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On Wed, 02 Jul 2003 22:17:02 GMT, Tweetldee wrote:
Adios Radio Shack !! RIP __________________________________________________ ______________ Thank goodness for Mouser and ebay. Bill, W7TI |
On Wed, 02 Jul 2003 22:17:02 GMT, Tweetldee wrote:
Adios Radio Shack !! RIP __________________________________________________ ______________ Thank goodness for Mouser and ebay. Bill, W7TI |
Had it with Radio Shack
It's a sad thing.
My local Radio Shack is run by a fellow that stocks parts. Not the RS brand, but Ohmite and others. We have a college in that town and an electrical engineering department, so I guess that one doesn't count. A company store, 45 miles away, has an upright cabinet with drawer with resistors, ICs, Caps and other parts. Not a good selection, but some. Another store 35 miles away has the same kinda drawers with the same kinda items. The seem to want to sell (and promise the moon) on appliance items. Chuck "Tweetldee" wrote in message ... Well, I guess the death knell has sounded for the Shack as a source for experimenter and hobbyist parts. I went into a relatively new store (open less than a year) today to get a few resistors that I need in a hurry. What did I find? Not a resistor, capacitor, transistor, IC, switch, fuse, or anything that would be considered an electronic component was to be found. They had all kinds of TV coax, TV connectors, cell phones, home phones, phone accessories, satellite TV equipment, expensive toys, and a few stereo "systems", but but not an electronic component in sight. They had wire, solder, soldering irons, and such, but nothing to solder the wires to. They don't even carry the small project boxes any more. They're looking more like the electronics section in WalMart every day. Ooops, I take that back... the Shack's prices are 40-100% above what you'll pay for the same item at WalMart. Adios Radio Shack !! RIP -- Tweetldee Tweetldee at att dot net (Just subsitute the appropriate characters in the address) Time is what keeps everything from happening all at once. |
It's a sad thing.
My local Radio Shack is run by a fellow that stocks parts. Not the RS brand, but Ohmite and others. We have a college in that town and an electrical engineering department, so I guess that one doesn't count. A company store, 45 miles away, has an upright cabinet with drawer with resistors, ICs, Caps and other parts. Not a good selection, but some. Another store 35 miles away has the same kinda drawers with the same kinda items. The seem to want to sell (and promise the moon) on appliance items. Chuck "Tweetldee" wrote in message ... Well, I guess the death knell has sounded for the Shack as a source for experimenter and hobbyist parts. I went into a relatively new store (open less than a year) today to get a few resistors that I need in a hurry. What did I find? Not a resistor, capacitor, transistor, IC, switch, fuse, or anything that would be considered an electronic component was to be found. They had all kinds of TV coax, TV connectors, cell phones, home phones, phone accessories, satellite TV equipment, expensive toys, and a few stereo "systems", but but not an electronic component in sight. They had wire, solder, soldering irons, and such, but nothing to solder the wires to. They don't even carry the small project boxes any more. They're looking more like the electronics section in WalMart every day. Ooops, I take that back... the Shack's prices are 40-100% above what you'll pay for the same item at WalMart. Adios Radio Shack !! RIP -- Tweetldee Tweetldee at att dot net (Just subsitute the appropriate characters in the address) Time is what keeps everything from happening all at once. |
And we only have ourselves to blame. How many of
us, Licensed Amateurs, not members of this group, but individuals who hold a license, know one end of a soldering iron form another. Radio Shack is a BigBoard listed corporation. The Board of Directors has a responsibility to increase shareholder wealth. Those of us that do build something, have other places to buy where we can get it cheaper, and we do most of our shopping at that source. Then comes the need for a 48.5 ohm 2.5 watt resistor NOW. We race to Rat Shack, and then when such a "common" item is not available bad mouth them. If they sold more components they would carry more components. They carry a bunch of them now, there just not hung on the wall anymore. The parts are in 8 drawer cabinets, depending on what the store sold in parts prior to the conversion, about ten months ago the stores have 4 or 8 of these cabinets. There