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I !#!$$$% hate Radioshack! [Rant]

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    I !#!$$$% hate Radioshack! [Rant]

    Radioshack is just garbage. They sell and stock garbage. I bought about 6 BNC cables at their liquidation sale. Every single one is bad. From bad soldering to extremely flimsy BNC heads, the quality is just horrible. Granted I spent about $3 on all of them, but imagine if somebody buys them at their regular price.

    Next on my list of gripes is the pathetic quality of the lead wires in their audio transformers. I spent about two hours trying to debug my experiment and it turned out that the crappy lead on the secondary side of the audio transformer just broke off.

    Next up is the soldering Iron, which has almost zero insulation it seems. I have to wear heat resistant gloves to even hold them . The bakelite on it is cheap ass, thin crap. I'm here at work on a @#$'ing Sunday and Radioshack crap is giving me nightmares. Arrrgh!
    Q6700 @ 3.6 GHz
    Zippy GSM-6600P
    Curcial Ballistix PC6400 (4 x 1Gb) Micron D9GMH
    Abit IP35Pro
    ATi HD4870

    #2
    Re: I !#!$$$% hate Radioshack! [Rant]

    Cheap BNC...check out http://www.allelectronics.com/ They sell good gear that's old stock. I love this store.

    Cheap irons or BNC http://www.bgmicro.com/ This is where the ballasts came from.

    http://www.kiesub.com/ for a Hakko 936 soldering station for <$80 Different tips are about $5 each. Good stuff. I don't even use my 4 crappy pencil irons anymore.

    Comment


      #3
      Re: I !#!$$$% hate Radioshack! [Rant]

      is that why they are one step from going down the toilet.

      one foot in the grave the other on a bar of soap
      capacitor lab yachtmati techmati

      Comment


        #4
        Re: I !#!$$$% hate Radioshack! [Rant]

        Thanks Galvo. I'm ordering a decent Iron first thing tomorrow. [Hey, congrats on becoming part of the administrative staff ]
        It gets very frustrating when basic equipment turns out to be dodgy as hell.
        Q6700 @ 3.6 GHz
        Zippy GSM-6600P
        Curcial Ballistix PC6400 (4 x 1Gb) Micron D9GMH
        Abit IP35Pro
        ATi HD4870

        Comment


          #5
          Re: I !#!$$$% hate Radioshack! [Rant]

          Here is the biggest problem with RShack, they eliminated everyone else a long time ago.
          There was All Electronics a mile away, 10 years ago, there was Lafayett Electronics down town, 20 years ago.
          I had a Heathkit store a block from where I worked 25 years ago, that was excellent.
          Now , thankfully there's the web.
          Jim

          Comment


            #6
            Re: I !#!$$$% hate Radioshack! [Rant]

            its the same with the small computer shops here, pushed out of the market by the big chains. only those which offer a proper and friendly repair service remain. resurrections and exorcisms of hardware. i saw one recently called "Fatal Error S.A."

            support the small vendors on the net. its great when someone makes a business out of selling computer fans or whatever.
            Last edited by willawake; 08-13-2006, 03:17 PM.
            capacitor lab yachtmati techmati

            Comment


              #7
              Re: I !#!$$$% hate Radioshack! [Rant]

              HAHA, Radioshack.....

              I swore I'd never walk into one of those three times now... there had better not be a forth.

              Comment


                #8
                Re: I !#!$$$% hate Radioshack! [Rant]

                A small guy here had a wall of SK and another wall of ECG. The rest of his little store was surpluss stuff of all kinds. I was exchanging refurbed TV chassis with him and one day he said, I can't make a living at this and I'm closing shop. That was a shame and about six years later a small electronics general repair guy said exactly the same and closed.
                The repair guy blamed the large department stores for selling everything for less than he could fix it.
                Jim

                Comment


                  #9
                  Re: I !#!$$$% hate Radioshack! [Rant]

                  Its true guys, big businesses are driving away small shops. With big stores, you get stuff for cheap, but the quality is crap and the sales people are useless morons. I am willing to pay a little extra to support a small business with good customer service.
                  Q6700 @ 3.6 GHz
                  Zippy GSM-6600P
                  Curcial Ballistix PC6400 (4 x 1Gb) Micron D9GMH
                  Abit IP35Pro
                  ATi HD4870

                  Comment


                    #10
                    Re: I !#!$$$% hate Radioshack! [Rant]

                    There is a small PC shop one mile from me called C-Tech. Vernon the owner is a real stand up kind of guy. He will lend me, and or sell me anything I need to keep this old DOG PC going. Try doing that at the CompUSA! What ever I need I make sure Vernon gets my dollars if he can get the part. Just last week he sold me a Chaintech 7AJA2E mobo with a 1GHZ Duron CPU, and fan for $20. Yesterday I picked up a Brand New USR 56k PCI Modem Pro in its sealed box from him for $21. A few months ago I got a complete Gateway 1.5GHz P4 box, less the hard drive from Vern for $45. Its now at my sisters house, and running like a big Dog! How can we do without good People like these? The heck with Comp what ever it is!
                    "It ain't what you don't know that gets you into trouble. It's what you know for sure that just ain't so."
                    Mark Twain

                    "I wish to have no connection with any ship that does not sail fast; for I intend to go in harm's way."
                    John Paul Jones

