[OT] RadioShack declares bankruptcy

Mr. Man-wai Chang · Feb 7, 2015

Nearly a century after it opened its first store and sent out its first
catalog, RadioShack (RSHC) declared bankruptcy on Thursday.

It has struck a deal to sell up to 2,400 of its approximately 4,000
stores and wireless company Sprint (S) will create a "store within a
store" in up to 1,750 of those.

RadioShack said that its remaining stores are expected to close.

The company's franchise locations, as well as stores in Mexico and Asia,
are not included in the deal.

But RadioShack is not completely going away. Customers will still be
able to purchase RadioShack products, services and accessories at the
approximately 1,750 stores where Sprint will open shop. In fact, Sprint
will occupy just one third of those locations, where it will sell
devices and plans. The stores will be "co-branded," according to a
Sprint spokeswoman.

Full article:
http://money.cnn.com/2015/02/05/news/companies/radioshack-bankruptcy/index.html?iid=HP_LN

Referenced by: HKEPC

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Feb 7, 2015

On Sat, 07 Feb 2015 13:00:23 +0800, "Mr. Man-wai Chang"
<toylet.toylet@gmail.com> wrote:

Nearly a century after it opened its first store and sent out its first
catalog, RadioShack (RSHC) declared bankruptcy on Thursday.

It has struck a deal to sell up to 2,400 of its approximately 4,000
stores and wireless company Sprint (S) will create a "store within a
store" in up to 1,750 of those.

RadioShack said that its remaining stores are expected to close.

The company's franchise locations, as well as stores in Mexico and Asia,
are not included in the deal.

But RadioShack is not completely going away. Customers will still be
able to purchase RadioShack products, services and accessories at the
approximately 1,750 stores where Sprint will open shop. In fact, Sprint
will occupy just one third of those locations, where it will sell
devices and plans. The stores will be "co-branded," according to a
Sprint spokeswoman.

I find this not only sad, but also upsetting. It's not that I was ever
a huge fan of RS, but their closing will bring a final end to all
electronics home repair and hobby. I was into electronics real much as
a young man in the 60s and 70s. THe main reason I got out of it was
because of two things, 1. Intergrated circuits (Chips) made many of the
circuits very difficult to trace and unlike tubes and early transistors,
part numbers often meant nothing and replacement parts could not be
found. 2. All the old electronic parts stores vanished.

All that remained was RS for buying parts. But their parts selection
get worse and worse over the years. Yet, there was still a place to buy
a capacitor or some electrical solder or a switch. Not to mention all
the adaptors they sold for audio and video cables.

When RS closes their stores, that entirely ends all home electronics
hobby amd repair. If there is no place to buy parts, there will no
longer be any home repairs or hobby at all, and RS has been the last of
the stores to sell parts.

For example, my tv quits. I open it and find a bulged cap in the power
supply. The cap costs $0.79, but to order the part online I have to
spend a minimum of $50 to get free shipping, or will have to pay $10
shipping for that $0.79 part. Then I cnt just drive to RS, but have to
wait a week to get the part in the mail. I finally get the part,
replace it and find a power transistor is also bad. So, once again, I
have to spent $50, or spend $1.88 plus $10 S+H to get that part, and
wait another week.

Finally, after 8 months, and spending $380 (of which $350 was spent on
shipping), I have completed the repair on my tv, which could have been
replaced with a NEW TV, for $249.00.

Which means why even bother fixing any electronics anymore..... Just
toss it in the trash.....

I guess the only people who will be able to do an electronics hobby or
repair shop are those who have an unused room in their home, and invest
$10,000 to stick up on quantities of capacitors, resistors,
semi-conducters, switches, and every other part that might be needed, or
will just take up space on shelves and go to waste as electronics
change....

* THE END IS NEAR *
For everyone who still likes to putter around or repair electronics....
VERY SAD INDEED!

Jim Thompson · Feb 7, 2015

On Sat, 07 Feb 2015 04:59:26 -0600, electron206@online.com wrote:

On Sat, 07 Feb 2015 13:00:23 +0800, "Mr. Man-wai Chang"
toylet.toylet@gmail.com> wrote:

Nearly a century after it opened its first store and sent out its first
catalog, RadioShack (RSHC) declared bankruptcy on Thursday.

It has struck a deal to sell up to 2,400 of its approximately 4,000
stores and wireless company Sprint (S) will create a "store within a
store" in up to 1,750 of those.

