What happened to radio shack?

[nscaler711]

Metro Red Line

nscaler711

Now imagine if DCC Decoders used cellphone technology.... Z scale and the new T scale(1:450) would have sound and DCC on board the powered locomotive, a average cellphone speaker will fit in a tiny Z scale locomotive (trust me I've tried it...)  

Hmmmmm.... [Looks to my left and sees my old Blackberry Bold 9000 phone...]

LOL yea imagine how many functions it could have if you dissected it, wiped the memory, and firmware off the "CPU" and threw on your own DCC tech... sound, lights, moving parts, mechanically driven couplers (like MTH in HO) heck the led in your Blackberry would be good for class lights in Canadian locomotives... or signals....   

yea cellphone tech in your trains, that would be cool... (Come on Soundtraxx Read ME) 

as for " The Shack".... the electronic kits might be ok for some things on a layout... and what happened to zip zaps? i kinda miss those,,,

[RoadCopper]

As a later post will also mention, Radio Shack was sold off in parts to become The Source here in Canada. For those that want to know, they are owned by Bell and Bell wants the employees to upsell on any Bell TV, cellphone and internet product they can push as those are commission sales. My son worked for them for about a year and their quota push was brutal. Now that being said there was no requirement for electronics knowledge but he had enough to know what he could help a customer with and enough honesty to tell them when he did not and recommend either another employee or another store to try out. [BTW - he quit and got a better job working for the government ]

Watch what you buy as the mark-up is stupid - and avoid their upsold "warranties" I mean who puts a warranty on AA batteries?? If you want button batteries go to an electronics parts supplier and buy them by the sheet. At The Source it will run you about 5-10 dollars for one button battery. You can get them on a plastic sheet - 10/sheet for about 75 cents a battery.

[Rastafarr]

When I was a kid in the 80's, the 'glory days' of Radio Smack were already over. All I remember is Tandy computers and cheap rc cars. The made in china crap is now king, prominently displayed out front as I shake my head and make for the food court...

Stu

[tstage]

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[Soo Line fan]

cedarwoodron

As to wire, I haven't tried, but I suspect that price breaks of a similar sort could be had.

Home Depot and Lowes are pretty good for wire.

[cedarwoodron]

The old RS you went into in the 1960s and 70s, where there were electronics projects book galore, perf boards, project parts and such is as gone as that Zenith TV I watched Leave It To Beaver on- gone forever, except in a nostalgia photo book. Once in a while, I wander in to a nearby one to get an odd item- some male and female spade ends for wires, a few alligator clps- but I know where those parts drawers are- the very rear of the store, and the yokels who are trying to hustle cell phone plans and other "high technology" stuff, know that I am not their customer. There was a real electronics parts store near my workplace but the guy retired and closed the store- a tattoo parlor is there now, I think. Other posters are right, the Internet is the way to go. I get 100- packs of 3mm LEDs, both flat heads and round tops, for $3.00 from China; same for 470 ohm resistors- 100 for less than $5.00. At Radio Shack, a five resistor card is about the same price, so why pay RS? As to wire, I haven't tried, but I suspect that price breaks of a similar sort could be had. And don't forget, these online suppliers, like Digi-Key, also have assortments of small hobby motors... Radio Shack...electronics parts... For some reason, I hear the sounds of an old "Ipana" toothpaste commercial in my mind...must be my memory from my long ago youth.... LOL Cedarwoodron

[richg1998]

Forget a store ever selling SMD components. That is purely imaginary. Almost everyone wants RTR in almost every category.

Rich

[Drew4950]

The RS stores in my area are completely different from each other. Of the 2 I have been to recently (last 4 years) one was a cell phone store. The inventory? Well it seemed they did not have much. At least it was not visible. When I asked they were able to show me a soldering iron and the heat shrick tubing. 

The other store is in a large mall and they had inventory all over the place. But mostly assempled electronics and toys. They still had a healthy collection of small parts but mostly connectors and such for audio components.

 I grew up in a house hold where the primary family stereo was a Heath Kit amplifier and a Heath Kit tuner my father assembled. My dad satill used it as the radio in his garage.  

I did happen to notice that my LHS had some packages of resisters hanging on a display when I was in there last week. I have also found the LHS has some pieces of heat shrink tubing as well.

