In article ,
says...

Recent visits to my local Radio Shack for even the most simple
components has left me disappointed. Recently I had the need for 5
10uf electrolytics at any voltage really, and could not find them at 3
local stores.

There used to be a selection of 25 or so IC's that were widely used
and popular...no more tho.

Even a simple LM386 could not be found around here.

Also, the parts are now being jammed into these ugly parts bins as if
to hide them from view.

Is this the same situation where you live?

One manager mentioned that components are no longer a real concern of
management and that he is under the impression that "parts" are on the
way out soon.

Wouldn't that just be the way...the old local electronics places are
out of business, and the Shack eliminates their parts. They sure do
have answers, don't they?

de WA2AFD

You are very correct is saying they are hanging up the parts business.
Radio Crap is an investor owned company, and they want to sell big profit
margin items, and more expensive items. How many resistors must they sell
to equal the money made on one very overpriced printer cartridge?

It has always been common knowledge that Radio**** NEVER wanted technically
knowledgable persons as employees!! They wanted SALESPERSONS employed as
salespersons. Technical persons would slow down sales by dedicating way to
much time to somebody trying to find a good replacement for a 2N404 used in
a 'radio experimenter' magazine 'build your own metronome' article from 1954.

I saw a guy with a 470mfd @ 16vdc cap required, and he asked the crappyshack
bozo if the rodeolack 470mfd @ 25vdc replacement part would work. Mister RS
Suit-n-Tie said "Oh no, it has far to much voltage, and would blow your circuit
up". If I told you I wanted to cause Mr.RS bodily harm for being so stupid
in his field, would you have helped me?

Radio Shack, a collection of techno-lackies, who all own 2.4ghz computers
in their homes, and would not know a 12AX7 from a Dean's Peacocks condom.

Sadly, I have resorted to buying up everything I think I may ever want or
need for the next 15 years of my experimenter life at local hamfests. Not
only are experimenter parts that are big enough to see becoming harder to find,
but people who know what to do with the parts are about as rare as monkeypox.

Now I will go back to my cave, and remember all the cool things I showed
my blue shirts how to build using just the stuff we found while pillaging
the dumpsters on the Navy base. Damn, we had some cool stuff!

Just call me Chief.

gudmundur wrote:


Sadly, I have resorted to buying up everything I think I may ever want or
need for the next 15 years of my experimenter life at local hamfests. Not
only are experimenter parts that are big enough to see becoming harder to find,
but people who know what to do with the parts are about as rare as monkeypox.

I rarely mention it, but I have some parts listed on my website. The
link is above, in the "Organization" line.

Now I will go back to my cave, and remember all the cool things I showed
my blue shirts how to build using just the stuff we found while pillaging
the dumpsters on the Navy base. Damn, we had some cool stuff!

I nearly got myself court marshaled at Ft Greely, Ak. for grabbing
junk TV sets on their way to the base landfill to keep the base's AFRTS
TV and Radio stations on the air.

You know the drill. Zero downtime, almost everything is depot level,
or requires a traveling engineer to fly from Sacramento to patch it, and
the money comes out of your budget. I was tired of being off, more than
on the air, the poor signal Quality, and the constant equipment
failures, so I rebuilt the entire TV station and half the radio station
while I was there. I even used parts from a TV set to replace the tuner
in the old Off Air Demodulator. No way I was going to wait two years for
RCA to dig up the part and spend over $2000 for a 29 dollar
Sarkes-Tarzan TV tuner.

Just call me Chief.

Me too (Chief Engineer) ;-)


--
I say, the boy is so stupid that he tried to make a back up copy of his
hard drive on the Xerox machine! (F. Leghorn)

Michael A. Terrell
Central Florida

gudmundur wrote:


Sadly, I have resorted to buying up everything I think I may ever want or
need for the next 15 years of my experimenter life at local hamfests. Not
only are experimenter parts that are big enough to see becoming harder to find,
but people who know what to do with the parts are about as rare as monkeypox.

I rarely mention it, but I have some parts listed on my website. The
link is above, in the "Organization" line.

Now I will go back to my cave, and remember all the cool things I showed
my blue shirts how to build using just the stuff we found while pillaging
the dumpsters on the Navy base. Damn, we had some cool stuff!

I nearly got myself court marshaled at Ft Greely, Ak. for grabbing
junk TV sets on their way to the base landfill to keep the base's AFRTS
TV and Radio stations on the air.

You know the drill. Zero downtime, almost everything is depot level,
or requires a traveling engineer to fly from Sacramento to patch it, and
the money comes out of your budget. I was tired of being off, more than
on the air, the poor signal Quality, and the constant equipment
failures, so I rebuilt the entire TV station and half the radio station
while I was there. I even used parts from a TV set to replace the tuner
in the old Off Air Demodulator. No way I was going to wait two years for
RCA to dig up the part and spend over $2000 for a 29 dollar
Sarkes-Tarzan TV tuner.

