RadioShack, as we knew it, will be gone forever.

I have a electronics store near me, but its mostly surplus stuff, but still fairly good. I recall Active electronics on LI NY, and others. For some stuff my local store is ok, but I find myself ordering from online places, including Digikey, Mouser, Newark, Allied, Jameco, etc.

I really like local electronics stores. An era has come & gone.

It really shows how the lack of sciences/electronics in our educational systems is impacting society.

For thos not in US, what electronics stores do you have? Are they diminishing?

 

in its later years, radio scrap sold cell phones and other consumer widgets; in the good old days, U could buy enough ICs, resistors, caps, inductors, transformers, wiring, etc., to build a whole project - plus, they sold kits if U went that way. i also used to go to lafayette electronics (laff-it-up electrocution, to be fair to radio scrap); they sold pretty much the same stuff, but didn't fare as well in the market (which was central FL). and of course, if U wanted to build your own transformers (only did it once, with mixed results), U could always stop off at one of several surplus stores.

nowadays, U pretty much *have* to buy everything on-line. for ICs, that's not such a bad thing; in the past, there were few counterfeit parts (ICs, anyway), but now, U're safer buying from newark, et.al., if U want to avoid counterfeits. U're right, though; i like buying my food and services locally; it's too bad U can't buy parts that way any more.

 

(only did it once, with mixed results).

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please explain

 

Here we only have 2 stores that sell electronic components and the prices reflect that. I think they are doing ok even though most people nowadays order them online. Mainly because of the time it takes to ship stuff to Iceland(from China) and if you order something from the US or mainland Europe the cost of shipping ain't really worth it in most/many cases.

 

I recall Active electronics on LI NY, and others

Would ride my bike from Uniondale to Hempstead on LI to go to Arrow Electronics for parts. Around here (Cleveland, Ohio suburbs) the local Radio Shack would come in handy for the I want it now attacks. The few remaining independent electronic supply stores are all long gone. Brick and mortar is being replaced by Amazon be it electronics or anything else.

Ron

 

RadioShack, as we knew it, will be gone forever.
For thos not in US, what electronics stores do you have? Are they diminishing?

We had Active and Radio Shack but both are gone, I only used them in a dire emergency due to their pricing.
But In Canada, I can order from Digikey and have it on the door step next day air for $8.00 , no import fees etc, and cheaper pricing, it cost me that in time and Gas to go to the local stores for a few resistors.
Max.

 

It really shows how the lack of sciences/electronics in our educational systems is impacting society.

I'm not so sure it doesn't just show the triumph of the internet, combined with some management missteps at RS. The only items that can support brick-and-mortar stores these days are perishables and high profit-per-square-foot items. (Apple stores have the highest recorded $/ft^2 metric in all of retail.)

I can remember great old hardware stores when I was a kid. Some of the items they carried bordered on being antique, or even museum pieces. They were fun to visit and I remember my Dad would look for things for a while but always end up asking the clerk, who was the only person with a chance of knowing where to find some obscure faucet washer or whatever.

Kids interested in electronics these days are buying Arduinos online and sharing their notes on social media. Just look how many flashing LED videos you can find on Youtube.

 

I really like local electronics stores. An era has come & gone.

It depends where you live. When I lived in the SF Bay Area, and even after I moved away, Jameco, HSC, and Anchor Electronics were among my favorites. I stop by HSC and Anchor whenever I'm in the area.

When I first started doing business with Jameco, you could call in an order and drop by to pick it up the same day. Anchor was my favorite; good selection of parts and a bunch of $1 bags and clearance items.

 

I went to the only remaining retail outlet for electronic parts in the Boston area. I was looking for a surface mount capacitor. The clerk, also a relic from that bygone era, did not know what that was. And no, they did not carry any.

Bob

 

We still have Fry's here. While it's nice to have some DIY discrete electronics and test equipment on the shelf the range of parts is limited.
http://www.frys.com/template/ecomponents

 

Here in Oz, we had Tandy (Radio Shack) for quite a few years but it is long gone now. That was the place to go for the young folk to learn programming as the store had a TRS80 that you could use. Quite a few people started their computing career there.
Also, Dick Smith Electronics folded just last year I think it was. DSE started as a place to get electronic components but over the years turned into just another electronic appliance store that was not really any different from most others, Their component selection got less and less.
The main one we now have is Jaycar http://jaycar.com.au/ and there is on here in my city (Shepparton, Victoria). I get a few odds and ends there for parts I don't have in stock myself. My shed probably has more resistors and caps and some other electronic parts than Jaycar has, but there are times when I need something else and I can't wait for it so I go there. I've been trying to run electronics courses but the interest is not there very much now, and that is a pity. But my granddaughters are showing some so we are starting electronic/Arduino projects together.
When I was young there were a few disposal stores and they were full of wonderful treasures! That and the local dump provided me with my start in electronics. And when I started my training I built a stereo amp with a 12AX7 and a couple of 6V6 valves. Yes, those glowing glass jiggers
For some silly reason I gave it away years ago and I wish I still had it, my first major electronics build.
It is getting harder for the local stores to keep going as the prices from Ebay are so low in comparison. But our gov. has just added a GST of 10% to all overseas purchases and that will close the gap a tiny amount. The local purchases have had the tax for years, and the OS ones under $1K did not have any tax or duties.
Things have changed so much. Now we can build very complex devices but I think a lot has been lost too as most of the complexity is hidden and so the understanding of how things work at a base level is a bit less.
Just the same, it is great to be able to get so much stuff now, and I hope the local electronic parts stores survive. If they all go the way of Radio Shack it will be a great loss.

