Oh god! Radio Shack!! Now if only they would go back to their roots and carry electronic parts and components and kits like they used to. And funky patch cables and plugs! I used to buy audio tape splicing jigs and splicing tape. Cassette tape repair kits.
if they have bricks-and-mortar stores anymore, they should also carry knowledgeable staff who can take you to the part or funky patch cable you need. Last time I was in Radio Shack and asked for a TRS adapter from 3.5mm to 2.5mm (I even called it a "headphone adapter" knowing they won't know what "TRS" stood for), they looked at me like I was from another planet.
@@junker15 same! sometimes bestbuy also hiers a bunch of idiots. Once I asked for a ddr ram and they tried to sell me a dancing game for the play station! wtf lol. Good luck if they even care about hiering someone who even knows a thing about electronics and isnt just in it for the money
@@junker15 I can relate. This was at Radio Shack in Canada... years ago... before Radio Shack turned into "The Source", which is like a chain store of Walmart's electronics department... destined for failure. Anyway, I needed an external microphone for a portable cassette recorder. The spec for the external mic was 600 Ohms. I was at the counter where several desk, hand and lapel microphones were on display and "George" who was the "Manager" according to his badge was there. I asked him what the impedance of one of the desk microphones was and he burst out laughing and patted another employee beside him on the shoulder, and commented (about me) "This kid thinks microphones have impedance." Laughing more. "Only speakers have impedance!" I walked out, incredulous with how unknowledgeable and rude the "Manager" was.
www.radioshack.com/collections/parts www.radioshack.com/collections/audio-video www.radioshack.com/collections/electronics-kits-projects www.radioshack.com/collections/car-audio-connectors/products/radioshack-radioshack-cassette-adapter ( it splices audio into the tape deck. Kind of like what you were talking about :)
I am officially **really old** and can remember the excitement of getting the RS yearly catalogue. This little guy is, of course, the great great grandson (or whatever) of the "transistor radio," noting that word transistor lol. In this unit, you will probably find nothing more than two or three chips, but the originals from the 70s were jammed with electrolytic caps and transistors, and weighed significantly more. Also, you would get a single, monaural ear piece, which lodged inside the ear much better than the "buds" they sell today (hate 'em!). And yes, there still is a need for a simple, neat radio that grandpa can use to listen to the game or the news. Very cool item...
My ears must be messed up or tiny or something because those old plastic single earphones never worked for me, can't use them for more than a few minutes without yanking them out. Unless you're talking about the first-gen iPod earbuds or dollar store junk, my $8 Panasonic ErgoFit earbuds are perfectly comfy.
@@SnownelVEVO for me it's exactly the opposite: earbuds (like the old iPod/IPhone earbuds) fit well, but no, absolutely not a single pair of in-ear headphones will fit my ears. They hurt, then come out of the ear after a few minutes. Sadly I can't find good earbuds anymore. Used to have a pair of great-sounding sennheisers. The Apple earPods are rather good, and they also work for my ears, they are something in between, not old-style earbuds, but also not exactly in-ear (especially not sealed in-ear).
One nice thing about the old transistor radios was when they stopped working, they left enough leads on the parts, you could salvage the parts, and used them for projects.
@@SnownelVEVO I will admit they were truly awful - I'm rather curious to listen to one now just for kicks, and to compare it with the sort of garbage buds you get with phones nowadays (besides those of Samsung and Apple of course lol).
(Return of the 'Shack) come on (Return of the 'Shack) oh my God (You know that I'll be back) here I am (Return of the 'Shack) once again (Return of the 'Shack) pump up the world (Return of the 'Shack) watch my flow (You know that I'll be back) here I go --Mark Morrison (Probably)
I love Radio Shack, i bought my portable scanner radio in 1998 and still works perfect, great quality items. Happy they are still around. Loved the catalogue too!!
Making radios from scratch is still one of my favorite projects to do. I've been making AM and/or FM radios and transmitters since I was 8 or 9 back in the 90's. I'm glad analog terrestrial radio didn't get phased out like analog VHF/UHF did in 2009. I'm still kinda bummed out by that but that's life, technology keeps moving forward.
I'm thankful for this as well, of course in rural areas like mine AM is basically phased out, but as far as FM goes since a huge amount of people still use it I can tune in with FM tube radios dating back to the 50s no problem. There is the issue with super old FM tuners that they don't handle the large amounts of bass well sometimes, which is quite important with modern music and stations. It's unfortunate for anyone who collects old televisions but with the world using 720p/1080p largely and now slowly moving into 4k, we were bound to phase out analog television eventually, unlike FM radio where I don't see stereo audio being outdated anytime soon for music and talk show/news purposes.
WhiteTylerPerry I’ve made many a foxhole radio and crystal radio back in my younger days. Now I make them for my kids science projects. They are amazed that you don’t need a battery to power one of these!
@@ixionn563 The great thing about FM is that if/when it does get phased out completely it won't stop you or anyone else from making your own small pirate radio station. Unlike VHF and UHF, FM and AM don't require a lot of power or circuitry. To make your own TV station analog or digital, you have to really invest in some money to get any distance outside of your house. But radio is such an easy medium to transmit and broadcast. As long as I'm alive I'll be messing around with AM/FM technology. It excites me that I can recreate the same technology that people used over 100 years ago albeit not with vacuum tubes. But even vacuum tubes aren't completely gone. We have the hipsters to thank for that lol.
Yeah, assembling a "build from a kit" transistor radio used to be a classic father-and-son-bonding tradition --- every "real American" family traditionally would do that. Young folks today are used to having everything pre-assembled and working straight out of the box --- they just don't know the basic "raw" joy of actually building something with their own hands the way we all did as teenagers back in the '70's and '80's --- we made our own loudspeakers, we recorded reel-to-reel tapes and dubbed records onto cassettes --- boy, THEM'S was the days! :D
@@josepharturi5442 He's a UA-camr who has been making video reviews of random crap since... well, before UA-cam. Started out mostly doing electronic stuff but nowadays mostly does things like toys and weird expired food...
@@Muzer0 Oh` I been a huge fan of Ashens for years it was just odd hearing his voice on the raido in that video. Totally out of place and random . Years ago I sent him a weird expired cheesecake made in China that I bought at a dollar store here in the US to see him eat it on a video in the UK. Never laughed so hard in my life!!
I loved RadioShack when I was a kid.in the late 70s early 80s they had some very high quality stereo equipment. Some people look down on RadioShack equipment but their top of the line stuff has better specs than ones from the major brands.
Their stuff was actually built by some of the top manufacturers. Top end Turntables were by Miracord, mid level by CEC, and low end by BSR, speakers by JBL, batteries by Energizer and Ray-O-Vac, etc..
In my teens, I loved the Radio Shack, Allied, and Lafayette catalogs (also Edmund Scientific). With the interest in all things retro, maybe there is room for stores like these again.
A pocket radio always has one problem or another but I'd say Radio Shack radios are the best. It is hard to find a perfect one where the volume button doesn't mess up, the battery doesn't drain too fast, the tuner doesn't loosen and break, the speaker doesn't become static..
I ordered one of these a few days ago and am waiting for it to arrive. Not sure why I bought it. I don't have a whole lot of use for a radio, much less a pocket radio, but the nostalgia factor was too much to pass up. Also I really want to support RadioShack because they were always the best at what they did. Glad to hear that this thing isn't awful.
Radio Shack electronic books by Forrest Mims got me in a great AFSC in the USAF in 77, which got me into intel for almost 30 years. Thanks Radio Shack!
You sent me down a rabbit hole when you mentioned there's _another_ MeTV Music radio station. I was excited when I first heard 87.7 MeTV FM years ago, because it meant Chicago finally had another Oldies station. After 104.3 WJMK (my favorite Oldies station growing up) changed its call letters, I thought that was the end... Until today, when I discovered that some station in Michigan is now using those same call letters, as an Oldies station, and is also called MeTV Music!
