A biometric prank, stuff a fingerprint sensor and some electronics inside, punch a hole in the front, so when you put your finger in and the fingerprint matches with a previously stored one, It beeps and lights a green led, and when doesn't match you get zapped.
Well, no, but this seems to be a decent place to tell you that the box it came in is of a design which was *definitely* still being used in the second half of the 80s. The same company logo and very-Chinese type used for English was on new, very lousy, "Archer" cassette tapes sold in Scotland through "everything stores". You know. Battery-operated crap, light fittings, rugs, glassware, hookah pipes and bathroom scales, all under one roof
When I was a kid, my dad negotiated with the local Radio Shack where at the end of the year he would buy the one or two large boxes of random returned electronics that couldn't be sent back to the manufacturers. You just triggered some of the best Christmas memories I have ever had opening giant mystery boxes full of things for me to fix or tear apart!!
Every year after I turned 22 I'd visit Radio Shack on my birthday (Jan 16th) and make an offer on all their returned merchandise. About half would end up in the dumpster but the rest would restock my parts bins for another year. Good times (till all the Radio Shacks in my area closed).
Worked at a store that went under. The last day it was open, 1 guy came in and bought everything for $0.01 each Cashier was pissed having to override the price on 100s of items so he kept just throwing more stuff in the bag without scanning it. We were all getting canned anyway, lol
@@TheMC1X Anything that the $0.02 crowd left behind. :) In my case, I cleaned out a couple of them, and I got one of the parts drawers for $75 out of the store in Dyersburg, TN. Every bit as good, or better than mechanics tools chests. The store in Columbia, TN netted me all sorts of "littleBits", Parallax Propellor boards, and all sorts of other goodies.
Is no one going to say anything about the epic LGR song we just witnessed Ben brainstorm and work through!? That's gonna be stuck in my head for days! Also, awesome box of stuff.
Wow Bud has grown. We've just taken in a ginger stray boy, maybe about 8 years old. He's the happiest cat in the street, if not further, and he's just jumped on me as I'm writing this :)
Agreed. He's our second rescued ginger lad, he likes to stuff his face with cat food then breathe the smell right into my nose while giving me big face rubs.
Yes often, but we don't know if it's because he was a stray with a good home now, or if he was always like that. Our last ginger boy and his best friend were the same. I'm starting to think it's not a cat thing but an owner thing. If a cat seems needy, you're just doing your job right.
Yeah! I'm glad I'm through with most of my repairs, otherwise I would have wanted them too. I actually have amassed like more than 20x1m long stick-tubes full of random IC's over the time. Maybe he wants some of them someday.
My Heathkit Resistance Substitution Box model IN-12 has two knobs and a switch just like that one. The switch selects low range on one knob (15 to 10k) and high range on the other knob (15k to 10M).
The mystery mystery box in the mystery box is an incomplete antenna tuner. You select the correct value for the correct band you're trying to receive. Useful in HF applications.
21:07 I'll bet that IC is the infamous LM3909 LED flasher (discontinued many years ago). A D cell would have flashed an LED for many years, the cell would probably leak before the voltage dropped too low. Re: PSU with dim LED, the LEDs from that era sucked donkey balls, they were very dim even at 20mA.
OMG! The Simms books! I had two of them back in the mid 80s. Radio shack used to be the smorgasbord for "makers" back then. I built a light pen for my C64. So many find memories! Thanks so much for your content 😁❤️❤️❤️
Oh my goodness, this so takes me back... talk about fond memories of experimenting and Building Things in the basement growing up... those were certainly the days.. long live the fond memories of RadioShack....
wow I wish someone would give me stuff like this! I want so bad to get into making stuff but, I don't know where to even start. A package like this would pretty much give me a start. Anyway I never get tired of your quick wit and banter, Love ya!
Don't forget when you build something in the metal 'utility' box, to stick some labels below the switches made on one of those old-fashioned punch label printers, for that perfect retro look!
