Mighty Micro..
Final two Episodes..
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S9LaroN8qgo
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XgcwILKBEqw
Regards
M. Gregg
Final two Episodes..
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S9LaroN8qgo
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XgcwILKBEqw
Regards
M. Gregg
It was a great day for me when the RS store opened here in the early 70s, at last I could buy parts without shipping charges and minimum orders. A lot of ridicule has been posted here but at the time it was wonderful. And yes, I too have a Micronta analog meter (I estimate 40 years old) that I still use from time to time.
I have a Micronta I bought 45 years ago..
..it was while at school.My job required Fluke meters..<<didn't realy trust anything else preferred them to AVO.
😀..Tandy store..To me RS means Radio Spares ie the RS catalogue..its a bit different.
Regards
M. Gregg
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80% off now at some stores!
I couldn't resist and visted a few of the Radio Shack stores today. At the first one I went to they had a lot of it discounted at 80% off! That wasn't on the sign in the window either which said 30% - 60%. Turns out the store employees don't know the discount either until they check on the register. Well 80% off finally catches my attention being equal to or lower than internet pricing on some of the stuff.
The discounts are all over the map depending on the store. I found one store with no sales or discounts at all, one that is slated to stay open. He says it should become one with the Sprint store in the middle. Then a mall store being closed, with everything at least 40% off but no discounts higher than 60%. That first one I visited with the 80% off was in a fairly newly built strip mall.
One thing to take a look at is Radio Shack item #6400235
RadioShack LED Helping Hands with Magnifier - RadioShack.com
I just posted about in another thread, essentially a "helping hands" thing with the magnifier and aligator clips, but this one is on steroids with a magnifier about 3 times larger than the common types. I bought one several months ago for the admittedly crazy standard price of $40. I saw three of them today at the 80% off sale - for $8 something to consider! I haven't seem these anywhere else, not even on eBay or other internet stores. Even if you have a Panavise the magnifying glass alone is still useful.
I found bagged solderless breadboard jumpers in various sizes at 100 per bag at the 80% off sale, normally $6 now $1.20 each. The solderless breadboards were also 80% off which makes them cheaper than I can get on the net.
I noticed in the news that only the 4000 or so company owned stores are part of the bankruptcy. There are still 900 franchises all over the world that are not affected at all and should continue on.
I couldn't resist and visted a few of the Radio Shack stores today. At the first one I went to they had a lot of it discounted at 80% off! That wasn't on the sign in the window either which said 30% - 60%. Turns out the store employees don't know the discount either until they check on the register. Well 80% off finally catches my attention being equal to or lower than internet pricing on some of the stuff.
The discounts are all over the map depending on the store. I found one store with no sales or discounts at all, one that is slated to stay open. He says it should become one with the Sprint store in the middle. Then a mall store being closed, with everything at least 40% off but no discounts higher than 60%. That first one I visited with the 80% off was in a fairly newly built strip mall.
One thing to take a look at is Radio Shack item #6400235
RadioShack LED Helping Hands with Magnifier - RadioShack.com
I just posted about in another thread, essentially a "helping hands" thing with the magnifier and aligator clips, but this one is on steroids with a magnifier about 3 times larger than the common types. I bought one several months ago for the admittedly crazy standard price of $40. I saw three of them today at the 80% off sale - for $8 something to consider! I haven't seem these anywhere else, not even on eBay or other internet stores. Even if you have a Panavise the magnifying glass alone is still useful.
I found bagged solderless breadboard jumpers in various sizes at 100 per bag at the 80% off sale, normally $6 now $1.20 each. The solderless breadboards were also 80% off which makes them cheaper than I can get on the net.
I noticed in the news that only the 4000 or so company owned stores are part of the bankruptcy. There are still 900 franchises all over the world that are not affected at all and should continue on.
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They're not teaching electronics anymore?? Just how is this generation going to get anywhere if it doesn't know..at least the basics? Pecking away at your I-phone, or going online isn't a substitute. Just how would this generation get by without the internet? POLL: how many of us have some sort of wireless communication at our beck & call? I have a pair of FRS radios....Hams? CB transceivers? When was the last time we listened to FM?
It would seem there is a knowledge "hole" within our society...
_____________________________________________________Rick.....
I think the next generation will be interesting..
We already have a generation gap, the loss of engineers has an impact with companies thats why the sudden push for apprentices.
The problem is that the apprentices have no one to learn from.