@@offscreen6578 Oh yeah, they've been doing that for years. That's why it's called MeTV: Memorable Entertainment Television. I've known about MeTV from the time they were exclusive to Chicago.
There’s a company store operating near Fort Worth TX, nice to see they are still using their classic catalog number system. “12” is for radios. I worked for Radio Shack years ago.
I wish RadioShack would get in touch with some of the games developers for their 80's micro computers and put a modern version of their trs-80 and Coco line of computers with games built in and modern HDMI hookup. Maybe even reach out to developers who are making new games for it now and put those on it as well!
@@hak1985org so it's kind like the coleco story where they were also a leather company that got into video games except they don't own the rights to the name anymore. If I were the tandy family, I would team up with radio shack and the developers of these games to make a product the retro gaming community can be proud of!
@@mattmyers9351 I did not have the money at the time to back it, as I had real life bills, and such to take care of, but thanks, I will indeed enjoy it. 👍
So 77 WABC is playing music on Saturday nights? Very cool! Even 3 hours a week is enough to bring back the memories. MusicRadio 77......sometimes. Nice.
You might wanna check out the RadioShack 1200889 analog AM/FM/WX radio. I got it a couple years ago and I love it. Excellent build quality, IMO. It’s still on their site but is currently sold out. Great video!
This radio was available in late 2016 indicating FM, AM, and WB (but not SW) tuning in the background of the illuminated orange display but actually offered FM tuning only. It was branded BUSH by brand owner ARGOS stores in the UK and Ireland.
MeTV in Chicago is the only analog TV signal I can still receive. The audio is oldies, but the video shows highway traffic and weather. Last time I was at O'Hare, they still were showing it on some monitors near the flight information displays.
Hello and thanks for posting this clip. I'm surprised that such a tiny and well-priced radio has such a good reception, especially on AM and sounds reasonable for its size. You surely made a bargain and I hope that this radio will accompany you for quite a long time. And finally in times like these it makes sense to have such a compact and light-weight radio within reach in case of emergency. To my personal opinion only one thing could have been optimized: fitting a telescopic antenna for FM reception instead of this wrist-strap type. There are areas in the world which don't have such a vast density of FM transmitters as the NY area. All in all it's a pity that this radio is not available in Germany where I live. So, best greetings across the miles, and stay healthy. Best regards from Ulrich.
yeah i used to notice that years ago listening to the radio sometimes i'd only hear one channel. only really noticeable on old songs like that which separated the vocals and instruments into the left and right channels
I've been getting email flyers for their website since before the chapter 11. As for the independent stores, there's one I passed on my way up to the lake for vacation. Hopefully I can stop in on the way back.
I listened to Cousin Brucie as a young dude in Pennsylvania. I didn't know that he went back to WABC New York. Just like Dick Clark Cousin Brucie is a perpetual teenager. Thanks for sharing your video. I miss my Radio Shack here in Virginia.
Last i heard is exactly what you said in video they closed some stores but some are open and they sell online aswell. Thats good i miss having the radio shack where i am in CT
Even being mostly deaf in one ear and using crappy laptop speakers, I could hear a significant difference between those in-phase and out-of-phase audio demos. You're right, it sounded like the out-of-phase audio was inside my head. The in-phase audio also sounded much louder. As for this radio...if it used AA instead of AAA batteries, I'd buy one. I'm a weird guy who absolutely NEEDS a radio running all night in order to sleep properly, and a small radio like this would be perfect for travel. But I've learned through experience that radios which use AAA batteries tend to only last at most 3-4 nights before the batteries die, whereas radios that use AA batteries can easily last two weeks.
@@trippmoore The Town of Mt Shasta is in the most northern part of California at the foot of Mt Shasta. The Inland Empire is in most southern part of California in the desert
Thank you for the review. I use a Sangean DT-400W and DT-800. Yet this new Radio Shack portable is good for the cost. My old RS model 12-797 was the best RS radio I ever had. Oh, thank you for the AM stations now oldies again. In these troubling times, going back in time is a comfort.
I know for an old home-theater-in-a-box Sony Bravia system we have it uses crossovers to send certain frequencies of sound to the rear surround speakers vs the front speakers when it is hooked up with stereo RCA jacks, which gives a pretty good "surround" effect to stereo audio. Of course when wired up with a digital input it sends a true 5.1 surround signal to the speakers.
Dolby Surround decoders basically just send the difference between the two channels out to the rear speakers. Pro Logic is based on this, but adds channel steering logic. As a corollary, you can get surround sound out of a regular 2 channel amp by connecting a speaker or two across the two outputs. I've done this and it works surprisingly well.
Neat transistor radio you have there. Well, even though it has chips in it, most radios use chips now, heck there were radios even in the late 1960's with chips. Anyhoo, nice catch there and I like to listen to Cousin Brucie and would love to score the radio MeTV as well. BTW, love the mostly 1980's, and 1970's music. I might try to score one myself although I am enjoying my Tecsun PL-660 radio right now.
Using my 1942 Zenith Tube radio on AM at night, I once pulled in a weak station playing Dubstep. I believe it was somewhere out of Chicago, but I was unable to get a calling sign before it went out of range again.
Up- to the standard of the product they clone and rebrand., basically these "standards" are set not based on feedback from consumers about the product... but by what the manufactures are willing to create at the price point radioshack has set as to allow them to make some large percentage profit and provide them some large return.
@@tarstarkusz Usually Radio Shack was overpriced but they did have a clearance section. They'd sell touchscreen gloves for 97% off, for example. It's not a good way to run a business but they would almost give things away. One time I got a cell phone battery for $1.50 and I think they sold it for $30 normally (it was worth about $15-$20).
This radio somewhat looks like the Prunus J-125, the same out of fase headphones output, same clock, buttons, features, unused display markings, even the orange led, built in speaker sounds similar, I mean, it's a good radio in terms of reception, the only thing I wanted to be better improved is the headphone output to be in fase and a little more bass response, overall, nice radio, not top notch but good enough to keep it, really woth it. Thanks VWestlife for showing this little guy.
I miss Radio Shack. Back in the 70s, when I was a teen, one of my hobbies was CB radio communication and I bought my 1st CB Radio at the shack, I was 15, and back then, you still had to have a FCC license, and every new radio from Shack came with an application for one. I remember I bought a Realistic Mini 40, A Power supply with Base Antenna and Poll at the Radio Shack. Later, in the 80s, I learned to diagnose and reapair CB radios, and got many of my replacement parts at the Shack. AHHH the good ole days.
I live fifteen minutes from the old Tandy headquarters. My girlfriends grandmother worked for them for YEARS! She even had a Tandyvision (rebadged Intellivision) as a little child. Sadly RadioShack is by name only, however, at least someone is carrying the torch.
Curiously I have what looks to be the same radio under the brand name Horologe, purchased from Amazon in 2017 for $19. Controls and jacks are the same, as is the antenna in the wrist strap. It is not available today, but the same looking unit can be found there under the name Dorzu.
Miss Radio Shack they were the only place I could get a AM/FM Radio Cassette for my father before he passed. He never got into CD but had boxes of tapes. LOL
The out of phase segment does something really weird with my tv's surround setup. With its algorithmic auto up-mixing (usually pretty good and subtle) the out of phase audio goes straight to the rear speakers. The phase corrected segment is mostly up front as expected along with the rest of the audio.
