Radio Shack Memories

[JPSmit]

While I do recollect the wood burning kits, my biggest memory is a year I spent as a student minister in northern Saskatchewan. The family who owned the RS franchise in the next town took me under their wing. I spent many hours there and the had a Trash 80 - tape drive. I don't remember anything but a game or two and can't even remember the title of it. I did buy a car stereo there.

 

[rkep01]

Same here. i"m looking at this car now. She'll not be happy about it.

 

[70herald]

The First computer in our house was a HeathKit my Dad built...

m

My Father and I also put together a HeathKit computer! We even got the upgrade to 64K ram AND the double sided floppy drive!

Ours is now sitting in a display case (or was the last time I was there) in the Kalamazoo Museum. They wanted it since it was built locally both the kit build and of course Heath Kits was also a South Western Michigan company (Benton Harbor).

 

[jsfbond]

The First computer in our house was a HeathKit my Dad built...

m

My Dad worked for the FAA, and building electronics is what he did all day, Heathkit was a household word, so consequently we had the first color TV on the block. We also seemd to have more TV's than anyone else for that matter. He was also a good cabinet maker, so each TV had to be built into a new cabinet, or entertainment center.

speaking of which do any of you guys know the little litany for remembering the color code order for resistors? (It may not be PC by today's standards).

 

[JamesWilson]

I don't get HAM. What do those guys talk about, talking to people?

Kinda like a version of the internet.

m

I figured that, but how does the conversation go?

"Hey, whatcha doing?"

"Sittin' in my house talkin' to you, what you doing?"

"Sittin' in MY house talkin' to you, Whatcha do yesterday?"

"I talked to some guy sittin' in his house, whatcha doing tomorrow?"

"Sittin' in my house talkin' to some guy."

"That sounds great, talk to ya later!"

I'm not down on it, I just don't understand it.

I get bored real easy and I'd be over it in about 5 minutes.

As I recall the attraction was talking to people far, far away in exotic locations, like Tajikistan and the South Pacific.

My mother used to do this stuff in the 1950s and had lots of little cards with different people's call-signs she'd spoken with.

She built her own equipment like lots of these people did, and had to pass some pretty tough tests on radio theory and morse code. When disasters struck these people were onften the only source of communications with the outside world.

 

[JamesWilson]

(It may not be PC by today's standards).

MAY?

Certainly isn't!!!

I wonder if a politically correct version has been devised?

 

[jsfbond]

So you do remember it...Heck of thing to teach a young lad coming into puberty! Might as well do the birds and bees talk.

 

[DrEntropy]

:lol:

I, too, grew up with a father who built electronic devices. RS wasn't the first choice for componentry, tho. Allied Electronics was his supply house. There were some Heathkit projects, mostly those were for me to do. Dad built his own chassis and enclosures, we had a 500W stereo driving Altec-Lansing "Voice of the Theater" speakers in our livingroom. First "stereo" recording I recall was a demo disk (78 RPM, two separate tracks, two tone-arms) of surf, trains, cars rolling thru the livingroom. Later came the 33-1/3 RPM, one needle stereo.

I have QSL cards from London and Moscow, SX-99 Hallicrapters was a "hand-me-down" from a pal of dad's. This guy had a 50K Watt rig in his basement! Talk about a HUM! And their basement was always toasty-warm.

 

[Basil]

For some reason, this thread reminded me of a funny "commercial" I've heard many time on a radio show I stream over the internet:

WmY0eqY" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" wmode="transparent" width="425" height="350"> </embed></object>

 

[NutmegCT]

tho' I am admittedly spatula challenged ...

this whole thread got me thinking (always a dangerous thing) about audio systems.

Who nowadays has real "high fidelity" audio equipment? Who actually plays music (or whatever) through powerful amplifiers, into large speaker systems?

Most of the guys I know (and their families) listen on ear pods, or table/laptop speakers. Or in their car:

Does anybody here still use the "full size" speakers and amplifiers in the house?

Tom

 

[martx-5]

speaking of which do any of you guys know the little litany for remembering the color code order for resistors? (It may not be PC by today's standards).

There were probably quite a few. Here's one that I've used.

Big Brown Rabbits Often Yield Great Big Vocal Groans When Gingerly Slapped

Black Brown Red Orange Yellow Green Blue Violet Gray White Gold Silver

 

[billspit]

About the time Micky was working at RS, I saw a radio set (in a RS) that was two round components that looked kinda short waveish. One was the tuner and the other was I guess the power source. I didn't buy it, but have always remembered it. I have looked through the old catalogs from that era and cannot find it. I'm beginning to think I dreamed it.

 

[Basil]

Does anybody here still use the "full size" speakers and amplifiers in the house?

Tom

For years I drug around a set of 4 100w full-sized walnut Sansui speakers. I hated to sell them, but I finally came into the current century and replaced them with a Bose surround sound system with tiny cube speakers. I still have my Sansui receiver but it's collecting dust in the closet. Those Sansui speakers were great sounding, but just took up so much space!

 

[SilentUnicorn]

I still have a hallicrafters receiver out in the garage. I should post a pic to this thread....

m

 

[Mickey Richaud]

Does anybody here still use the "full size" speakers and amplifiers in the house?

Tom

Yep - I have an old STA-120B ('73 vintage) in the bonus room where the computer lives, with a couple of bookshelf speakers, and another one here in my office. (Bought that one off ebay a few years ago.) In the den is a Yamaha surround sound system with a powered Klipsch speaker/subwoofer set, but my old Optimus T100 speakers are hooked up to the front channel. Bought those speakers '77. My old Benjamin Miracord turntable and Akai reel-to-reel are wired in, along with a cassette deck and CD changer.

At our cabin, there's an SA-2000 amp and TM1000 tuner, with a CD changer.

Yes, I like my music!

 

[Mickey Richaud]

About the time Micky was working at RS, I saw a radio set (in a RS) that was two round components that looked kinda short waveish. One was the tuner and the other was I guess the power source. I didn't buy it, but have always remembered it. I have looked through the old catalogs from that era and cannot find it. I'm beginning to think I dreamed it.

Don't remember that one, Bill. May have been another brand. Some of the RS stores were franchise operations, which could stock products from brands other than the RS house brand. Company stores could only sell proprietary items.

 

[Brooklands]

I still miss the Tandy Leather shops. I made many of my moccasins from those kits in the 60's and early 70's.

As to the speakers. I still have a regular tuner/amplifier with turntable, cassette tape player and CD attached. It also is connected to the TV in my study, an XM tuner, and has an iPod hookup. It plays through compact wireless speakers in the house, and RCA mini speakers on the wall of my study. Nothing major, but no earbuds.

Around here, Lafayette Stereo was much bigger than Radio Shack into the 1970's. They had good stores in their day.

 

[jsneddon]

Do y'all remember going to RS (and even some supermarkets) to check the vacuum tubes for your TV?

LOL. Yes. I shocked the pee outta myself on one of those things when I was about 5 or 6 and started jamming the probes into holes and flipping knobs. Was an awesome game of "space capsule pilot" until I found myself on my back in the middle of Central Hardware.

 

[Basil]

Yahoo must be tracking my every word. I went to Yahoo a while ago lo and behold, there was a big Radio Shack ad on the side.

 

[Guest]

Color codes for resistors memory chart. I went to a rough school. No girls in electronics class. Bad Boys ...... Black Brown Red Orange Green Blue Purple Gray White. The teacher had a Doctorate in education and knew what students would remember. Did you ever charge up the capacitors and put them back in the electronics work kit? ZAP! Gotcha!