[CW] SK? Radio Shack

Wed Sep 8 16:51:16 EDT 2010

Just yesteday, I went to the Culpeper, Va. "Shack"looking for a morse ocillator - silly me!   The three gals there looked at me blankly (my first hint of what was to come).  Two of them didnt know what 'Morse" was, and all three had no idea what an oscillator was.  One asked how to spell what I wanted, and tried inputting it into their computer - NO JOY.  They dont even have them available to order from the warehouses.    In furtherance I asked if they had Morse Keys - another blank.   Even the Iambic Key Paddles they had just this past decade, were not listed.   

I then went on to request a "small voltage beeper"  After explaining what it was, I was advised to "maybe to to Walmart and ask from one of them things that are on the back of their forklifts"  SIGH.

They might as well go out of business - and in fact have, as far as I am concerned.  I wont even go in there to buy solder (Walmarts is cheaper, and has more on the spool).  I only went there yesterday because I ran out of any other ideas locally.  I misplaced my code machine here, and needed it this week to run a Scout class.  We wound up learning how to send/receive code last night, by wig wag flag.  The Boy Scouts have, on their 100th birthday, reintroduced the signalling merit badge, for just this one year.  One of the requirements (just as it was almost 100 years ago)is for the boys to build a morse code key/oscillator.  That one was listed as a simple buzzer system, with a homemade key made of a strip of metal, on a wooden board.  The problem is that we cannot now seem to easily purchase buzzers.  The auto parts stores dont have any such thing either, so now I have to figure a part number some where and order a few.  I may wind up purchasing just one, and having each boy build, then take apart the machine, so the next one can use the same parts.

Mi Digusted.

Danny Douglas
N7DC
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  ----- Original Message ----- 
  From: D.J.J. Ring, Jr. 
  To: CW Reflector 
  Sent: Wednesday, September 08, 2010 3:49 PM
  Subject: [CW] SK? Radio Shack

  Sad days are coming - someone said that one of the very first companies, "The Shack" originally called Radio Shack founded in Boston, MA in the 1920s is going to fold.

  I guess the paramedics have been called though.

  They are now bringing back parts into RS here.  I was there yesterday, two people came in the store near me and they spent over $300 in the last two days on parts but had to travel 60 miles round trip to get the parts.

  They have tools, but the tools have #2, #1, and #0 Phillips instead of what you need in electronics, #1, #0, and #00.  So even if you want to buy something there, you really shouldn't.

  Everything is done by someone with no experience with electronics. the parts drawers are arranged by official plan-o-gram but the fuses are neither grouped by ampere rating nor by part number - leaving the customer's eyes to swim all over the drawer.

  I looked over the shoulder of the local manager who was putting the parts in, he had X'd out the pictures that "The Shack" had provided for the local staff - nearly 100% of the graph was wrong, but fortunately there was a list at the bottom - something has to be taken as "right".

  But the same dizzy problems remain - you can buy 1/4 inch mono plugs and 1/8 mono plugs but no stereo plugs - most of us know that you can use a stereo plug in a mono circuit, but it appears that "The Shack" does not.

  They have some brand name parts - but they are marked in the same bags and cardboard containers that the old "RadioShack" parts are - so even if you didn't mind trying something of a known manufacturer, you would never know it was an independent manufacturer until you opened up the bag - Arctic Silver thermal compound is one example - and excellent product for use on CPU heat sinks.

  For years Radio Shack parts and products in many people's minds have been suspect for quality, price and reliability.  When you're going to strike out, why not go all the way.  They've been known for unresponsive middle and upper management who leave the local manager often dangling at the end of a rope unable to better serve his customers.

  But new lots of parts are coming in - things have changed - you cannot get electrical tape that is rated over 500 volts these days - Radio Shack (excuse me, "The Shack") still has it in their very inexpensive 10 kV tape for cheap money.

  Of course, Radio Shack will never look back to the days when local hams came into the Boston store and wanted to build a radio set.  The fellows working there would give them a copy of a schematic of a one or two tube radio set and sell them the parts.  They said "If you can't get it working, come on back, we'll help you." - and they did that.

  Many of those who were interested in building sets went on to become amateur radio operators, Radio Shack sold keys and everything needed to build a top notch radio station in those days.  And if the patron needed help, he could go back to the store and he'd get it.

  Some of these new hams became involved in selling and making electronics, and continued to buy electronics through Radio Shack, even when they got so big and bought in ten thousand units and went direct to the manufacturer, Radio Shack still continued to receive their commission on the parts even though they didn't even order them for the customer at that point.  That's how the electronics industry works, when Radio Shack's time, effort and care paid off, it sometimes paid off big.  

  Radio Shack at one time bought Allied Radio - but that Tandy Corp entered the picture and took the cash and replaced the electronics knowledgeable management.

  Now the staff (sales associates) are all rated on how many cell phones they sell and how many service plans and add ons they sell when they ring you up.

  Personally I don't like that "hand out for a dollar" attitude, so I shop them less.

  But I long for the day they had nice Hallicrafters, Hammarlund, Johnson transmitters and Vibroplex and Johnson keys and bugs.

  73

  DR

  David J. Ring, Jr., N1EA
  SOWP, VWOA, OOTC, FISTS, CW-Ops, JARL-A1, A1-OP, ex-FOC 1271 ARRL-LM
  Chat Skype: djringjr MSN: djringjr at msn.com AIM: N1EA icq: 27380609
  Radio-Officers Google Group -- Marine Morse Historic Recordings Page

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