[CW] SK? Radio Shack

Wed Sep 8 16:55:09 EDT 2010

Radio Shack is a laugh!  I have bought stereo plugs & adapters there - which
do have Morse applications.  I would not buy a cell phone there, though -
they don't deserve that much of my money!

73 Kate K6HTN

On Wed, Sep 8, 2010 at 1:51 PM, DANNY DOUGLAS <N7DC at comcast.net> wrote:

>  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
> ex WN5QMX ET2US WA5UKR ET3USA SV0WPP VS6DD N7DC/YV5 G5CTB
> All 2 years or more (except Novice). Short stints at:  DA/PA/SU/HZ/7X/DU
> CR9/7Y/KH7/5A/GW/GM/F
> Pls QSL direct, buro, or LOTW preferred,
> I Do not use, but as a courtesy do upload to eQSL for those who do.
> Moderator
> DXandTALK
> http://groups.yahoo.com/group/DXandTalk
> Digital_modes
> http://groups.yahoo.com/group/digital_modes/?yguid=341090159
>
> ----- Original Message -----
> *From:* D.J.J. Ring, Jr. <n1ea at arrl.net>
> *To:* CW Reflector <cw at mailman.qth.net>
> *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 <http://www.qsl.net/n1ea/>
> SOWP <http://www.sowp.org/>, VWOA <http://www.vwoa.org/>, OOTC<http://www.ootc.us/>,
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