RadioShack said that its remaining stores are expected to close.

The company's franchise locations, as well as stores in Mexico and Asia,
are not included in the deal.

But RadioShack is not completely going away. Customers will still be
able to purchase RadioShack products, services and accessories at the
approximately 1,750 stores where Sprint will open shop. In fact, Sprint
will occupy just one third of those locations, where it will sell
devices and plans. The stores will be "co-branded," according to a
Sprint spokeswoman.

I find this not only sad, but also upsetting. It's not that I was ever
a huge fan of RS, but their closing will bring a final end to all
electronics home repair and hobby. I was into electronics real much as
a young man in the 60s and 70s. THe main reason I got out of it was
because of two things, 1. Intergrated circuits (Chips) made many of the
circuits very difficult to trace and unlike tubes and early transistors,
part numbers often meant nothing and replacement parts could not be
found. 2. All the old electronic parts stores vanished.

All that remained was RS for buying parts. But their parts selection
get worse and worse over the years. Yet, there was still a place to buy
a capacitor or some electrical solder or a switch. Not to mention all
the adaptors they sold for audio and video cables.

When RS closes their stores, that entirely ends all home electronics
hobby amd repair. If there is no place to buy parts, there will no
longer be any home repairs or hobby at all, and RS has been the last of
the stores to sell parts.

For example, my tv quits. I open it and find a bulged cap in the power
supply. The cap costs $0.79, but to order the part online I have to
spend a minimum of $50 to get free shipping, or will have to pay $10
shipping for that $0.79 part. Then I cnt just drive to RS, but have to
wait a week to get the part in the mail. I finally get the part,
replace it and find a power transistor is also bad. So, once again, I
have to spent $50, or spend $1.88 plus $10 S+H to get that part, and
wait another week.

Finally, after 8 months, and spending $380 (of which $350 was spent on
shipping), I have completed the repair on my tv, which could have been
replaced with a NEW TV, for $249.00.

Which means why even bother fixing any electronics anymore..... Just
toss it in the trash.....

I guess the only people who will be able to do an electronics hobby or
repair shop are those who have an unused room in their home, and invest
$10,000 to stick up on quantities of capacitors, resistors,
semi-conducters, switches, and every other part that might be needed, or
will just take up space on shelves and go to waste as electronics
change....

* THE END IS NEAR *
For everyone who still likes to putter around or repair electronics....
VERY SAD INDEED!

Mr. Man-wai Chang · Feb 7, 2015

On 7/2/15 6:59 PM, electron206@online.com wrote:

Finally, after 8 months, and spending $380 (of which $350 was spent on
shipping), I have completed the repair on my tv, which could have been
replaced with a NEW TV, for $249.00.

Which means why even bother fixing any electronics anymore..... Just
toss it in the trash.....

But Your Honor, how do you recycle those wastes? They are toxic and kill
us!

--
@~@ Remain silent. Nothing from soldiers and magicians is real!
/ v \ Simplicity is Beauty! May the Force and farces be with you!
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^ ^ 01:06:01 up 6:11 0 users load average: 0.45 0.22 0.12
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Mr. Man-wai Chang · Feb 7, 2015

On 8/2/15 12:18 AM, Jim Thompson wrote:

The end came many years ago. RadioShack has not had hobbyist bent for
a very long time.

To be fair, modern electronics are no longer just about resistors and
capacitors. Without CIRCUIT DIAGRAMS AND PROPER TOOLS, it's just not
possible for average consumers to buy parts and repair their own e-devices.

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Mr. Man-wai Chang · Feb 7, 2015

On 7/2/15 6:59 PM, electron206@online.com wrote:

* THE END IS NEAR *
For everyone who still likes to putter around or repair electronics....
VERY SAD INDEED!

More correctly, it's because modern day e-devices are NOT designed and
constructed for maintenance! You need laws and regulations to enforce that.

--
@~@ Remain silent. Nothing from soldiers and magicians is real!
/ v \ Simplicity is Beauty! May the Force and farces be with you!
/( _ )\ (Fedora release 21) Linux 3.18.5-201.fc21.i686+PAE
^ ^ 01:18:02 up 6:23 0 users load average: 0.10 0.14 0.11
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Tim Wescott · Feb 8, 2015

On Sat, 07 Feb 2015 04:59:26 -0600, electron206 wrote:

On Sat, 07 Feb 2015 13:00:23 +0800, "Mr. Man-wai Chang"
toylet.toylet@gmail.com> wrote:

Nearly a century after it opened its first store and sent out its first
catalog, RadioShack (RSHC) declared bankruptcy on Thursday.