Those were Dymo brand. The company is still around, but nowhere near as common as they used to be. The old Dymo lettering things were fun to use. You rotated the lettering wheel, then you squeezed the handle real hard.
I did the exact same thing. I went into my local Radio Shack when it was like 90% off and spent over $400 in switches, connectors, leds, and tons caps, diodes and resistors...this is a great donation!
Tell that hacker space to use that stuff & maybe keep the packaging if they're gonna be nostalgic about the Shack, I kind of feel like Radio Shack parts should be used & not put in museums, that's a dang goldmine.
One time here in San Antonio in the '80s, the local Mensa had FMM3 at the monthly meeting, I think it was to talk about his other interest, creationism. He carried extra books in his briefcase and autographed one for me. Yes, I still have it in a "good stuff" cache up in a closet.
11:46 I remember watching a comedy DVD not that long ago (Jeff Foxworthy, I think it was) and he was describing differences between men and women. Guy like to smell things, especially things that smell bad. You be cleaning out a box of old junk and find something gross looking/smelling and you instinctively call your buddy over so he can smell it too. He comes over, sniffs the bad odor and with his face wrinkles in disgust, he calls over another buddy to take a whiff. When you started sniffing stuff, I just about lost it. Lmao
Shame to hear, but not all working relationships become friendships I suppose. Nice that Ben was thinking of reaching out regardless to help out a Hackspace with donation’s though.
Ooh, yeah, those iPods are pretty nifty. I would peg them as an iPod 6th gen (rebadged to the "iPod Classic" at that stage) and an iPod Nano 5th gen. The iPod 6th gen is very keen for upgrading... but the iPod 5½th gen is almost as keen and has a better DAC. I have a 5½th gen with a microSD kit loaded with 128GB of storage. All anybody really needs for a basic MP3 player.
I had my iPad on Bluetooth speaker in my garage as you were singing improvisng lyrics. Whole neighborhood heard you and wondered why "I" was SO HAPPY. LMAO
I feel bad for the guys that genuinely want those bubble displays, and Graflex tubes for collecting purposes, but the prices have jumped up because they’re used to make lightsaber replicas.
My girlfriend: What are you doing honey? Me: I'm watching an adult man smelling old electronic parts and then guessing how old are they My girlfiend: That's weird and stupid. Me: And you are imaginary My girlfriend: ... Me: Darn! that's the fifth imaginary girlfriend that dumps me this month.
The cigar tubes. My father would save dimes in them. They were the perfect size them. By the way Cuban Cigars were illegal in the states back in the day.
At last, all your favourite film quotes and songs on one classic album. K-tel presents "Heck Parade" available on LP and modern 8 track. Please Ben, never, ever change. You are keeping us all sane.
I bought a box like that in the late nineties at Radio Shack. I’m sure it had updated packaging but the finish was the same. It also had louvers and those rubber feet. I made a power supply with it. It’s crazy to think of a company making a product for more than a few years these days.
I have one of those types project boxes that I purchased in the late 90s to build a DC power supply. It has a less premium thin black gloss paint on the top cover with the specs like is common on computer cases. It is currently setup with 7805 and 7905 for those rare occasions that find a use for a light duty 5 or -5 Volt supply. I also have a slightly different shaped Logic Probe, same type of packaging the plastic of the package was already yellowed like that back in the late 90s. It is cool seeing all the old stuff, which I seem to have so many similar little bits of, although not in similar quantities. I loved going to Radio Shack back in the day. I still use some of the tools I purchased when it was around, one I carry with me every day at work and often use it.
I don't know when they started selling that metal box, but bought one and used it to build a binary LED clock in 1983. Was laughing out loud seeing the box and hearing some of your comments. Yes the wire-wrap circuit board in mine is just "hanging in the breeze". I never bothered to mount it. The clock still works though. : )
Louvers is a cool word. I first learned about it when I was younger and I really like the look of Datsuns with them and asked my Mom what they were called. Nowadays, as a draftsman, we use it all the time to call out attic vents and on doors to utility/laundry/bathrooms that are to have their exhaust fan be the whole house ventilation. Just thought I'd share
When you made any purchase at Radio Shack in the 70s and 80s, they wanted your name, address, and telephone number at the cashier. Very creepy by today's standards. Everything was expensive except their education books, Realistic Branded knockoffs, and Science Fair All In One projects. It was the only game in town if you needed electronic stuff in a pinch. I miss Heathkits too. Memories...
