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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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2nd Nov 2014, 9:35 pm | #21 |
Dekatron
Join Date: Jan 2005
Location: Oxford, UK.
Posts: 17,820
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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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2nd Nov 2014, 9:57 pm | #22 |
Nonode
Join Date: Apr 2012
Location: Worcestershire, UK.
Posts: 2,039
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Re: Tandy
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. Best wishes
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"What a depressingly stupid machine." [Marvin: HHGTTG] Last edited by Nymrod121; 2nd Nov 2014 at 9:59 pm. Reason: typo |
2nd Nov 2014, 11:34 pm | #23 |
Retired Dormant Member
Join Date: Jan 2012
Location: Middlewich, Cheshire, UK.
Posts: 237
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Re: Tandy
re: sentinel040's message:
... a lifetime guarantee on valves - my goodness that is brave!! (or business suicide!) Last edited by crudmeister; 2nd Nov 2014 at 11:39 pm. Reason: cross reference to a few posts back (so people don't think I'm mad!) |
3rd Nov 2014, 7:47 pm | #24 |
Retired Dormant Member
Join Date: Oct 2007
Location: Leicester, UK.
Posts: 809
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Re: Tandy
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! Brian Last edited by BGmidsUK; 3rd Nov 2014 at 7:52 pm. Reason: Checked site |
3rd Nov 2014, 8:16 pm | #25 |
Octode
Join Date: Aug 2008
Location: Rotherham, South Yorkshire, UK.
Posts: 1,701
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Re: Tandy
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 |
4th Nov 2014, 9:36 pm | #26 |
Pentode
Join Date: Aug 2008
Location: Taunton, Somerset, UK.
Posts: 135
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Re: Tandy
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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5th Nov 2014, 9:50 am | #27 |
Octode
Join Date: Jan 2013
Location: Barnsley, South Yorkshire, UK.
Posts: 1,517
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Re: Tandy
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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5th Nov 2014, 11:28 am | #28 |
Octode
Join Date: May 2010
Location: Worcestershire, UK.
Posts: 1,880
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Re: Tandy
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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BVWS member |
22nd Mar 2015, 11:49 pm | #29 |
Heptode
Join Date: Oct 2005
Location: Olympia, Washington, USA.
Posts: 663
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Re: Tandy
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. |
23rd Mar 2015, 12:04 am | #30 |
Moderator
Join Date: Mar 2012
Location: Fife, Scotland, UK.
Posts: 22,801
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Re: Tandy
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. David
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Can't afford the volcanic island yet, but the plans for my monorail and the goons' uniforms are done |
23rd Mar 2015, 12:13 am | #31 |
Octode
Join Date: Oct 2011
Location: Wrexham, North Wales, UK.
Posts: 1,457
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Re: Tandy
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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23rd Mar 2015, 12:56 am | #32 |
Dekatron
Join Date: Nov 2003
Location: Heckmondwike, West Yorkshire, UK.
Posts: 9,637
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Re: Tandy
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. |
23rd Mar 2015, 1:10 am | #33 |
Heptode
Join Date: Feb 2011
Location: Washington DC, USA
Posts: 619
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Re: Tandy
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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David |
23rd Mar 2015, 11:30 am | #34 |
Moderator
Join Date: Jun 2003
Location: Oxford, UK
Posts: 27,787
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Re: Tandy
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. |
23rd Mar 2015, 2:51 pm | #35 |
Dekatron
Join Date: Apr 2012
Location: Wiltshire, UK.
Posts: 13,953
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Re: Tandy
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25th Mar 2015, 1:00 pm | #36 |
Triode
Join Date: May 2014
Location: Worcestershire, UK.
Posts: 37
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Re: Tandy
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. Last edited by 198 kHz; 25th Mar 2015 at 1:05 pm. |
31st Mar 2015, 5:32 pm | #37 |
Octode
Join Date: Jan 2012
Location: Wimbledon, London, UK.
Posts: 1,464
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Re: Tandy
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