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RadioShack.com Hanging On — Parallax Forums

RadioShack.com Hanging On

ercoerco Posts: 20,256
edited 2017-07-08 18:47 in General Discussion
Still a fair amount of stuff for sale, free shipping on orders over $19. Prices look unchanged from what I saw in-store at the end.

Not sure what "Returns are always free" at the top means.

Robots: https://www.radioshack.com/pages/search-results?findify_q=robot&findify_limit=24&findify_offset=0

Parallax, just 13X BS2 HW boards: https://www.radioshack.com/products/parallax-28188-rt-basic-stamp-2-board

Better hurry, some watch batteries already sold out at just over $4! https://www.radioshack.com/products/duracell-389-390-button-cell-battery

Edit:

I don't remember seeing these light-to current sensors:

https://www.radioshack.com/products/radioshack-3mm-ambient-light-sensor-5-pack
https://www.radioshack.com/products/radioshack-5mm-ambient-light-sensor-5-pack

Comments

  • frank freedmanfrank freedman Posts: 1,983
    Just ordered some tips for the solder station I paid < $30.00 when the stores closed. Don't know who made this for them, but not so good deal if tips go away with RS....... Bargain insurance i guess.
  • xanaduxanadu Posts: 3,347
    That Makeblock kit infiltrates my monitor a lot lately. Good thing it's sold out, I don't really need the electronics it comes with anyway.

    I need a company that sells mills and drill presses to go out of business. It would be nice to be able to fabricate small parts like that :)

  • frank freedmanfrank freedman Posts: 1,983
    xanadu wrote: »
    That Makeblock kit infiltrates my monitor a lot lately. Good thing it's sold out, I don't really need the electronics it comes with anyway.

    I need a company that sells mills and drill presses to go out of business. It would be nice to be able to fabricate small parts like that :)

    If yer gonna dream, go large!!!
  • Jeff HaasJeff Haas Posts: 421
    I got the Makeblock kit the first time they went out of business. It's really well done and the ultimate kit had an extra motor driver so it can be used with a Propeller.
  • DigitalBobDigitalBob Posts: 1,513
    I saw a few Trash80 computers up for bid and how about those $16 basic stamp boards
  • ercoerco Posts: 20,256
    Those Makebot prices are dynamite compared elsewhere. But if they are sold out online, why are they even listing them, Shacky?

    http://www.makeblock.com/en

    https://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_noss?url=search-alias=aps&amp;field-keywords=makeblock
  • ercoerco Posts: 20,256
    DigitalBob wrote: »
    how about those $16 basic stamp boards

    $16 is great, free ship at $19

    Amazon lists several for $15.95, free ship at $25

    https://www.amazon.com/Parallax-28188-RT-BASIC-Stamp-Board/dp/B007Z7NVBG/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1499620120&sr=8-1&keywords=parallax+basic+stamp
  • frank freedmanfrank freedman Posts: 1,983
    edited 2017-08-12 04:59
    Speaking of radio shack, I see they still have the three preset soldering iron. At least I only paid $33 for it. Total POS. Tried to do a couple of the Ada Fruit boards with the new pins, and just about butchered them. Worst ever solder job. The tips, all of them must have no real teat transfer ability. Poor wick, flow, cold joints. Using 63/37 with tip temp display 380-410F, still sucked.Pulled out Weller pencil with tip good for smt/schmartboard, and got good results. Guess RS POS, and that's not point of sale, is going to a new home. Maybe garage, charity, or goodwill.
  • ercoerco Posts: 20,256
    @frank: Bummer, there's no excuse for making a bad iron in 2017. Not exactly pushing the boundaries of any tech. TTYTT I use a $15 iron from the TRW swap meet that's still going strong 5 years later. Maybe changed the tip once. I plan to get a nice Haku when this one dies, but it just keeps going. Like this: http://www.ebay.com/itm/SOLDERING-STATION-50-WATTS-SD203-/281173793641


    irony.png
    irony.png
    500 x 350 - 126K
  • Phil Pilgrim (PhiPi)Phil Pilgrim (PhiPi) Posts: 23,514
    My local franchise Shack is finally hanging it up. They just couldn't get inventory. Sucks!

    http://www.ptleader.com/news/business/pt-radioshack-outlasts-national-chain/article_8f2733c6-7c8a-11e7-b080-df19e3c53069.html

    -Phil
  • ercoerco Posts: 20,256
    edited 2017-08-13 03:13
    Bummer, PhiPi.