It has struck a deal to sell up to 2,400 of its approximately 4,000
stores and wireless company Sprint (S) will create a "store within a
store" in up to 1,750 of those.

RadioShack said that its remaining stores are expected to close.

The company's franchise locations, as well as stores in Mexico and Asia,
are not included in the deal.

But RadioShack is not completely going away. Customers will still be
able to purchase RadioShack products, services and accessories at the
approximately 1,750 stores where Sprint will open shop. In fact, Sprint
will occupy just one third of those locations, where it will sell
devices and plans. The stores will be "co-branded," according to a
Sprint spokeswoman.

I find this not only sad, but also upsetting. It's not that I was ever
a huge fan of RS, but their closing will bring a final end to all
electronics home repair and hobby.

Sparkfun.

DigiKey.

All Electronics.

Mouser.

Beagleboard.

Arduino.

Raspberry Pi.

Etc., etc., etc.

--

Tim Wescott
Wescott Design Services
http://www.wescottdesign.com

Feb 8, 2015

On Sat, 07 Feb 2015 19:20:15 -0600, Tim Wescott
<seemywebsite@myfooter.really> wrote:

RadioShack said that its remaining stores are expected to close.

The company's franchise locations, as well as stores in Mexico and Asia,
are not included in the deal.

But RadioShack is not completely going away. Customers will still be
able to purchase RadioShack products, services and accessories at the
approximately 1,750 stores where Sprint will open shop. In fact, Sprint
will occupy just one third of those locations, where it will sell
devices and plans. The stores will be "co-branded," according to a
Sprint spokeswoman.

I find this not only sad, but also upsetting. It's not that I was ever
a huge fan of RS, but their closing will bring a final end to all
electronics home repair and hobby.

Sparkfun.

DigiKey.

All Electronics.

Mouser.

Beagleboard.

Arduino.

Raspberry Pi.

Etc., etc., etc.

Yep, they are all there and none of them have brick and mortar stores,
at least not in my area. So I can order parts online and pay $10 or
more for shipping + handling , everytime I need a $1 part, plus wait
days or weeks to get it shipped. *NOT*

Michael Black · Feb 8, 2015

On Sat, 7 Feb 2015, Tim Wescott wrote:

On Sat, 07 Feb 2015 04:59:26 -0600, electron206 wrote:

On Sat, 07 Feb 2015 13:00:23 +0800, "Mr. Man-wai Chang"
toylet.toylet@gmail.com> wrote:

Nearly a century after it opened its first store and sent out its first
catalog, RadioShack (RSHC) declared bankruptcy on Thursday.

It has struck a deal to sell up to 2,400 of its approximately 4,000
stores and wireless company Sprint (S) will create a "store within a
store" in up to 1,750 of those.

RadioShack said that its remaining stores are expected to close.

The company's franchise locations, as well as stores in Mexico and Asia,
are not included in the deal.

But RadioShack is not completely going away. Customers will still be
able to purchase RadioShack products, services and accessories at the
approximately 1,750 stores where Sprint will open shop. In fact, Sprint
will occupy just one third of those locations, where it will sell
devices and plans. The stores will be "co-branded," according to a
Sprint spokeswoman.

I find this not only sad, but also upsetting. It's not that I was ever
a huge fan of RS, but their closing will bring a final end to all
electronics home repair and hobby.

Sparkfun.

DigiKey.

All Electronics.

Mouser.

Beagleboard.

Arduino.

Raspberry Pi.

Etc., etc., etc.

I won't deny Radio Shack was handy, but so much of the mythology of the
place seems to represent Middletown Iowa or some other small town.

When we got Radio Shacks here in 1972, there were still the old school
parts stores downtown, there was a cluster of them. Slowly they died, but
there was a place further out, and it's still there. There was another
one, that lasted till the later nineties. But at the same time, new
stores were coming in. There were the distributor type stores, which I
admit were more troublesome for small quantities, though I did get some
Motorola ICs that way about 1973. But Active Electroncs came along,
initially it was like Poly-Paks, a tiny reception area where you filled
out your order form, and then someone would collect the parts for you, but
that soon changed so the common parts were on pegboard. I'm not sure what
happeend to them, I had an urge recently and discovered they no longer
have a store here.

