Goodbye Radio Shack

I'd forgotten about the days of slide switches to turn calculators on and off.

Though, the TI30 I got in 1976 or so used two pushbuttons for on and off.

And most of the calculators I've had since have had solar power, so I never worried about whether they were on or off.

Michael

Reply to
Michael Black
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I have a Casio solar with no battery at all - its allegedly collectible, so I took the opportunity to put it somewhere safer than my jacket pocket.

Reply to
Ian Field

I still have 3 or 4 free comics they gave away in the 1970's. I think they were made by DC. They were the last place in town that had a tube tester and sold tubes. Gold plated pins with a lifetime warranty.

Reply to
C.Copperpot

I have about 2 dozen of their gold pin "Lifetime warranty" tubes that keep at the shop.

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Jeff-1.0 
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Reply to
Foxs Mercantile

The manager of one of our local Radio Shacks was a HAM radio operator. The manager of another was a former military elecronics engineer. Both could tell you anything you needed to know about CB radios, Stereo sytems etc and knew their components inside out. Sadly, that all ended when Circuit City closed the last Canadian Radio Shacks in

2007 -
Reply to
clare

I dont recall the comics, but now that you mentioned it, I do remember the gold plated pin tubes. I think R.S. was the only company to make gold plated pin tubes.

So, if I have one of these tubes and it is bad, where do I go for the "lifetime warranty".

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Now I know I'm old. I cant find any store with a tube tester anymore, 
and when I went to phone in a complaint about it, I could not find a 
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Reply to
oldschool

When the tube dies, that is the end of its lifetime.

Reply to
Clifford Heath

I bought up all the BNC connectors/automotive switches/guitar effects box switches from my local store; 6 packs of nickel-plated brass RG-58 and RG-59 crimp-on/twist on connectors with gold contacts, usually around $18 a pack. IIRC got 20 packs of different types for about $1.50 each.

Also bought up all their TO-3 power transistors (2N3055 etc.) for around

30 cents each
Reply to
bitrex

Oh, well. I still have some RS parts on the blue card in the plastic bubble from 1979. Plus I have all 3 of the Transistor projects DIY books from For rest Mimms and I built almost all of the projects. As a 14 yr old, with no internet, the projects were the only way to learn.

The most fun was the DC to DC converter that could zap people.

I also still have the portable Tandy / RS chess computer with 8 levels.I do n't think it works, but I suppose I could get in there and fix it.Never ope ned it to see if the chips were socketed etc. I got up to level 6 which too k a looong time to make a move. Several hours sometimes.

Reply to
Ancel B

I have more connectors than I really know what to do with now. If anyone needs some of this nice stuff for cheap let me know I get you good price...;-)

Reply to
bitrex

My single experience with R/S "Lifetime" tubes does deserve mention. For a few years I worked in Saudi Arabia - and lived in Al Khobar, near the cause way to Bahrain. As we had a 'multiple' visa, we would visit Bahrain about e very other weekend for unrestricted shopping and for the many interesting s ights and sites. One of the locations visited was the Seef Mall, wherein wa s a Radio Shack.

I brought a couple of tube-type TransOceanics, and of all things found a Dy naco FM3 at a used electronics souk near Qatif. So, I had some tube stuff. In any case, a 1U4 in my B600 developed an open filament, and it was a R/S Lifetime tube. So, on a whim, I took to to the Radio Shack at the Seef Mall .

The manager looked at it, said "Yes, Sir", and about 3 weeks later, a new

1U4 arrived. No warranty on the replacement, but it was good, and I did not have to pay anything. Service with a smile. This was in 2004.

Peter Wieck Melrose Park, PA

Reply to
pfjw

a few years I worked in Saudi Arabia - and lived in Al Khobar, near the cau seway to Bahrain. As we had a 'multiple' visa, we would visit Bahrain about every other weekend for unrestricted shopping and for the many interesting sights and sites. One of the locations visited was the Seef Mall, wherein was a Radio Shack.