Not really now everyones personal data is harvested much more thouroughly than just name and adress they know everything about you these days what you spend and how much where you travel at what times on what days how long u spend indoors how much energy u use and all sorts we live in aad mad world these days and nobody seems to care any more we carry tracking devices around that lsten to our conversations amd advertise to us according to our interests and nobody complains and just acts like its normal i camt belive it really cos people should be kicking off and arguing that its a privacy violation but nobody does its a nightmare i for one hate it and would love to go back 40 years i hate this day and age :( people were cooler back then too nowadays everyone lives in a bubble its horrible i dno about usa but england where i live is ruined it truly is :(
I visited 3 nearby cities back when RS was going out to buy parts. I hit the 70% off and BOGO combo sales. My receipts were usually 6 to 8' long. Why they gave a receipt when all sales were final.
I used that same Project Box to build an adjustable power supply for my first electronics class in the Fall of 1985! So they where still setting them in the late 80's.
It was only a couple of years ago, but for those of you who didn't get to participate, this is what Radio Shack closeouts felt like, and there were at least three waves of closures over two years. Well, that and the impending feeling during the last wave of knowing that Radio Shack would no longer be there. Yeah, I've got a few plastic crates full of my Radio Shack clearance stuff. Even stuff I find around the house that's old RS stuff I put in the crates now. Those calculator displays, there's a chance they actually came from RS back in the '80s or so. They sold a lot of surplus stuff like that in "assortment" packs. The circuit boards, that was one of the things I liked having RS around for, but now they're so cheap off of Amazon, and better quality and assortment too. The bag o' resistors, that's worse than the pile of SMT resistors I sorted out, because I could actually read those tiny numbers. The colors on most resistors are awful to read. That case looks 1980-ish. 1A9? That might mean 1979? Yes, you're supposed to drill holes and put in stand-offs and such. The power supply LED, yeah back in the 70s LEDs weren't very bright. So I guess that's a genuine 70s era LED. My first "real" project ever when I was a kid in the late '70s was a 5V power supply. I used a much bigger case, my light was an incandescent, and I probably put a fuse in line with the mains. I really had to beg with my parents to let me make it. I still have it too, but 5V switching power bricks are so common now, and that's a good thing.
Hahah this is deja vu. When RadioShack here closed, all the shelves were down and everything was just in boxes on the floor. I spent like an hour sitting there on the floor digging through boxes picking out all the stuff I wanted. Still have much of it...
Logic probes are very cool devices … Even in the 80s they were sub-$30 (now about $13 will get you a pretty fully functional one… If you pay as much as $25 it'd better have a pulser included!) Use is very simple: Connect to your circuit's power. Touch probe to test point. If test point reads high, red LED lights up (and mine makes a tone.) If point is low, green LED lights (and different tone). If alternating, the tone will warble, and yellow pulse LED will light. If probe has a pulse/mem switch, the yellow LED will light (and stay lit) the moment the test point switches state. (Switch it back to pulse setting to reset.) Many have/had a TTL/CMOS switch because TTL and CMOS have slightly different levels for hi/lo even at 5v. How well it works at other voltages even on the CMOS setting probably varies a bit. I wouldn't count on it running below 3v3 very well-but my stuff's mostly 5v anyway. Why not just use a 'scope? You could, but this is awfully fast to just probe a pin or two, and … I don't have an oscilloscope, nor have I learned how to use one yet. A logic probe, though … I picked up my first one back in I think 1991.
