[R-390] OT

[george stringe]

You must have been living a sheltered life ;-)

gws


wb5uom at hughes.net wrote:
> Hummm... I can not think of a time in 20 + years of being in this 
> wonderful communications business of EVER going to Radio Shack for a 
> part for any system.
>  
> David/WB5UOM
>
>     ----- Original Message -----
>     *From:* george stringe <mailto:egnirts at comcast.net>
>     *To:* Tisha Hayes <mailto:tisha.hayes at gmail.com>
>     *Cc:* r-390 at mailman.qth.net <mailto:r-390 at mailman.qth.net>
>     *Sent:* Friday, January 02, 2009 12:49 PM
>     *Subject:* Re: [R-390] OT
>
>     Actually when one reads the history of RadioShack, there is no
>     mention of Allied Radio on Wikipedia or RadioShack sites.  A
>     little further searching  finds that Tandy bought Allied Radio and
>     Allied Electronics in 1970 but was forced by the federal court to
>     divest itself of Allied Radio in 1973.  Allied Electronics was
>     purchased in 1999 by Electrocomponents plc.  As a kid in the late
>     40's and 50's,  I always  wore out my Allied catalogs.  Living in
>     the Chicago area,  it was a treat to go downtown to the Allied store.
>
>     Back in the 90's when I traveled the country installing various
>     systems on contracts with numerous federal agencies,  it always
>     amazed me how much we depended on RadioShack for pieces parts, 
>     that and overnight UPS/FedEx.
>
>     Cheers
>
>     george
>     wg0s
>
>
>
>     Tisha Hayes wrote:
>>     Radio Shack transmogrified itself from Allied into a consumer
>>     electronics store. There are still those remnants of their
>>     origins in the parts bins and connector assortments way in the
>>     dark, back corner of some stores. (do you notice how many Radio
>>     Shack stores in malls forgo even carrying those items?)
>>
>>     I still frequent Radio Shack when I am traveling for business and
>>     need to find solder or some sort of connector to complete some
>>     missed detail during the commissioning phase on a communications
>>     site. Buying a $15 device to scavenge off some other component to
>>     get the job done saves me from being on-site for two or three
>>     more days, waiting on a supplier like Tessco or Talley to ship me
>>     the officially designated item. Years ago, most of the store
>>     employees were electronic hobbyists, today they are just consumer
>>     electronics sales-people, they would be perfectly happy working
>>     at the cell phone kiosk down at the other end of the mall.
>>     Everything about their approach today is based on how quickly
>>     they can sell the latest computer game, gizmo or universal
>>     television remote. Maybe you run across a store manager who
>>     remembers the good old days and you can have an intelligent
>>     conversation with.
>>
>>     It would be great to haul in an R-390A and put it on the counter
>>     or a T-195 transmitter on a roll around cart and point out a
>>     specific part that you need. Usually when I discuss the blasphemy
>>     of cutting a cord off of something I begin to wave my arms back
>>     and forth, speak rapidly about tin-foil hats and government mind
>>     control rays and the sales guy backs away quickly to hide behind
>>     their counter, looking for the quickest exit from the building if
>>     I turn violent.
>>     ------------------------------------------------------------------------
>>
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