Ah, it sounds like WABC bought back the echo for their music program. Regarding Channel 6 FM. I regularly watch Shango066's UA-cam channel and he when he fixes vintage TV's, he often uses the channel 6 FM Guadalupe Radio in Los Angeles to test out the TV. That ME-TV from Boston sounds a bit like "LA Oldies" that Shango often features in his videos to test out vintage radios. "LA Oldies" even has a Saturday Night Dance Party as well. Speaking of 1510 from Boston. When I lived on the East Coast many moons ago, I was never able to pick up the closer 1510 WNLC out of New London, CT. It was always 1510 from Boston even back then. 11:24 Sounds like Techmoan . I like that this radio takes off the shelf AA batteries, which would make it ideal for camping or for use in long extended outages. Radios with rechargeable batteries ain't worth squat when there is no power to be had. I'll bet that that time function default could be switched off with a diode modification of some sort. Finally if the 'auto tune' makes this radio skips over weaker stations, then that is a negative though I am sure some mod might be available to enable it to tune manually. It's good to see RS still around yet. The public perception is that they bit the dust several years ago. Thanks for reviewing this...
Good to hear Bruce Morrow (aka Cousin Brucie) on WABC Back once again. I listened to his first show over the weekend. I almost finished his show on Saturday, but the first half was cut out, because of Alexa. I got my Amazon Echo Show, the one that I got for my birthday, and I might do a video about it down the road. I’m going back to New York tomorrow after being in Florida for the entire month of August. Back to my recording of his first show, While we had my birthday party next door, my stepdad was in the living room which is near my room was telling Alexa to play Dean Martin, it cuts out where it was interrupted by a Dean Martin channel and plays random stuff including Dean Martin, Perry Como. Frank Sinatra, Nat King Cole, etc. After 20 minutes, I went back and told Alexa to play WABC, it goes back to Cousin Brucie. I should hit the mic disable button to avoid someone by telling Alexa to play an singer’s name which was dumb. Earlier today, WABC replayed his first show, and I recorded again, and it’s now complete. The first half is there, no interruptions from Alexa. Thankfully I got my Cousin Brucie’s first show in my collection. I’m a huge fan of Cousin Brucie. I remember listening to his show on WCBS-FM back in the 1980’s where he did his Saturday night show for many years from 1982 until 2005. He was on Sirius/XM from 2005 until 2020. Prior to that, he was on WABC from 1963 until 1974, and then to WNBC from 1974 until 1977, and after that, he became a station’s owner where he owned many radio stations including the Hudson Valley area from the late 1970’s and the early 1980’s. He was also doing his show on WALL in Middletown, NY around 1978 until the early part of the 1980’s. I hear a song at 3:35 is “Twist & Shout” by the Beatles from the album “Introducing The Beatles” on the Vee-Jay label in 1964 while the band was on Capitol where “I Want To Hold Your Hand” became a #1 hit in early 1964 before the Beatles came to the US and appeared on Ed Sullivan’s TV show. Vee-Jay had the rights to many of the early Beatles songs including “Please Please Me”, “Love Me Do” and “Do You Want to Know a Secret”. The song “Twist & Shout” was weird and completely out of phase and it was a stereo mix. There was a band on one channel, but missing the vocals on the other channel. That sounds like a Karaoke version of “Twist & Shout”, but who wants to sing it? Maybe someone would have a Karaoke party. I hate stereo version of hit songs, because oldies stations today had stereo versions of hit songs, but many of them are mono. Aside from “Twist & Shout”, the Four Seasons had that problem with stereo mixes of “Sherry” and “Big Girls Don’t Cry” where a band on the left, and vocals on the right. That’s what it called as stereo separation. Frank Sinatra and Dean Martin did the same too on their stereo albums on the Reprise label. The 45’s are all original mono than the LP had stereo. I had the Diana Ross & the Supremes “Greatest Hits” album in 1967, and it was in stereo where it features stereo mixes of “Where Did Our Love Go”, “Baby Love”, “Back In My Arms Again”, “You Keep Me Hanging On” and more that were never available on 45’s when it was in mono. The other that I hate the most was “Electronically Re-channeled Stereo” versions of the pre-stereo albums that are from the 1950’s which were reissued in the 1960’s. I have the “Johnny Greatest Hits” album and it sounds terrible in stereo, but I prefer the original mono version a lot better, but it lacks the bottom end. Capitol also did Duophonic which were also bad, and then Decca put out “Enhanced for Stereo” albums which were reissues of the original albums from the 1950’s, and they are all godawful.
Joe Blow....."Ah, it sounds like WABC bought back the echo". I noticed it immediately. Sounds like crap. I hate the echo! Great that Cousin Brucie is back, however!
Funny you pointed out "Twist & Shout" by the Beatles (3:32) being broadcast with only the instrumental track and no vocals. That was from Cousin Brucie's inaugural "comeback" show on 77-WABC-AM on September 5. I, too, noticed it when I listened to the original broadcast. When WABC re-broadcast the same program on September 7, the vocals were there! Obviously, someone at WABC learned of the problem and corrected it for the re-broadcast. So it was WABC's fault for originaly broadcasting only one channel from a stereo source. Hey, they're a mono station. What would they know about stereo? lol
@@vwestlife Never knew that. Sorry, I missed the WABC-AM 'stereo' talk show era. All I know is I'm glad music has finally returned to the AM band in NYC. Glad Cousin Brucie is back where he belongs, too!
I actually did not know! I'll have to buy some batteries from them sometime, just for old times sake. I like that they sell Ni-MH C and D batteries that aren't just an AA battery stuffed inside them. Although it seems like half the stuff on their website is "sold out online" :/
Good to see a new in box Radio Shack product! Ahhh, I worked for Tandy here in the UK, in the late 90s. A lot of those catalogue numbers I committed to memory. A lot of guys from the local (ahem!) defence installation a few miles down the road used to come into our store buying bucketloads of resistors, thermistors, capacitors etc. I often wondered whether our store alone kept the local early warning capability going.
As my Yamaha receiver was set to Dolby Pro Logic for 2 channel input from my PC the whole out of phase audio you've recorded in came out of the rear speaker. Thats the way Dolby Pro Logic Surround works. Sound which should be played by the rear speakers is recorded out of phase between left and right channel...
I was able to buy a Radio Shack pocket radio from a local Radio Shack as they were in the midst of closing that store. It's great during power outages and emergency situations. When I'm late paying my electric bill. 🤣🤣🤣🤣
I guess that headphone socket is a mono socket with only 2 pins, and when you put your stereo jack in it the positive pin got connected to the left channel and the negative pin got connected to the right channel. The circuit completes because ground for left and right are connected in the jack. If you use a mono to stereo adapter it will sound fine.
VW, I have noticed this problem with early 'stereo' mixes where there was hard panning in use. The two local AM stations have been subject to this with only a single channel signal and very much like the example you played. Sometimes the drums will be totally in the ambient, too funny (O:
i thought they were gone, i was so sad when ours left our neighborhood, thanks for re informing me, i found one still open about 30 mins drive from my home. so better than nothing i guess.
So I check to see if there was any Radio Shack stores near me in OKC, OK. There are supposedly four within 50 miles of me. The two nearest me are located inside Hobby Town stores (Edmond & Norman, OK). The other two are in Pauls Valley and Shawnee. The one in Pauls Valley is really an Appliance store, but Radio Shack has had a presence there way before the bankruptcy. As for the one in Shawnee, Street view shows a Battery Refurbishment store that doesn't look like a likely place for Rat Shack to co-exist with and I'm not driving 40 miles to find out.
Small correction to my previous comment. On the Beatles' "Twist and Shout," it's an echo or reverb of the drums heard in both channels. The drums are primarily on the left channel with the guitars.
