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Where To Get Sets and Parts For discussions about swapmeets, rallies, NVCF and BVWS, car boot sales, antique and charity shops, dealers, newspaper adverts, the local tip and just about any other source of equipment (other than eBay).

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Old 2nd Nov 2014, 9:35 pm   #21
Nickthedentist
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Default Re: Tandy

Free PP3s for me too, picked up on my way back from piano lessons, from the Wimbledon Broadway branch, now demolished: http://www.downwelldemo.co.uk/wp-con...Broadway_1.jpg
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Old 2nd Nov 2014, 9:57 pm   #22
Nymrod121
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I still have most of my Tandy/Radio Shack screwdriver set bought in Redditch back in 1990; it was only a few months back that the clear plastic lid finally disintegrated beyond redemption...
The handle has enough space to accommodate a couple of small Torx adaptors.
It's in everyday use here.
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Old 2nd Nov 2014, 11:34 pm   #23
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re: sentinel040's message:

... a lifetime guarantee on valves - my goodness that is brave!! (or business suicide!)

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Old 3rd Nov 2014, 7:47 pm   #24
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That's great to know. Hopefully they will stock the solder suckers I use, the red rubber ones with the nylon tip, I have several of them but the ONLY supplier I know of is Radio Shack/Tandy. RS also used to sell them years ago.

Also remember the InterTAN name .. plus the bubble-packs where every price ended with a 9!


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Old 3rd Nov 2014, 8:16 pm   #25
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Their hi-Fi loudspeakers originally came with a "lifetime warranty", in later years this reduced to five, I think.
I was amazed when they first opened to see resistors sold only in packets of five and rectifier diodes sold in packets of three! They were quite expensive as well.
The battery card was good, bet I've still got a couple of the batteries somewhere.

I do miss the old shops though.....

Peter
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Old 4th Nov 2014, 9:36 pm   #26
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I also enjoyed visiting my local Tandy shop. I still have quite a few things I bought there. As mentioned above I also own the 'vacubulb' rubber solder sucker. I still use it sometimes but I always find it nozzle bungs up easily. I also have an 'Archer' mini amp/speaker. I think Archer was one of their brand names. I have an electronic battleships game, some toy walky-talkies and a laser gun. I still have a few jack plugs in stock that have been re-used many times. All these items are at least twenty years old now. I can't remember exactly when the shop closed but I guess it was in the late 90s. Luckily we had another electronics shop nearby so I shopped there for many years until that closed down. Luckily we now have a Maplins in Taunton which is handy when I just need a single item.
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Old 5th Nov 2014, 9:50 am   #27
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Tandy was the last place I could easily buy splicing tape for magnetic tape. My need for this increased in the 1980s with the need to 'rescue' material from chewed video cassettes. the Tandy stuff was usually 1/2" which had been a bit of a trimming nuisance with audio tape but proved a boon with video. They also stocked perfectly adequate, if not pro quality, BNC to phono and PL259 to phono adaptors which were remarkably cheap and local Tandys got quite a few jobs 'back on the road' when connector confusion arose when away from base.
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Old 5th Nov 2014, 11:28 am   #28
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What a blast from the past! The last Tandy store I ever used was the Birmingham city centre location, opposite the Virgin Megastore. I used them occasionally for components but thought their equipment was a bit 'market stall'!! Although I still have a small PA amp and horn speaker bought in a sale. We used it for warehouse announcements in our family business.
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Old 22nd Mar 2015, 11:49 pm   #29
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Here in the States, Tandy/Radio Shack seems to be failing.
Their stores are carrying few "real electronics parts" and selling mostly cell phones and battery powered toys.
Ask a clerk for a part and you either get "What is the Radio Shack part number? " or a blank look and "Well these drawers are all we have" answer.
The local joke is "You have questions, we have blank looks".

Sounds like the UK ones are quite a bit better.
I do wished we had Dick Smith back here.
I sold and used huge amounts of their products for 4 years in the 80's, when I managed a store that was a Dick Smith reseller. A store like Maplins would be welcome.
The closest "real" parts stores are 65 miles away, in the Seattle, Washington area.
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Old 23rd Mar 2015, 12:04 am   #30
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Dunno, Frank.

Your description of Radio Shack in the states is only a bit further down the path that Maplins here seems to be taking. I think all electronics components sales have moved on-line and ther ehas been massive compaction in suppliers. Amateur radio rallies seem a better bet, especially the QRP ones dedicated to homebrew.

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Old 23rd Mar 2015, 12:13 am   #31
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I never even bother using Maplin's for parts any more, I go online to another component supplier for pretty much every component needed for valve sets, and they're cheaper than Maplin's.
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Old 23rd Mar 2015, 12:56 am   #32
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Chicken and egg. Fewer people these days want to buy components. Good selection on line. High shop costs. High prices to match etc. Same in a lot of retailing now.
However, if you can support a local outlet now and then it helps us all, they aren't charities.
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Old 23rd Mar 2015, 1:10 am   #33
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The Radio Shacks in my area just closed overnight, the only thing left is an empty store. I was hoping for some sort of fire sale
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Old 23rd Mar 2015, 11:30 am   #34
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That's sad, if they really have closed for good - they were an American institution.

The UK branches had no great cultural significance when they closed about 15 years ago. I think Tandy/RS only expanded into the UK at the end of the 70s, and were a novelty since the hobby electronics market had been served by lots of small independent stores before that, some very eccentrically run. The American corporate style of Tandy was quite a shock at the time.
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Old 23rd Mar 2015, 2:51 pm   #35
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Seems there may be a rescue plan:

http://www.theregister.co.uk/2015/03...hack_oblivion/
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Old 25th Mar 2015, 1:00 pm   #36
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Ah, sweet memories.

I used them a lot for audio leads and adaptors - amazing choice.

Only problem encountered one day when I asked for a tube of cyanolite glue. "Sorry, sir, we don't stock that."

He wouldn't believe me until I pointed it out to him in the catalogue on the counter.

Looking at their 'Telecoms & DSL' section, they've obviously linked with, or maybe absorbed, ADSLNation, who I've used for some years for quality broadband/phone sundries.

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Old 31st Mar 2015, 5:32 pm   #37
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Quote:
Originally Posted by 198 kHz View Post
Only problem encountered one day when I asked for a tube of cyanolite glue. "Sorry, sir, we don't stock that."
I think you mean "cyanoacrylate" glue, commonly known as "Superglue". No wonder the poor guy didn't understand.
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