Radio Shack to go under

[Jdansti]

My Weller soldering iron just died today in the middle of a build and I ran to RS and bought a switchable 15W/30W iron for $14. It won't last forever, but it will get me by until I decide which "good" one to buy.

[haveyouseenhim]

My Weller soldering iron just died today in the middle of a build and I ran to RS and bought a switchable 15W/30W iron for $14. It won't last forever, but it will get me by until I decide which "good" one to buy.

Is the handle burning your hand yet?

[mth5044]

Liked the story on the "hex" knobs!! heh heh.

I've always got most of my quad pack synth knobs from RS.
They were reasonable in price and instantanious!
Otherwise, I've just ordered from Mouser or Digikey or Allied or SmallBear.

Yeh, I thought RS would have died YEARS ago.
Lost three other electronics stores here in sacramento.
But the RS's just keep on ticking.....
Now, all I do is just save my list until I get enough to order from Mouser.

R.I.P. R.S.

You can come over to Davis, our RS still has the good old component drawers.

[Jdansti]

My Weller soldering iron just died today in the middle of a build and I ran to RS and bought a switchable 15W/30W iron for $14. It won't last forever, but it will get me by until I decide which "good" one to buy.

Is the handle burning your hand yet?

The handle is the only good thing about this POS. The giant conical tip is good at creating solder bridges and they don't sell any smaller replacement tips. Even if the tip was the right size, I can't tin it. Solder just beads off of it and drops onto whatever is below, usually my PCB.   I've done every thing I can think of to clean the tip, short of sanding it.   I need to go to Fry's and get a decent Weller or Hakko.

[CodeMonk]

My Weller soldering iron just died today in the middle of a build and I ran to RS and bought a switchable 15W/30W iron for $14. It won't last forever, but it will get me by until I decide which "good" one to buy.

Is the handle burning your hand yet?

The handle is the only good thing about this POS. The giant conical tip is good at creating solder bridges and they don't sell any smaller replacement tips. Even if the tip was the right size, I can't tin it. Solder just beads off of it and drops onto whatever is below, usually my PCB.  I've done every thing I can think of to clean the tip, short of sanding it.   I need to go to Fry's and get a decent Weller or Hakko.

Is that the kind with the screw in tip?
If so, I had to resort to one of those for awhile.
I went to Home Depot (Or Lowes) and bought some solid core copper wire (12 awg I think), cut to length, stuck the pieces in a drill press and took a file to them.
They don't last long, but its a dirt cheap way to go.
You can make any tip shape/size you desire easily with that stuff.

[Jdansti]

Thanks. I finally put a very fine fingernail buffing block to it and it now is tinable. A little copper is showing through in a couple of places, so it won't last for long. At least I'm not pulling my hair out now.

[drewl]

Breaking news from The Onion, in 2007:

Even CEO Can't Figure Out How RadioShack Still In Business
http://www.theonion.com/articles/even-ceo-cant-figure-out-how-radioshack-still-in-b,2190/

My favorite quote:

"One of Day's theories about RadioShack's continued solvency involves wedding DJs, emergency cord replacement, and off-brand wireless telephones. Another theory entails countless RadioShack gift cards that sit unredeemed in their recipients' wallets. Day has even conjectured that the store is "still coasting on" an enormous fortune made from remote-control toy cars in the mid-1970s."

Holy crap that was funny.

Hey I love RS for finding something I need in a hurry.

[jsleep]

They have great little kitchen timers.  My last real purchasing experience with radio shack was with etchant.  A few years ago they actually sold it for less than ANYWHERE.  Since I was using literally gallons of it at the time, I asked the manager to order LOTS.  He did for a while, but kept having trouble getting it in.  (maybe one reason why they are in such bad shape now)  He said they sold the etchant mostly to artists and not at all to electronic hobbyists etc.

So I walk in to RS a couple weeks ago to pick up some of the cheap speaker wire they sell, which is the right size and works great for 9v DC patch cables.  They had busted a hole in the back of the store for a drive up window and they are selling cigarettes and lottery tickets out the drive-thru window.  And they got a pretty brisk business (inside and out) selling them.  I'm not making this up!  I guess this particular store sees the writing on the wall and they are diversifying 

JD

[haveyouseenhim]

They had busted a hole in the back of the store for a drive up window and they are selling cigarettes and lottery tickets out the drive-thru window.  And they got a pretty brisk business (inside and out) selling them.  I'm not making this up!

For the love of god PLEASE take a picture of it. 

[tubegeek]

They had busted a hole in the back of the store for a drive up window and they are selling cigarettes and lottery tickets out the drive-thru window.  And they got a pretty brisk business (inside and out) selling them.  I'm not making this up!

For the love of god PLEASE take a picture of it. 

+1

[Jdansti]

Let's make it more interesting. Video yourself going to the drive through and asking for an NTE948 quad op amp. 

