Let's see your soldering station! (pics and poll)

[beans-on-toast]

I honestly rarely drink alcohol, but I had a beer in the fridge that was less than a year old. I opened to toast my last 1 lb roll of Kester 60/40 multicore being used up. Said day. Radio Shack will be like that roll soon I am afraid.

In my area, they stopped selling pretty much all the electronic parts in the retail stores.

 

[beans-on-toast]

I always forget how fussy it is to make XLRs.

Soldering into the cups is never fun. I recently converted the last of my cabs with ¼" jacks to speakons and applied deoxit onto the speaker connectors. Maybe it was the oxidized jacks in the cabs but the clarity of the sound is remarkably better. Like lifting a blanket off the cabs.

 

[B-string]

In my area, they stopped selling pretty much all the electronic parts in the retail stores.

Tandy Corp seem to forget DIY is what built the stores. They tried to get people to go to Allied for parts and supplies.

XLR's don't bother me, once you learn how much to pre fill the cups and tin the wire it goes fast.

 

[beans-on-toast]

Yes, four stores within a 100 mile radius of me.....gone and online stock is very light/out of stock when the page is up and running.

I thought that it was just in my area. Tandy leather is still going strong. I wonder if they are still the same company.

 

[nshuman]

In my area, they stopped selling pretty much all the electronic parts in the retail stores.

In Canada, RadioShack renamed themselves to "The Source" and basically became mini best buys over 10 years ago. I think they stopped selling electronics components way before that. Thankfully, there are a few big components stores in my City. But, even then, a sizeable chain of electronics components that had existed for a long time in parts of Quebec and Ontario went under as well.

The reality is that the electronics hobbyist clientele is a pretty technical crowd and probably very likely to buy deals online.

 

[BurningSkies]

Soldering into the cups is never fun. I recently converted the last of my cabs with ¼" jacks to speakons and applied deoxit onto the speaker connectors. Maybe it was the oxidized jacks in the cabs but the clarity of the sound is remarkably better. Like lifting a blanket off the cabs.

Yep. I always second guess my connections with those stupid little cups. I'll be double testing those blue XLRs before Wednesday's gig. Although I'll also say that depending on the 1/4" connectors they can be just as bad. I got those heavy duty Canare connectors for my main bass cord and they're more of a pain in the ass than the standard switchcraft connectors.

 

[B-string]

I don't know David, the son used to work at a store before they bought Allied. That was a while ago.

 

[BurningSkies]

Tandy Corp seem to forget DIY is what built the stores. They tried to get people to go to Allied for parts and supplies.

XLR's don't bother me, once you learn how much to pre fill the cups and tin the wire it goes fast.

I've hated walking into radio shack for the past couple years. Front end filled with stuff that no one's going to RS to buy and the bits and pieces that you want being fewer and further between.

And is that the secret? pre-filling those stupid cups before inserting my tinned wires? I always tin then insert then solder.

 

[B-string]

I've hated walking into radio shack for the past couple years. Front end filled with stuff that no one's going to RS to buy and the bits and pieces that you want being fewer and further between.

And is that the secret? pre-filling those stupid cups before inserting my tinned wires? I always tin then insert then solder.

Yeah I agree, I was always crossing my fingers on finding something that wasn't a cell phone or toy in the local store. Even got hard to find a dang fuse!

 

[beans-on-toast]

In Canada, RadioShack renamed themselves to "The Source" and basically became mini best buys over 10 years ago. I think they stopped selling electronics components way before that. Thankfully, there are a few big components stores in my City. But, even then, a sizeable chain of electronics components that had existed for a long time in parts of Quebec and Ontario went under as well.

The reality is that the electronics hobbyist clientele is a pretty technical crowd and probably very likely to buy deals online.

Shipping costs from the internet places are continually creeping up. At least Digi-Key is still low. Others have raised their rates more than double what DK is charging.

 

[Dash Lashes]

the last time i went to rs was about 4 months ago to grab something... that thing lasted one day and it was toast. in the 80's i thought you could have built johnny5 from that place. im indifferent they're gone. that there are places like that tequ link @nshuman just mentioned looks pretty good (#140) (ive used them before, but i dont really know ANYTHING about them, so shouldnt really say... i guess im indifferent on this as well)

 

[nshuman]

Shipping costs from the internet places are continually creeping up. At least Digi-Key is still low. Others have raised their rates more than double what DK is charging.

Digikey is great in Canada. Shipping is pretty reasonable, and still overnight.

 

[BurningSkies]

Yeah I agree, I was always crossing my fingers on finding something that wasn't a cell phone or toy in the local store. Even got hard to find a dang fuse!

Wait, you don't want low end radio controlled cars, cell phone accessories or police scanners?

I loved radio shack as a kid...go in and buy solar cells, LEDs and motors and make my own stuff without any know how whatsoever.

 

[nshuman]

Wait, you don't want low end radio controlled cars, cell phone accessories or police scanners?

I loved radio shack as a kid...go in and buy solar cells, LEDs and motors and make my own stuff without any know how whatsoever.

I bought so many electrical motors at Radio Shack as a kid. They had those purple and green batteries too.

 

[BurningSkies]

I bought so many electrical motors at Radio Shack as a kid. They had those purple and green batteries too.

I used to make both plastic and balsa model planes then self-modify them to accept motors and lights, etc.

 

[nshuman]

I used to make both plastic and balsa model planes then self-modify them to accept motors and lights, etc.

My brother and I did that as well, but with boats. We grew up on the river shore, so, it was boats all the time. Even everglades style boats with an airplane prop. Ahhhhh, the smell of Nitro Fuel

 

[beans-on-toast]

I don't know David, the son used to work at a store before they bought Allied. That was a while ago.

I placed an order with Allied not too long ago. Haven't dealt with them in many years. Didn't hear from them, no confirmation or billing info. The order was not shipping. Called customer service they got my order confused with another customer, sent me info related to the other customers order. They said that they were holding up the order because they are out of stock of Raspberry Pi's. That's nice but I didn't order the Raspberry Pi. They seemed to be slaves to a computer and couldn't figure out how to get around a mixup in their system. Eventually they sorted it out and sent me my stuff after weeks of delays.

 

[B-string]

I placed an order with Allied not too long ago. Haven't dealt with them in many years. Didn't hear from them, no confirmation or billing info. The order was not shipping. Called customer service they got my order confused with another customer, sent me info related to the other customers order. They said that they were holding up the order because they are out of stock of Raspberry Pi's. That's nice but I didn't order the Raspberry Pi. They seemed to be slaves to a computer and couldn't figure out how to get around a mixup in their system. Eventually they sorted it out and sent me my stuff after weeks of delays.

Sounds about right. I almost placed an order with them and Mouser notified me the parts were back in stock so saved me the frustration and higher cost.

 

[beans-on-toast]

Sounds about right. I almost placed an order with them and Mouser notified me the parts were back in stock so saved me the frustration and higher cost.

I find that prices can really vary between Mouser, Digi-Key, and Newark so you have to shop around. What's frustrating is that they are all carrying less and less stock of the basic stuff that I buy. Often I have to find alternate parts. My biggest issue is some of the items are available at one place and not at another. Not too long ago one company would have had everything in stock that I needed. I find that more often these days I'm splitting orders between companies which means paying for shipping from each place.

 

[B-string]

Yes, I Play that "game" as well. I know I am not scheduling 100,000 piece orders, but WTH?