Wither Radio Shack...?

Will Radio Shack Wither Away ?

  • Will Radio Shack Die ?

    Votes: 3 42.9%

  • Will Radio Shack Survive ?

    Votes: 0 0.0%

  • Do You Remember P-Box Kits? Yes

    Votes: 0 0.0%

  • Do You Remember P-Box Kits? No

    Votes: 0 0.0%

  • Did You Ever Build A P-Box Kit? Yes

    Votes: 0 0.0%

  • Did You Ever Build A P-Box Kit? No

    Votes: 0 0.0%

  • Do You Remember Lafayette Radio Electronics? Y

    Votes: 0 0.0%

  • Do You Remember Lafayette Radio Electronics? N

    Votes: 0 0.0%

  • Do You Remember Knight Kits ? Yes

    Votes: 0 0.0%

  • Do You Remember Knight Kits ? No

    Votes: 0 0.0%

  • Did You Ever Build A Knight Kit ? Yes

    Votes: 0 0.0%

  • Did You Ever Build A Knight Kit ? No

    Votes: 0 0.0%

  • Do You Remember Heath Kits ? Yes

    Votes: 2 28.6%

  • Do You Remember Heath Kits ? No

    Votes: 0 0.0%

  • Did You Ever Build a Heath Kit ? Yes

    Votes: 2 28.6%

  • Did You Ever Build a Heath Kit ? No

    Votes: 0 0.0%

  • Do You Remember Dynaco Kits? Yes

    Votes: 0 0.0%

  • Do You Remember Dynaco Kits? No

    Votes: 0 0.0%

  • Did You Ever Build A Dynaco Kit ? Yes

    Votes: 0 0.0%

  • Did You Ever Build A Dynaco Kit ? No

    Votes: 0 0.0%
  • Total voters
    7
I could never figure out that Horizontal Sync Suppression Scrambling. I was never to much into IC's ether. As a mater of fact I blame Integrated Circuits for taking the fun out of Electronic Hobbying. I too tried to build a volume expander. It used op amps. It was easier to build with op amps that came in a round, T05 ? , package with wire leads. Never did get it to work. I experimented with some 7400 TTL logic and counting circuits. I did build a digital clock with 8 segment incandescent display tubes. I am still quite proud of that one. It looked really cool. It did have a major glitch. I used the 60Hz power line as the time base. Spikes coming along the line would throw it off every few days. I had more failures building stuff using IC's. Some how they took the fun out of things. Integrated Circuits seemed to de-personalize projects. Maybe that was the true beginning of the end of Radio Shack.
 
What they did was, the horizontal sync was sent with two pedestals instead of the standard one pedestal. Like double frequency, but at or near the voltage level of conventional sync pulses, which was well above the voltage level of the picture. The double pulses would miss the bandpass-to-sync pulse discriminator circuits of most t.v. sets. The "descrambler boxes" for this system used phase lock loops to construct a single horizontal sync pulse per line and substitute it for "the double pulse interval" in the broadcast.
So, a quick and dirty method was only a matter of "smoothing" the two pulses to one usable sync pulse per line; one that would pass the t.v.'s pulse discriminator circuit and stabilize the picture.
They also sent the video portion at low contrast, and the box would then boost the contrast, but this technique resulted in a poor video signal-to-noise ratio.

Some broadcast pay service systems would also periodically invert the phase of the picture voltage from positive to negative and back and forth, and they used a simple embedded trigger signal to switch the phase polarity in the decoder box. So in this case, the simple sync filter was insufficient for full video recovery. But it was still watchable from a sync standpoint. Now, encrypted digital scrambling really took care of that.

The ICs were still interesting to me since they constituted circuits containing many transistors. To do what they did by instead using discreet components, transistors, caps, vericaps, varistors, etc., would require buying quite a few standalone discreet parts.
What made ICs impersonal was in trying to play with junk radios and gear that used them. Trying to use junk gear for pet projects, but they still often have reusable caps, diodes, pots and resistors to play with, as long as you have desoldering wick.
 
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Greetings Earthlings!

I just bought a pack of 20 amp ceramic fuses online from RS. I'm trying to see if I can get a microwave oven to work. After the purchase, I was asked to complete a survey about my experiences at the RS site, so I included this thread's URL in my survey comments.
The survey promises to pass my comments along to RS, so we shall see what happens...nothing...?

And if you have anything to say to Radio Shack, then...maybe post it here?
And if anyone from Radio Shack happens to read this thread, then please. Make yourself at home.
Good to see you. :)
 
your microwave could have a magnotron problem.
 

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I expect it won't work. It's a used microwave oven with a missing HV fuse.
The snap-around fuse insulator is laying on the floor of the unit and the blown fuse is nowhere to be found. I got the fuse rating from an interior sticker.
The unit has two fuses, one for the control panel, and the second HV fuse of interest, for the power to the HV capacitor (NOTE TO OTHERS: DO NOT TOUCH THE HV CAPACITOR. WHEN IT IS CHARGED WITH ELECTRICITY, IT CAN EASILY KILL YOU. IT CAN HOLD A CHARGE FOR LONG PERIODS OF TIME. MAKE SURE NOT TO TOUCH THIS UNTIL IT IS DISCHARGED PROPERLY. NEVER ASSUME THAT TURNING OFF THE POWER AND UNPLUGGING THE AC CORD FROM THE WALL SOCKET WILL DISCHARGE THE CAPACITOR. IT WILL NOT DO SO IMMEDIATELY, SO BE CAREFUL, BUT LEAVE IT TO THOSE WHO KNOW WHAT THEY ARE DOING. TAKE GOOD CARE.)