is a lot of stuff not in the store that they can get for you. All you have to do is ask. The quote 10 working day delivery (better to over deliver than over promise). In my experience delivery time for the non-stock item is two to three days. I don't work there anymore, but I still shop there, and will continue to. -- 73 es cul wb3fup a Salty Bear "Tweetldee" wrote in message ... Well, I guess the death knell has sounded for the Shack as a source for experimenter and hobbyist parts. I went into a relatively new store (open less than a year) today to get a few resistors that I need in a hurry. What did I find? Not a resistor, capacitor, transistor, IC, switch, fuse, or anything that would be considered an electronic component was to be found. They had all kinds of TV coax, TV connectors, cell phones, home phones, phone accessories, satellite TV equipment, expensive toys, and a few stereo "systems", but but not an electronic component in sight. They had wire, solder, soldering irons, and such, but nothing to solder the wires to. They don't even carry the small project boxes any more. They're looking more like the electronics section in WalMart every day. Ooops, I take that back... the Shack's prices are 40-100% above what you'll pay for the same item at WalMart. Adios Radio Shack !! RIP -- Tweetldee Tweetldee at att dot net (Just subsitute the appropriate characters in the address) Time is what keeps everything from happening all at once. |
And we only have ourselves to blame. How many of
us, Licensed Amateurs, not members of this group, but individuals who hold a license, know one end of a soldering iron form another. Radio Shack is a BigBoard listed corporation. The Board of Directors has a responsibility to increase shareholder wealth. Those of us that do build something, have other places to buy where we can get it cheaper, and we do most of our shopping at that source. Then comes the need for a 48.5 ohm 2.5 watt resistor NOW. We race to Rat Shack, and then when such a "common" item is not available bad mouth them. If they sold more components they would carry more components. They carry a bunch of them now, there just not hung on the wall anymore. The parts are in 8 drawer cabinets, depending on what the store sold in parts prior to the conversion, about ten months ago the stores have 4 or 8 of these cabinets. There is a lot of stuff not in the store that they can get for you. All you have to do is ask. The quote 10 working day delivery (better to over deliver than over promise). In my experience delivery time for the non-stock item is two to three days. I don't work there anymore, but I still shop there, and will continue to. -- 73 es cul wb3fup a Salty Bear "Tweetldee" wrote in message ... Well, I guess the death knell has sounded for the Shack as a source for experimenter and hobbyist parts. I went into a relatively new store (open less than a year) today to get a few resistors that I need in a hurry. What did I find? Not a resistor, capacitor, transistor, IC, switch, fuse, or anything that would be considered an electronic component was to be found. They had all kinds of TV coax, TV connectors, cell phones, home phones, phone accessories, satellite TV equipment, expensive toys, and a few stereo "systems", but but not an electronic component in sight. They had wire, solder, soldering irons, and such, but nothing to solder the wires to. They don't even carry the small project boxes any more. They're looking more like the electronics section in WalMart every day. Ooops, I take that back... the Shack's prices are 40-100% above what you'll pay for the same item at WalMart. Adios Radio Shack !! RIP -- Tweetldee Tweetldee at att dot net (Just subsitute the appropriate characters in the address) Time is what keeps everything from happening all at once. |
As I say, in reality the situation has never been better! It's we ourselves who need to change our buying habits. Better yet of course, is SMT Ian. If you can use half an order of FST-3125's, (1250), I can buy them at $0.22 each. At $0.86 each in single quantity, they're still cheaper than an MCL mixer/switch, by 5X at least. And, yield greatly improved performance to boot! W4ZCB |
As I say, in reality the situation has never been better! It's we ourselves who need to change our buying habits. Better yet of course, is SMT Ian. If you can use half an order of FST-3125's, (1250), I can buy them at $0.22 each. At $0.86 each in single quantity, they're still cheaper than an MCL mixer/switch, by 5X at least. And, yield greatly improved performance to boot! W4ZCB |
In article ,
