into one of their stores some years ago to buy a roll of solder and had to go looking to find the hobbyist's section - the pitiful sight that it was - only to find NOTHING.The store had pretty much turned into a consumer electrical store - with TVs, toasters and a plethora of mobile accessories ... but not an inch of solder in the place. This was disappointing - and when the sale of the Dick Smith business by Woolworths came up - I couldn't have cared less.My only real concern was how the man himself may have felt seeing the business he brought into the world being abused and destroyed. One cannot underestimate how great a job he did in building that business - especially when you consider how bashed and bruised it has become and yet, the name still carries value and good will.My hat is off to you, Dick.

author: WastelandTek
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: August 09, 2017, 07:39:14 am
content: odd how, just as the maker revolution springs to life, arduinos, 3D printing, etc. local parts availability dries updecidedly odd

author: Brumby
author_rank: Unknown
timestamp: August 09, 2017, 07:53:01 am
content: The transformation under Woolworths, while understandable in the changing landscape, was disappointing as a hobbyist - but it was whentheysold it on that the wheels fell off.

author: Brumby
author_rank: Unknown
timestamp: August 09, 2017, 07:56:08 am
content: Quote from: WastelandTek on August 09, 2017, 07:39:14 amNot really odd - just bad timing.

author: donotdespisethesnake
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: August 09, 2017, 10:56:46 am
content: Quote from: WastelandTek on August 09, 2017, 07:39:14 amActually, the maker revolution is invigorated by cheap Far eastern production replacing expensive local supply. Local transport is far more expensive than bulk ocean shipping, the last mile costs the most. Add cheaper production costs in the Far east, and you have a recipe for global trade and the death of local suppliers.I remember the old days, when I could take a time consuming trip to the nearest electronics store (30 minutes each way by train), and buy a pack of 10 resistors for £3. Now, I can buy a whole Arduino Uno for < £3, and I don't waste any time and money mucking about on trains, or finding a car parking space...I can also now get a professional quality PCB for $2... that is cheaper than buying stripboard, and a heck of a lot quicker to assemble.Any business based on technology is bound to change, and often quickly.

author: Richard Crowley
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: August 09, 2017, 11:46:18 am
content: Quote from: dos on August 09, 2017, 10:04:47 amHa! I live in the opposite corner of the country (Portland, Oregon), several thousands of miles away, and MPJA online is frequently my source as well. Along with All Electronics in Los Angeles where I was buying things back 50 years ago as a child (in person of course, as Al Gore hadn't invented the internet yet.)My list of go-to list of online vendors (in rough order of preference) includes:http://www.allelectronics.com/http://www.mpja.com/http://www.goldmine-elec-products.com/http://www.mouser.com/http://www.digikey.com/http://www.sparkfun.com/http://www.adafruit.com/http://www.apexjr.com/http://www.bgmicro.com/Of course several vendors specialize in certain things that put them at the top of the list. For example most of the things at Adafruit can't be found nearly anywhere else, etc. Or, if I need a decent audio-taper potentiometer, I will go to Apex Jr first.

author: eugenenine
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: August 10, 2017, 12:06:14 am
content: It appears that RS tried to get into the maker business, ours had Make: kits marked down 40% making them about the same price as decent stores.I had to bite my tongue many times in their stores listening to the sales droids lie about products. "this phone is on sale for $99 if you sign a two year contract" Of course you could go to the phone store and buy the same phone for $9 with a two year contract.One salesdroid convinced a woman their $20 for two 1200mAh batteries were the best available. At the time I was buying 1650mAh Sanyos for $2 each. A while later I bought a pair of theirs and compared to mine with my MAHA 9000. Their 1200mAH tested under 1000mAh and eventually leaked. I still have the Sanyo 1650mAh batteries from 1999 and they still are useable.

author: John Coloccia
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: August 10, 2017, 09:56:20 am
content: Quote from: buck converter on August 08, 2017, 05:06:06 pmICs, microphones, diodes? What are you talking about depressing? Sounds incredibly well stocked for a cell phone kiosk.

author: netdudeuk
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: August 10, 2017, 04:40:12 pm
content: I watched this the other day -https://youtu.be/JFivtOmXPPM

author: schmitt trigger
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: August 11, 2017, 02:10:16 am
content: As a young electronics experimenter, I loved the Forrest Mims books.I would study the book assiduously, then select one project which had caught my fancy, and went -where else? to Radio Shack.It would prove to be a frustrating experience, as many critical components were not available at the store.One would have to go component hunting all over the place. Even driving to nearby towns.Eventually one would find the required or similar components at TV shops, at TV shop prices.Thus, when i got my Popular Electronics subscription, I immediately embraced mail order. Even if one had to wait for the check to clear and the snail mail to deliver the package.Of course, the web and credit cards further simplified the process two orders of magnitude.

author: VK3DRB
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: August 11, 2017, 12:32:17 pm
content: Quote from: aargee on August 09, 2017, 02:01:36 amEven more funnily, is why Tandy did not sue Dick Smith over the System-80.(https://www.grammarphobia.com/blog/2010/07/is-funnily-enough-cringeworthy.html)

author: Zero999
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: August 11, 2017, 01:06:13 pm
content: Quote from: schmitt trigger on August 11, 2017, 02:10:16 amWhen I was younger, I loved the Forrest Mims books too. Now I go though them and notice, the same circuit is repeated many times, there are errors and poorly designed circuits. He wasn't an engineer, just a hobbyist, which is probably why I liked the books, as they were written in plain English. Looking back, the books should have been reviewed by a qualified person, before they were published.I also had the frustrating experience of not being able to find the components I needed in the local Tandy. I didn't even know that Tandy was the UK RadioShack. I read in one of the books that a certain part was available at RadioShack, so went on a hunt to see if I could find such a store in the UK and got nowhere.Now I realise how silly I was but I was only a child. lol

author: schmitt trigger
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: August 11, 2017, 05:24:01 pm
content: Agree that the books should have been better proof-read.Having said this, Mr. Mims had a simple prose and simple circuits that would encourage a young mind to build them and experiment with.I distinctly remember building an astable 555 oscillator and watch the LED blink. If I fed those pulses to a 7490 decade counter, one would see the actual bits being counted. And finally, by using a 7447, one could actually see a 7-segment display counting from 0 to 9.I do credit Mr. Mims as one of the reasons I chose Electronics as a profession.

author: rdl
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: August 11, 2017, 06:17:26 pm
content: Made by me in 1988 using nothing but Radio Shack parts and stuff and circuits from Forrest Mims books.

author: Zero999
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: August 11, 2017, 08:51:28 pm
content: Here's a classic Forrest Mims error. Assuming both LEDs are equal, LED 1 will never turn on, unless you count the tiny current through the base of Q1. A simple fix could be to make LED 1 red (low Vf) and LED 2 green (higher Vf) (assuming the saturation voltage of Q1 is low enough for it to work) or put a diode in series with it. This would have been an ideal opportunity to explain diode voltage drops and give an example of them being useful.And "Do not subsitute the '339"? WTF? There are only two comparators used. Substitute it for the LM393. I suspect what he meant was, use a comparator IC with an open collector output. Do not substituent with an op-amp IC which has a push-pull output. A short paragraph explaining the difference between open collector and push-pull outputs and ORing would have been a good idea.