Where is the future going..I'm glad I'm coming to the end of my working life..The amount of rubbish put forward where paperwork and computers churning out mindless garbage, with the ever increasing red tape patting itself on the back and giving each other praise for logging everything and proving everything in triplicate, with no one with an ounce of know how being involved, run by self imposed critics that also have to look up how to hold a pen is just quite sad..
However thats life..😀
If there is any justice we should all be lying in the long grass with a beautiful woman and a straw hamper full of drink and goodies. The sun shining the birds singing and and the sound of the river flowing by..
Regards
M. Gregg
We already have a generation gap, the loss of engineers has an impact with companies thats why the sudden push for apprentices.
The problem is that the apprentices have no one to learn from.
Where is the future going..I'm glad I'm coming to the end of my working life..The amount of rubbish put forward where paperwork and computers churning out mindless garbage, with the ever increasing red tape patting itself on the back and giving each other praise for logging everything and proving everything in triplicate, with no one with an ounce of know how being involved, run by self imposed critics that also have to look up how to hold a pen is just quite sad..
However thats life..😀
If there is any justice we should all be lying in the long grass with a beautiful woman and a straw hamper full of drink and goodies. The sun shining the birds singing and and the sound of the river flowing by..
Regards
M. Gregg
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I think a lot of what Radio Shack used to do has been replace with online stores - I'm thinking especially of Sparkfun and Adafruit. Also, there's more electronics info on the Internet than in all of the books Radio Shack ever published (Forrest Mims books and "Building SPeaker Enclosures") or republished (National Semiconductor data/app manuals).
If electronic designers were getting THAT hard to find, most of us could save up for retirement in just a year two of consulting.
If electronic designers were getting THAT hard to find, most of us could save up for retirement in just a year two of consulting.
Financial /business analysts say the reason for RS' failure is very simple.
They no longer sell any big ticket/ high profit items ....which would also draw more customers their stores
When they sold big ticket items the same customers also came and bought batteries and other low profit accessories .
Now, they just go to RS for the low profit accessories .
Why RS could not see this baffles many. .
They no longer sell any big ticket/ high profit items ....which would also draw more customers their stores
When they sold big ticket items the same customers also came and bought batteries and other low profit accessories .
Now, they just go to RS for the low profit accessories .
Why RS could not see this baffles many. .
Ellis:
They are not teaching electronics at the vocational schools, but that doesn't mean there are no electrical engineering programs at universities. Technicians don't design computers, internet, etc, engineers do. But jobs for electronic technicians are fewer and fewer. So there are plenty of community college programs teaching computer skills, just no one teaching how to fix a monitor. There are jobs for people who install home theater systems in greater numbers than ther are jobs for guys with practical electronics skills.
This trend has been long ongoing. I started watching for teaching openings at area schools some 30 years ago. Community/vocational colleges here in Lansing, in Battle Creek, Flint, Owosso. I have seen exactly two openings in that time. One I applied for and was given a section to teach, but before the term started, the section was cancelled. They assign teachers on enrollment, and they had enough teachers already on staff to cover filled sections, so mine never happened. That is as close as I got. The other opening I didn't apply for due to other commitments. That is representative of the shrinking program sizes. At the Lansing school there is still some electronics included in the avionics program. And they have tried to shut that program down as well.
Some years back I interviewed for a position with the EE department at Michigan State, when answering their question about why I was applying for the job, I mentioned there were not many places needing electronics technicians, at least not in the area, and one of the interview panels said, "Oh yeah, this area is an electronics desert."
They are not teaching electronics at the vocational schools, but that doesn't mean there are no electrical engineering programs at universities. Technicians don't design computers, internet, etc, engineers do. But jobs for electronic technicians are fewer and fewer. So there are plenty of community college programs teaching computer skills, just no one teaching how to fix a monitor. There are jobs for people who install home theater systems in greater numbers than ther are jobs for guys with practical electronics skills.
This trend has been long ongoing. I started watching for teaching openings at area schools some 30 years ago. Community/vocational colleges here in Lansing, in Battle Creek, Flint, Owosso. I have seen exactly two openings in that time. One I applied for and was given a section to teach, but before the term started, the section was cancelled. They assign teachers on enrollment, and they had enough teachers already on staff to cover filled sections, so mine never happened. That is as close as I got. The other opening I didn't apply for due to other commitments. That is representative of the shrinking program sizes. At the Lansing school there is still some electronics included in the avionics program. And they have tried to shut that program down as well.
