14 Dec
2008
14 Dec
'08
12:54 a.m.
Someone on comp.os.cpm pointed this out. I don't recall anyone doing so
here. http://www.radioshackcatalogs.com/. Mmm... Fond memories of when
Radio Shack didn't stink.
--
David Griffith
dgriffi at cs.csubak.edu
A: Because it fouls the order in which people normally read text.
Q: Why is top-posting such a bad thing?
A: Top-posting.
Q: What is the most annoying thing in e-mail?
14 Dec
14 Dec
12:12 p.m.
The good old days of Radio Shack, were the electronics parts isles
outnumbered the rest of the store, where you could buy just about
anything for hobbyist work without having to weed through 5,000 radio
controlled crapola toys, cellular displays and other useless nonsense...
When Radio Shack was a respectable place to shop, and not a mini-Circuit
City wannabe
Curt
David Griffith wrote:
Someone on comp.os.cpm pointed this out. I don't
recall anyone doing so
here. http://www.radioshackcatalogs.com/. Mmm... Fond memories of when
Radio Shack didn't stink.
3:31 p.m.
David Griffith wrote:
Someone on comp.os.cpm pointed this out. I don't
recall anyone doing
so
here. http://www.radioshackcatalogs.com/. Mmm...
Fond memories of
when
Radio Shack didn't stink.
"For almost 65 years RadioShack has produced a catalog to rival no other
electronics and technology company."
Certainly the case now, but I expect that in the early days they _did_
intend to rival many other's catalogues :-)
(I suppose the same could be said for Maplin).
Nice site BTW. Cue someone to ask for a faster page-flick mode ...
Antonio
3:50 p.m.
On Sun, Dec 14, 2008 at 2:31 PM, a.carlini <arcarlini at iee.org> wrote:
Nice site BTW. Cue someone to ask for a faster
page-flick mode ...
Well there's this, if you don't want to put up with all that
javascript silliness:
http://pdf.textfiles.com/catalogs/RADIOSHACK/
6:31 p.m.
Jason T wrote:
On Sun, Dec 14, 2008 at 2:31 PM, a.carlini
<arcarlini at iee.org> wrote:
And let's also give a shout to the person doing things correctly:
http://ascii.textfiles.com/archives/1558
--
Jim Leonard (trixter at oldskool.org) http://www.oldskool.org/
Help our electronic games project: http://www.mobygames.com/
Or check out some trippy MindCandy at http://www.mindcandydvd.com/
A child borne of the home computer wars: http://trixter.wordpress.com/
Nice site BTW. Cue someone to ask for a faster
page-flick mode ...
Well there's this, if you don't want to put up with all that
javascript silliness:
http://pdf.textfiles.com/catalogs/RADIOSHACK/ 
19 Dec
19 Dec
9:02 a.m.
On Sun, Dec 14, 2008 at 08:31:41PM -0000, a.carlini wrote:
David Griffith wrote:
I noticed this today on a RSS feed, a article on Radio Shack historically
speaking:
http://www.arrl.org/news/features/2008/12/19/10513/
- Diane (VA3DB)
--
- db at FreeBSD.org db at db.net http://www.db.net/~db
Someone on comp.os.cpm pointed this out. I
don't recall anyone doing
so
here. http://www.radioshackcatalogs.com/.
Mmm... Fond memories of
when
Radio Shack didn't stink.
15 Dec
15 Dec
3:15 a.m.
On Dec 14, 2008, at 12:12 PM, Curt @ Atari Museum wrote:
The good old days of Radio Shack, were the electronics
parts isles
outnumbered the rest of the store, where you could buy just about
anything for hobbyist work without having to weed through 5,000
radio controlled crapola toys, cellular displays and other useless
nonsense...
When Radio Shack was a respectable place to shop, and not a mini-
Circuit City wannabe
To be fair...Radio Shack did indeed descend into the murky depths
of being an overcommercialized cell phone and cheap stereo equipment
pusher, but just recently, over the past two years or so, they've
started to come back.
In that time, the electronic parts inventories of my two local RS
stores has more than doubled. They've inked some sort of an
agreement with Parallax, Inc. and are now selling their stuff,
including Basic Stamps and various sensors and robotics goodies. Not
all stores stock all of this stuff, but I've seen bits and pieces of
it at several of them.