    On that PTpage I saw the UW wooden human powered sub. Very cool! Turns out they won their division at the International Sub Race in Maryland. From http://internationalsubmarineraces.org/14th-isr/ :

    Two Person, Propeller, College
    1st Place: University of Washington | Knotty Dawg | 3.27 kts

  • kwinnkwinn Posts: 8,697
    erco wrote: »
    Bummer, PhiPi.

    On that PTpage I saw the UW wooden human powered sub. Very cool! Turns out they won their division at the International Sub Race in Maryland. From http://internationalsubmarineraces.org/14th-isr/ :

    Two Person, Propeller, College
    1st Place: University of Washington | Knotty Dawg | 3.27 kts


    Color me green with envy. That really is a beautiful piece of work. I dabble in woodworking and dream of reaching that level of craftsmanship.
  • ercoerco Posts: 20,256
    My buddy Mark does work just that good. He made a beautiful wood kayak, incorporating a flame job just with the wood colors. Will have to get some photos to share here.
  • GordonMcCombGordonMcComb Posts: 3,366
    edited 2017-08-13 17:52
    Phil Pilgrim (PhiPi) wrote: »
    My local franchise Shack is finally hanging it up. They just couldn't get inventory. Sucks!

    http://www.ptleader.com/news/business/pt-radioshack-outlasts-national-chain/article_8f2733c6-7c8a-11e7-b080-df19e3c53069.html

    Yes, it's a shame. After the latest BK all the Radio shack stores near me closed down. Several were corporate stores.

    The article notes that at its peak the store had six employees. When I worked for Radio Shack (briefly) in the late 70s we had two employees for much of the time -- me and the manager. This was for the store in West Seattle. Orange shag carpet and all.

    Speaking of shag carpet, I saw an old Adam-12 on Hulu the other day where they were parked outside one of the garden apartments somewhere in Studio City (I recognized the streets). The billboard for the apartment noted their "spacious floor plan" and "new gold shag carpeting." Right on!!


  • localrogerlocalroger Posts: 3,451
    We were told, and the employees were told, that the local 'shack was staying open, which makes sense since we're a really affluent suburb which cna support a RS if any community can. But a few weeks on STORE CLOSING and the progression of discounts. Got some EL wire and drivers cheap, not sure yet what I'll do with 'em. A few weeks ago I realized I needed some breadboard hookup wire and was thinking "Got to go to RS...DAMN." Had to buy the stuff from Amazon. Wire. I bought freaking hookup wire from Amazon because there's no more Radio Shacks.
  • ercoerco Posts: 20,256
    Yep, and if the lack of Shacks (TM) is hard on us diehards, imagine how it is for noobs just starting out in electricity/electronics. There's nowhere local to go to even view parts in the wild. Online won, neighborhood brick & mortar lost. Maybe every community needs a museum of electronic parts, just for interested parties to rummage through.

    I've got a few parts I can donate to get the ball rolling.
  • Heater.Heater. Posts: 21,230
    erco,
    ...imagine how it is for noobs just starting out in electricity/electronics...
    It was pretty hard for me as a young noob in the 1970's. There were no component stores around. I recall ordering stuff from the "Home Radio" catalog. http://www.vintageradio.me.uk/radconnav/homerad.htm it was not cheap.