Some years back I interviewed for a position with the EE department at Michigan State, when answering their question about why I was applying for the job, I mentioned there were not many places needing electronics technicians, at least not in the area, and one of the interview panels said, "Oh yeah, this area is an electronics desert."
Have you seen any EE graduates these days?
They're all Asian! They won't let you enroll unless you're Asian. Thats because you won't be able to find a job stateside.
But for many small towns, R/S was ALL they had for an electronics store.
They ONCE had a RadioShack.Com store here. ONLY a mile from my house!
It was an electronics supermarket! AND when computers came out they had a computer store (Tandy).
BUT they both did not exist at the same time. Both are long gone. And I'm still here.
They're all Asian! They won't let you enroll unless you're Asian. Thats because you won't be able to find a job stateside.
But for many small towns, R/S was ALL they had for an electronics store.
They ONCE had a RadioShack.Com store here. ONLY a mile from my house!
It was an electronics supermarket! AND when computers came out they had a computer store (Tandy).
BUT they both did not exist at the same time. Both are long gone. And I'm still here.
Regarding have you seen any EE lately,
Its become very specialised, mainly prototype and testing.
The computer is king these days, how many people repair PCB's (boards).
They normally last the lifetime of the unit or are superseded by new technology and made redundant quicker than they burn out.
Even those that design do not produce the end product with a soldering iron and components.
Multi-layer boards and surface mount make most equipment repairs non cost effective also because other components are on their way out at the same point. Its a bit like recycling laptops..not much use to high tech industries.
I see it everyday. The days of being able to design equipment is on its way out. Or at best specialised. If someone trains as a design engineer in Electronics and are made redundant where do they go? The days of production breakdown and repair with electronic labs has almost gone.
I remember in a company I worked at the electronic lab technicians said in the 70's that the electricians had had their day and there would be more and more EE's..guess what happened by 2003 the Electronic lab had gone and the electricians had been reduced with multi skilled workers becoming the way forward.
If you are a design engineer you need to be cutting edge there is no place for the average electronics engineer..even TV's have added to the situation.
Regards
M. Gregg
Its become very specialised, mainly prototype and testing.
The computer is king these days, how many people repair PCB's (boards).
They normally last the lifetime of the unit or are superseded by new technology and made redundant quicker than they burn out.
Even those that design do not produce the end product with a soldering iron and components.
Multi-layer boards and surface mount make most equipment repairs non cost effective also because other components are on their way out at the same point. Its a bit like recycling laptops..not much use to high tech industries.
I see it everyday. The days of being able to design equipment is on its way out. Or at best specialised. If someone trains as a design engineer in Electronics and are made redundant where do they go? The days of production breakdown and repair with electronic labs has almost gone.
I remember in a company I worked at the electronic lab technicians said in the 70's that the electricians had had their day and there would be more and more EE's..guess what happened by 2003 the Electronic lab had gone and the electricians had been reduced with multi skilled workers becoming the way forward.
If you are a design engineer you need to be cutting edge there is no place for the average electronics engineer..even TV's have added to the situation.
Regards
M. Gregg
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On reflection,
All the contracts are for projects in eastern block countries and India.
Where is the investment?
The world is going through another revolution...not in the west!
But you already know about it..😀
Even the local job centre is advertising for teachers in China..<<its not taken lightly some just pack up and go.
Local industry..what local industry?
This has been on the cards for a long time!
Regards
M. Gregg
All the contracts are for projects in eastern block countries and India.
Where is the investment?
The world is going through another revolution...not in the west!
But you already know about it..😀
Even the local job centre is advertising for teachers in China..<<its not taken lightly some just pack up and go.
Local industry..what local industry?
This has been on the cards for a long time!
Regards
M. Gregg
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I can tell you a tale about a managing director that told me a story.
He was from an American company.
This is what he said..I'll tell you what industry does in a country because I have seen it first hand.
I watched a factory being built in a country where all the people there if they were lucky had a horse and cart. The factory was built and we had to give the workers time to feed and water their donkeys during the shift on the car park.
One by one the first cars appeared, then the better cars, then the first petrol station, then the shops then the houses, then the schools, then the roads, then the stores selling computers and so it went on.
Now I'll tell you the removal of industry..reverse the above. I didn't think much about it at the time until the company closed.
Regards
M. Gregg
He was from an American company.
This is what he said..I'll tell you what industry does in a country because I have seen it first hand.
I watched a factory being built in a country where all the people there if they were lucky had a horse and cart. The factory was built and we had to give the workers time to feed and water their donkeys during the shift on the car park.