But there's even still a relatively recent store that is akin to the old
style stores, though I've only been once. They certianly cater to the
hobbyists.

That's on top of the period when "clone building" was common, so there wre
all kinds of store fronts selling components, so long as they were used by
the Apple II and then later "IBM PC".

I guess we've had it lucky here, but I find it hard to believe this is
unique. Yes, there have to be lots of smaller places that can't support
such stores, and they aren't what they once were, but they do exist.

I think of all the articles that specified Radio Shack parts because Radio
Shack was handy, but I wonder if that set up a dependency. People never
looked further than two blocks over where the nearest Radio Shack was.

Michael

Phil Hobbs · Feb 10, 2015

On 2/7/2015 8:54 PM, electron206@online.com wrote:

On Sat, 07 Feb 2015 19:20:15 -0600, Tim Wescott
seemywebsite@myfooter.really> wrote:

RadioShack said that its remaining stores are expected to close.

The company's franchise locations, as well as stores in Mexico and Asia,
are not included in the deal.

But RadioShack is not completely going away. Customers will still be
able to purchase RadioShack products, services and accessories at the
approximately 1,750 stores where Sprint will open shop. In fact, Sprint
will occupy just one third of those locations, where it will sell
devices and plans. The stores will be "co-branded," according to a
Sprint spokeswoman.

I find this not only sad, but also upsetting. It's not that I was ever
a huge fan of RS, but their closing will bring a final end to all
electronics home repair and hobby.

Sparkfun.

DigiKey.

All Electronics.

Mouser.

Beagleboard.

Arduino.

Raspberry Pi.

Etc., etc., etc.

Yep, they are all there and none of them have brick and mortar stores,
at least not in my area. So I can order parts online and pay $10 or
more for shipping + handling , everytime I need a $1 part, plus wait
days or weeks to get it shipped. *NOT*

Or, you could just man up a bit and order a stock. You can get 20 times
more parts, of better quality, for the same money Rat Shack would
charge. A couple of weekends spent mowing lawns would get you a pretty
nice setup, and quite usable scopes are available for under $100 on eBay.

Cheers

Phil Hobbs

--
Dr Philip C D Hobbs
Principal Consultant
ElectroOptical Innovations LLC
Optics, Electro-optics, Photonics, Analog Electronics

160 North State Road #203
Briarcliff Manor NY 10510

hobbs at electrooptical dot net
http://electrooptical.net

Mr. Man-wai Chang · Feb 10, 2015

On 10/2/15 4:31 AM, Phil Hobbs wrote:

Or, you could just man up a bit and order a stock. You can get 20 times
more parts, of better quality, for the same money Rat Shack would
charge. A couple of weekends spent mowing lawns would get you a pretty
nice setup, and quite usable scopes are available for under $100 on eBay.

You all gave me an impression that RadioShack had turned itself into a
cheating company after going public...

--
@~@ Remain silent. Nothing from soldiers and magicians is real!
/ v \ Simplicity is Beauty! May the Force and farces be with you!
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^ ^ 04:45:01 up 2 days 7:45 0 users load average: 0.24 0.17 0.13
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DJ Delorie · Feb 10, 2015

electron206@online.com writes:

at least not in my area. So I can order parts online and pay $10 or
more for shipping + handling , everytime I need a $1 part, plus wait
days or weeks to get it shipped.

Digikey's minimum shipping is $3.22, which is cheaper than the cost of
gas for me to get to the closest Radio Shack, and the parts show up here
only two days later.

Plus a $1 part from RS only costs $0.10 or so from Digikey.

I like Radio Shack, but I stopped going there a long time ago.

Michael Black · Feb 10, 2015

On Mon, 9 Feb 2015, Phil Hobbs wrote:

On 2/7/2015 8:54 PM, electron206@online.com wrote:
On Sat, 07 Feb 2015 19:20:15 -0600, Tim Wescott
seemywebsite@myfooter.really> wrote:

RadioShack said that its remaining stores are expected to close.

The company's franchise locations, as well as stores in Mexico and Asia,
are not included in the deal.

But RadioShack is not completely going away. Customers will still be
able to purchase RadioShack products, services and accessories at the
approximately 1,750 stores where Sprint will open shop. In fact, Sprint
will occupy just one third of those locations, where it will sell
devices and plans. The stores will be "co-branded," according to a
Sprint spokeswoman.