"Chuck / KE4ETH" wrote: It's a sad thing. My local Radio Shack is run by a fellow that stocks parts. Not the RS brand, but Ohmite and others. We have a college in that town and an electrical engineering department, so I guess that one doesn't count. A company store, 45 miles away, has an upright cabinet with drawer with resistors, ICs, Caps and other parts. Not a good selection, but some. Another store 35 miles away has the same kinda drawers with the same kinda items. The seem to want to sell (and promise the moon) on appliance items. big snip Isn't the CEO of RS a women? I don't think she ever built a thing in her life. -- Reverse address to reply. |
In article ,
"Chuck / KE4ETH" wrote: It's a sad thing. My local Radio Shack is run by a fellow that stocks parts. Not the RS brand, but Ohmite and others. We have a college in that town and an electrical engineering department, so I guess that one doesn't count. A company store, 45 miles away, has an upright cabinet with drawer with resistors, ICs, Caps and other parts. Not a good selection, but some. Another store 35 miles away has the same kinda drawers with the same kinda items. The seem to want to sell (and promise the moon) on appliance items. big snip Isn't the CEO of RS a women? I don't think she ever built a thing in her life. -- Reverse address to reply. |
Not that I think RS is wonderful, but the present-day choice seems to be
Radio Shack or nothing for "right now" purchases. Unless you have a real electronic wholesaler in town that will deal with small orders, or are willing to wait a few days for DigiKey, Mouser, etc. In article , "Chuck / KE4ETH" wrote: My local Radio Shack is run by a fellow that stocks parts. Not the RS brand, but Ohmite and others. We have a college in that town and an electrical engineering department, so I guess that one doesn't count. A company store, 45 miles away, has an upright cabinet with drawer with resistors, ICs, Caps and other parts. Not a good selection, but some. Another store 35 miles away has the same kinda drawers with the same kinda items. The seem to want to sell (and promise the moon) on appliance items. And it's easy to see why they would rather sell $99.95 JunkSonic items rather than $1.49 capacitors. |
Not that I think RS is wonderful, but the present-day choice seems to be
Radio Shack or nothing for "right now" purchases. Unless you have a real electronic wholesaler in town that will deal with small orders, or are willing to wait a few days for DigiKey, Mouser, etc. In article , "Chuck / KE4ETH" wrote: My local Radio Shack is run by a fellow that stocks parts. Not the RS brand, but Ohmite and others. We have a college in that town and an electrical engineering department, so I guess that one doesn't count. A company store, 45 miles away, has an upright cabinet with drawer with resistors, ICs, Caps and other parts. Not a good selection, but some. Another store 35 miles away has the same kinda drawers with the same kinda items. The seem to want to sell (and promise the moon) on appliance items. And it's easy to see why they would rather sell $99.95 JunkSonic items rather than $1.49 capacitors. |
"Duncan Walters" wrote in
: Anyone would think that home construction was a dying hobby! No! Say it ain't so! ;) |
"Duncan Walters" wrote in
: Anyone would think that home construction was a dying hobby! No! Say it ain't so! ;) |
"Alex" wrote in message ... my local RS had a pretty good selection of basic parts (2n2222's resistors, tools, caps, etc) until last fall when they just decided, for no apparent reason, to stop carrying them. They lost my business. Now I drive into Montreal to goto ABRA, much cheaper parts ($0.05 each for capacitors), but the cost of gas makes it impractical to go for less than $20 of parts. Tweetldee wrote: Well, I guess the death knell has sounded for the Shack as a source for experimenter and hobbyist parts. I went into a relatively new store (open less than a year) today to get a few resistors that I need in a hurry. What did I find? Not a resistor, capacitor, transistor, IC, switch, fuse, or anything that would be considered an electronic component was to be found. They had all kinds of TV coax, TV connectors, cell phones, home phones, phone accessories, satellite TV equipment, expensive toys, and a few stereo "systems", but but not an electronic component in sight. They had wire, solder, soldering irons, and such, but nothing to solder the wires to. They don't even carry the small project boxes any more. They're looking more like the electronics section in WalMart every day. Ooops, I take that back... the Shack's prices are 40-100% above what you'll pay for the same item at WalMart. Adios Radio Shack !! RIP -- Tweetldee Tweetldee at att dot net (Just subsitute the appropriate characters in the address) Time is what keeps everything from happening all at once. My local Radio Shack INCREASED the amount of parts they carried a couple of months ago. They moved all the parts from the wall racks to a couple of cabinets, but in the process, increased the number of different types they stocked. |