This is a huge step in the right direction. I suggest we support
them in this effort in any way we can.
-Dave
--
Dave McGuire
Port Charlotte, FL
8:48 a.m.
Dave McGuire wrote:
To be fair...Radio Shack did indeed descend into the
murky depths of
being an overcommercialized cell phone and cheap stereo equipment
pusher, but just recently, over the past two years or so, they've
started to come back.
In that time, the electronic parts inventories of my two local RS
stores has more than doubled. They've inked some sort of an agreement
with Parallax, Inc. and are now selling their stuff, including Basic
Stamps and various sensors and robotics goodies. Not all stores stock
all of this stuff, but I've seen bits and pieces of it at several of them.
Hmm, I went into the local one a little while back looking for something or
other...
1) Anything remotely interesting is stashed behind acres of gimmicky plastic
crap electrical goods,
2) There seemed to be a huge markup for 'convenience',
3) Fifteen sales assistants tried to pounce on me the moment I entered the store,
4) The shop was in a mall, and basically a box with one side missing - the
noise level made it utterly impossible to have any kind of conversation
without shouting.
Now, I can understand the first two in a business context - and I actually
don't mind paying over the odds for a nice environment and good service. But
given that RS seem to offer neither, there's little point in using them for
something I can get elsewhere anyway.
(Now Digikey are only about an hours' drive from me - maybe I should suggest
that they open a store here :-)
cheers
Jules
1:47 p.m.
Jules Richardson wrote:
Dave McGuire wrote:
You will probably find the best selection of
components at Radio Shacks
in strip malls.
Cheers,
Bryan
To be fair...Radio Shack did indeed descend
into the murky depths
of being an overcommercialized cell phone and cheap stereo equipment
pusher, but just recently, over the past two years or so, they've
started to come back.
In that time, the electronic parts inventories of my two local RS
stores has more than doubled. They've inked some sort of an
agreement with Parallax, Inc. and are now selling their stuff,
including Basic Stamps and various sensors and robotics goodies. Not
all stores stock all of this stuff, but I've seen bits and pieces of
it at several of them.
Hmm, I went into the local one a little while back looking for
something or other...
1) Anything remotely interesting is stashed behind acres of gimmicky
plastic crap electrical goods,
2) There seemed to be a huge markup for 'convenience',
3) Fifteen sales assistants tried to pounce on me the moment I entered
the store,
4) The shop was in a mall, and basically a box with one side missing -
the noise level made it utterly impossible to have any kind of
conversation without shouting. 
2:15 p.m.
Bryan Pope wrote:
You will probably find the best selection of
components at Radio
Shacks in strip malls.
But never strippers in strip malls!
Other than patching a odd cable together ( audio or serial ) and few 10
cent parts
I needed ( diodes, odd led , cap ) I have not bought any thing large
from RS.
Cheers,
Bryan
Ben.
12:06 p.m.
Dave McGuire wrote:
In that time, the electronic parts inventories of my
two local RS
stores has more than doubled. They've inked some sort of an agreement
with Parallax, Inc. and are now selling their stuff, including Basic
Stamps and various sensors and robotics goodies. Not all stores stock
all of this stuff, but I've seen bits and pieces of it at several of them.
This is a huge step in the right direction. I suggest we support them
in this effort in any way we can.
Another nice thing is their $0 shipping policy. If you order online
and have your parts shipped to the nearest store, it takes a day or two
at no charge.
And yeah, they charge silly money for common component parts. Like
somebody said, I just consider it a "convenience tax".
Doc
12:13 p.m.
On 15 Dec 2008 at 3:15, Dave McGuire wrote:
In that time, the electronic parts inventories of
my two local RS
stores has more than doubled. They've inked some sort of an
agreement with Parallax, Inc. and are now selling their stuff,
including Basic Stamps and various sensors and robotics goodies. Not
all stores stock all of this stuff, but I've seen bits and pieces of
it at several of them.
Is this a local phenomenon? I certainly don't see any sign of it on
the RS website. While the local store offered some great bargains
10-15 years ago while it was trashing its inventory of components (as
in, "How about 10 bucks for the whole box of stuff there in the
corner?"), I see no improvement at all.