I am in Southwest Michigan as we recently had a local AM station (WGTO) switch formats over to MeTV FM. The used to play a bunch of 80's music and it felt like they only had about a 30-song playlist. The MeTV FM format is much improved. I also remember a few years ago, the above mentioned station messed up and was only transmitting one channel of stereo recordings. They fixed it after a month or two of being like that. And finally, I think an Ashens commentary talk radio program wouldn't be a bad idea. It worked out quite well here, LOL.
I wonder if the "out of phase" effect was the trick used on some portables that feature an "Enhanced Stereo" button. All I know is it made it sound weird, and was not worth using. Through my laptop, the out-of-phase effect sounds similar to that, like an exaggerated stereo effect.
How are the left and right channels made out of phase? With a standard 3.5 mm headphone jack you get tip, ring and sleeve = right, left and ground. One channel couldn't be wired in reverse at the connector. So it's a deficiency in the stereo decoding circuitry?
God I miss Radio Shack, or Tandy as they called it in the UK. As a kid we had so much RS stuff in the house - toys, Realistic speakers, rechargeable batteries, even those walkie-talkies from the BTTF movies :)
Wow, I had no idea that WMEX had flipped back to music! I can still remember when the station was relaunched, as oldies, around the mid-80s. At the time, my dad had a '72 Plymouth road-barge; so AM-only radio! Also had no idea that the RackShack still had a strong presence (other than the few franchises I'd heard about). Edit: Even they're selling masks & hand sanitizer! LOL
I guess WMEX also has a stream for MeTV Radio, but I did checked TuneIn and it’s now streaming an oldies station in Boston where they brought half its former WODS audience from 1987-2012 when it was an oldies station as “Oldies 103.3” to WMEX.
My grandpa's and then later my dad's 1984 Chevy C-10 he had when I was a kid came originally with an AM only radio. My dad replaced it in 1996 with a Spark-O-Matic cassette deck
I still have a couple of catalogues laying around. Worth keeping as a reference & for project ideas. More of my favorite places were Telrad & Western Electronics. Used to get replacement tubes at Thrifty Drug Stores. Remember them having tube testers & nickel scoops of ice cream.😊
I'd love to shop at radioshack again. Unfortunately the closest one to me has closed. I do hate that reverse phase stereo, I have an AM FM weather radio that has that and it's annoying I'd like to try to mod the radio so it outputs proper monaural audio. I have a few other devices that have it too. 770 WABC I listen to Red Eye Radio on that station at night while sleeping. It's also on 760 AM.
I'm surprised to hear WMEX on a Boston station because there is another WMEX in Rochester, NH that is a throwback tribute station to the original WMEX with all the original PAMS jingles. The one in Rochester is a low power FM station so maybe that's why there are 2 WMEXs.
Wow! I got the same exact Bose speakers that you have! The Bose speakers that I have, I've found it in a garage sale a few years ago for less than $10 and I had them ever since. I even have it hooked up on my computer.
Thanks for this! You made my day! Man...I grew up in the 70's reading Radio Shack catalogs to learn about audio specs, microphones, and hobby electronics. Learned a ton from the old 100-in-1 kits with the spring terminals. Would love to have one of those for my son now! Looking for any way to support Radio Shack...they were a huge contribution to my life! For example, would love to have a set of NEW Minimus 7 speakers! I know you can get them on eBay, but would LOVE a modern take on that speaker!
FM 88-108Mhz interesting. So this could even work nicely here in Europe. But probably with some EQ issues. Building the Antenna into the Wrist Strap is not that unusual. Back in the 90s i had a yellow Bicycle Light (had a huge reflector) with built in FM/AM radio. It had a built in speaker and headphone output jack and even a little LCD clock. On the side there was a wrist strap and you could see a little black wire worked into the thing and going into the case. That was the FM antenna. I loved this thing.
More AM stations do seem to be broadcasting music now. At least here in central PA. We now have WHVR in Hanover with an adult contemporary format, and WLPA just switched to classic rock in Lancaster.
That phase thing is odd. Sounds like the audio from the right channel is more inside my head than the left. I guess that’s because the right channel is wired backwards. So it’s pulling in when the right channel is pushing out.
I had one of these years ago when they first came out and the built-in speaker was not that great too... Lol I was a janitor back then and I could have it in my pocket and as I did not need the head phones. The one I had did not have the strap and you had to have the headphones plugged in to pick up stations but it did have a switch on top to change from the speaker or headphone. Also it did not have the clock. Just a Am/Fm radio, it did have 5 preset's... Thanks for the review and glad to see that they are still making some things. Now if they would get back into the electronics business of years ago... :-) I miss Tandy... :-( Thanks for the video LLAP
Oh god! Radio Shack!! Now if only they would go back to their roots and carry electronic parts and components and kits like they used to. And funky patch cables and plugs!
I used to buy audio tape splicing jigs and splicing tape. Cassette tape repair kits.
if they have bricks-and-mortar stores anymore, they should also carry knowledgeable staff who can take you to the part or funky patch cable you need. Last time I was in Radio Shack and asked for a TRS adapter from 3.5mm to 2.5mm (I even called it a "headphone adapter" knowing they won't know what "TRS" stood for), they looked at me like I was from another planet.
@@junker15 same! sometimes bestbuy also hiers a bunch of idiots. Once I asked for a ddr ram and they tried to sell me a dancing game for the play station! wtf lol.
Good luck if they even care about hiering someone who even knows a thing about electronics and isnt just in it for the money
Fact is online killed a lot of that niche stuff. Its not the old days where your mid sized town would have one source for hobby parts.
@@junker15 I can relate. This was at Radio Shack in Canada... years ago... before Radio Shack turned into "The Source", which is like a chain store of Walmart's electronics department... destined for failure.
Anyway, I needed an external microphone for a portable cassette recorder. The spec for the external mic was 600 Ohms.
I was at the counter where several desk, hand and lapel microphones were on display and "George" who was the "Manager" according to his badge was there. I asked him what the impedance of one of the desk microphones was and he burst out laughing and patted another employee beside him on the shoulder, and commented (about me) "This kid thinks microphones have impedance." Laughing more. "Only speakers have impedance!"
I walked out, incredulous with how unknowledgeable and rude the "Manager" was.
www.radioshack.com/collections/parts
www.radioshack.com/collections/audio-video
www.radioshack.com/collections/electronics-kits-projects
www.radioshack.com/collections/car-audio-connectors/products/radioshack-radioshack-cassette-adapter ( it splices audio into the tape deck. Kind of like what you were talking about :)
I am officially **really old** and can remember the excitement of getting the RS yearly catalogue. This little guy is, of course, the great great grandson (or whatever) of the "transistor radio," noting that word transistor lol. In this unit, you will probably find nothing more than two or three chips, but the originals from the 70s were jammed with electrolytic caps and transistors, and weighed significantly more. Also, you would get a single, monaural ear piece, which lodged inside the ear much better than the "buds" they sell today (hate 'em!).
And yes, there still is a need for a simple, neat radio that grandpa can use to listen to the game or the news. Very cool item...
My ears must be messed up or tiny or something because those old plastic single earphones never worked for me, can't use them for more than a few minutes without yanking them out. Unless you're talking about the first-gen iPod earbuds or dollar store junk, my $8 Panasonic ErgoFit earbuds are perfectly comfy.
@@SnownelVEVO for me it's exactly the opposite: earbuds (like the old iPod/IPhone earbuds) fit well, but no, absolutely not a single pair of in-ear headphones will fit my ears.
They hurt, then come out of the ear after a few minutes.
Sadly I can't find good earbuds anymore. Used to have a pair of great-sounding sennheisers. The Apple earPods are rather good, and they also work for my ears, they are something in between, not old-style earbuds, but also not exactly in-ear (especially not sealed in-ear).
One nice thing about the old transistor radios was when they stopped working, they left enough leads on the parts, you could salvage the parts, and used them for projects.