"Alex" wrote in message ... my local RS had a pretty good selection of basic parts (2n2222's resistors, tools, caps, etc) until last fall when they just decided, for no apparent reason, to stop carrying them. They lost my business. Now I drive into Montreal to goto ABRA, much cheaper parts ($0.05 each for capacitors), but the cost of gas makes it impractical to go for less than $20 of parts. Tweetldee wrote: Well, I guess the death knell has sounded for the Shack as a source for experimenter and hobbyist parts. I went into a relatively new store (open less than a year) today to get a few resistors that I need in a hurry. What did I find? Not a resistor, capacitor, transistor, IC, switch, fuse, or anything that would be considered an electronic component was to be found. They had all kinds of TV coax, TV connectors, cell phones, home phones, phone accessories, satellite TV equipment, expensive toys, and a few stereo "systems", but but not an electronic component in sight. They had wire, solder, soldering irons, and such, but nothing to solder the wires to. They don't even carry the small project boxes any more. They're looking more like the electronics section in WalMart every day. Ooops, I take that back... the Shack's prices are 40-100% above what you'll pay for the same item at WalMart. Adios Radio Shack !! RIP -- Tweetldee Tweetldee at att dot net (Just subsitute the appropriate characters in the address) Time is what keeps everything from happening all at once. My local Radio Shack INCREASED the amount of parts they carried a couple of months ago. They moved all the parts from the wall racks to a couple of cabinets, but in the process, increased the number of different types they stocked. |
"Tweetldee" wrote in message ...
Adios Radio Shack !! RIP Well, they still have fuses and light bulbs, at least. Digi-Key has, in the past decade or so, gotten really good at carrying RF inductors and capacitors. They even have a small assortment of microwave parts now. I think that homebrewing could be entering a renaissance age of using all the really good radio stuff that is permeating everywhere. Recently I built a 1.6 GHz LNA with a 0.5 dB noise figure... using about $5 in parts from Digi-Key. This *is* the dawn of a new age in homebrewing. Tim. |
"Tweetldee" wrote in message ...
Adios Radio Shack !! RIP Well, they still have fuses and light bulbs, at least. Digi-Key has, in the past decade or so, gotten really good at carrying RF inductors and capacitors. They even have a small assortment of microwave parts now. I think that homebrewing could be entering a renaissance age of using all the really good radio stuff that is permeating everywhere. Recently I built a 1.6 GHz LNA with a 0.5 dB noise figure... using about $5 in parts from Digi-Key. This *is* the dawn of a new age in homebrewing. Tim. |
"R J Carpenter" ) writes:
"Tim Shoppa" wrote in message om... "Tweetldee" wrote in message ... Adios Radio Shack !! RIP Well, they still have fuses and light bulbs, at least. Digi-Key has, in the past decade or so, gotten really good at carrying RF inductors and capacitors. They even have a small assortment of microwave parts now. I think that homebrewing could be entering a renaissance age of using all the really good radio stuff that is permeating everywhere. Recently I built a 1.6 GHz LNA with a 0.5 dB noise figure... using about $5 in parts from Digi-Key. This *is* the dawn of a new age in homebrewing. Agreed. I contend that the NUMBER of people homebrewing is probably about the same as ages ago, it's just a much smaller percentage of the ham population. And the field is so much wider that it's hard to stock everything everyone wants. Back when 100 tube types would satisfy most demands, 10 or 20 variable capacitors, 10% 1/2-W and 1-W Allen-Bradley resistors were enough, etc, etc, the stocking challenge wasn't so big. And this has been seen as the cause of the disappearance of the local electronic outlet. Even in 1971 when I first entered one of those stores, there was an awful lot of overlap between the needs of the electronic repair person and the electronic hobbyist. Most of the parts I bought had