I find this not only sad, but also upsetting. It's not that I was ever
a huge fan of RS, but their closing will bring a final end to all
electronics home repair and hobby.

Sparkfun.

DigiKey.

All Electronics.

Mouser.

Beagleboard.

Arduino.

Raspberry Pi.

Etc., etc., etc.

Yep, they are all there and none of them have brick and mortar stores,
at least not in my area. So I can order parts online and pay $10 or
more for shipping + handling , everytime I need a $1 part, plus wait
days or weeks to get it shipped. *NOT*

Or, you could just man up a bit and order a stock. You can get 20 times more
parts, of better quality, for the same money Rat Shack would charge. A
couple of weekends spent mowing lawns would get you a pretty nice setup, and
quite usable scopes are available for under $100 on eBay.

A lot of places don't give you the choice. They don't want you ordering
one and twos, they want a minimum of each. And yes, the set of each
device often is cheaper than one at Radio Shack.

Michael

Tim Wescott · Feb 11, 2015

On Sat, 07 Feb 2015 19:54:12 -0600, electron206 wrote:

On Sat, 07 Feb 2015 19:20:15 -0600, Tim Wescott
seemywebsite@myfooter.really> wrote:

RadioShack said that its remaining stores are expected to close.

The company's franchise locations, as well as stores in Mexico and
Asia,
are not included in the deal.

But RadioShack is not completely going away. Customers will still be
able to purchase RadioShack products, services and accessories at the
approximately 1,750 stores where Sprint will open shop. In fact,
Sprint will occupy just one third of those locations, where it will
sell devices and plans. The stores will be "co-branded," according to
a Sprint spokeswoman.

I find this not only sad, but also upsetting. It's not that I was
ever a huge fan of RS, but their closing will bring a final end to all
electronics home repair and hobby.

Sparkfun.

DigiKey.

All Electronics.

Mouser.

Beagleboard.

Arduino.

Raspberry Pi.

Etc., etc., etc.

Yep, they are all there and none of them have brick and mortar stores,
at least not in my area. So I can order parts online and pay $10 or
more for shipping + handling , everytime I need a $1 part, plus wait
days or weeks to get it shipped. *NOT*

If you're looking for excuses to be a nay-sayer, at least be accurate.

DigiKey generally ships the same day that I order, if I take the trouble
to check stock when I order. And if you order it shipped 1st-class
postage it's fairly cheap -- my last three orders from DigiKey had
shipping of $3.04, $3.92, and $8.38 -- and the $8.38 order was in a fairly
large box. 1st-class postage usually takes two or three days to get here
(Portland Oregon area) from Thief River Falls, and it comes straight to my
mailbox.

Let's see: $1 plus $3 shipping is $4, which is probably $4 less than I
could get the same part in a brick & mortar store (assuming it's there at
all), and if I'm all grown up about it and plan ahead I can get more than
one thing at once.

So go ahead and don't buy -- but be honest about just not wanting to be
productive, and don't bitch.

--

Tim Wescott
Wescott Design Services
http://www.wescottdesign.com

Phil Hobbs · Feb 12, 2015

On 2/9/2015 9:57 PM, Michael Black wrote:

On Mon, 9 Feb 2015, Phil Hobbs wrote:

On 2/7/2015 8:54 PM, electron206@online.com wrote:
On Sat, 07 Feb 2015 19:20:15 -0600, Tim Wescott
seemywebsite@myfooter.really> wrote:

RadioShack said that its remaining stores are expected to close.

The company's franchise locations, as well as stores in Mexico and
Asia,
are not included in the deal.

But RadioShack is not completely going away. Customers will still be
able to purchase RadioShack products, services and accessories at the
approximately 1,750 stores where Sprint will open shop. In fact,
Sprint
will occupy just one third of those locations, where it will sell
devices and plans. The stores will be "co-branded," according to a
Sprint spokeswoman.

I find this not only sad, but also upsetting. It's not that I was
ever
a huge fan of RS, but their closing will bring a final end to all
electronics home repair and hobby.

Sparkfun.

DigiKey.

All Electronics.

Mouser.

Beagleboard.

Arduino.

Raspberry Pi.

Etc., etc., etc.

