Visit your local rat shack

arawn · August 25, 2011, 11:44:41 AM

The folks at Radio shack in their infinite wisdom have decided to up the amount of diy electronics supplies they are carrying. I visited my local radio shack yesterday and found a plethora of tools, parts and kits. My local radio shack now has PCB material, something i've not seen in a long time. amplifier and power supply kits some of which look to be good for our purposes. I got a 3w amp kit for $15.00 and in just a little while i will report back on how it sounds tho i suspect it's going to want some sort of preamp.

ayayay! · August 25, 2011, 11:51:50 AM

Well I'll be darned. They said some months back they'd be "listening" to more of the DIY community, and I guess that's proving to be true. Now if they can do it competitively and quit selling so much crap...

artifus · August 25, 2011, 11:54:58 AM

http://hackaday.com/2011/05/27/speak-your-mind-and-help-radioshack-suck-less/

in other news http://hackaday.com/2011/08/19/heathkit-is-back-from-the-dead/

Paul Marossy · August 25, 2011, 12:07:18 PM

RadioShack is fine if you don't mine being ripped off and getting inferior parts. Example: their no name 1/4" mono jacks with simple pressed sleeves that spin around when you tighten the nut are like $4. You can get THREE way BETTER mono jacks made by Neutrik for about the same price.

I don't go to RadioShack unless they have something that I need RIGHT NOW and don't mind spending a few extra dollars to get it.

arawn · August 25, 2011, 12:08:36 PM

I got a 3 watt mono amplifier kit, built it attached it to a 4" driver and wham bam thank you maam. it has no volume or tone control but with my lp copy dimed it has big amp power distortion and crunch but it cleans up as soon as you back off the volume and sounds surprisingly good. fun 15 minute build runs off 3-15v, and accepts no more than 500mA of current. The kit was made by vellemanand is part #k8066. I think it sounds as good as a ruby. when i get a chance I'll scan the schematic and post it so we can see about mods to make it even more instrument friendly.

Paul Marossy · August 25, 2011, 12:12:53 PM

They have kits there now? I need to go to a store and look around. Haven't been to one in probably a year...

nexekho · August 25, 2011, 12:26:15 PM

I don't think we have Radio Shacks (at least not many) in the UK. Used to have a Tandy store a decade ago, think they have some kind of relation, but never seen a RS. Maplins here seem to be the equivalent. They also sell the same kits. The low noise stereo preamp kit is £6 here, uses a dual op-amp and comes with two volume controls using trimmer potentiometers but no inputs/outputs and runs on 5-25v IIRC. For a properly designed preamp with a decent PCB/etc. it's not bad value for money. Using it as a pre and post amp for a custom distortion that's WIP after buying it a lot of years ago.

Building a pedal around a kit doesn't feel quite as DIY as making everything yourself but it does simplify things a good deal.

Paul Marossy · August 25, 2011, 12:28:51 PM

Quote from: nexekho on August 25, 2011, 12:26:15 PM
I don't think we have Radio Shacks (at least not many) in the UK. Used to have a Tandy store a decade ago, think they have some kind of relation

They do/did. I used to see Tandy products in RadioShack stores years ago. I don't recall seeing any Tandy products in a RadioShack for probably ten years or more.

arawn · August 25, 2011, 02:09:55 PM

yeah the Tandy nameplate died, but it was a subsidiary of Texas instruments just like radio shack. In fact our first 2 or 3 comnputers were tandy's

Paul Marossy · August 25, 2011, 02:15:51 PM

Quote from: arawn on August 25, 2011, 02:09:55 PM
yeah the Tandy nameplate died, but it was a subsidiary of Texas instruments just like radio shack. In fact our first 2 or 3 comnputers were tandy's

Commodore 64?