uses elsewhere, and the relatively few parts that weren't, like variable capacitors, weren't much of a burden. Even a few years later, I had to go to a different breed of stores to buy ICs, because the old stores weren't carrying much in that area (other than costly replacement line devices). The old stores started fading out, unable or unwilling to make the transition. Face it, those old stores had been around for a long time, with those wooden floors and plenty of WWII surplus, and if for no other reason, it was probably seen by many as a good time to retire or move on, rather than expend money on new stock and even new decor. The problem with the newer distributors were that they often didn't carry radio parts, and sure didn't carry surplus. Likely because the component count went way up, and they had to stop somewhere. Instead of one-stop locations, you'd have to go to a few places, and maybe mail order for some. Many of the newer stores seemed more interested in only professional sales, so they didn't want those hobbyists hanging around on Saturday mornings which is what happened at the old stores (and created the atmosphere). Actually, the newer distributors weren't the type of place you wanted to hang out. I remember going to Active circa 1975 or 76, and you entered a tiny reception room where you filled out an order form, and someone in the back collected the parts. Radio Shack was handy for some parts, but I never routinely bought there because the prices were too high, and I couldn't get everything there. On the other hand, I never had the animosity that some seem to have for the place, ironically from those who never seemed to buy parts elsewhere. But the parts there likely were balanced against the equipment the stores were selling, and they were seen in seen way as beneficial. For whatever reason(s), in recent years that benefit seems to have diminished, so the parts are disappearing from Radio Shack. This is 25 to 30 years after those parts stores I first went to at age 11 started disappearing. Michael VE2BVW |
"R J Carpenter" ) writes:
"Tim Shoppa" wrote in message om... "Tweetldee" wrote in message ... Adios Radio Shack !! RIP Well, they still have fuses and light bulbs, at least. Digi-Key has, in the past decade or so, gotten really good at carrying RF inductors and capacitors. They even have a small assortment of microwave parts now. I think that homebrewing could be entering a renaissance age of using all the really good radio stuff that is permeating everywhere. Recently I built a 1.6 GHz LNA with a 0.5 dB noise figure... using about $5 in parts from Digi-Key. This *is* the dawn of a new age in homebrewing. Agreed. I contend that the NUMBER of people homebrewing is probably about the same as ages ago, it's just a much smaller percentage of the ham population. And the field is so much wider that it's hard to stock everything everyone wants. Back when 100 tube types would satisfy most demands, 10 or 20 variable capacitors, 10% 1/2-W and 1-W Allen-Bradley resistors were enough, etc, etc, the stocking challenge wasn't so big. And this has been seen as the cause of the disappearance of the local electronic outlet. Even in 1971 when I first entered one of those stores, there was an awful lot of overlap between the needs of the electronic repair person and the electronic hobbyist. Most of the parts I bought had uses elsewhere, and the relatively few parts that weren't, like variable capacitors, weren't much of a burden. Even a few years later, I had to go to a different breed of stores to buy ICs, because the old stores weren't carrying much in that area (other than costly replacement line devices). The old stores started fading out, unable or unwilling to make the transition. Face it, those old stores had been around for a long time, with those wooden floors and plenty of WWII surplus, and if for no other reason, it was probably seen by many as a good time to retire or move on, rather than expend money on new stock and even new decor. The problem with the newer distributors were that they often didn't carry radio parts, and sure didn't carry surplus. Likely because the component count went way up, and they had to stop somewhere. Instead of one-stop locations, you'd have to go to a few places, and maybe mail order for some. Many of the newer stores seemed more interested in only professional sales, so they didn't want those hobbyists hanging around on Saturday mornings which is what happened at the old stores (and created the atmosphere). Actually, the newer distributors weren't the type of place you wanted to hang out. I remember