Railfan Technology > Alternatives to Radio Shack

I will miss browsing through their parts drawers for switches, LED, resistors, terminal strips, etc.
What are the alternatives now that they are liquidating ?

If you live in a metropolis or can visit one you are probably ok. If you live in the other 95% of the surface area of the US it is internet only.

Posted from Windows Phone OS 7

http://radioshackcorporation.com/pdfs/RS-Store-Closure-List_020415.pdf

There are a number of retailers like Jameco:

http://www.jameco.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/StoreCatalogDisplay?storeId=10001&catalogId=10001&langId=-1&rfr=1

Amazon or E-Bay probably has leads to other such places.

The old operations where boards were sent to be parted out is pretty hard to find. Most older equipment is disassembled and reduced in the scrap part markets, also known as '(your state here)' Electronic waste recycling Fee, operative word being 'Fee'. Much of the stuff is sent off shore and reduced to primary metals, like Gold.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Electronic_Waste_Recycling_Fee

Some electronic surplus houses:

All Electronics http://www.allelectronics.com/

BG Micro http://www.bgmicro.com/

Electronic Goldmine http://www.goldmine-elec-products.com/

Marlin P. Jones http://www.mpja.com/

Electronic Surplus Inc http://www.electronicsurplus.com/

Uncle Cy the LED Guy http://www.unclecytheledguy.com/

A retailer that sells small parts:

MCM Electronics http://www.mcmelectronics.com/

Amateur (HAM) Radio operators have "hamfests" which are flea markets with an
emphasis on electronic equipment and parts.

All you need to do is enter your zipcode:

http://www.arrl.org/hamfests-and-conventions-calendar

If you are in the Pittsburgh, PA area on 25 Feb, our radio club is having
an auction and there will likely be all manner of small parts offered

Website: NHARC.ORG

Be Well,

Tim Colbert K3HX



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 02/09/15 15:18 by K3HX.

Most big cities will have a local electronics store or two, but even those are generally becoming harder to find.

In the past I have used Mouser Electronics http://www.mouser.com/ if I needed something and could wait for the mail and didn't want to drive across town. Shipping was cheaper than gas. The worst part about them is that they have so many parts, it's difficult to find what you need in their on line catalog.

Gigaparts used to handle component level parts but I think they are out of that business. Like other Ham Radio stores, they will have cable, scanners, connectors, etc...

Debco Electronics http://www.debcoelectronics.com in Cincinnati carries some of the more common parts.

DigiKey http://www.digikey.com/ has a lot of components and tools

Jameco http://www.jameco.com/ is another supplier.

Fry Electronics http://www.frys.com/

The list by Tim above has a bunch that I wasn't thinking about, good place to start.

If you are looking for scanners, antennas, and cables you can go to the amateur radio dealers. AES, Universal Radio, R&L Electronics, are just a few of the big ones. AES has about a dozen stores around the country.

Often it depends on what you're looking for. Most have cables (and better that what you get at Radio Shack) and connectors. Some have scanners, cables, and antenna supplies. Others will have component level supplies, tools and test equipment. Radio Shack was a consumer level supplier of decent quality scanners, mediocre cable and connectors, and a decent supply of general purpose components.

I never did depend on them for anything involving coaxial cable. I have used some connectors in a pinch but I usually have some higher quality items in the drawer. Resistors, capacitors, diodes, ICs, voltage regulators, or some connectors were not industrial quality but were very good for hobbyist and were generally available. Some of the connectors were flimsy and hard to solder to at times. Two weeks ago I needed a cigarette lighter plug, a 12 VDC regulator and a battery connector and they're store was about on my way to another place I had to go.

Radio Shack is convenient to us and will be missed. The store closest to me is on that closing list. Radio Shack was a leading dealer during the CB boom in the 70's and 80's. They had one of the earliest home computers, and they did a good business in cell phones. CB radio is not much of a topic these days. Everyone makes computers and everyone sells cell phone. People are not experimenting with component level electronics as much as we did 30 years ago. Whether you liked them or not, Radio Shack will be missed.

John



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 02/09/15 15:02 by wa4umr.