    Two or three times a year we took a day to travel to London and rummage through the surplus electronics stores in Lisle Street. Which was a seedy place full of ladies of ill repute at the time. Luckily my mum did not know that.

    On the plus side we could pull useful components out of busted TVs and radios. Which is almost impossible for the young'ns today.

    Just now I seem to be surrounded by Fry's stores here in Mountain view. Back home there are still 5 walk in stores with electronic parts and goodies. And I can order stuff dirt cheap on line.

    Life is good :)
  • frank freedmanfrank freedman Posts: 1,983
    Fry's, Heater! Really? We have Fry's here in Az. But you are currently in a place Fry's was only a geeks convenience store. If Fry'so goes away here, I will either need to have more patience for shipping, or learn to walk a it a very pronounced left lean and having Jerry's hand always reaching into my wallet and move back to San Jose area. Hard choices.
  • Heater.Heater. Posts: 21,230
    Moving to San Jose would be a very expensive way to get components!

  • KeithEKeithE Posts: 957
    I just picked up Andrew "Bunnie" Huang's latest book "The Hardware Hacker: Adventures in Making and Breaking Hardware" since it was only $10 at the time. Seems like it's the engineers in Shenzhen who have the best setup. I've only been there once when it was still more of a fishing village than what it's become. I haven't finished the book, but can recommend it to anyone who wonders how modern electronics are built and why you really need to visit the factories.

    I think that there's room for many more books in this general genre. I remember reading "Soul of a New Machine" way back and finding it fascinating. Likewise trying to reverse engineer Deep Blue the chess computer by reading "Behind Deep Blue: Building the Computer that Defeated the World Chess Champion" along with some writings on Thompson's Belle move generator.
  • PublisonPublison Posts: 12,366
    Nice little Quad on sale with free crash kit:

    https://www.radioshack.com/collections/drones/products/radioshack-flip-flop-stunt-drone-with-crash-pack?utm_source=News&utm_campaign=ffaa598c28-2017-09-01_Flip_Flop_Drone_with_Crash_Pack&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_4c04e379a6-ffaa598c28-47560133&goal=0_4c04e379a6-ffaa598c28-47560133&mc_cid=ffaa598c28&mc_eid=2ccd3dc9da
  • ercoerco Posts: 20,256
    The blade guards stick up high enough to become landing skids when inverted. Nice!
  • Heater.Heater. Posts: 21,230
    edited 2017-09-01 19:19
    First time I ever saw a Radio Shack store was earlier this summer in Los Gatos. Just happened upon it whilst on a walk about. Sadly it was just closing. I scoured the component draws and only came away with a pink LED. No Parallax goodies to be seen.

    radio_shack.jpg
    It seems ironic that a store famous for component supplies to nerds is closing up when the Maker movement is so big. I was at the Maker Fair and there was a huge lot of people there.

    radio_shack.jpg
    2560 x 1536 - 61K
  • msrobotsmsrobots Posts: 3,709
    Has maybe to do with the pricing, who, if not in real need, wants to pay $1.50 for three resistors?

    Mike
  • MikeDYurMikeDYur Posts: 2,176
    edited 2017-09-01 23:11
    msrobots wrote: »
    Has maybe to do with the pricing, who, if not in real need, wants to pay $1.50 for three resistors?

    Mike

    I would gladly pay it, if it were close(handy) to me. But I'm just one person, and don't need three resistors all that often. I will miss the shack.
  • ercoerco Posts: 20,256
    I do miss the Shack of old. Many of you guys remember the Battery of the Month Club, I'm sure! I'm lucky that I have a GREAT electronics store nearby. Been there forever, they have parts old & new, even a dusty tube tester in the corner. Very reasonable prices on everything, cash discount. Resistors are 10 cents each. It still pays to plan ahead though, how about 100 for 99 cents shipped? :)http://www.ebay.com/itm/100-PCS-1-4W-0-25W-5-220-R-OHM-Carbon-Film-Resistor-1st-Class-Postage-TI-/201950626719
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