Just call me Chief.

Me too (Chief Engineer) ;-)


--
I say, the boy is so stupid that he tried to make a back up copy of his
hard drive on the Xerox machine! (F. Leghorn)

Michael A. Terrell
Central Florida

Visited my brother in Atlanta.

Dropped by Radio Shack Friday afternoon (after Thanksgiving) for some 75 ohm
CATV terminators (spare ports on cable splitter)

Did not have any, manager was in (big sales day and full staff in store).
He told me if it is not in the box .. they will not reorder..
and that RS was going to fade out of the parts business at stores because of
SLOW inventory turns
(think WalMart, Home Depot and sell only volume items). Ace Hardware down
street was doing good business in these specialty items that
these stores are now walking away from (and great service).

GB

"Howard" wrote in message
om...
Recent visits to my local Radio Shack for even the most simple
components has left me disappointed. Recently I had the need for 5
10uf electrolytics at any voltage really, and could not find them at 3
local stores.

There used to be a selection of 25 or so IC's that were widely used
and popular...no more tho.

Even a simple LM386 could not be found around here.

Also, the parts are now being jammed into these ugly parts bins as if
to hide them from view.

Is this the same situation where you live?

One manager mentioned that components are no longer a real concern of
management and that he is under the impression that "parts" are on the
way out soon.

Wouldn't that just be the way...the old local electronics places are
out of business, and the Shack eliminates their parts. They sure do
have answers, don't they?

de WA2AFD

Visited my brother in Atlanta.

Dropped by Radio Shack Friday afternoon (after Thanksgiving) for some 75 ohm
CATV terminators (spare ports on cable splitter)

Did not have any, manager was in (big sales day and full staff in store).
He told me if it is not in the box .. they will not reorder..
and that RS was going to fade out of the parts business at stores because of
SLOW inventory turns
(think WalMart, Home Depot and sell only volume items). Ace Hardware down
street was doing good business in these specialty items that
these stores are now walking away from (and great service).

GB

"Howard" wrote in message
om...
Recent visits to my local Radio Shack for even the most simple
components has left me disappointed. Recently I had the need for 5
10uf electrolytics at any voltage really, and could not find them at 3
local stores.

There used to be a selection of 25 or so IC's that were widely used
and popular...no more tho.

Even a simple LM386 could not be found around here.

Also, the parts are now being jammed into these ugly parts bins as if
to hide them from view.

Is this the same situation where you live?

One manager mentioned that components are no longer a real concern of
management and that he is under the impression that "parts" are on the
way out soon.

Wouldn't that just be the way...the old local electronics places are
out of business, and the Shack eliminates their parts. They sure do
have answers, don't they?

de WA2AFD

Bill Turner wrote:
On Thu, 27 Nov 2003 08:32:57 -0500, "John Walton"
wrote:


I would add Allied www.alliedelec.com to that list -- their "break point"
for shipping is $25, they will ship via USPS Priority Mail (which is very
quick anyway). At any rate, who doesn't have a soft-spot in their heart for
old Allied with their Knight Kits from 4 decades ago!


__________________________________________________ _______

I too have a soft spot for Allied, but Mouser will ship a one cent part
if you want, with no handling charge (or so it implies in their
catalog). Digi-Key does have a $5 handling charge on orders less than
$25.

--
Bill, W6WRT

I would also recommend Newark Electronics (think the URL is
www.newarkone.com). They have a catalog that is thicker and heavier
than the Manhattan phonebook! (And they will send you a copy for free!).
Newark has a $25 min order, but you will have no trouble filling this
(because they have so much stuff you will find to buy!). Newark drop
ships your order from their nearest (to you) warehouse, so shipping
charges are reasonable (though your order may come in several packages,
and I don't think you pay extra for that). And they take Visa,
Mastercard (and maybe even paypal!). Newark's catalog business is
almost as old as Allied's, but they are mostly a wholesale outlet (they
try and keep the retail side a secret?).

There is also Arrow Electronics and Schweber (If there is a local
Schweber, you can phone your retail order ahead, pay by credit card and
pick it up at the lobby window.) I've done business with all three of
these companies with no problems.

Bill Turner wrote:
On Thu, 27 Nov 2003 08:32:57 -0500, "John Walton"
wrote:


I would add Allied www.alliedelec.com to that list -- their "break point"
for shipping is $25, they will ship via USPS Priority Mail (which is very
quick anyway). At any rate, who doesn't have a soft-spot in their heart for
old Allied with their Knight Kits from 4 decades ago!


__________________________________________________ _______

I too have a soft spot for Allied, but Mouser will ship a one cent part
if you want, with no handling charge (or so it implies in their
catalog). Digi-Key does have a $5 handling charge on orders less than
$25.

