Blast From The Past

[trekster]

You are not allowed to view links. Register or Login

1939 to 2005 RADIO SHACK GENERAL CATALOG ARCHIVE

WOW this is awesome.  I had no idea Rat Shack sold this kind of stuff at one time.  Just looked through 1956 (the year I was born).  Neat old stuff!  Old like me 

Ron

[inzeos]

Remember when Radio Shack wasn't just another shitty cell phone reseller?

[rimist]

Yep, they used to have a nice parts stock too. Ask them for parts now and you get a vague direction at best and more than likely a glazed over look.

-Rimist

[trekster]

Yes I do.  I remember buying the "P-Box" kits and building them.  The one tube AM radio, blinky light (several neon lamps that could light in sequence or random), OTL amplifier, and the wwv converter are some I remember building.  I remember the magazine put out by rat shack called "Elementary Electronics".   (The magazine had so many cool projects you could build.)   Buying a 3 pack of ferrite loop stick coils and some germanium diodes and making crystal radios.  And the free battery each month with the battery card.  And as a teen I bought the Modulare 8 am/fm eight track tape player.  Crap now but boy it was a cool stereo back then.

Yes, truly a blast from the past.

Ron

Kind of like "Tomorrow is Yesterday"............... The crew of the Enterprise travels back to 1969 Earth.......................  "Remember"
 

[chrisatpsu]

wow, i remember some of the old stereo equipment that i used to have, and speakers!

my brother used to have a trs-80 color computer 2 64k
i had a trs-80 color computer 3 512k

[Gary]

OMG, what an awesome find! I went to my birth year of 1974 and found the Electronics Project kits the most fascinating... now I wish I had one as a kid. I'm tempted to get one as an adult now so I get a better understanding of how basic electronics work.

[alwomack]

This brings back good memories. I used to work for RS back in the days when we had to actually know stuff. My favortie section to work in was electronic components.

[Titus]

I found a couple birthday or Christmas presents from when I was a kid...

1980, page 110- Solar Power Electronic Lab kit
1980, page 112- Aeronautical Lab Kit
1981, page 87- Treasure Finder metal detector
1982, page 145- Porsche 935 Turbo R/C car

[rimist]

1980 page 110 - 75 in 1 kit
1984 page 153 - 200 in 1 kit
Taking a look at that site.... I spent countless hours browsing those catalogs before I was a teenager

-Rimist

[Rod R]

I remember the kits from RS.  Do you guys remember Heathkit?  I built a radio and transmitter for my RC plane, AM/FM tube stereo, power supplies which I still have.   They carried all kinds of cool stuff.

[trekster]

Heathkit?  You bet!  I still have a model IM16 vacuum tube bench multi-meter.  Analog of course.  And the multiband short wave receiver.  I had built a digital clock but it died many years ago.

Ron

[chrisatpsu]

i had the 150-in 1 electronics kit that came in a wood box.  sometimes i still wish i had that, or at least the manual that came with it.

[Pete]

WOW!!!  What a find - sure brings back a flood of memories!

Does any one remember Olson Electronics?  Growing up in Michigan I remember getting hobby kits and all sorts of neat stuff from them.

Pete

[trekster]

I had an Olson tube stereo when I was in junior high.  It was a hand me down from my dad.  It had FM but not AM on it.  It had a tuning eye that closed when the channel was tuned in.  I remember the Olson catalogs that came in the mail.

What about Lafayette Radio Electronics?  They were big a long time ago.  You are not allowed to view links. Register or Login

It is a crying shame that these places dried up and went away.  They are gone but not forgotten!

Ron

[Pete]

Lafayette Radio Electronics  OMG - My first kit I ever built was a Lafayette 20w stereo amplifier.  I am trying to remember whatever happened to it.  I built a pair of speaker cabinets and stuffed in 12" triaxial speakers (from Lafayette) and found out that were too much of a load for that little amp; especially t the volume I wanted.  Ahh . . . learning via the road of hard knocks!