Vintage Radio Shack Catalogs

[Dave W]

Those were the days...

[chromium]

Hey that's cool!  I miss what RS used to be.  All the good electronic parts outlets got swallowed up by the Internets.  Pretty much stuck shopping online nowadays, which sucks if you're in a pinch for part that costs $0.19.... and $12 to ship  

[eb2]

I have been hitting that site for a while.  I think back to when I was a kid and would wander in looking at all the cool Realistic component stuff.  Then I got more into it, and people would say Realistic was crap.  Then I really got into it, and figured out that the receivers and speakers were often really good, and the turntables that were made by Technics were incredible sleepers.  The stuff they had on the shelves 20-40 years ago was amazing.  The older tube era stuff was cool. 

When I go in to buy parts now the guys who work there go nuts to help you, but never have any idea what I am looking for.  So I show them where it is.

[Barklessdog]

I thought they were going to be called "The Shack" ?

Guess it never happened. Our company still buy parts from them.

[Dave W]

They are "The Shack" now, haven't you been paying attention to their marketing? They're not officially changing their name though.

[Pilgrim]

Yup, RS is now mostly cell phones.  At least they still have a pull-out rack of resistors and some connectors.  Those and patch cables are about all I buy there now.

[lowend1]

I have a bunch of catalogs from the same period - mainly from Allied Radio and Lafayette Radio Electronics. LRE was a biggie here in NJ. I used to be there all the time with my dad, getting supplies for his side job (fixing TVs).

[Chaser001]

Because my father worked as an electronics equipment specialist, I spent many hours at the Radio Shack and the local electronics store.  Those are pleasant memories.  I wish I had his electronics expertise, though. 

[Pilgrim]

I actually have two portable tube testers - one is a small briefcase-sized unit, the other is about 2x as thick so it's more "luggable" than portable, but it has a few more connections.  The larger one is a Heathkit, built from a kit...I didn't build it, but the guy who did was good at it.

I'll bet I'm not the only one here who remembers Heathkit.

[chromium]

I'll bet I'm not the only one here who remembers Heathkit.

Heathkit was a little before my time, but my dad had built stuff from them and still had a bunch of catalogs in the bookcase.  I even remember basses in the catalogs - think they were Ekos?  or something of that ilk.

Not long ago I bought a Heathkit "Electronic Design Experimenter" off ebay for $15    Most. awesome. thing. evar.




Its got a built in power supply, function generator, couple of pots, and a breadboard to test out circuit designs.  I hotrodded it by wiring in a bunch of 1/4" jacks on the back that run to the outer pads on the breadboard.  So when I build up an audio circuit (an effect, or what have you), I can plop the thing down and hook it right up to a guitar or amp or whatever.






The only downside is that stuff tends to live on there forever, since its so convenient.  

[Dave W]

I built a Heathkit stereo receiver. Wish I had actually understood what I was doing instead of just following instructions.

[Highlander]

You have too much time on your hands, Joe...