--
Bill, W6WRT

I would also recommend Newark Electronics (think the URL is
www.newarkone.com). They have a catalog that is thicker and heavier
than the Manhattan phonebook! (And they will send you a copy for free!).
Newark has a $25 min order, but you will have no trouble filling this
(because they have so much stuff you will find to buy!). Newark drop
ships your order from their nearest (to you) warehouse, so shipping
charges are reasonable (though your order may come in several packages,
and I don't think you pay extra for that). And they take Visa,
Mastercard (and maybe even paypal!). Newark's catalog business is
almost as old as Allied's, but they are mostly a wholesale outlet (they
try and keep the retail side a secret?).

There is also Arrow Electronics and Schweber (If there is a local
Schweber, you can phone your retail order ahead, pay by credit card and
pick it up at the lobby window.) I've done business with all three of
these companies with no problems.

cornytheclown wrote:
Mike Coslo wrote in message . net...

Howard wrote:


Recent visits to my local Radio Shack for even the most simple
components has left me disappointed. Recently I had the need for 5
10uf electrolytics at any voltage really, and could not find them at 3
local stores.

There used to be a selection of 25 or so IC's that were widely used
and popular...no more tho.

Even a simple LM386 could not be found around here.

Also, the parts are now being jammed into these ugly parts bins as if
to hide them from view.

Is this the same situation where you live?

One manager mentioned that components are no longer a real concern of
management and that he is under the impression that "parts" are on the
way out soon.

Wouldn't that just be the way...the old local electronics places are
out of business, and the Shack eliminates their parts. They sure do
have answers, don't they?

I wonder what their answer will be when the cell phone market is
saturated. (which is starting now) I really doubt that the Shack will
survive, since they've pinned so much on cell phones.

- Mike KB3EIA -


The last time I went to rat shack the two salesmen staffing the store
descended on me like a pair of hungry vultures...when they found out I
wasnt there to buy a phone or oher electronic appliance they left me
alone. Its odd how rat shack has confined all parts to the parts bin
thing yet they sell new soldering irons and those junk tools.......
This store does seem to keep an adequete supply of their ferric
chloride in stock hough, that and he odd connector are all I buy
there.

The electronics supply house we had here, radio electric, left town
many years ago....we do have another elecronic place in a nearby town
but it sells mostly computer and telecommunications related
stuff....Th ics they do carry are all nte at nte prices.....and the
selection of passives is poor...like rat shack kind of 5 resistors for
a dollar something........

I honestly hate having to use a place like mouser or allied but what
else can you do ???
Some local "ham radio" outlets also carry parts. There are one or two
in Fort Lauderdale and Miami that do. (PLUG... "Mike's Electronics",
and he is a discount Kenwood and Icom dealer too. Great guy.)

cornytheclown wrote:
Mike Coslo wrote in message . net...

Howard wrote:


Recent visits to my local Radio Shack for even the most simple
components has left me disappointed. Recently I had the need for 5
10uf electrolytics at any voltage really, and could not find them at 3
local stores.

There used to be a selection of 25 or so IC's that were widely used
and popular...no more tho.

Even a simple LM386 could not be found around here.

Also, the parts are now being jammed into these ugly parts bins as if
to hide them from view.

Is this the same situation where you live?

One manager mentioned that components are no longer a real concern of
management and that he is under the impression that "parts" are on the
way out soon.

Wouldn't that just be the way...the old local electronics places are
out of business, and the Shack eliminates their parts. They sure do
have answers, don't they?

I wonder what their answer will be when the cell phone market is
saturated. (which is starting now) I really doubt that the Shack will
survive, since they've pinned so much on cell phones.

- Mike KB3EIA -


The last time I went to rat shack the two salesmen staffing the store
descended on me like a pair of hungry vultures...when they found out I
wasnt there to buy a phone or oher electronic appliance they left me
alone. Its odd how rat shack has confined all parts to the parts bin
thing yet they sell new soldering irons and those junk tools.......
This store does seem to keep an adequete supply of their ferric
chloride in stock hough, that and he odd connector are all I buy
there.

The electronics supply house we had here, radio electric, left town
many years ago....we do have another elecronic place in a nearby town
but it sells mostly computer and telecommunications related
stuff....Th ics they do carry are all nte at nte prices.....and the
selection of passives is poor...like rat shack kind of 5 resistors for
a dollar something........

I honestly hate having to use a place like mouser or allied but what
else can you do ???
Some local "ham radio" outlets also carry parts. There are one or two
in Fort Lauderdale and Miami that do. (PLUG... "Mike's Electronics",
and he is a discount Kenwood and Icom dealer too. Great guy.)

Howard wrote:

One manager mentioned that components are no longer a real concern of
management and that he is under the impression that "parts" are on the
way out soon.

I'm personally wondering how Radio Shack remains relevant in
the face of Best Buy and other big-box consumer electronics
outlets. In other words, I wouldn't be that surprised to see
Radio Shack stores leave business before too long.

Dana