Re the metal project box @ 15:06 - to get boards in there without leaving them floating or touching the metal wouldn't you drill more tiny holes and attach standoffs to mount/space the boards?
38:30 that's a dangerous way to hook up the switch. When it is turned "off", the exposed lug of the switchwill carry the line voltage without any separation. Connecting the earth to GND can seem "safe" but will eliminate the separation to the earth potential. If there's a circuit connected to this PSU, and then measured with an oscilloscope with its GND lead on the + line, there will be a dead short through the scope to earth.
I bought a 3.5mm audio cable as RadioShack was liquidating. Terrible cable. We actually bought all the shelving from that store for $100. It's been awesome.
I remember the mystery boxes of NOS from when Radio Shack was still around. Used to literally fill a basket with them after I found out the value within.
About the project box, they'd drill or punch holes through the bottom face, and a push nut would go through and serve as a mounting/support point for the circuit boards inside.
Driving round the south looking for some stuff going to hit a Goodwill or two, Big box games, electronics that boggle the brain all wrapped up in woodgrain for you...
I might be remembering this wrong, but I think for the boxes like at 15:00 there was a matching-size perf board to the box and the way you mounted it was to put the board on screws through the bottom or side of the box on spacers, sometimes the same screws as the feet.
Those calculator domes look like some that were used in making the original lightsabers from A New Hope. I believe it was Luke's and possibly Vader's too.
Any suggestions on what to build with the Awesome Project Box?
You mount circuit boards with standoffs. You could put an amplifier in there easily enough. Maybe a headphone driver with vacuum tubes.
A biometric prank, stuff a fingerprint sensor and some electronics inside, punch a hole in the front, so when you put your finger in and the fingerprint matches with a previously stored one, It beeps and lights a green led, and when doesn't match you get zapped.
See how much stuff you can build from the Engineers Notebook, LOL.
Well, no, but this seems to be a decent place to tell you that the box it came in is of a design which was *definitely* still being used in the second half of the 80s. The same company logo and very-Chinese type used for English was on new, very lousy, "Archer" cassette tapes sold in Scotland through "everything stores". You know. Battery-operated crap, light fittings, rugs, glassware, hookah pipes and bathroom scales, all under one roof
A game controller/joystick?
When I was a kid, my dad negotiated with the local Radio Shack where at the end of the year he would buy the one or two large boxes of random returned electronics that couldn't be sent back to the manufacturers. You just triggered some of the best Christmas memories I have ever had opening giant mystery boxes full of things for me to fix or tear apart!!
That would have made the best Christmas ever for me!
Same here mr buddy😌
Man that would have been awesome.
Every year after I turned 22 I'd visit Radio Shack on my birthday (Jan 16th) and make an offer on all their returned merchandise. About half would end up in the dumpster but the rest would restock my parts bins for another year. Good times (till all the Radio Shacks in my area closed).
Right in the feels
*sniffs ribbon cables*
Ben: Ahh yes, an 80s vintage.
There was lots of sniffing this episode. Ha ha ha 🤣
@@byronwheeler and some biting / tasting of camera as well, I think :)
title should have been "ben smells things for almost an hour"
Worked at a store that went under.
The last day it was open, 1 guy came in and bought everything for $0.01 each
Cashier was pissed having to override the price on 100s of items so he kept just throwing more stuff in the bag without scanning it. We were all getting canned anyway, lol
What kind of stuff did the guy buy for $0.01 each???
@@TheMC1X Anything that the $0.02 crowd left behind. :)
In my case, I cleaned out a couple of them, and I got one of the parts drawers for $75 out of the store in Dyersburg, TN. Every bit as good, or better than mechanics tools chests.
The store in Columbia, TN netted me all sorts of "littleBits", Parallax Propellor boards, and all sorts of other goodies.
@@MrWaalkman I hope you got to clean out the Hastings there a few years back, too!
Those parts drawers were sweet but I had nowhere to put one.
Is no one going to say anything about the epic LGR song we just witnessed Ben brainstorm and work through!? That's gonna be stuck in my head for days! Also, awesome box of stuff.