One by one the first cars appeared, then the better cars, then the first petrol station, then the shops then the houses, then the schools, then the roads, then the stores selling computers and so it went on.
Now I'll tell you the removal of industry..reverse the above. I didn't think much about it at the time until the company closed.
Regards
M. Gregg
Worked one summer vacation when I was a teenager for RS.
Always had something in the night when you needed it electronic.
Just go down and get it
Now you need a computer or cell phone, internet fee, upgrades and a long wait to get an unforeseen product 4 or 5 days later just for the privilege of purchasing anything today.
Long gone is luxury of walking in to store, buying it and hooking it up that day and enjoying it right away
So called advanced society we have today🙄
David
Always had something in the night when you needed it electronic.
Just go down and get it
Now you need a computer or cell phone, internet fee, upgrades and a long wait to get an unforeseen product 4 or 5 days later just for the privilege of purchasing anything today.
Long gone is luxury of walking in to store, buying it and hooking it up that day and enjoying it right away
So called advanced society we have today🙄
David
Thanks MG
I fixed an AB AMPS amplifier board recently. It had a hole burned thru it- about an inch in diameter. A new board was not available. I cleaned out the hole, patched it with JB Weld, drilled out the patch for the component leads and rebuilt the circuit using point to point wiring to replace the printed circuits that burned up.
But my background is TV engineering and the only jobs I found were in Pakistan and Saudi Arabia, etc.
I fixed an AB AMPS amplifier board recently. It had a hole burned thru it- about an inch in diameter. A new board was not available. I cleaned out the hole, patched it with JB Weld, drilled out the patch for the component leads and rebuilt the circuit using point to point wiring to replace the printed circuits that burned up.
But my background is TV engineering and the only jobs I found were in Pakistan and Saudi Arabia, etc.
Did you manage to watch the link to the Mighty Micro in post 39#
I'm not sure if you can get it due to it being on UK Youtube.
The predictions are quite startling in comparison to modern day, and some are yet to happen.
My experience has been that EE's normally change job into another sector.
Its a bit like computer technicians that can keep whole computer servers running and network control, but they have little understanding of fault location on complex control systems. Its a bit of a cliché really. My son is a computer technician. I tried to explain some of the electronic principles to him, he listened for a while and then said,"I don't need to know this, its not relevant and very "old school", just like the people that install the servers. They are electricians with installation knowledge and don't need to know how or why a computer circuit works. Throw it in the bin and plug another board in". Component level fault location is to time consuming and has no place in the modern world. Then he put his damaged iphone in my hand and said here fix that!
Perhaps he has a point!
I remember building my first computer tower many years ago it took a few days (not knowing what everything did). I watched my son bring in a box of parts and a tower case and throw it together in about 30 minutes. Then walk away and I said are you going to try it out? Why? he said I'll do it remotely after its booted from the server. What server I said. That one...a box sitting under his desk.
Regards
M. Gregg
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I guess the question remains..
I remember when the older electricians in industry didn't understand electronics and would close a panel after opening the door and even seeing an electronic board. When I asked them why, they said we are to old now for this kind of thing the old stuff will keep us in work just long enough to retire. I remember being at the so called cutting edge at that point.
Now things change so fast..or perhaps I'm just getting old😀
I wonder what will happen to the computer techs? Will they reach a point where they burn out or just can't keep up with the new technology.
Oh my eyesight won't let me use the "little screens" well you are getting old...
Regards
M. Gregg
I remember when the older electricians in industry didn't understand electronics and would close a panel after opening the door and even seeing an electronic board. When I asked them why, they said we are to old now for this kind of thing the old stuff will keep us in work just long enough to retire. I remember being at the so called cutting edge at that point.
Now things change so fast..or perhaps I'm just getting old😀
I wonder what will happen to the computer techs? Will they reach a point where they burn out or just can't keep up with the new technology.
Oh my eyesight won't let me use the "little screens" well you are getting old...
Regards
M. Gregg
Years ago they had a close out on th 40-1197 a nice fe103 clone for $1.97 . Well I asked a sales clerk if he could get me 100 of them and he said he could call and get them from a couple of other stores. Well before he got around to it he up and got himself fired !
By the way if they go bankrupt how will we get replacements on out Realistic tubes that came with a lifetime guarantee ?
By the way if they go bankrupt how will we get replacements on out Realistic tubes that came with a lifetime guarantee ?
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