Wha?! Radio Shack rebranding - the return of DIY?

[petey twofinger]

rat shack memories ...

typing cuss words into the TRS80 speech synth module  - was in there with my dad ad his German friend Konrad , you should have seen his face when that thing called him coon rod ...

playing around with the re-branded moog demo synth on display and being shut down immediately  , " who do you think you are kid , Keith Emerson ? "

those free green 9 volt batterys and the little BOTMC punch card - 3 words , No Purchase Necessary ...

oh and thanks for that link .

[CodeMonk]

I may not be the oldest fart around here, but I do remember when they sold radio parts, tubes, and replacement speakers... good times.

I remember those times as well. Take a walk down memory lane here : http://www.radioshackcatalogs.com/

Thanks for that little "walk".
My first DIY was a reverb kit from Radioshack.
Sometime between 1981 - 1989.
But damned if I can find it

[petey twofinger]

yes , i can not stop looking at those old rat shack catalogs ...

i did find this on wikipedia though :

Customer relations

RadioShack and the Better Business Bureau of Fort Worth, Texas met on April 23, 2009 to discuss the condition of their file and the number of unanswered and unresolved complaints. At this time RadioShack had the grade of "F" and was not listed as a BBB Accredited business. The company is now working on a plan of action to address the existing and future customer service issues. Part of this plan is already visible in stores which are now required to post a sign with the District Manager's name and the question "How Are We Doing?" The sign also includes a direct toll-free number to the district office for an area and every office has received a unique phone number. RadioShackHelp.com has also been created as another portal for customers to resolve their issues through the internet. As of 2012, the BBB has upgraded RadioShack from an "F" to a "A" rating

heh .

[greaser_au]

rat shack memories ...

typing cuss words into the TRS80 speech synth module  - was in there with my dad ad his German friend Konrad , you should have seen his face when that thing called him coon rod ...

playing around with the re-branded moog demo synth on display and being shut down immediately  , " who do you think you are kid , Keith Emerson ? "

those free green 9 volt batterys and the little BOTMC punch card - 3 words , No Purchase Necessary ...

oh and thanks for that link .

Tandy (I guess they were called that because we had Radio Spares already)  even did BOTMC out here in Australia...    My local one had a pair of minimus 7s out the front all the time - they were amazing little speakers. I spent a few afternoons typing BASIC programs that I'd 'ported' from other flavours of BASIC on the demo trs-80. I remember the end of them selling valves, and I scoured every Tandy in Adelaide (from Gawler to Reynella) looking for the last of their EL34/6CA7 that were on clearance at about $9 a shot - I bought all 12. 

Tandy Australia  is all gone now though, was eaten by Dick Smith Electronics (which was owned by Woolworths) - who then got out of all componentry.

Nice to see the 'parent company' still doing it, and still looking after DIY.

We have Jaycar out here, which still seems to be trying to find a happy medium and to keep parts profitable I guess.  We used to be able to buy 1 resistor, they now come either in a little heatshrink bag of 8, or in the case of the 1watters, folded inside a little card with a hole, just like when I first started buying resistors in tandy  

david

[Electron Tornado]

rat shack memories ...

typing cuss words into the TRS80 speech synth module  -

Whoa! Blast from the past! The first time I saw one of those Trash-80s with the "artificial intelligence" programs, the store manager told me to swear at it to see the reaction. So there I am typing in all kinds of profanity, when some lady comes up behind me to check it out - with all kinds of "language" on the screen. (OK, eyes forward,  just type anything to scroll that stuff off the screen.)

Those green batteries!   ("Memorieeeeees.......")

[Canucker]

The one that was in town here is gone. I wondered for years why they weren't out of business. I was never sure how they made money as they never looked busy. Stop asking me for my phone number you jerks!!!

[bluebunny]

. . . Of course customers probably wanted to punch me out every time I asked them if they would like a stereo system to go with their 555 timer.

LOL!!   

Yeah, been there, done that (it was mandatory!).  Then you go and ask them for their name, address, phone number, date of birth, mother's maiden name ... and then wonder why they never come back...   

[Paul Marossy]

all i know is i LOVE their metal project boxes, i've gotten so used to using them i don't care for hammond boxes any more!

I like to use them for projects sometimes. Just did the other day to make a speaker simulator for my headphone rig. I chop them down about an inch cause they're a little too tall for my liking.

[Jdansti]

Just went here (www.radioshackcatalogs.com/) to look up some old stuff I've owned over the years. I still have this meter in its original box that Dad bought me when I moved out on my own around 1980.

[Mark Hammer]

I think I had one of those too! 

[Electron Tornado]

My dad gave me one of those years ago, and it's the meter I use on my bench. Still have the original box. Still use the aluminum boxes from time to time:  http://www.diystompboxes.com/smfforum/index.php?topic=99037.msg871979#msg871979

Just went here to look up some old stuff I've owned over the years. I still have this meter in its original box that Dad bought me when I moved out on my own around 1980.

[Jdansti]

Anyone ever have one of these ('78 catalog)? It's a pretty nice little mixer, although I need to troubleshoot one of the inputs that is dead. .

[PRR]

> I still have this meter

I have the next-up 22-204U, same vintage, well-used (and repaired).

The mike-mixer is only about 6 parts, with pretty cheap joints jacks and switches. You can diagnose it faster than you screen-grabbed the image.

[Jdansti]

^ Thanks!  Amazing that in the 35 years that I've owned it, I've never opened it.

[greaser_au]

Just went here (www.radioshackcatalogs.com/) to look up some old stuff I've owned over the years. I still have this meter in its original box that Dad bought me when I moved out on my own around 1980.

I think it was the 22-204 was also sold as an archerkit in a blue case (instead of black), I had one of those!!!!

david

[petey twofinger]

going in there with a pen and paper , copying forest mimms circuits out of the engineers mini handbooks in 92 ...

too cheap to buy em !

i did buy the parts there though so they did "get me" ...

[Electron Tornado]

Hmmm...don't know about the mixer. I'm totally going for one of these color organs at the bottom of this page: http://www.radioshackcatalogs.com/html/1979/h136.html . Whatever happened to color organs? They need to get popular again. OK, color organs are going to make a big comeback starting..........now. 

[Mac Walker]

Engineer's notebook on the right, that I purchased in 1980....

I was nine years old at the time, amazing that I still have it.....



Bought Anderton's book in '86, missing the record insert though.  Funny thing, there is handwritten PAIA kit pricing from 1987 written in the margins....

[Jdansti]

Hmmm...don't know about the mixer. I'm totally going for one of these color organs at the bottom of this page: http://www.radioshackcatalogs.com/html/1979/h136.html . Whatever happened to color organs? They need to get popular again. OK, color organs are going to make a big comeback starting..........now. 

Featuring an on/off switch!   

[DougH]

going in there with a pen and paper , copying forest mimms circuits out of the engineers mini handbooks in 92 ...

too cheap to buy em !

i did buy the parts there though so they did "get me" ...

So You are the reason they are struggling financially...