Big box PC games and woodgrain stuff, the fundamental LGR Thrifts. Next verse should be about floppy disk containers and old monitors.
"Definitely has a pungent odor" - sniffs it a half-dozen more times
Sounded like a true addict haha 😂😂
I offered the stuff I didn't need to the local hackerspace. If they don't want it I could "ship it forward"
I'll take some breadboards.. and some iPods
I'll take some of the stuff lol
If u had all this stuff 40 years ago you could probably have been like a james bond villain and plotted some sort of world takeover with it all 😂
Wow Bud has grown. We've just taken in a ginger stray boy, maybe about 8 years old. He's the happiest cat in the street, if not further, and he's just jumped on me as I'm writing this :)
Ginger cats are best! Except when they're not :)
Agreed. He's our second rescued ginger lad, he likes to stuff his face with cat food then breathe the smell right into my nose while giving me big face rubs.
@@cottonfoo Is he a needy ginger? Bud sure is.
Yes often, but we don't know if it's because he was a stray with a good home now, or if he was always like that. Our last ginger boy and his best friend were the same. I'm starting to think it's not a cat thing but an owner thing. If a cat seems needy, you're just doing your job right.
"in case of catastrophe - like the movie cats" Had me in stitches. Nice stream of consciousness.
OMG!!!! I would kill for that collection!!! SOOOO Jealous!!! Lucky man!!
it's everyone's favorite segment, MAIL BAG !!!!!
My son just got into electronics thanks to watching you so I got him a couple raspberry pis and arduinos
Nice!
I miss Radio Shack and Electronic Express.
The consistent smelling and tasting of the interesting parts is making the video for me
"We can donate these ones, we already have [dramatic pause] ..all the capacitors" 😆 always a good time having you with me at MY bench. Cheers Ben 🍻
oh my god I love bud so much thank you ben for blessing us with his presence
I bought so many of the items from those bags in the 70s and 80s - and built a psu with that same case!
If you don't want the old logic chips, Adrian from Adrian's digital basement would love to have them I am sure.
Yeah! I'm glad I'm through with most of my repairs, otherwise I would have wanted them too. I actually have amassed like more than 20x1m long stick-tubes full of random IC's over the time. Maybe he wants some of them someday.
I think Adrian is mostly looking for RAM these days.
My Heathkit Resistance Substitution Box model IN-12 has two knobs and a switch just like that one. The switch selects low range on one knob (15 to 10k) and high range on the other knob (15k to 10M).
The mystery mystery box in the mystery box is an incomplete antenna tuner. You select the correct value for the correct band you're trying to receive. Useful in HF applications.
The switch is for a quick disconnect for local broadcasts, which will be overloaded by a typical Longwire antenna.
This is also why the linear power supply has beef to it. You need a clean DC signal to amplify a signal from across an ocean.
I know we get lucky with some humour on your vids. Not disappointed with the LGR tune on this one 😂
21:07 I'll bet that IC is the infamous LM3909 LED flasher (discontinued many years ago). A D cell would have flashed an LED for many years, the cell would probably leak before the voltage dropped too low.
Re: PSU with dim LED, the LEDs from that era sucked donkey balls, they were very dim even at 20mA.
Thanks for the persistence of vision note. As a kid I did the vibration in my head to make my alarm clock dance around and thought I was insane.
OK. It wasn't just me! See also: early LED brake lights in cars.
6.3 AC rectified is plenty to drive a 5v regulator. You can still get project boxes like that at Jameco.
Ben you make me feel like I don't appreciate and use my sense of smell more. Love your videos 👍
It was amusing watching Ben get high by huffing old electronics components.
Nerdgasm of cool toys!!! I miss the old school radio shake with all that stuff, it's not as fun buying it online.
OMG! The Simms books! I had two of them back in the mid 80s. Radio shack used to be the smorgasbord for "makers" back then. I built a light pen for my C64. So many find memories! Thanks so much for your content 😁❤️❤️❤️
Oh my goodness, this so takes me back... talk about fond memories of experimenting and Building Things in the basement growing up... those were certainly the days..
long live the fond memories of RadioShack....