 

If they all go the way of Radio Shack it will be a great loss.

It just requires some foresight. Fry's Electronics is an hour drive for me and I'll seldom make the trip unless I have other reason to be in that area.

I've built up inventory of parts I commonly use. I order anything else I need on-line and get extra for future use.

 

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please explain

Funny.

 

Yesterday one of my Los Angeles musicians was running the pawn shops and surplus stores in Orange County. Orvac IIRC. He got me some excellent coax for musicians at 18pf per foot. Around here? I don't even bother to look.

Next week, I will be rehabilitating an antique tube tester and some kind of pitch-shifter.
It takes at least 2 weeks for the victims to do the 6000 mile round trip because it's normal to have to buy from at least two online vendors. I'm just happy I can get what I need, even if it has to come from all over the country.

 

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please explain

i bought some old transformers, unwrapped the wire, and tried to wire a new one; had the wrong iron (didn't understand mmf at the time), so it didn't work.

 

its interesting about Arduino comment. the Arduino is only a item where you can park some programming code.

the days of how to engineer and make the Arduino are dwindling, i dont think many schools have electronics classes that teach the fundamentals of electronic components. Arduino users have no clue how caps or inductors or diodes work, BJT vs fet, or the properties of the ground plane on a circuit board.

 

its interesting about Arduino comment. the Arduino is only a item where you can park some programming code.

the days of how to engineer and make the Arduino are dwindling, i dont think many schools have electronics classes that teach the fundamentals of electronic components. Arduino users have no clue how caps or inductors or diodes work, BJT vs fet, or the properties of the ground plane on a circuit board.

I really don't see a need for those who are strictly "programmer" types to have a comprehensive understanding of exactly a uC (micro-controller) chips actually functions or how the chip is made. While some of the physics may be interesting to a point the programmer really has no need to understand them. The programmer/software developer has really no need to understand the computer he writes software for down to the component level either. The people using software really have no need to completely understand how it works, only how to use and implement it for its application.

Just My Take....
Ron

 

I really don't see a need for those who are strictly "programmer" types to have a comprehensive understanding of exactly a uC (micro-controller) chips actually functions or how the chip is made. While some of the physics may be interesting to a point the programmer really has no need to understand them. The programmer/software developer has really no need to understand the computer he writes software for down to the component level either. The people using software really have no need to completely understand how it works, only how to use and implement it for its application.

Just My Take....
Ron

thats just it, Arduino is for programmers, not ckt makers.
Arduino cannot be made w/o ckt makers.
a world of end-user Arduino users means the components stores die, and in some regard, a bunch of poor programs are born

 

Back to Radio Shack and similar brick and mortar retail. Take a look at Amazon"

Amazon.com (/ˈæməzɒn/ or /ˈæməzən/), commonly known as Amazon, is an American electronic commerce and cloud computing company that was founded on July 5, 1994, by Jeff Bezos and is based in Seattle, Washington. It is the largest Internet-based retailer in the world by total sales and market capitalization. Amazon.com started as an online bookstore, later diversifying to sell DVDs, Blu-rays, CDs, videodownloads/streaming, MP3 downloads/streaming, audiobook downloads/streaming, software, video games, electronics, apparel, furniture, food, toys, and jewelry. The company also produces consumer electronics—notably, Kindlee-readers, Firetablets, Fire TV, and Echo—and is the world's largest provider of cloud infrastructure services (IaaS and PaaS). Amazon also sells certain low-end products like USB cables under its in-house brand AmazonBasics.

When Jeff Bezos wanted to fund his idea the major banks and lending institutions told him no way because his business model was destined to fail. His first financing came when his parents invested their life savings. His business model began the death of the brick and mortar retail outlets, even those who finally began to offer online sales, such as Radio Shack and hundreds of others. Even the retail giant Wal-Mart is feeling the pain. I confess I just ordered a RGB LED string and some Heat Shrink Tubing from Amazon Prime.

The slow and painful death of brick and mortar aside....

thats just it, Arduino is for programmers, not ckt makers.
Arduino cannot be made w/o ckt makers.
a world of end-user Arduino users means the components stores die, and in some regard, a bunch of poor programs are born

The guys designing and manufacturing chips are not the same guys programming and programming extends well beyond a chip. My old friend Herman a very good electrical engineer had a theory that anyone using a computer should have a full and concise understanding of how every component in a personal computer worked before they ever did a keystroke. Arduino is but a single example of a micro-controller. There are plenty of others such as PICAXE and they all for the most part come with an installed boot loader. Anyone programming a uC has no need to know how the chip was made or born.

Ron

 

My old friend Herman a very good electrical engineer had a theory that anyone using a computer should have a full and concise understanding of how every component in a personal computer worked before they ever did a keystroke.

I think they should have at least a basic understanding but, in reality, most folks know very little about the things they use in everyday life. Computers, smartphones, TVs, cars, light switches (2/3/4 way), valves (as in plumbing), etc. It makes for some very dumb questions, that often cause my jaw to drop, because they don't have even a basic understanding.

I, on the other hand, am very inquisitive and like to know how the things I use work. That doesn't mean I'll be able to design one from scratch but, at least, I'll know enough to talk semi-intelligently about them.

I built the second computer I owned from parts because I learned from the first one how it worked. My 5 year old son watched me and he picked up on the terminology: video card, motherboard, memory modules, power supply, ...

I was lucky enough to get into the industry when it was young. I designed circuits on GaAs before Silicon. The first silicon designs I worked on were NMOS memories because CMOS was still slow and prone to latchup. The first microprocessor project I worked on ran at a few MHz; the last ran at a few GHz.