@@SnownelVEVO I will admit they were truly awful - I'm rather curious to listen to one now just for kicks, and to compare it with the sort of garbage buds you get with phones nowadays (besides those of Samsung and Apple of course lol).
Same here. Growing up in the seventies everything was on AM during the first half of the decade. In another few years everything was FM.
Thanks for the review...the out of phase example was very prominent and noticeable.
Who knew Ashens was broadcasting on US radio?
I was completely shocked too!!!
The voice was familiar, but with out a brown sofa I couldn't place it!
@pepperSnakes he should do a joke video like this
I had no idea Radio Shack was still around. You just made my day, thank you.
Glad to hear they are still in business. I used to love my local Tandy store here in the UK. Interesting video. Thabks!
(Return of the 'Shack) come on
(Return of the 'Shack) oh my God
(You know that I'll be back) here I am
(Return of the 'Shack) once again
(Return of the 'Shack) pump up the world
(Return of the 'Shack) watch my flow
(You know that I'll be back) here I go
--Mark Morrison (Probably)
@@vincef.8261 A riff on Mark Morrison -- Return of The Mack
So I´m back up in the game...
Pet shop boys on AM is epic. I’m putting a stereo AM back together in Baton Rouge as we speak.
What station, I'm down the road in Lafayette
Is AM stereo still transmitted?
It was an abject failure due to the bandwidth of the tx.
www.amstereo.org/index.htm
Which do you choose a hard or or soft option?
i plan to broadcast in AM stereo soon. I don't have a radio that can decode am stereo.
@@mitch19636 It is, most local stations in my area do, I plan to do install C-QUAM on my station too.
I love Radio Shack, i bought my portable scanner radio in 1998 and still works perfect, great quality items. Happy they are still around. Loved the catalogue too!!
Making radios from scratch is still one of my favorite projects to do. I've been making AM and/or FM radios and transmitters since I was 8 or 9 back in the 90's. I'm glad analog terrestrial radio didn't get phased out like analog VHF/UHF did in 2009. I'm still kinda bummed out by that but that's life, technology keeps moving forward.
I'm thankful for this as well, of course in rural areas like mine AM is basically phased out, but as far as FM goes since a huge amount of people still use it I can tune in with FM tube radios dating back to the 50s no problem. There is the issue with super old FM tuners that they don't handle the large amounts of bass well sometimes, which is quite important with modern music and stations. It's unfortunate for anyone who collects old televisions but with the world using 720p/1080p largely and now slowly moving into 4k, we were bound to phase out analog television eventually, unlike FM radio where I don't see stereo audio being outdated anytime soon for music and talk show/news purposes.
WhiteTylerPerry I’ve made many a foxhole radio and crystal radio back in my younger days. Now I make them for my kids science projects. They are amazed that you don’t need a battery to power one of these!
@@Fireship1 have you seen the Ken Burns doc, _Empire_ _of_ _the_ _Air_ ? It's great. It's all about radio history.
@@ixionn563 The great thing about FM is that if/when it does get phased out completely it won't stop you or anyone else from making your own small pirate radio station. Unlike VHF and UHF, FM and AM don't require a lot of power or circuitry. To make your own TV station analog or digital, you have to really invest in some money to get any distance outside of your house. But radio is such an easy medium to transmit and broadcast. As long as I'm alive I'll be messing around with AM/FM technology. It excites me that I can recreate the same technology that people used over 100 years ago albeit not with vacuum tubes. But even vacuum tubes aren't completely gone. We have the hipsters to thank for that lol.
Yeah, assembling a "build from a kit" transistor radio used to be a classic father-and-son-bonding tradition --- every "real American" family traditionally would do that. Young folks today are used to having everything pre-assembled and working straight out of the box --- they just don't know the basic "raw" joy of actually building something with their own hands the way we all did as teenagers back in the '70's and '80's --- we made our own loudspeakers, we recorded reel-to-reel tapes and dubbed records onto cassettes --- boy, THEM'S was the days! :D
Also that Ashens sound bite at the end through me for a loop .... thought I had another window opened and accidentally started one of his videos.
yeah same.
What was that? Is he on the radio here in the US?
@@josepharturi5442 He's a UA-camr who has been making video reviews of random crap since... well, before UA-cam. Started out mostly doing electronic stuff but nowadays mostly does things like toys and weird expired food...
@@Muzer0 Oh` I been a huge fan of Ashens for years it was just odd hearing his voice on the raido in that video. Totally out of place and random . Years ago I sent him a weird expired cheesecake made in China that I bought at a dollar store here in the US to see him eat it on a video in the UK. Never laughed so hard in my life!!
I loved RadioShack when I was a kid.in the late 70s early 80s they had some very high quality stereo equipment. Some people look down on RadioShack equipment but their top of the line stuff has better specs than ones from the major brands.
Their stuff was actually built by some of the top manufacturers. Top end Turntables were by Miracord, mid level by CEC, and low end by BSR, speakers by JBL, batteries by Energizer and Ray-O-Vac, etc..
aka Tandy in Australia, their prices were quite high, clearance specials were good
In my teens, I loved the Radio Shack, Allied, and Lafayette catalogs (also Edmund Scientific). With the interest in all things retro, maybe there is room for stores like these again.
That's great to hear! I've always loved their weather radios, including the first cubed weather radio I got as a Christmas present in 1978!
A pocket radio always has one problem or another but I'd say Radio Shack radios are the best. It is hard to find a perfect one where the volume button doesn't mess up, the battery doesn't drain too fast, the tuner doesn't loosen and break, the speaker doesn't become static..
I ordered one of these a few days ago and am waiting for it to arrive. Not sure why I bought it. I don't have a whole lot of use for a radio, much less a pocket radio, but the nostalgia factor was too much to pass up. Also I really want to support RadioShack because they were always the best at what they did. Glad to hear that this thing isn't awful.
Radio Shack electronic books by Forrest Mims got me in a great AFSC in the USAF in 77, which got me into intel for almost 30 years. Thanks Radio Shack!
You sent me down a rabbit hole when you mentioned there's _another_ MeTV Music radio station.
I was excited when I first heard 87.7 MeTV FM years ago, because it meant Chicago finally had another Oldies station. After 104.3 WJMK (my favorite Oldies station growing up) changed its call letters, I thought that was the end... Until today, when I discovered that some station in Michigan is now using those same call letters, as an Oldies station, and is also called MeTV Music!
They're also broadcasting old shows on TV, if you get one of those cheap antennas you plug into your TV.
@@offscreen6578 Oh yeah, they've been doing that for years. That's why it's called MeTV: Memorable Entertainment Television. I've known about MeTV from the time they were exclusive to Chicago.
"They're making SPEGHETTI!" 😂 That needs to be on a T-shirt.
There’s a company store operating near Fort Worth TX, nice to see they are still using their classic catalog number system. “12” is for radios. I worked for Radio Shack years ago.
I wish RadioShack would get in touch with some of the games developers for their 80's micro computers and put a modern version of their trs-80 and Coco line of computers with games built in and modern HDMI hookup. Maybe even reach out to developers who are making new games for it now and put those on it as well!
@@hak1985org who does?
@@hak1985org so it's kind like the coleco story where they were also a leather company that got into video games except they don't own the rights to the name anymore. If I were the tandy family, I would team up with radio shack and the developers of these games to make a product the retro gaming community can be proud of!
@@mattmyers9351 That would be awesome, but I'm honestly glad, and thankful we are finally getting a US release of the full size C64 remake.
@@CommodoreFan64 yes indeed! I already have it because I backed the project four years ago. Glad your getting it as well! Enjoy!