                    There is a fifth dimension, beyond that which is known to man. It is a dimension as vast as space and as timeless as infinity. It is the middle ground between light and shadow, between science and superstition, and it lies between the pit of man's fears and the summit of his knowledge. This is the dimension of imagination. It is an area which we call the Twilight Zone.
                    Rod Serling

                    Comment


                      #11
                      Re: I !#!$$$% hate Radioshack! [Rant]

                      I had to go to RS after this weekend lightning knocked out all my phones.
                      Went up to the kid there and said " so did you watch the roast of William Shatner last night?" He stared at me like I was speaking Greek. I said "you know, Kirk?", nothing.
                      You would think the job app. would have a box requirement asking if you at least know what a trecky is.
                      There were four other people in the place who all came over laughing about it but the RS guy had no clue, he was to young I guess.
                      Jim

                      Comment


                        #12
                        Re: I !#!$$$% hate Radioshack! [Rant]

                        I remember thae old days of RS
                        They had loads of circuit components and they cere affordable.
                        Now it is limited to a space smaller than a phone booth and the parts come in valu packs. Whatever happened to tandy?
                        Find Nedry!


                        Check the Vending machines!!

                        <----Computer says I need more beer.

                        Comment


                          #13
                          Re: I !#!$$$% hate Radioshack! [Rant]

                          The small town I live in has a RS, Walmart, and a Staples if you want anything CLOSE to computer/electronics supplies. I have been toying with the idea of opening a store front that offers computer/electronics components and repair. That plus a good web store, consulting, and another full time job ought to pay the bills!

                          Comment


                            #14
                            Re: I !#!$$$% hate Radioshack! [Rant]

                            I have been toying with the idea of opening a store
                            i say go for it, you will always wonder if it could have succeeded if you dont try. start small and offer the best customer service. i doubt you will be able to do that and another full time job though. Also it might take a while before it takes off too, new ventures always do.
                            capacitor lab yachtmati techmati

                            Comment


                              #15
                              Re: I !#!$$$% hate Radioshack! [Rant]

                              Finding distributers for new components at a good price will be the challenge. I have no problem finding used components. I love auctions! I have had years of retail management experience, unfortunately, so running a store and customer service is my thing. Of course, managing other peoples retail is what made me become a welder! I know I would love to have a place that had used computer components, soldering supplies, electronic repair components, testing tools and someone who knew what they were doing all in one, but how many other people?

                              Comment


                                #16
                                Re: I !#!$$$% hate Radioshack! [Rant]

                                Originally posted by Spacedye69
                                but how many other people?
                                You mean geeks looking for caps are a rare bread.
                                There certainly aren'y that many around here. Even the electronics trade school class closed ten years ago, no one went.
                                Now there's still computer science offered but no mention of component level repair.
                                Jim

                                Comment


                                  #17
                                  Re: I !#!$$$% hate Radioshack! [Rant]

                                  Now what.
                                  They strip the stores, now this

                                  http://news.moneycentral.msn.com/pro...830&ID=5983042
                                  Jim

                                  Comment


                                    #18
                                    Re: I !#!$$$% hate Radioshack! [Rant]

                                    PSA: RS has nibblers for $4...that is all

                                    Comment


                                      #19
                                      Re: I !#!$$$% hate Radioshack! [Rant]

                                      Like has been said the problem is that there are big chains that sell for cheaper.

                                      Like my mate's dad has an electronics and computer repairs and sales business, basically now he'll never get CRT TVs in for repair because people wouldn't consider paying him to fix it when they can buy a brand new one for a little bit more. Same goes for VCRs and DVD players.

                                      I've got a pretty good setup where I am though. It's impossible to get exotic components but I have 4 electronics stores that are easily accessible to me. Probably a total of about 10 available not including my mate's dad. There is a Dick Smith near me which is the Australian equivalent of RS, Tandy is same chain as DSE now I think. Well it depends on the store but the carry your general stuff. Most common resistor values, some capacitors, the really commonly used dirt cheap ICs. They also have cheap tools and some hardware. All generic cheap stuff though.

                                      Then there are two stores that are pretty much rivals, altronics and jaycar. They have a bigger range of generic parts, some nicer stuff too. Though they tend to stock the same sort of thing as each other at similar prices...

                                      Then theres the homebrew/electronics shop 5 mins down the road. A good combination if you ask me. The owner originally had just the electronics shop but when the homebrew store next door packed up he decided to do his own.

                                      I actually think he makes more off homebrew know than electronics. Anyway he's handy to have around, he can get stuff in from Altronics and Jaycar with no extra fee. He carries his own stuff in common values and has a few unique parts that would be hard to find elsewhere. Great customer service there so I usually give them my business.

                                      For quality or exotic components I buy from digikey. So I feel I'm in a pretty good situation.

                                      Definitely are some idiots in Dick Smith though, one of them didn't even know that a rectangular piece of ceramic with 33ohms printed on it was a wirewound resistor.
                                      Last edited by splaz; 09-01-2006, 02:00 AM.

                                      Comment


                                        #20
                                        Re: I !#!$$$% hate Radioshack! [Rant]

                                        around here we call radioshack cellphoneshack.
                                        i can go in to most stores with 3 phones on my belt and they still try to sell me another!

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