[Metro Red Line]

nscaler711

Now imagine if DCC Decoders used cellphone technology.... Z scale and the new T scale(1:450) would have sound and DCC on board the powered locomotive, a average cellphone speaker will fit in a tiny Z scale locomotive (trust me I've tried it...)  

Hmmmmm.... [Looks to my left and sees my old Blackberry Bold 9000 phone...]

[nscaler711]

narrow gauge nuclear

The day of the electronics hobbyist is pretty much over.

I subscribe to Nuts and Volts magazine, but most larger components that you can solder or breadboard are gone and special circuit boards are needed to mount the micro parts on.  Most electronics today involves programming a micro-controller like "Pics", "Arduinos" or "Propellers" to do what a whole board of parts used to be needed to do.  Only a bit of interfacing with individual components is needed to drive real world stuff from one of these 1/4-inch sqaure chips with 100,000 transistor arrays on them.  The classic example is the DCC decoder.....  One chip does it all.

Radio Shack's original experimenter/ computer geek venue has had to change with the times.

Richard

Now imagine if DCC Decoders used cellphone technology.... Z scale and the new T scale(1:450) would have sound and DCC on board the powered locomotive, a average cellphone speaker will fit in a tiny Z scale locomotive (trust me I've tried it...)  

As for the Radio shack ranting and raving, I can agree. Most shack employees are "challenged" in the everything but cellphone & tablets industry.
The other day I went in to find a wire tap and RS doesn't have anything or anything like what i asked for... the employee(s) just scratched their heads when I showed them a picture on my "smart"phone.... then they asked me if I liked my phone.... and wanted an upgrade...
not to mention I asked for a very specific soldering iron and tips and they showed me to one I all ready had... 

I work security at a mall where a RS is I've actually taught a customer more about certain electronics than the employee did.... while on duty mind you.... (I'm obviously in the wrong line of work huh?) 

I really wish there was a electronics store that sold SMD technology.... I know Mouser and other have it, but a local store would still be nice...

 

[Metro Red Line]

If you live by a large city in the west (and IL, IN and GA too), you always have Fry's Electronics...I bought all my layout wire from Fry's.

[mfm37]

kbkchooch

Mauser, DigiKey and Bainesville Electronics get my money now.

Mouser and Digikey for price if you have the time to wait for mail order. Baynesville is high but usually have it on the shelf. Hate getting out of their parking lot during rush hour, though.

Martin Myers

[Texas Zepher]

rrinker

I was about 11 when they first came out with the TRS-80 computers. I used to live in the local store, playing with the computer and learning -

That's funny.  Back in that era, I could not stand to go into the stores and see the little toy computers sitting there with blank screens, so I would type in some quick program so at least the screen was doing something.    Eventually I came up with an infinite loop random number, color spot generator, that would make confetti on the screen.   I could type it up on the store demos in about 2 minutes.

[alco_fan]

"What happened to Radio Shack?"

Simple: Integrated Circuits. Once massive integration and automated assembly became the norm for consumer electronics (including computers),  Heathkit, Radio Shack and similar companies built around hobbyists tinkering with discrete components had to change business models (RS) or die (HK).

I miss Heath a lot more than Radio Shack -- one can still buy components on-line.

This thread is quite a bunch of old hens cackling in the yard, isn't it? Me, too, I guess.

[Coquihala and Rock Creek]

AFAIK there are no longer any Radio Shacks in Canada.  They sold out to Circuit City in 2005 becoming The Source by Circuit City.  When Circuit City closed in 2009 they all became The Source.  Similar to what older Radio Shacks used to be like from what I remember.  They have been owned by Bell since 2009.

[kbkchooch]

Went to Radio Shack a few years back for Cinch connectors aka Jones Plugs. 5 people in the store, none had a clue.

Mauser, DigiKey and Bainesville Electronics get my money now.

[cacole]

Radio Shack has had to adapt to the market by selling only those items that are in high demand, such as cell phones, video games, iPads, iPods, and other gadgets aimed at the younger generation.

Two out of three Radio Shack stores in my immediate area have closed during the past two years.  The one remaining is in a shopping mall with outrageous rental fees, so it too may close up or move to a different location to survive.

Very few components are sold by Radio Shack.  I go there only as a last resort when I need only one or two items that are not readily available anywhere else.

The nearest actual electronics components store is 70 miles away in Tucson, Arizona, so I usually rely on mail order.

