Tandy
 

Apologies if this is old news, but new to me - Tandy UK are back online at least, with a small stock currently but only £1 P&P :thumbsup:

Re: Tandy
 

Certainly not old news to me! Thanks for that link.

I remember whenever I went to visit my grandparents up in Newark, my Grandad would take me to the Tandy shop there!

I'll keep them bookmarked as I'm going to need some bits to make a burglar alarm for the shed :)

Regards,
Lloyd

Re: Tandy
 

They are certainly good on prices, nice link, think I shall be using them soon Andy

Re: Tandy
 

As you say, good prices on the limited range currently available, and nice easy site to search! Thanks for posting the link.

Re: Tandy
 

Well according to them there has been a resurgence in hobby electronics. This would be good news and a reversal of current trends. Hopefully they'll give Maplin some competition.

Re: Tandy
 

A brief browse is a bit like time-travel. Most of ther stock seems to be typical '80s and '90s (74LS TTL, 555 etc).
I'm not complaining by any means - this is the sort of stuff I still use and want! I would have guessed that they were selling off their old stock, except that I bought quite a large part of my local store's stock for a few pounds when they closed down, and I presume that other branches disposed of stuff in the same way.

Re: Tandy
 

Not much you can build with only 6 resistor values though! I fondly remember the original Tandy, they had a fair amount of quirky stuff unobtainable elsewhere.

Regards,

Paul

Re: Tandy
 

I think this will appeal to people of a certain age. Youngsters who don't know the Tandy name will no doubt find a better selection of stuff, potentially at a better price, elsewhere.

£1 postage is a great attraction, though not quite as nice as being able to nip down to the High Street as in the good old days.

Nick.

Re: Tandy
 

I spent many a saturday morning in Tandy playing with the TRS80s and looking at the components and radio controlled planes etc.
Wasnt Radio Shack something to do with them too?

Re: Tandy
 

Yes, Tandy was the UK arm of Radio Shack which remains a successful company in the US.
Neil

Re: Tandy
 

There used to be two branches of Tandy in Ipswich within a couple of hundred yard of each other. I think much of their business was selling scanners to people who wanted to listen to police transmissions. Best thing I ever bought from them was a 13.8V 20A power supply which is still going strong.

I think they sold the shops to one of the mobile phone suppliers and for a time the component packs were offered at knock down prices alongside mobile phones.

Tandy or maybe Radio Shack also had shops in Australia and I remember buying a mains adaptor from one. They must have had a hard time competing with Dick Smith Electronics.

Re: Tandy
 

Thanks for the link.

Re: Tandy
 

Graham,
I remember when that happened, Can't remember which mobile phone supplier it was though.???
They sold off loads of stuff including Folio powerpad and notepad audio mixers. I was a bit miffed as the guy in front of me bought the last powerpad in the shop. I did get lots of semiconductors and resistor packs and popentiometers etc.
I have just come across a '25th anniversary' catalogue - 1998/9. Oh those memories.
Stuart.

Re: Tandy
 

Tandy (UK) were bought out by Carphone Warehouse at the end of the last century.

At one time the international part of Radio Shack [UK, Australia etc] was legally owned by a Canadian-registered holding company called "InterTAN".

Re: Tandy
 

If I remember...

The Tandy corporation was registered in Fort Worth, Texas and was the holding company. I think there was something about non-profit as well!

Through the usual sort of chain of command, they operated a franchising business which controlled the Radio Shack shops in the US.

They wanted to set up the same in the UK but found the Radio Shack name was already registered by a long-standing amateur radio retailer. So they fell back to the Tandy name, which is relatively unknown in the US.

David

Re: Tandy
 

Prior to setting up in retail, they marketed a small range via mail order as ROC (Realistic
Overseas Corp) you can see the ads in early 1970's editions of Practical Wireless.

Tandy had some good points (Free Battery Club Card) and bad, e.g. a new product was
offered at 50% off for the first two months, then the price doubled. Some of the books
were good (and of US origin) and some inexpensive components.

Re: Tandy
 

Add to the bad points that they wouldn't let you out of the shop without getting an address to send their bumf to.

I always gave 1601 Pennsylvania Ave Washington, USA. So they weren't too bothered about accuracy as long as they got something.

David

Re: Tandy
 

The free batteries were always welcome! The green alkalines were pretty good and the less expensive red cells also performed well. I recently got one of their 200-in-1 project kits still with a set of the green cells still in it. Not leaked and still have charge in them!!!

Re: Tandy
 

Wow the Tandy battery club! I almost forgot that - i was an avid member, always going for the PP3 as it was worth the most (well I was just a kid then..!)

Re: Tandy
 

I also seem to remember them advertising valves with a "lifetime" guarantee as well.

Ian