@@mattmyers9351 I did not have the money at the time to back it, as I had real life bills, and such to take care of, but thanks, I will indeed enjoy it. 👍
So 77 WABC is playing music on Saturday nights? Very cool! Even 3 hours a week is enough to bring back the memories. MusicRadio 77......sometimes. Nice.
You might wanna check out the RadioShack 1200889 analog AM/FM/WX radio. I got it a couple years ago and I love it. Excellent build quality, IMO. It’s still on their site but is currently sold out. Great video!
This radio was available in late 2016 indicating FM, AM, and WB (but not SW) tuning in the background of the illuminated orange display but actually offered FM tuning only. It was branded BUSH by brand owner ARGOS stores in the UK and Ireland.
MeTV in Chicago is the only analog TV signal I can still receive. The audio is oldies, but the video shows highway traffic and weather. Last time I was at O'Hare, they still were showing it on some monitors near the flight information displays.
Hello and thanks for posting this clip. I'm surprised that such a tiny and well-priced radio has such a good reception, especially on AM and sounds reasonable for its size. You surely made a bargain and I hope that this radio will accompany you for quite a long time. And finally in times like these it makes sense to have such a compact and light-weight radio within reach in case of emergency. To my personal opinion only one thing could have been optimized: fitting a telescopic antenna for FM reception instead of this wrist-strap type. There are areas in the world which don't have such a vast density of FM transmitters as the NY area. All in all it's a pity that this radio is not available in Germany where I live. So, best greetings across the miles, and stay healthy. Best regards from Ulrich.
Its cool that he reviewed this while my family and I were boogieing away to cousin Brucie Saturday night!
Radio Shack stores are still open in Mexico, or at least they were before the shutdown.
I recently visited, and saw one at a mall there. I was shocked lol.
3:57 The real question is:
Why would they record a song like that in the first place?
yeah i used to notice that years ago listening to the radio sometimes i'd only hear one channel. only really noticeable on old songs like that which separated the vocals and instruments into the left and right channels
Had no idea they were still around! Thanks for the clarification.
Radio Shack should bring back the Battery Card.
I'm in the UK and as a child in the eighties I loved Tandy. Had a battery 🔋 card and a big grey and red 5 D cell torch 🔦 from there.
I loved pocket radios as a kid. Had one tied to my bike and I thought I was so cool riding around the block listening to the radio. lol
Thumbs up for Pet Shop Boys on AM
I've been getting email flyers for their website since before the chapter 11. As for the independent stores, there's one I passed on my way up to the lake for vacation. Hopefully I can stop in on the way back.
My goodness, Pet Shop Boys on AM radio, so nostalgic, thanks so much for that!
I listened to Cousin Brucie as a young dude in Pennsylvania. I didn't know that he went back to WABC New York. Just like Dick Clark Cousin Brucie is a perpetual teenager. Thanks for sharing your video. I miss my Radio Shack here in Virginia.
As I, a 14 I enjoyed being able to go into my local radio shack and buying parts or even buying a radio. Good times, good times.
I miss radio shack stores I used to go when I lost an ac adapter to something or just bought a spare
Last i heard is exactly what you said in video they closed some stores but some are open and they sell online aswell. Thats good i miss having the radio shack where i am in CT
Even being mostly deaf in one ear and using crappy laptop speakers, I could hear a significant difference between those in-phase and out-of-phase audio demos. You're right, it sounded like the out-of-phase audio was inside my head. The in-phase audio also sounded much louder.
As for this radio...if it used AA instead of AAA batteries, I'd buy one. I'm a weird guy who absolutely NEEDS a radio running all night in order to sleep properly, and a small radio like this would be perfect for travel. But I've learned through experience that radios which use AAA batteries tend to only last at most 3-4 nights before the batteries die, whereas radios that use AA batteries can easily last two weeks.
It's AKA Horologe H-198. I've spun The Petshop Boys on AM as that's what I do for a living.
There is a Radio Shack in my home town of Mt Shasta, CA
Radio Shack and Meth. Lots and lots of meth. I'm not shitting on you. I grew up in The Inland Empire (of meth).
@@trippmoore The Town of Mt Shasta is in the most northern part of California at the foot of Mt Shasta. The Inland Empire is in most southern part of California in the desert
Rumor says there's a Radio Shack under Mt Shasta.
We used to have a radioshack here in Weaverville, but it's recently been converted to a smoke shop. The way of Norcal huh?
Thanks for that info! I will stop there next time I go thru there.
Thank you for posting Cuzin ! I still have pocket realistic radio in 1982 it still works
Thank you for the review. I use a Sangean DT-400W and DT-800. Yet this new Radio Shack portable is good for the cost. My old RS model 12-797 was the best RS radio I ever had. Oh, thank you for the AM stations now oldies again. In these troubling times, going back in time is a comfort.
watching on surround sound system when the audio was out of phase it mostly came out of the rear speakers. I wonder if that's how pro logic works??
I know for an old home-theater-in-a-box Sony Bravia system we have it uses crossovers to send certain frequencies of sound to the rear surround speakers vs the front speakers when it is hooked up with stereo RCA jacks, which gives a pretty good "surround" effect to stereo audio. Of course when wired up with a digital input it sends a true 5.1 surround signal to the speakers.
Dolby Surround decoders basically just send the difference between the two channels out to the rear speakers. Pro Logic is based on this, but adds channel steering logic.
As a corollary, you can get surround sound out of a regular 2 channel amp by connecting a speaker or two across the two outputs. I've done this and it works surprisingly well.
@@eDoc2020 D surround was mono across the 2 rear speakers
The Stereo button(left) makes the vocals audible!
The speaker is mono. You must switch to mono.
I had no idea they are still open. I loved radio shack. They have some really nice stuff. Reception is great
No idea????
Neat transistor radio you have there. Well, even though it has chips in it, most radios use chips now, heck there were radios even in the late 1960's with chips. Anyhoo, nice catch there and I like to listen to Cousin Brucie and would love to score the radio MeTV as well. BTW, love the mostly 1980's, and 1970's music. I might try to score one myself although I am enjoying my Tecsun PL-660 radio right now.
Using my 1942 Zenith Tube radio on AM at night, I once pulled in a weak station playing Dubstep. I believe it was somewhere out of Chicago, but I was unable to get a calling sign before it went out of range again.
glad to see radioshack still keeping up their same standard of quality in every product they sell!
Up- to the standard of the product they clone and rebrand., basically these "standards" are set not based on feedback from consumers about the product... but by what the manufactures are willing to create at the price point radioshack has set as to allow them to make some large percentage profit and provide them some large return.
@@tarstarkusz Usually Radio Shack was overpriced but they did have a clearance section. They'd sell touchscreen gloves for 97% off, for example. It's not a good way to run a business but they would almost give things away. One time I got a cell phone battery for $1.50 and I think they sold it for $30 normally (it was worth about $15-$20).
This radio somewhat looks like the Prunus J-125, the same out of fase headphones output, same clock, buttons, features, unused display markings, even the orange led, built in speaker sounds similar, I mean, it's a good radio in terms of reception, the only thing I wanted to be better improved is the headphone output to be in fase and a little more bass response, overall, nice radio, not top notch but good enough to keep it, really woth it. Thanks VWestlife for showing this little guy.
I miss Radio Shack. Back in the 70s, when I was a teen, one of my hobbies was CB radio communication and I bought my 1st CB Radio at the shack, I was 15, and back then, you still had to have a FCC license, and every new radio from Shack came with an application for one. I remember I bought a Realistic Mini 40, A Power supply with Base Antenna and Poll at the Radio Shack. Later, in the 80s, I learned to diagnose and reapair CB radios, and got many of my replacement parts at the Shack. AHHH the good ole days.
I live fifteen minutes from the old Tandy headquarters. My girlfriends grandmother worked for them for YEARS! She even had a Tandyvision (rebadged Intellivision) as a little child. Sadly RadioShack is by name only, however, at least someone is carrying the torch.