I'm just excited for Ben's excitement. Laughing at all the quips.
Oh so many memories of working at Radio Shack in the early 90s!
19:05 "I still have the taste of that box in my mouth." - Insert Micheal Scott GIF.
wow I wish someone would give me stuff like this! I want so bad to get into making stuff but, I don't know where to even start. A package like this would pretty much give me a start. Anyway I never get tired of your quick wit and banter, Love ya!
Thumbs up for Butterscotch Bandit.
Don't forget when you build something in the metal 'utility' box, to stick some labels below the switches made on one of those old-fashioned punch label printers, for that perfect retro look!
Those were Dymo brand. The company is still around, but nowhere near as common as they used to be. The old Dymo lettering things were fun to use. You rotated the lettering wheel, then you squeezed the handle real hard.
I did the exact same thing. I went into my local Radio Shack when it was like 90% off and spent over $400 in switches, connectors, leds, and tons caps, diodes and resistors...this is a great donation!
At 90% off prices were almost competitive.
"You can never have enough random USB Cables..."
Try telling that to my wife...
Came for the mystery, stayed for the LGR song.
That LGR song 😂😂😂😂😂😂 Dead!!!!!
28:10 That hard cut to a bunch of loose resistors made me laugh way more than it should have.
Tell that hacker space to use that stuff & maybe keep the packaging if they're gonna be nostalgic about the Shack, I kind of feel like Radio Shack parts should be used & not put in museums, that's a dang goldmine.
I still have my Engineers Notebook that I had when I was a kid back in the late 70's! Awesome to see another one still exists!
One time here in San Antonio in the '80s, the local Mensa had FMM3 at the monthly meeting, I think it was to talk about his other interest, creationism. He carried extra books in his briefcase and autographed one for me. Yes, I still have it in a "good stuff" cache up in a closet.
11:46 I remember watching a comedy DVD not that long ago (Jeff Foxworthy, I think it was) and he was describing differences between men and women. Guy like to smell things, especially things that smell bad.
You be cleaning out a box of old junk and find something gross looking/smelling and you instinctively call your buddy over so he can smell it too. He comes over, sniffs the bad odor and with his face wrinkles in disgust, he calls over another buddy to take a whiff.
When you started sniffing stuff, I just about lost it. Lmao
A perfect video. Radio Shack memories/parts, a project, and Butterscotch Bud!
Karen and Ben didn't get along?
Shame to hear, but not all working relationships become friendships I suppose. Nice that Ben was thinking of reaching out regardless to help out a Hackspace with donation’s though.
I don't want to pry but would like to know more.
Yeah I was browsing the comment section for this. Wonder what happened.
We didn't gel well professionally but tolerate each other aside from that. Alyson and I are still really good friends though!
@@BenHeckHacks it happens, yes. Thanks for the answer!
Ooh, yeah, those iPods are pretty nifty. I would peg them as an iPod 6th gen (rebadged to the "iPod Classic" at that stage) and an iPod Nano 5th gen. The iPod 6th gen is very keen for upgrading... but the iPod 5½th gen is almost as keen and has a better DAC. I have a 5½th gen with a microSD kit loaded with 128GB of storage. All anybody really needs for a basic MP3 player.
I love doing what you just did ! just a random box of goodies, that project box was awesome....cheers.
I had my iPad on Bluetooth speaker in my garage as you were singing improvisng lyrics.
Whole neighborhood heard you and wondered why "I" was SO HAPPY. LMAO
one of the most mismanaged companies ever - such a shame
I don't know why I love it so much, but 26:47 where Ben checks to see if the jars are made of the same material is so MEEEE
0:31 "This video isn't all about Bud." My disappointment is immeasurable and my day is ruined. Great video as always though.
any time I hear "Believe It or Not" I immediately think of the Seinfield episode with it as the answering machine message
love geeking out over this kind of stuff
great video
The bubble displays are valuable, people use them to make more accurate lightsabers.