Yep, they are all there and none of them have brick and mortar stores,
at least not in my area. So I can order parts online and pay $10 or
more for shipping + handling , everytime I need a $1 part, plus wait
days or weeks to get it shipped. *NOT*

Or, you could just man up a bit and order a stock. You can get 20
times more parts, of better quality, for the same money Rat Shack
would charge. A couple of weekends spent mowing lawns would get you a
pretty nice setup, and quite usable scopes are available for under
$100 on eBay.

A lot of places don't give you the choice. They don't want you ordering
one and twos, they want a minimum of each. And yes, the set of each
device often is cheaper than one at Radio Shack.

Michael

That's not the case with the vendors I use. You can easily order one
0603 resistor from Digikey, if you're nuts enough. See e.g.
<http://www.digikey.com/product-detail/en/MCT06030C4702FP500/MCT0603-47.0K-CFCT-ND/2607908>

Cheers

Phil Hobbs

--
Dr Philip C D Hobbs
Principal Consultant
ElectroOptical Innovations LLC
Optics, Electro-optics, Photonics, Analog Electronics

160 North State Road #203
Briarcliff Manor NY 10510

hobbs at electrooptical dot net
http://electrooptical.net

Phil Hobbs · Feb 12, 2015

On 2/10/2015 8:09 PM, Tim Wescott wrote:

On Sat, 07 Feb 2015 19:54:12 -0600, electron206 wrote:

On Sat, 07 Feb 2015 19:20:15 -0600, Tim Wescott
seemywebsite@myfooter.really> wrote:

RadioShack said that its remaining stores are expected to close.

The company's franchise locations, as well as stores in Mexico and
Asia,
are not included in the deal.

But RadioShack is not completely going away. Customers will still be
able to purchase RadioShack products, services and accessories at the
approximately 1,750 stores where Sprint will open shop. In fact,
Sprint will occupy just one third of those locations, where it will
sell devices and plans. The stores will be "co-branded," according to
a Sprint spokeswoman.

I find this not only sad, but also upsetting. It's not that I was
ever a huge fan of RS, but their closing will bring a final end to all
electronics home repair and hobby.

Sparkfun.

DigiKey.

All Electronics.

Mouser.

Beagleboard.

Arduino.

Raspberry Pi.

Etc., etc., etc.

Yep, they are all there and none of them have brick and mortar stores,
at least not in my area. So I can order parts online and pay $10 or
more for shipping + handling , everytime I need a $1 part, plus wait
days or weeks to get it shipped. *NOT*

If you're looking for excuses to be a nay-sayer, at least be accurate.

DigiKey generally ships the same day that I order, if I take the trouble
to check stock when I order. And if you order it shipped 1st-class
postage it's fairly cheap -- my last three orders from DigiKey had
shipping of $3.04, $3.92, and $8.38 -- and the $8.38 order was in a fairly
large box. 1st-class postage usually takes two or three days to get here
(Portland Oregon area) from Thief River Falls, and it comes straight to my
mailbox.

Let's see: $1 plus $3 shipping is $4, which is probably $4 less than I
could get the same part in a brick & mortar store (assuming it's there at
all), and if I'm all grown up about it and plan ahead I can get more than
one thing at once.

So go ahead and don't buy -- but be honest about just not wanting to be
productive, and don't bitch.

I usually use Priority Mail, which costs about $4, and reliably gets me
parts in two days if I order in the morning. Newark has warehouses near
me, so I just use ground shipping and get it in about the same time.

In January I got a call from a very nice customer rep at Digikey about
whether I really wanted to send solder paste by 2-day shipping, because
of the danger of heat damage on the road between Minnesota and New York.

Cheers

Phil Hobbs

Cheers

Phil Hobbs

--
Dr Philip C D Hobbs
Principal Consultant
ElectroOptical Innovations LLC
Optics, Electro-optics, Photonics, Analog Electronics

160 North State Road #203
Briarcliff Manor NY 10510

hobbs at electrooptical dot net
http://electrooptical.net

Tim Wescott · Feb 12, 2015

On Wed, 11 Feb 2015 14:09:47 -0500, Phil Hobbs wrote:

On 2/9/2015 9:57 PM, Michael Black wrote:
On Mon, 9 Feb 2015, Phil Hobbs wrote:

On 2/7/2015 8:54 PM, electron206@online.com wrote:
On Sat, 07 Feb 2015 19:20:15 -0600, Tim Wescott
seemywebsite@myfooter.really> wrote:

RadioShack said that its remaining stores are expected to close.