going to Active circa 1975 or 76, and you entered a tiny reception room where you filled out an order form, and someone in the back collected the parts. Radio Shack was handy for some parts, but I never routinely bought there because the prices were too high, and I couldn't get everything there. On the other hand, I never had the animosity that some seem to have for the place, ironically from those who never seemed to buy parts elsewhere. But the parts there likely were balanced against the equipment the stores were selling, and they were seen in seen way as beneficial. For whatever reason(s), in recent years that benefit seems to have diminished, so the parts are disappearing from Radio Shack. This is 25 to 30 years after those parts stores I first went to at age 11 started disappearing. Michael VE2BVW |
On Wed, 2 Jul 2003 17:36:55 -0700, "Chuck / KE4ETH"
wrote: It's a sad thing. My local Radio Shack is run by a fellow that stocks parts. Not the RS brand, but Ohmite and others. We have a college in that town and an electrical engineering department, so I guess that one doesn't count. A company store, 45 miles away, has an upright cabinet with drawer with resistors, ICs, Caps and other parts. Not a good selection, but some. Another store 35 miles away has the same kinda drawers with the same kinda items. Franchise stores have a great degree of flexibility; the Shack in Lincoln City, OR, not only stocks componets well, but also has S&W revolvers. http://www.bizcenter.org/ClientStories/radioshack.pdf http://www.valuecom.com/acclaim/Oreg...uperstore.html Company stores, on the other hand, are often hopeless. So sayeth a former two-store Shack manager. snip -- Nobody but a fool goes into a federal counterrorism operation without duct tape - Richard Preston, THE COBRA EVENT. |
On Wed, 2 Jul 2003 17:36:55 -0700, "Chuck / KE4ETH"
wrote: It's a sad thing. My local Radio Shack is run by a fellow that stocks parts. Not the RS brand, but Ohmite and others. We have a college in that town and an electrical engineering department, so I guess that one doesn't count. A company store, 45 miles away, has an upright cabinet with drawer with resistors, ICs, Caps and other parts. Not a good selection, but some. Another store 35 miles away has the same kinda drawers with the same kinda items. Franchise stores have a great degree of flexibility; the Shack in Lincoln City, OR, not only stocks componets well, but also has S&W revolvers. http://www.bizcenter.org/ClientStories/radioshack.pdf http://www.valuecom.com/acclaim/Oreg...uperstore.html Company stores, on the other hand, are often hopeless. So sayeth a former two-store Shack manager. snip -- Nobody but a fool goes into a federal counterrorism operation without duct tape - Richard Preston, THE COBRA EVENT. |
"donut" wrote in message ... "Duncan Walters" wrote in : Anyone would think that home construction was a dying hobby! No! Say it ain't so! ;) Where will we live...... |
"donut" wrote in message ... "Duncan Walters" wrote in : Anyone would think that home construction was a dying hobby! No! Say it ain't so! ;) Where will we live...... |
Where will we live...... DOH !! |
Where will we live...... DOH !! |
"R J Carpenter" wrote in message ...
"Tim Shoppa" wrote in message om... "Tweetldee" wrote in message ... Adios Radio Shack !! RIP Well, they still have fuses and light bulbs, at least. Digi-Key has, in the past decade or so, gotten really good at carrying RF inductors and capacitors. They even have a small assortment of microwave parts now. I think that homebrewing could be entering a renaissance age of using all the really good radio stuff that is permeating everywhere. Recently I built a 1.6 GHz LNA with a 0.5 dB noise figure... using about $5 in parts from Digi-Key. This *is* the dawn of a new age in homebrewing. Agreed. Actually, Digi-Key's very first product was a digital keyer for hams... after that for a long while they didn't have much in the way of RF products, but in the last couple of years they've really come around. They've been driven almost certainly by consumer electronics use of RF parts, but as hams we have to learn how to take advantage of all that stuff out there. Learning to use all that stuff isn't necessarily automatic! Many of the parts are available only in surface-mount today. But even though I grew up on 6L6's and transformers pulled from junk TV sets, I've managed to make the transition. If a stuck-in-the-mud guy like me can make the transition, I think others can too! Oh, yeah, Digi-Key still sells folded-sheet-metal chassis boxes :-) Tim. |
"R J Carpenter" wrote in message ...