The control panel works, but it could be the previous owner removed the fuse to prevent mishap by others due to overheating issues. Usually when a device is unrepairable and/or in danger of hazzards, most folks around here cut the AC cord off to prevent mishap.
We will soon find out...

It's not a reliable brand. It's one of those mysterious "Oster" models not manufactured by Oster. Those units are produced under license by Oster to a string of third-party manufacturers and "the branding" is "in-name-only".
There are no online parts offered for these ovens that I can find, and Oster has absolutely nothing to say about "Oster Microwave Ovens" on their official website.
 
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Placed order for fuses on the 30th. They arrived this morning.
I couldn't be more delighted!

The Microwave Oven Works!
And about an hour ago I tried Googling the model by the UL number, and found the mfg. Galantz. They made the Oster, and they make the RCA models. And apparently, they make all of the low cost units for other "name brands", Kenmore, etc. Hmm...

They claim to be the world's largest mfg of microwave ovens. That would be the reason why...
 
Our microwave is 30 years old. Never had a problem since day 1. Hotpoint, parts even still available...
 
DUMBASSES .

sleepy said:
Forbes has an article about Radio Shack, "A Great Ad Couldn't Save Radio Shack".
Pretty much what has been pointed at in this thread:

http://www.forbes.com/sites/jonathansalembaskin/2014/10/03/a-great-ad-couldnt-save-radio-shack/
Click to expand...

That ad is even more proof . The powers that be at Radio Shackâ„¢ are completely clue-less. That ad actually had me confused. When I saw that ad I thought "YOU STUPID FUCKS >>> I DO WANT THE 80'S RADIO SHACKâ„¢ BACK !!! . :headscratch:This ad was not funny, clever or sarcastic. Just sad.
1980 was a good year for Radio Shackâ„¢. The 80's should have been the beginning of an even more diversified source of every thing electronic. That slogan "The 80's Called And They Want Their Radio Shack Back" Should be their EPITAPH. :no: :rip:
 
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i still sort of miss the trash-80's (TRS-80's) we used to program on in HS... back in the early 80's. programming is fun fun fun when you have to be clever in the face of limited memory and CPU.


daily_gifdump_713_02.gif
 
is that the flight of the bumble-cat? you forgot the dis-claimer that no animals were hurt in the making of this video.
 
everything was going great until it faced the lens!
 
This is all I know.
Cats. The very things that I admire about them and would capture on camera...

...they don't do when the camera is on.
 
They Just Get Distracted

sleepy said:
This is all I know.
Cats. The very things that I admire about them and would capture on camera...

...they don't do when the camera is on.
Click to expand...
That and...
"You Can't Do A Cat A Favor" (_S
 
my wife heard that radio shack was in the news again. something about bankruptcy again and some kind of problem with home depot. anybody else hear about it?
 
Uh yeah. The money mad are suing Home Depot.

http://www.zdnet.com/article/zero-d...-google-endpoint-risk-in-focus-dhs-cyberfail/

Home Depot court battle over data breach liability begins in Atlanta today: At least 44 lawsuits have been filed against The Home Depot since the home improvement giant confirmed its data breach last September. More than 30 of these have been consolidated into one court action which will be fought out in U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Georgia in Atlanta.
Click to expand...

Unless the plaintiff has lost serious money, these lawsuits should only be for the $10 or so it cost to replace one's credit cards. Or whatever they charge for replacement.
What is the point of that, other than lawyers and mad money?
 
Radio Shack stock has dropped to 25 cents. They are not paying rent on store property. The Shack did well at the start of the school year. It showed they had enough retail capacity to raise their stock 33% in the short run. Then came "Black" Friday. NADA, it just started the plunge. X-mas, nearly nada. Was the poor end of year performance the final bell for RS? Sprint is chomping at the bit to get all that retail space.
 
do you think i should stock up on solder , de-soldering wick , and other parts i get from them or should i wait for the going out of business half price sale? whatever doesnt sell a place like ollies might swoop up to sell. if anybody finds out about a GOOB sale let me know.
 
If they close their brick and mortar locations and send me an e-mail about it, I'll let you know.
I wonder if the website has an e-mail notifications option? I started getting them after an online purchase. The option was available during cart checkout.

And the local RS downsized to a smaller store in the local plaza to make room for a 99 Cent-Only store.
 
i was just in my local radio shack to pick up soldering supplies. during check out i asked the employee about store closings. she said that the larger mall stores with the highest rent will be the first to close. the strip mall RS that i go to will stay open, but for how long IDK. also store hours will be shortened.
 
we went into the big mall RS that is closing to see what all is left. it looked like all the vultures had picked the carcus clean. i ended up getting a dual bumper car rc toy and a 4 gang surface mount fuse holder ( good replacements for bally em's). do you think that a lot of that stuff that was sold will pop up on ebay or amazon?
 
Don't know the odds ex-Radio Shack goods will make it to eBay. I wasted my time by stopping by the Hunt Valley Radio Shack .They were quite busy and under staffed. I asked for de-soldering braid and a puzzeled looking employee pointed to the 'soldering section' then went on to talk cell phones with 4 or 5 customers. I don't think he knows what de-soldering braid is or does. He sure did not know there was none to be had. That strip mall store showed no signs of closing soon.
 
who is buying their stores? and what will their plans be?... are my Q's.

IIRC computer superstore microcenter has the soldering and cable / adaptor stuff that RS used to have. i guess everything else you have to order online now?

there used to be a really cool electronics store back in upper darby... i hope they are still around, because they were like radio shack on steroids, on steroids.

geez... i miss the old days. :(
 
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