If you want exactly the same thing every time you order it then you want Digikey, Mouser, and Jameco. All three are large electronics distributors with excellent online catalogues and do just as well with small orders as they do with large ones.

If you want rock bottom price, eBay is your buddy. Lots of Chinese sellers with wholesale size lots for crazy affordable prices on many components. Be aware of a few things, however: expect the specs to be exaggerated (particularly on things like power or current), beware of fake ICs (I've gotten lots that are just fine, lots that have glitchy behaviour, and lots that just don't work at all), expect some small percentage to just not work no matter what, and never assume that if you order twice from the same vendor you'll get the same thing. However, if you can put up with that, there are some tremendous bargains to be had on commodity things like switches, LEDs, diodes, resistors, connectors, etc.

I guess the younger generation doesn't go to Radio Shack for the purposes we did. In Junior High shop class, we had to put together a Heathkit radio. Now shop, mechanical drawing, and auto mechanics curriculums at my high school are gone and forgotten.

Sounds a lot like local hobby shops.

We're a dying breed I guess. Thank goodness for the internet and express shipping.

Jamaican Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> I guess the younger generation doesn't go to Radio
> Shack for the purposes we did. In Junior High shop
> class, we had to put together a Heath kit radio.



> Now shop, mechanical drawing, and auto mechanics
> curriculums at my high school are gone and
> forgotten.

A great sadness.

Note to young folk: If you want a career where you will
make a very good living and N E V E R worry about being
out of work, get into the machine trades.

The old farts are either retiring or passing on and it is
astoundingly difficult to find anyone to take their place.

A machinist, welder, tool and die maker or millwright can
virtually write their own ticket.

While it may not have the prestige of being a "Diversity
Compliance Monitor," "Environmental Media Policy Analyst Integrator"
or "Self-Esteem Facilitator" you will be able to provide for your
family and have the satisfaction of doing actual, productive work
and be well paid for your efforts.

Be Well,

Tim Colbert K3HX



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 02/09/15 19:20 by K3HX.

K3HX Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> A machinist, welder, tool and die maker or
> millwright can virtually write their own ticket.

Amen to this one. A good machinist is worth his weight in gold. Most of the ones I work with are getting on in years, and there aren't a lot of folks coming up to replace them. Rapid prototyping techniques (laser sintering) will replace some small part of that demand in the coming decade, but you're not going to make a new main rod that way.

Plus, if it weren't for hanging around welders and machinists, where would the young'uns ever learn to swear properly?

In Fort Collins, CO try Mountain States Electronics...still an "old school" parts distributor at 2107 South College Avenue.
I know because I used to own it from 1982 to 1999 and the fellow I sold it to still runs it the same way. Radio Shack was never
considered competition to us...their prices were way too high!

I still can remember going into our local Radio Shack with my Dad when I was a kid, he always liked to build electronic stuff, he built the power supply for my first model train layout and bought all the parts at Radio Shack! I remember when I was in college, I wanted to wire up a bunch of street lights on my layout so I bought all the parts at Radio Shack and created a control box for all the lights, I was so proud of myself!

>
>
> > Now shop, mechanical drawing, and auto
> mechanics
> > curriculums at my high school are gone and
> > forgotten.
>
> A great sadness.
>
> Note to young folk: If you want a career where
> you will
> make a very good living and N E V E R worry about
> being
> out of work, get into the machine trades.
>
> The old farts are either retiring or passing on
> and it is
> astoundingly difficult to find anyone to take
> their place.
>
> A machinist, welder, tool and die maker or
> millwright can
> virtually write their own ticket.
>
> While it may not have the prestige of being a
> "Diversity
> Compliance Monitor," "Environmental Media Policy
> Analyst Integrator"
> or "Self-Esteem Facilitator" you will be able to
> provide for your
> family and have the satisfaction of doing actual,
> productive work
> and be well paid for your efforts.
>
> Be Well,
>
> Tim Colbert K3HX

Not only that, but much cheaper to go to a vo-tech school (auto/welding/etc.) and earn decent money anymore, versus a college degree (most 5-6 years now) and then hope for a job so you can pay off your large debt.

Mike

Another great website for components is Quest Components, Inc. http://www.questcomp.com