artifus · August 25, 2011, 02:20:30 PM

tandy disappeared from the uk sometime in the early to mid nineties... then maplins started popping up - i don't know if they are connected to anyone but are generally considered to be over priced and under stocked but occasionally convenient. i really miss the little electronic surplus boutiques that used to be dotted around when i was growing up. they always seemed to be run by just one little old guy who usually lived above the shop and could get you anything. every town seemed to have one.

nexekho · August 25, 2011, 02:47:49 PM

Quote from: artifus on August 25, 2011, 02:20:30 PM
tandy disappeared from the uk sometime in the early to mid nineties... then maplins started popping up - i don't know if they are connected to anyone but are generally considered to be over priced and under stocked but occasionally convenient. i really miss the little electronic surplus boutiques that used to be dotted around when i was growing up. they always seemed to be run by just one little old guy who usually lived above the shop and could get you anything. every town seemed to have one.

Yeah, they are REALLY EXPENSIVE. A low-cost push-to-break is £0.20+VAT on Rapid, £0.35 on Bitsbox, and £1.21 on Maplin. Switches are 2-3x as much as anywhere else and individual components are rather pricey. Their kits aren't bad though.

jrod · August 25, 2011, 03:35:32 PM

Thanks for the heads up!

The Radio Shack outlet evidently closed here (in Ft. Worth, TX). I have bought TONS of parts, etc. there CHEAP! I was afraid they were getting away from everything but cell phones.

R.G. · August 25, 2011, 03:38:51 PM

Wow. Business must have declined to the point that they hired a different MBA to advise them on product line.

Electron Tornado · August 25, 2011, 04:29:52 PM

Quote from: Paul Marossy on August 25, 2011, 12:07:18 PM
RadioShack is fine if you don't mine being ripped off and getting inferior parts. Example: their no name 1/4" mono jacks with simple pressed sleeves that spin around when you tighten the nut are like $4. You can get THREE way BETTER mono jacks made by Neutrik for about the same price.

I don't go to RadioShack unless they have something that I need RIGHT NOW and don't mind spending a few extra dollars to get it.

It's a brick and mortar retail store, so higher prices shouldn't be a surprise. As far as inferior parts, that's a bit too much of a generality. It depends on what you're looking for.

I do wish they would bring back some of the stuff they carried in the late 70s and early 80s.

Heathkit's back??? Saints be praised!

glops · August 25, 2011, 04:41:12 PM

My radio shack now has a bunch extra goodies. Nice to know that have copper clad in case I ever need some. One thing I do like is the aluminum
enclosures they have for 3 bucks. Not great for stomps but definitely good for utility boxes. Gonna put a conder cab sim in one...

arawn · August 25, 2011, 04:59:28 PM

yeah the one i was at yesterday the sales guys were tellling me they don't order anything. All of their stock is determined by corporate, at least at the corporate stores. The copperclad is double sided but if your desperate it will do. just eat up a little more etchant.

runmikeyrun · August 25, 2011, 05:52:13 PM

Quote from: arawn on August 25, 2011, 02:09:55 PM
yeah the Tandy nameplate died, but it was a subsidiary of Texas instruments just like radio shack. In fact our first 2 or 3 comnputers were tandy's

We had a Texas Instruments TI 99 4-A when I was a kid. That was the next step after an atari. After that computer my dad started building PCs and we also had a Commodore 64. I remember the first PC he built, it had a 10 meg hard drive and it was the size of a modern backup drive! I also remember getting the first Pentium processor, and being amazed at how fast game would run.

boogietone · August 25, 2011, 06:07:22 PM

The knobs at rat shack are not half bad and the price is reasonable. The small diameter ones are good for small spaces and certainly work fine for prototypes.

Paul Marossy · August 25, 2011, 06:34:54 PM

Quote from: boogietone on August 25, 2011, 06:07:22 PM
The knobs at rat shack are not half bad and the price is reasonable. The small diameter ones are good for small spaces and certainly work fine for prototypes.

Yeah, the knobs are actually not a bad buy, but there's a very limited selection. I like the "Boss" style knobs that they sell, most of my builds have them.

News:

Visit your local rat shack