Curiously I have what looks to be the same radio under the brand name Horologe, purchased from Amazon in 2017 for $19. Controls and jacks are the same, as is the antenna in the wrist strap. It is not available today, but the same looking unit can be found there under the name Dorzu.
'It Don't Matter To Me', I love that song.
Greg Salcedo Hadn’t heard that song in *years*
Miss Radio Shack they were the only place I could get a AM/FM Radio Cassette for my father before he passed. He never got into CD but had boxes of tapes. LOL
Well, you picked up a subscriber, despite my sarcasm about good old Radio Shack. I really dig the kind of videos you're making.
The out of phase segment does something really weird with my tv's surround setup. With its algorithmic auto up-mixing (usually pretty good and subtle) the out of phase audio goes straight to the rear speakers. The phase corrected segment is mostly up front as expected along with the rest of the audio.
That's the way matrix-encoded surround sound (like Dolby Pro Logic) works. The rear channel audio is encoded as out-of-phase.
Ah, it sounds like WABC bought back the echo for their music program. Regarding Channel 6 FM. I regularly watch Shango066's UA-cam channel and he when he fixes vintage TV's, he often uses the channel 6 FM Guadalupe Radio in Los Angeles to test out the TV. That ME-TV from Boston sounds a bit like "LA Oldies" that Shango often features in his videos to test out vintage radios. "LA Oldies" even has a Saturday Night Dance Party as well. Speaking of 1510 from Boston. When I lived on the East Coast many moons ago, I was never able to pick up the closer 1510 WNLC out of New London, CT. It was always 1510 from Boston even back then. 11:24 Sounds like Techmoan . I like that this radio takes off the shelf AA batteries, which would make it ideal for camping or for use in long extended outages. Radios with rechargeable batteries ain't worth squat when there is no power to be had. I'll bet that that time function default could be switched off with a diode modification of some sort. Finally if the 'auto tune' makes this radio skips over weaker stations, then that is a negative though I am sure some mod might be available to enable it to tune manually. It's good to see RS still around yet. The public perception is that they bit the dust several years ago. Thanks for reviewing this...
@Tone. I never heard of Ashens until today
Good to hear Bruce Morrow (aka Cousin Brucie) on WABC Back once again. I listened to his first show over the weekend. I almost finished his show on Saturday, but the first half was cut out, because of Alexa. I got my Amazon Echo Show, the one that I got for my birthday, and I might do a video about it down the road. I’m going back to New York tomorrow after being in Florida for the entire month of August. Back to my recording of his first show, While we had my birthday party next door, my stepdad was in the living room which is near my room was telling Alexa to play Dean Martin, it cuts out where it was interrupted by a Dean Martin channel and plays random stuff including Dean Martin, Perry Como. Frank Sinatra, Nat King Cole, etc. After 20 minutes, I went back and told Alexa to play WABC, it goes back to Cousin Brucie. I should hit the mic disable button to avoid someone by telling Alexa to play an singer’s name which was dumb.
Earlier today, WABC replayed his first show, and I recorded again, and it’s now complete. The first half is there, no interruptions from Alexa.
Thankfully I got my Cousin Brucie’s first show in my collection.
I’m a huge fan of Cousin Brucie. I remember listening to his show on WCBS-FM back in the 1980’s where he did his Saturday night show for many years from 1982 until 2005. He was on Sirius/XM from 2005 until 2020. Prior to that, he was on WABC from 1963 until 1974, and then to WNBC from 1974 until 1977, and after that, he became a station’s owner where he owned many radio stations including the Hudson Valley area from the late 1970’s and the early 1980’s. He was also doing his show on WALL in Middletown, NY around 1978 until the early part of the 1980’s.
I hear a song at 3:35 is “Twist & Shout” by the Beatles from the album “Introducing The Beatles” on the Vee-Jay label in 1964 while the band was on Capitol where “I Want To Hold Your Hand” became a #1 hit in early 1964 before the Beatles came to the US and appeared on Ed Sullivan’s TV show. Vee-Jay had the rights to many of the early Beatles songs including “Please Please Me”, “Love Me Do” and “Do You Want to Know a Secret”. The song “Twist & Shout” was weird and completely out of phase and it was a stereo mix. There was a band on one channel, but missing the vocals on the other channel. That sounds like a Karaoke version of “Twist & Shout”, but who wants to sing it? Maybe someone would have a Karaoke party.
I hate stereo version of hit songs, because oldies stations today had stereo versions of hit songs, but many of them are mono. Aside from “Twist & Shout”, the Four Seasons had that problem with stereo mixes of “Sherry” and “Big Girls Don’t Cry” where a band on the left, and vocals on the right. That’s what it called as stereo separation. Frank Sinatra and Dean Martin did the same too on their stereo albums on the Reprise label. The 45’s are all original mono than the LP had stereo. I had the Diana Ross & the Supremes “Greatest Hits” album in 1967, and it was in stereo where it features stereo mixes of “Where Did Our Love Go”, “Baby Love”, “Back In My Arms Again”, “You Keep Me Hanging On” and more that were never available on 45’s when it was in mono. The other that I hate the most was “Electronically Re-channeled Stereo” versions of the pre-stereo albums that are from the 1950’s which were reissued in the 1960’s. I have the “Johnny Greatest Hits” album and it sounds terrible in stereo, but I prefer the original mono version a lot better, but it lacks the bottom end. Capitol also did Duophonic which were also bad, and then Decca put out “Enhanced for Stereo” albums which were reissues of the original albums from the 1950’s, and they are all godawful.
Joe Blow....."Ah, it sounds like WABC bought back the echo".
I noticed it immediately. Sounds like crap. I hate the echo!
Great that Cousin Brucie is back, however!
Loved the ashens insert
Oh, you mean Simon Pegg?
@@GeckonCZ LOL
Yep; what a lovely surprise that was. If I remember correctly, this was taken from his video of fake iPod radios.
@@VolivovejVolej good memory
Funny you pointed out "Twist & Shout" by the Beatles (3:32) being broadcast with only the instrumental track and no vocals. That was from Cousin Brucie's inaugural "comeback" show on 77-WABC-AM on September 5. I, too, noticed it when I listened to the original broadcast. When WABC re-broadcast the same program on September 7, the vocals were there! Obviously, someone at WABC learned of the problem and corrected it for the re-broadcast.
So it was WABC's fault for originaly broadcasting only one channel from a stereo source. Hey, they're a mono station. What would they know about stereo? lol
WABC actually did broadcast in AM Stereo for a while in the '80s and '90s, but only after they switched from music to talk.
@@vwestlife Never knew that. Sorry, I missed the WABC-AM 'stereo' talk show era.
All I know is I'm glad music has finally returned to the AM band in NYC. Glad Cousin Brucie is back where he belongs, too!
I actually did not know! I'll have to buy some batteries from them sometime, just for old times sake. I like that they sell Ni-MH C and D batteries that aren't just an AA battery stuffed inside them. Although it seems like half the stuff on their website is "sold out online" :/
Costco has awesome prices on batteries.
@@stevepettersen3283 Probably not on rechargables, though.
@@CptJistuce You are correct, sir!
Loved the surprise Ashens cameo at the end there. :)
Good to see a new in box Radio Shack product! Ahhh, I worked for Tandy here in the UK, in the late 90s. A lot of those catalogue numbers I committed to memory. A lot of guys from the local (ahem!) defence installation a few miles down the road used to come into our store buying bucketloads of resistors, thermistors, capacitors etc. I often wondered whether our store alone kept the local early warning capability going.