The company's franchise locations, as well as stores in Mexico and
Asia,
are not included in the deal.

But RadioShack is not completely going away. Customers will still
be able to purchase RadioShack products, services and accessories
at the approximately 1,750 stores where Sprint will open shop. In
fact, Sprint will occupy just one third of those locations, where
it will sell devices and plans. The stores will be "co-branded,"
according to a Sprint spokeswoman.

I find this not only sad, but also upsetting. It's not that I was
ever a huge fan of RS, but their closing will bring a final end to
all electronics home repair and hobby.

Sparkfun.

DigiKey.

All Electronics.

Mouser.

Beagleboard.

Arduino.

Raspberry Pi.

Etc., etc., etc.

Yep, they are all there and none of them have brick and mortar
stores,
at least not in my area. So I can order parts online and pay $10 or
more for shipping + handling , everytime I need a $1 part, plus wait
days or weeks to get it shipped. *NOT*

Or, you could just man up a bit and order a stock. You can get 20
times more parts, of better quality, for the same money Rat Shack
would charge. A couple of weekends spent mowing lawns would get you a
pretty nice setup, and quite usable scopes are available for under
$100 on eBay.

A lot of places don't give you the choice. They don't want you
ordering one and twos, they want a minimum of each. And yes, the set
of each device often is cheaper than one at Radio Shack.

Michael

That's not the case with the vendors I use. You can easily order one
0603 resistor from Digikey, if you're nuts enough. See e.g.
http://www.digikey.com/product-detail/en/MCT06030C4702FP500/
MCT0603-47.0K-CFCT-ND/2607908

Cheers

Phil Hobbs

Oooh, fancy. I get the 1% resistors that cost 60 cents for 100. But
then, I'm doing less-fancy stuff.

--

Tim Wescott
Wescott Design Services
http://www.wescottdesign.com

Phil Hobbs · Feb 12, 2015

On 2/11/2015 7:20 PM, Tim Wescott wrote:

On Wed, 11 Feb 2015 14:09:47 -0500, Phil Hobbs wrote:

On 2/9/2015 9:57 PM, Michael Black wrote:
On Mon, 9 Feb 2015, Phil Hobbs wrote:

On 2/7/2015 8:54 PM, electron206@online.com wrote:
On Sat, 07 Feb 2015 19:20:15 -0600, Tim Wescott
seemywebsite@myfooter.really> wrote:

RadioShack said that its remaining stores are expected to close.

The company's franchise locations, as well as stores in Mexico and
Asia,
are not included in the deal.

But RadioShack is not completely going away. Customers will still
be able to purchase RadioShack products, services and accessories
at the approximately 1,750 stores where Sprint will open shop. In
fact, Sprint will occupy just one third of those locations, where
it will sell devices and plans. The stores will be "co-branded,"
according to a Sprint spokeswoman.

I find this not only sad, but also upsetting. It's not that I was
ever a huge fan of RS, but their closing will bring a final end to
all electronics home repair and hobby.

Sparkfun.

DigiKey.

All Electronics.

Mouser.

Beagleboard.

Arduino.

Raspberry Pi.

Etc., etc., etc.

Yep, they are all there and none of them have brick and mortar
stores,
at least not in my area. So I can order parts online and pay $10 or
more for shipping + handling , everytime I need a $1 part, plus wait
days or weeks to get it shipped. *NOT*

Or, you could just man up a bit and order a stock. You can get 20
times more parts, of better quality, for the same money Rat Shack
would charge. A couple of weekends spent mowing lawns would get you a
pretty nice setup, and quite usable scopes are available for under
$100 on eBay.

A lot of places don't give you the choice. They don't want you
ordering one and twos, they want a minimum of each. And yes, the set
of each device often is cheaper than one at Radio Shack.

Michael

That's not the case with the vendors I use. You can easily order one
0603 resistor from Digikey, if you're nuts enough. See e.g.
http://www.digikey.com/product-detail/en/MCT06030C4702FP500/
MCT0603-47.0K-CFCT-ND/2607908

Cheers

Phil Hobbs

Oooh, fancy. I get the 1% resistors that cost 60 cents for 100. But
then, I'm doing less-fancy stuff.

I just did a search on 0603 resistors that were in stock, quantity 1,
and searched on price (ascending order). That one came out cheapest.

