Radio Shack Sucks for DIY

[phaeton]

1) Who the hell is Craig Anderton?

2) Jameco is alive and well. Take a look at www.jameco.com. I have about $300 worth of parts sitting on a desk next to me. Lots of it came from there.

3) Maybe times were different before, but these days I don't know that there are too many folks that try to build electronics gear to save money. It's just not possible, whether you're talking musical electronics (like guitar effects and amps and synths and stuff) or even just your usual home electronics things.

There are also a lot of folks right now jumping into the DIY effects thing with "boutique FX builder" dollar signs in their eyes, but quickly realize there is a whole lot working against them. Most of the pedals that are sought after have simply been re-issued by their respective manufacturers, selling for less than what you can buy parts for.

Lots of folks start out thinking they will either save money or make money on electronics projects, but the only ones that really stay with it are people that just want to tinker for the sake of tinkering (like most things).

4) Recently I heard of someone (gfs ex-bf) that applied for a job at a Radio Shack. They gave him a bit of study material (related to cell phone plans) to take home after he turned in his application. Part of his interview involved taking a test on his knowledge of cell phone plan pricing, upselling, etc. Ne'er once was he asked anything like "whats the diff between stranded wire and solid wire" or "how can you tell the diff between an NPN and PNP transistor?".

5) There is only one Radio Shack that I'm somewhat in reach of (Lake Geneva). There's not much that they carry anymore (and their inventory is such an effin' joke these days) so I've pretty much shopped the {censored} out of them. I notice that they're not restocking, either- I wiped out all their LM386s, TL082s and 1N4148 diodes probably a year ago and they haven't gotten any in yet to replace them. About the only thing that magically respawns when I buy them are their perfboards, but for all I know they could just have a huge box of them in the back room or something. I've found a better source for better boards so I haven't been in there for awhile. Yet, strangely, the manager there offers me a job every time I go in, and it sure as hell isn't for my salesmanship skills. I have to beat those mofos off of me every time I enter the store on my way to the drawers in the back.

About the only thing I bother getting there is wire, perfboard, solder, knobs, and *maybe* 1/4" jacks, but only when I run out. Everything else is overpriced junk.

[Beck]

Yeah, there are plenty of on-line sources. I've been buying parts from Mouser and Digi-Key for years, as well as All Electronics, Parts Express and eBay... some others I can't think of right off hand.

Unfortunately, they can't help when its 8:45 on a Friday night and I'm knee deep in a project. That's when Radio Shack was most handy.

The best stores, if you can find one are Radio Shack dealers. They are usually part of a hardware store. I had a long conversation a few years ago with an old-timer that ran a True Value Hardware/Radio Shack. He said at the time Radio Shack reps were putting pressure on him to upgrade his inventory and dump some of the old stuff.

They

[thankyou]

Thanks, PBBPaul, for that comment on corporate mishandling of issues with a one-size-fits-all approach to everything. If I get it together, I'll interview you for my (projected) book about the way huge bureaucracies shoot themselves in the foot.

Right now, I'm sitting about eight feet away from a Criterion speaker cab that I bought in '67 or '68 for my first stereo setup. They now house 8" JBL full range drivers I picked up in the seventies, and they are a little like the Pinto with a V8 sleeper. Many musicians have been amazed by their sound, a tribute to JBL, not Lafayette, whose store was five blocks or so from my home.

In the fifties, my dad and I assembled a Pilot mono amp for our home HIFI. It was a great experience, and I still have that amp, thought it hasn't seen the world outside storage for years. Later, I bought a Dynaco transistor amp kit that had outputs for rear speakers, a real deal in 1970. Are there any electronic schools that teach tube technology? Maybe I need to learn Russian.

[hoerni]

Originally posted by thankyou Are there any electronic schools that teach tube technology? Maybe I need to learn Russian.

 

 

I cover a little bit in my class on Music and Engineering. (Junior Level EE course in engineering school) But it's mostly an overview/intro that only lasts a week or two. Reading tube schems, identifying stuff and such. No real design.

 

Not sure if other's do similar things in music engineering based stuff.

 

Some repair/tech type schools might cover it briefly for audio/high power RF purposes.

[object.session]

Originally posted by hoerni I cover a little bit in my class on Music and Engineering. (Junior Level EE course in engineering school) But it's mostly an overview/intro that only lasts a week or two. Reading tube schems, identifying stuff and such. No real design. Not sure if other's do similar things in music engineering based stuff. Some repair/tech type schools might cover it briefly for audio/high power RF purposes.

oh yeah! i was in that class!

must have been 2001 or so. do you still teach that course?

small world.

[hoerni]

Originally posted by object.session oh yeah! i was in that class! must have been 2001 or so. do you still teach that course? small world.

Small World indeed. I was wondering when I'd bump into someone I know.

To answer your question: Yes and no. When you took it in 2001 the only pre-reqs were freshman/sophomore level so it would be open to all majors.

When I was asked to do it again in Spring of '05, the current dept head (FF) asked me to upgrade it to a Junior level EE course and add some physcho acoustics and perceptual compression to the mix (i.e. mp3s and the like). He said a number of students were asking for a class in the new format. I think there were about 12 students last session.

It was cool becuase it meant I could assume DSP knowledge and do some harder problems. (but I still haven't covered pitch shifting in the effects section yet. Hoping to add that in Spring of 2007). I also could avoid all the acoustics since CU has a proper acoustics course again.

I have a link to my presentation on effects in my .sig.

So, you know me, but I'm wondering who you are... (Can't find a class list from 2001, but I think I remember most of the class).