[richg1998]

I use to buy from RS a lot over the years. I noticed at least 10 to 15 years ago, the the ones in my area where slowly going downhill with components. Forhet anyone knowing what the different compnents are. There is hardly any profit in components for place like RS. No way is RS going to train people about different types of electronic components. Get real.

A couple places closed up.

Today, RS is mostly dead, not all dead.

According to business reports I am reading, RS will probably be all dead in 2013.

They have tried tablets and other hand held devices but there is a lot of competition, especially online and this seems to be backfiring for RS.

I do most of my shopping online excerpt for groceries.

Rich

[Jay Dubbs66]

Went on a search last week for solid 14 gauge wire.  After striking out at the local hardware store, I decided to go next door to The Shack.  The guy came charging at me like I was a walk in customer on a used car lot.  I asked for the wire, and he had no idea they made solid wire, so I opened up one of the spools and showed him what stranded wire was, and that they also make this in a solid.  He still seemed clueless as to why I would want it that way, so I just left and went and bought a 50' package of Romex and started stripping the outer casing off.  Needless to say, I don't plan on going back to RS for much in the future.

JW

[joe323]

My older brother a ham radio operator and electrical engineer used to build Heathkit radios TVs and such.

[richhotrain]

hobo9941

Speaking of electronic kits, I still remember the crystal radio I built back around 1950. Got a lot of enjoyment out of it. I used to listen to it under the covers at night.

LOL.  Same here.  Wow, that really brings back memories.

Rich

[hobo9941]

Speaking of electronic kits, I still remember the crystal radio I built back around 1950. Got a lot of enjoyment out of it. I used to listen to it under the covers at night.

[PARTSGUY]

Straying from the present topic: I remember when the "Shack" and "Honest Charlie" used to flood our mailbox with big, thick catalogs of everything they sold. Does anybody here remember the old Halicrafter's radio kits? Wern't they sold by the Shack? I usually by-pass the kids at the counters and head for the gray drawers in the rear of the store. It's called "self service..

[rgengineoiler]

My mistake;  I thought I stated .050 dia 60/40 solder that I use for special applications.  They  have re-spooled it and it now weighs 1oz less at almost the same cost.  (ie, original is 2.5 oz and now 1.5 oz on the same spool. I still had a little left on the old spool which got me looking at the label.  This product changing is hurting everyone when you receive 1/3rd or more  less of the product but very little cost adjustment.  Kleenex boxes (large used to have 400  sheets and now 240 and they cost $3.99 per box.  Good grief!    Doug

[Soo Line fan]

Some funny comments so far and pretty accurate.

RS used to have some decent help back in the day. When I go into a Shack nowadays, the employees remind me of the I phone parody commercial with the losers camped outside at the apple store.

Unless it has something to do with a cell phone, the employees are usually clueless.

[BroadwayLion]

LION buys all of his electronic parts from All electronics (an MR advertiser) good selection, great prices, fast service, and does not stiff you on the shipping.

ROAR

[joe323]

Sadly that is true.

Besides what Radio Shack does cell is generally overpriced.  I may go there if I need one of.....

 

Here on Staten Island I will probably go to Hylan Electrical Supply for my needs as my cousin an electrician recommended  With the new layout begining in a few months I am starting to buy some of the components I need (must will be recycled from the old layout) and that includes Momentary contact switches telephone wire etc. 

[Monon Rick]

The Shack that we use to know has slowly been getting out of the parts business. The one near me has a small area in the back were they carry some small electronic parts but no where near the stores of old. The same thing that's happening in model railroading is also happening in the general public. Many no longer want to put things together and want it ready made. Which is sad as a lot of people may never get the joy out of assembling electronic kit and/or a model railroad. So the Shack is following this tread with toys, phones and other ready made electronic stuff. I guess those of us left that enjoy putting things together maybe part of a dying breed

[MisterBeasley]

We've still got Radio Shacks all over, and I'll go there for something small that I know they have, but every now an then I make a pilgrimage to You-Do-It Electronics, a place that still exists as the kind of store we'd all love to have in town - aisles of ICs, shrink-tubing hanging on the walls, bins of connectors and so on.  The place is usually quite busy, too.  I think they took over the building that was once the headquarters of Heathkit.  For those who don't remember them, they provided "craftsman" kits for electronics junkies.  I built a computer terminal and a 25-inch color TV.  The TV was an old-style one, with tubes and individual components to be soldered on to circuit boards, no ICs at all.