"Tim Shoppa" wrote in message om... "Tweetldee" wrote in message ... Adios Radio Shack !! RIP Well, they still have fuses and light bulbs, at least. Digi-Key has, in the past decade or so, gotten really good at carrying RF inductors and capacitors. They even have a small assortment of microwave parts now. I think that homebrewing could be entering a renaissance age of using all the really good radio stuff that is permeating everywhere. Recently I built a 1.6 GHz LNA with a 0.5 dB noise figure... using about $5 in parts from Digi-Key. This *is* the dawn of a new age in homebrewing. Agreed. Actually, Digi-Key's very first product was a digital keyer for hams... after that for a long while they didn't have much in the way of RF products, but in the last couple of years they've really come around. They've been driven almost certainly by consumer electronics use of RF parts, but as hams we have to learn how to take advantage of all that stuff out there. Learning to use all that stuff isn't necessarily automatic! Many of the parts are available only in surface-mount today. But even though I grew up on 6L6's and transformers pulled from junk TV sets, I've managed to make the transition. If a stuck-in-the-mud guy like me can make the transition, I think others can too! Oh, yeah, Digi-Key still sells folded-sheet-metal chassis boxes :-) Tim. |
"Tweetldee" wrote in message ...
snipped.....its been reposted enough as this is probably the 20th reply or so...maybe even farthur down the list... I never bought a whole lot from the shack....batteries,ferric chloride, and the occasional doo dad were my only big purchases. Until about 4 years ago I had a shack within walking distance that was very well stocked in high priced components....like I said I didnt buy much but they were handy when I somehow didnt have it in one of my bins. We did have a regular electronics place here for years....Radio Electric Supply and it was dingy dusty electronics supply house that carried everything but they dried up for lack of business about 6 or 7 years ago maybe 8.... 2 other places in nearby towns that actually carry electronic supplies but they are geard more toward cable, computers, and communications now......any ics or semiconductors will be the 3.00 a pop brand names like NTE..... no more resistor packs or bulk anything....one of the stores does not even stock magnet wire and the pros there didnt even know what it was. I make my purchases from mouser and electronix express and a few others....mostly mouser. If you are serious about the hobby you might as well order 10 or more of the common stuff and make large orders to save on shipping. I went to rat shack a couple of weeks ago....they moved to the other side of town. They had very few components left and didnt knw if they would restock. They had it all in a big cabinet with bins. They did have a couple of new rat shack soldering iron stations and some tools but resistors, capacitors, semicondutors were barely stocked. # bottles of ferric chloride...I bought 2. They did have lots of coax type stuff....bncs in many shapes and sizes and all kinds of "f" coax stuff. The store was empty and I was immediately accosted by two salesmen who left me alone when I said I was just loking for electronic parts. The whole store except for less than 10 square feet is dedicated to computers and phones....the odd battery selection, the behind the counter calcualtors etc....but rat shack is clearly a cell phone dealership now. |
"Tweetldee" wrote in message ...
snipped.....its been reposted enough as this is probably the 20th reply or so...maybe even farthur down the list... I never bought a whole lot from the shack....batteries,ferric chloride, and the occasional doo dad were my only big purchases. Until about 4 years ago I had a shack within walking distance that was very well stocked in high priced components....like I said I didnt buy much but they were handy when I somehow didnt have it in one of my bins. We did have a regular electronics place here for years....Radio Electric Supply and it was dingy dusty electronics supply house that carried everything but they dried up for lack of business about 6 or 7 years ago maybe 8.... 2 other places in nearby towns that actually carry electronic supplies but they are geard more toward cable, computers, and communications now......any ics or semiconductors will be the 3.00 a pop brand names like NTE..... no more resistor packs or bulk anything....one of the stores does not even stock magnet wire and the pros there didnt even know what it was. I make my purchases from mouser and electronix express and a few others....mostly mouser. If you are serious about the hobby you might as well order 10 or more of the common stuff and make large orders to save on shipping. I went to rat shack a couple of weeks ago....they moved to the other side of town. They had very few components left and didnt knw if they would restock. They had it all in a big cabinet with bins. They did have a couple of new rat shack soldering iron stations and some tools but resistors, capacitors, semicondutors were barely stocked. # bottles of ferric chloride...I bought 2. They did have lots of coax type stuff....bncs in many shapes and sizes and all kinds of "f" coax stuff. The store was empty and I was immediately accosted by two salesmen who left me alone when I said I was just loking for electronic parts. The whole store except for less than 10 square feet is dedicated to computers and phones....the odd battery selection, the behind the counter calcualtors etc....but rat shack is clearly a cell phone dealership now. |
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