Dynaco FM3 at a used electronics souk near Qatif. So, I had some tube stuff . In any case, a 1U4 in my B600 developed an open filament, and it was a R/ S Lifetime tube. So, on a whim, I took to to the Radio Shack at the Seef Ma ll.

w 1U4 arrived. No warranty on the replacement, but it was good, and I did n ot have to pay anything. Service with a smile. This was in 2004.

Yep, I've heard similar stories. Some stories including young guns working the counter who didn't even know what a vacuum tube was or why it would ha ve a lifetime warranty. But just as in your case, the tubes were duly orde red and replaced. Some of these were tubes like the pricy 7591s before the Russians started new production of them. I don't know where RS got the re placements but they kept their end of the bargain even if they did spend mo re to replace the tubes than they used to charge for them back when they we re common items.

Reply to
ohger1s

I can't remember if I ever saw a Radio Shack comic book. I did have a Tandy Leather comic book in the early sixties.

I still have an Archie comic book from the late eighties or early nineties, the ARRL organized something so the characters would be in a special issue about amateur radio.

Michael

Reply to
Michael Black

And it's probably not the software that's slow, but the processor.

I don't know when it came out, but I suspect it was an 8 bit cpu, which likely ran at best 2MHz. Compare that with this computer, a Pentium running at 3GHz, and I bet the same program would give results in a blink on this (if only the program ran on a Pentium).

Michael

Reply to
Michael Black

I remember you telling that story years ago.

I suspect that tube use diminished so much that it didn't cost Radio Shack much to honor the warranty on the tubes, because hardly anyone showed up after some point. Between people not bothering, people not knowing, and people not using tube equipment, there was a small pool remaining.

Michael

Reply to
Michael Black

Not quite, Electro Harmonix and Amperex also made/(make ?) gold pin tubes

Reply to
clare

Additionally good modern chess programs use lots of different heuristics to evaluate board positions while avoiding traversing large areas of the search space.

The Tandy just doesn't have enough memory to store all the tables.

Reply to
bitrex

The store I went to, all the small parts in the bins were $1. No matter what it was. But there were little left.

I got Three 12V and One 24V power transformers for just over $2 each. That was at 80% off, but the packages on them showed they were OLD stock, thus old prices. I first grabbed one of each off the shelf, but for that price, I decided to take all four. That's a steal.

Reply to
oldschool

I used to do side jobs in construction. The plumber that worked with us ALWAYS had to make several trips to Home Depot for more fittings, and other things.

Finally, Jack, our foreman, asked him, "Are you going out of business? How come you don't have any inventory on your truck?"

McMaster Carr is almost over night. If I order before 9AM. Same with Mouser.

With a shipping charge of $8 for USPS, I ALWAYS order enough bits and pieces and extras quantities so I don't have to immediately re-order the same things.

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Jeff-1.0 
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Reply to
Foxs Mercantile

At one time, yes they did. My first encounter with Radio Shack was a very pleasant experience. But, they were much different times. Olson, Lafayette, Allied, Burstein-Applebee, even Zalytron, and numerous brick and mortar stores in an area provided incentive for Radio Shack to be a better Radio Shack.

And, since Radio Shack catered to an amateur radio crowd, their sales persons had to be knowledgable, to explain the equipment, as well as licensed to demostrate it. In my area, all the RS stores, at the time, had working ham stations on site, to demostrate their best and newest toys.

When I applied for a job there, I was woefully, at the time, unprepared for the technical requirements of the job, and was told to come back, they'd be glad to have me, but I needed to get more comfortable with the technical aspects of the inventory.

When I told them I was more of an audio guy, and my expertise was in that vein, the GM's eyes perked up, and we had a great conversation. He had been looking for audio people, because the market was moving toward components, as opposed to furniture consoles, and away from the amateur market. And, the licensing requirements for CB were already being discussed as obsolete.

So, yes, at one time, they did require technical knowledge to work at Radio Shack. But that was long ago, in a galaxy far away.

Oh, and, I never did work there. I had also applied at a number of other places, but decided, instead to open my first repair shop, an offshoot of which was designing and building custom audio equipment for the well-heeled in Clayton and LaDue. Great fun.

Good coin, too.

p
Reply to
D. Peter Maus

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