As my Yamaha receiver was set to Dolby Pro Logic for 2 channel input from my PC the whole out of phase audio you've recorded in came out of the rear speaker. Thats the way Dolby Pro Logic Surround works. Sound which should be played by the rear speakers is recorded out of phase between left and right channel...
I was able to buy a Radio Shack pocket radio from a local Radio Shack as they were in the midst of closing that store. It's great during power outages and emergency situations. When I'm late paying my electric bill. 🤣🤣🤣🤣
Have you ever tuned up above 1600 to find any Part 15 stations in your area?
you can also get a weird effect when the headphone jack has a bad ground.
@@hak1985org
Then what you hear is the difference between the two channels.
I guess that headphone socket is a mono socket with only 2 pins, and when you put your stereo jack in it the positive pin got connected to the left channel and the negative pin got connected to the right channel. The circuit completes because ground for left and right are connected in the jack. If you use a mono to stereo adapter it will sound fine.
VW, I have noticed this problem with early 'stereo' mixes where there was hard panning in use. The two local AM stations have been subject to this with only a single channel signal and very much like the example you played. Sometimes the drums will be totally in the ambient, too funny (O:
Radio shack in the UK during 1980's.....they had great stuff....
i thought they were gone, i was so sad when ours left our neighborhood, thanks for re informing me, i found one still open about 30 mins drive from my home. so better than nothing i guess.
So I check to see if there was any Radio Shack stores near me in OKC, OK. There are supposedly four within 50 miles of me. The two nearest me are located inside Hobby Town stores (Edmond & Norman, OK). The other two are in Pauls Valley and Shawnee. The one in Pauls Valley is really an Appliance store, but Radio Shack has had a presence there way before the bankruptcy. As for the one in Shawnee, Street view shows a Battery Refurbishment store that doesn't look like a likely place for Rat Shack to co-exist with and I'm not driving 40 miles to find out.
Small correction to my previous comment. On the Beatles' "Twist and Shout," it's an echo or reverb of the drums heard in both channels. The drums are primarily on the left channel with the guitars.
Nice video I want one I may visit Plattsburgh next year unfortunately I don't think they ship in canada... Hope you are ok Kevin.
I know theres a still a Radio shack in Adel, Georgia. It's independently owned. I have received via tropo a Channel 6 TV from Atlanta.
I am in Southwest Michigan as we recently had a local AM station (WGTO) switch formats over to MeTV FM. The used to play a bunch of 80's music and it felt like they only had about a 30-song playlist. The MeTV FM format is much improved.
I also remember a few years ago, the above mentioned station messed up and was only transmitting one channel of stereo recordings. They fixed it after a month or two of being like that.
And finally, I think an Ashens commentary talk radio program wouldn't be a bad idea. It worked out quite well here, LOL.
I had the SX and the 1000 TL/2 :) wow, good times cool radio! thanks!
I wonder if the "out of phase" effect was the trick used on some portables that feature an "Enhanced Stereo" button. All I know is it made it sound weird, and was not worth using. Through my laptop, the out-of-phase effect sounds similar to that, like an exaggerated stereo effect.
How are the left and right channels made out of phase?
With a standard 3.5 mm headphone jack you get tip, ring and sleeve = right, left and ground. One channel couldn't be wired in reverse at the connector.
So it's a deficiency in the stereo decoding circuitry?
This channel never changed too, for the better of course!
Yes, the bass does improve when you put in phase!
God I miss Radio Shack, or Tandy as they called it in the UK. As a kid we had so much RS stuff in the house - toys, Realistic speakers, rechargeable batteries, even those walkie-talkies from the BTTF movies :)
Wow, I had no idea that WMEX had flipped back to music! I can still remember when the station was relaunched, as oldies, around the mid-80s. At the time, my dad had a '72 Plymouth road-barge; so AM-only radio!
Also had no idea that the RackShack still had a strong presence (other than the few franchises I'd heard about).
Edit: Even they're selling masks & hand sanitizer! LOL
I guess WMEX also has a stream for MeTV Radio, but I did checked TuneIn and it’s now streaming an oldies station in Boston where they brought half its former WODS audience from 1987-2012 when it was an oldies station as “Oldies 103.3” to WMEX.
My grandpa's and then later my dad's 1984 Chevy C-10 he had when I was a kid came originally with an AM only radio. My dad replaced it in 1996 with a Spark-O-Matic cassette deck
I still have a couple of catalogues laying around. Worth keeping as a reference & for project ideas.
More of my favorite places were Telrad & Western Electronics.
Used to get replacement tubes at Thrifty Drug Stores. Remember them having tube testers & nickel scoops of ice cream.😊
I'd love to shop at radioshack again. Unfortunately the closest one to me has closed.
I do hate that reverse phase stereo, I have an AM FM weather radio that has that and it's annoying I'd like to try to mod the radio so it outputs proper monaural audio. I have a few other devices that have it too.
770 WABC I listen to Red Eye Radio on that station at night while sleeping. It's also on 760 AM.
I'm surprised to hear WMEX on a Boston station because there is another WMEX in Rochester, NH that is a throwback tribute station to the original WMEX with all the original PAMS jingles. The one in Rochester is a low power FM station so maybe that's why there are 2 WMEXs.
Wow! I got the same exact Bose speakers that you have! The Bose speakers that I have, I've found it in a garage sale a few years ago for less than $10 and I had them ever since. I even have it hooked up on my computer.
TBH, I was actually really surprised to find that Radio Shack is still in operation today..... awesome radio and video!!!
Thanks for this! You made my day! Man...I grew up in the 70's reading Radio Shack catalogs to learn about audio specs, microphones, and hobby electronics. Learned a ton from the old 100-in-1 kits with the spring terminals. Would love to have one of those for my son now! Looking for any way to support Radio Shack...they were a huge contribution to my life! For example, would love to have a set of NEW Minimus 7 speakers! I know you can get them on eBay, but would LOVE a modern take on that speaker!
Nice Radio but I Love HD-Radio from the First time I heard it and have been listing ever since in my Car and at Home. Totally Awesome.
As a Canadian, I miss Radio Shack :(
I had no idea Radio Shack still existed in any form! Thanks for the update.
FM 88-108Mhz interesting. So this could even work nicely here in Europe. But probably with some EQ issues. Building the Antenna into the Wrist Strap is not that unusual. Back in the 90s i had a yellow Bicycle Light (had a huge reflector) with built in FM/AM radio. It had a built in speaker and headphone output jack and even a little LCD clock. On the side there was a wrist strap and you could see a little black wire worked into the thing and going into the case. That was the FM antenna. I loved this thing.
More AM stations do seem to be broadcasting music now. At least here in central PA. We now have WHVR in Hanover with an adult contemporary format, and WLPA just switched to classic rock in Lancaster.
Amazing to see RadioShack make a comeback, wow!
RadioShack is still alive in Latin America
Looks like Sangean in South Korea makes it - they also make C Crane radios. Good stuff.
Sangean is Chinese company.
@@FrancisLitanofficialJAPINOY no it's Taiwanese
@@JonasWilms ok. It’s Taiwanese. But the Factory is in Dongguan, China.
That phase thing is odd. Sounds like the audio from the right channel is more inside my head than the left. I guess that’s because the right channel is wired backwards. So it’s pulling in when the right channel is pushing out.
I had one of these years ago when they first came out and the built-in speaker was not that great too... Lol
I was a janitor back then and I could have it in my pocket and as I did not need the head phones. The one I had did not have the strap and you had to have the headphones plugged in to pick up stations but it did have a switch on top to change from the speaker or headphone. Also it did not have the clock. Just a Am/Fm radio, it did have 5 preset's...
Thanks for the review and glad to see that they are still making some things.
Now if they would get back into the electronics business of years ago... :-) I miss Tandy... :-(
Thanks for the video
LLAP