Periodically (the local store is near where I shop for groceries),
I'll go in and wander to the rear of the store to where what passes
for components are sold and try to see what could be built with what
is in stock. I can still make a linear PSU, as the store has some
power transformers, diodes and voltage regulators (LM317, 7812, 7805)
and capacitors. I could also probably build a small audio amplifier
and a few other analog projects.
I don't see the Parallax uCs on the RS web site, however.
I miss the "bubble pack" wrapping for components, particularly
connectors. The local store now keeps many connectors in small
drawers that staff seems to reserve the right to browse in. And
prices for the same have gone up substantially.
I miss the "grap bag" assortments that RS used to offer of
semiconductors. Most of the time, the stuff contained therein was
pretty ordinary, but the occasional bit of exotica could be found.
Just like playing the lottery.
It wouldn't hurt one bit if we could get the young 'uns interested in
low-level electronic tinkering once again. Radio Shack used to be a
good source for that stuff, but it seems, no longer.
Cheers,
Chuck
1:33 p.m.
On Dec 15, 2008, at 12:13 PM, Chuck Guzis wrote:
I saw the press release about the Parallax deal a long time ago;
it's chain-wide. My stores here (southwest Florida) have the stuff,
and I've heard from a friend in Rhode Island that they do up there as
well.
I don't think I've ever looked at their web site.
In that
time, the electronic parts inventories of my two local RS
stores has more than doubled. They've inked some sort of an
agreement with Parallax, Inc. and are now selling their stuff,
including Basic Stamps and various sensors and robotics goodies. Not
all stores stock all of this stuff, but I've seen bits and pieces of
it at several of them.
Is this a local phenomenon? I certainly don't see any sign of it on
the RS website. While the local store offered some great bargains
10-15 years ago while it was trashing its inventory of components (as
in, "How about 10 bucks for the whole box of stuff there in the
corner?"), I see no improvement at all.
Keep an eye open. My local store (and I live in a VERY
nontechnical area...nothing but bike trash and "cougars" around here)
added a second parts cabinet this past spring. It's nowhere near
what it was when I was growing up in the 1970s, but it's FAR better
than it was in the late 1990s.
I don't see the Parallax uCs on the RS web site,
however.
I see them in the store. =) I bought one of the Parallax PIR
sensors there a few weeks ago.
I miss the "bubble pack" wrapping for
components, particularly
connectors. The local store now keeps many connectors in small
drawers that staff seems to reserve the right to browse in. And
prices for the same have gone up substantially.
Holy cow...I think you should complain to the manager of that
store, or simply go to a different one. The drawers are there to
browse in. I do it all the time. Pricing...well, not much can be
done about that. If you're buying enough components to warrant that
hard of a look at their pricing, you should probably be ordering them
from DigiKey or Mouser. ;)
I miss the "grap bag" assortments that RS
used to offer of
semiconductors. Most of the time, the stuff contained therein was
pretty ordinary, but the occasional bit of exotica could be found.
Just like playing the lottery.
Oh yes, I remember those!
It wouldn't hurt one bit if we could get the young
'uns interested in
low-level electronic tinkering once again. Radio Shack used to be a
good source for that stuff, but it seems, no longer.
Well like I said, keep an eye open. It's far better than it was.
I think they deserve a pat on the back for that.
-Dave
--
Dave McGuire
Port Charlotte, FL
3:48 a.m.
On Dec 14, 2008, at 12:54 AM, David Griffith wrote:
Someone on comp.os.cpm pointed this out. I don't
recall anyone
doing so
here. http://www.radioshackcatalogs.com/. Mmm... Fond memories of
when
Radio Shack didn't stink.
Good heavens, I could stare at the cover of the 2002 catalog all
day long!
-Dave
--
Dave McGuire
Port Charlotte, FL
5695
days inactive
5700
days old
14 comments
13 participants
participants (13)
-
arcarlini＠iee.org -
bfranchuk＠jetnet.ab.ca -
bryan.pope＠comcast.net -
cclist＠sydex.com -
curt＠atarimuseum.com -
db＠db.net -
dgriffi＠cs.csubak.edu -
doc＠mdrconsult.com -
gordonjcp＠gjcp.net -
jules.richardson99＠gmail.com -
mcguire＠neurotica.com -
silent700＠gmail.com -
trixter＠oldskool.org