Cheers

Phil Hobbs

--
Dr Philip C D Hobbs
Principal Consultant
ElectroOptical Innovations LLC
Optics, Electro-optics, Photonics, Analog Electronics

160 North State Road #203
Briarcliff Manor NY 10510

hobbs at electrooptical dot net
http://electrooptical.net

Tim Wescott · Feb 13, 2015

On Wed, 11 Feb 2015 22:31:17 -0500, Phil Hobbs wrote:

On 2/11/2015 7:20 PM, Tim Wescott wrote:
On Wed, 11 Feb 2015 14:09:47 -0500, Phil Hobbs wrote:

On 2/9/2015 9:57 PM, Michael Black wrote:
On Mon, 9 Feb 2015, Phil Hobbs wrote:

On 2/7/2015 8:54 PM, electron206@online.com wrote:
On Sat, 07 Feb 2015 19:20:15 -0600, Tim Wescott
seemywebsite@myfooter.really> wrote:

RadioShack said that its remaining stores are expected to close.

The company's franchise locations, as well as stores in Mexico
and Asia,
are not included in the deal.

But RadioShack is not completely going away. Customers will
still be able to purchase RadioShack products, services and
accessories at the approximately 1,750 stores where Sprint will
open shop. In fact, Sprint will occupy just one third of those
locations, where it will sell devices and plans. The stores will
be "co-branded," according to a Sprint spokeswoman.

I find this not only sad, but also upsetting. It's not that I
was ever a huge fan of RS, but their closing will bring a final
end to all electronics home repair and hobby.

Sparkfun.

DigiKey.

All Electronics.

Mouser.

Beagleboard.

Arduino.

Raspberry Pi.

Etc., etc., etc.

Yep, they are all there and none of them have brick and mortar
stores,
at least not in my area. So I can order parts online and pay $10
or more for shipping + handling , everytime I need a $1 part, plus
wait days or weeks to get it shipped. *NOT*

Or, you could just man up a bit and order a stock. You can get 20
times more parts, of better quality, for the same money Rat Shack
would charge. A couple of weekends spent mowing lawns would get you
a pretty nice setup, and quite usable scopes are available for under
$100 on eBay.

A lot of places don't give you the choice. They don't want you
ordering one and twos, they want a minimum of each. And yes, the set
of each device often is cheaper than one at Radio Shack.

Michael

That's not the case with the vendors I use. You can easily order one
0603 resistor from Digikey, if you're nuts enough. See e.g.
http://www.digikey.com/product-detail/en/MCT06030C4702FP500/
MCT0603-47.0K-CFCT-ND/2607908

Cheers

Phil Hobbs

Oooh, fancy. I get the 1% resistors that cost 60 cents for 100. But
then, I'm doing less-fancy stuff.

I just did a search on 0603 resistors that were in stock, quantity 1,
and searched on price (ascending order). That one came out cheapest.

With DigiKey, you need to do the search on whatever quantity you expect to
use. Prices in onsies reflect the cost of paying a zit-faced kid to clip
it off and put it in a bag (and maybe a some deep strategy aimed at
suckering you into the expensive parts). The prices in 100ea quantities
(of resistors at least) seem to reflect the reel pricing far more
accurately.

I generally order little resistors and bypass caps by the 100 or even
500. More expensive stuff (10u ceramics, tantalums, current-sense
resistors, etc.) I'll order in smaller quantities.

--

Tim Wescott
Wescott Design Services
http://www.wescottdesign.com

Michael A. Terrell · Mar 15, 2015

Tim Wescott wrote:

With DigiKey, you need to do the search on whatever quantity you expect to
use. Prices in onsies reflect the cost of paying a zit-faced kid to clip
it off and put it in a bag (and maybe a some deep strategy aimed at
suckering you into the expensive parts). The prices in 100ea quantities
(of resistors at least) seem to reflect the reel pricing far more
accurately.

I generally order little resistors and bypass caps by the 100 or even
500. More expensive stuff (10u ceramics, tantalums, current-sense
resistors, etc.) I'll order in smaller quantities.

I've bought boxes of 100 reels of surface mount components on Ebay. A
nice mix of the common resistors, capacitors and some inductors. The
last box had a full reel of MMBT2222ALT1 and some microwave power
transistors. Most of the reels were full reels.

--
Anyone wanting to run for any political office in the US should have to
have a DD214, and a honorable discharge.

[OT] RadioShack declares bankruptcy

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