[duck_arse]

sounds like the writing on that particular wall said "sledge here".

[theehman]

They have great little kitchen timers.  My last real purchasing experience with radio shack was with etchant.  A few years ago they actually sold it for less than ANYWHERE.  Since I was using literally gallons of it at the time, I asked the manager to order LOTS.  He did for a while, but kept having trouble getting it in.  (maybe one reason why they are in such bad shape now)  He said they sold the etchant mostly to artists and not at all to electronic hobbyists etc.

So I walk in to RS a couple weeks ago to pick up some of the cheap speaker wire they sell, which is the right size and works great for 9v DC patch cables.  They had busted a hole in the back of the store for a drive up window and they are selling cigarettes and lottery tickets out the drive-thru window.  And they got a pretty brisk business (inside and out) selling them.  I'm not making this up!  I guess this particular store sees the writing on the wall and they are diversifying 

JD

That is probably a non-corporate (franchise) store.  They can do what they want and carry anything they like, even non-RS product.

[theehman]

I worked at the Shack part- and full-time back in the early 2000s.  While it wasn't greatest place to work due to corporate's demanding cell phone quotas, I did learn a lot about customer service.  I would refuse to put minutes on prepaid phones (I mean, really?  Does the car salesman gas up your car for you?) except for the elderly and mentally handicapped (like my brother-in-law).  I would fix phone chargers and other things for customers and they would really appreciate that and give me a few bucks for it.  My store was a corporate store in Bloomington, IN (not the one in the mall).  I was damn sure they'd be out of business by now but amazingly they're still here.  I've got to stop and buy a MIDI cable today.
I used to get a kick out of people coming in and buying parts for cable descramblers.  When I asked if that was what they were building they'd get all embarrassed about it.

[PRR]

Fuel for thought:

Ars deathwatch 2014: RadioShack

"...this store chain, which sees its core audience as "do-it-yourselfers"..., has been doing it to itself for the past two years....
...RadioShack's CEO Joe Magnacca ....came to RadioShack in February from Walgreens—yes, the drug store chain—and has brought on veterans from JC Penney and Under Armour."

[Guitar Gear Reviews]

Can't say I'll be sad to see them go. 

I stopped at one recently to check about buying a few parts to finish up some loose builds but couldn't bring myself to. 

Their prices, at least around here are all over 3x what I can get online. 

BTW I usually order from Jameco. 

[amptramp]

Back in 1983, I had to spend some time at a subcontractor in Shalimar FL near Ft. Walton in the Florida panhandle.  I visited the local Radio Shack there and got a deal on a DMM - $39.99 on sale.  The same one was $99.99 in Toronto.  Just for laughs I brought down the Canadian catalog with the Canadian prices which were much higher (for everything).  The sales grunt there just couldn't believe there would still be a Radio Shack in Canada.  They are continuing under a different name here and at one point had an upscale offshoot called "Genexxa".

I have easy driving access to Sayal, A-1 Electronics, AA Electronics and Active Surplus (they have a new store on Steeles Avenue without the downtown parking hassles).  Who needs Radio Shack?  I picked up some 10µF 100 volt film capacitors at Active Surplus - you don't see those every day.

BTW flying into Ft. Walton was fun - the code is VPS (for Valparaiso, a small town north of there) and you land at Eglin AFB.  Our flights out somtimes had to hold for a squadron of Phantoms and F-15's were flying around all the time.

[italianguy63]

I went to radio shack and bought some super-puny 12V bulbs to fix the backlight in my Honda dash... They are good for something.  I think the fix was $2.50 and the Honda bulb would have been like $10 bucks.  Plus, it was down the street.  I just had to wind the super-tiny leads around the holder...

[piznut]

As an ex-employee of Radioshack, I have to say that I did see this coming. My store was in SW Florida, rapidly decaying from having gone unmaintained for ~45ish years. Where most of my customers were older people, usually seeking advice on repairing older, sometimes analog technology, (or less fortunately, asking how to use their mobile phones...) I was the only employee to ever be awarded "Employee of the Month", which I ended up winning twice. Not to mention I was the only employee who understood analog circuitry and technology. As the months dragged on, I was inspired by a coworker, a regular solder-junkie, to pick up electronics. Doing so, I began to learn all about electronic tech, and focused my direction on audio circuitry, which in turn, led me to stompbox building.
Because of my job at RadioShack, I now have a wonderful hobby that has changed my college major and direction in life entirely.

Thank you Radioshack, shame that you don't have any decent parts however.
For the record, I did regularly raid the parts drawers, the employee discount (%50 off all RS brand products) was far too good to pass up.
However, I left voluntarily because of incredibly demanding emphasis on sales performance, to be appreciated, you need to sell mobile phones madly.

[tubegeek]

I think I see one problem: they really ought to update their inventory. Also they ought to charge more than 57 cents for the catalog.