I feel bad for the guys that genuinely want those bubble displays, and Graflex tubes for collecting purposes, but the prices have jumped up because they’re used to make lightsaber replicas.
Wtf is a graflex tube lol
Seriously? Making a LGR theme song while reworking the 5 volt power supply. That's freaking great lol. Did anyone share this with LGR?
Clint has totally got hear his new theme song. I love it.
Ben, thanks for making me smile this morning.
53minutes of Ben sniffing second hand electronics. Perfect start to my day.
-Dx
My girlfriend: What are you doing honey?
Me: I'm watching an adult man smelling old electronic parts and then guessing how old are they
My girlfiend: That's weird and stupid.
Me: And you are imaginary
My girlfriend: ...
Me: Darn! that's the fifth imaginary girlfriend that dumps me this month.
That's sad
and funny : )
The cigar tubes. My father would save dimes in them. They were the perfect size them. By the way Cuban Cigars were illegal in the states back in the day.
You would typically mount the PCBs to the bottom, stacked up with standoffs. I built several projects with that very box in the mid '80s.
I'd use that ancient box to make a phono preamp. It would be age appropriate and would look cool.
Those Ipod classic 7th gen's are able to be upgraded with microSD cards. The 5th gen's are more coveted tho for their DAC
At last, all your favourite film quotes and songs on one classic album. K-tel presents "Heck Parade" available on LP and modern 8 track.
Please Ben, never, ever change. You are keeping us all sane.
LOL. They packed it into a garbage bag to save time! ;-)
I bought a box like that in the late nineties at Radio Shack. I’m sure it had updated packaging but the finish was the same. It also had louvers and those rubber feet. I made a power supply with it. It’s crazy to think of a company making a product for more than a few years these days.
I have one of those types project boxes that I purchased in the late 90s to build a DC power supply. It has a less premium thin black gloss paint on the top cover with the specs like is common on computer cases. It is currently setup with 7805 and 7905 for those rare occasions that find a use for a light duty 5 or -5 Volt supply. I also have a slightly different shaped Logic Probe, same type of packaging the plastic of the package was already yellowed like that back in the late 90s. It is cool seeing all the old stuff, which I seem to have so many similar little bits of, although not in similar quantities. I loved going to Radio Shack back in the day. I still use some of the tools I purchased when it was around, one I carry with me every day at work and often use it.
I don't know when they started selling that metal box, but bought one and used it to build a binary LED clock in 1983. Was laughing out loud seeing the box and hearing some of your comments. Yes the wire-wrap circuit board in mine is just "hanging in the breeze". I never bothered to mount it. The clock still works though. : )
Louvers is a cool word. I first learned about it when I was younger and I really like the look of Datsuns with them and asked my Mom what they were called. Nowadays, as a draftsman, we use it all the time to call out attic vents and on doors to utility/laundry/bathrooms that are to have their exhaust fan be the whole house ventilation.
Just thought I'd share
"YER OUTTA HERE, CAT"
Something every cat housemate knows.
When you made any purchase at Radio Shack in the 70s and 80s, they wanted your name, address, and telephone number at the cashier.
Very creepy by today's standards.
Everything was expensive except their education books, Realistic Branded knockoffs, and Science Fair All In One projects.
It was the only game in town if you needed electronic stuff in a pinch.
I miss Heathkits too.
Memories...
Not really now everyones personal data is harvested much more thouroughly than just name and adress they know everything about you these days what you spend and how much where you travel at what times on what days how long u spend indoors how much energy u use and all sorts we live in aad mad world these days and nobody seems to care any more we carry tracking devices around that lsten to our conversations amd advertise to us according to our interests and nobody complains and just acts like its normal i camt belive it really cos people should be kicking off and arguing that its a privacy violation but nobody does its a nightmare i for one hate it and would love to go back 40 years i hate this day and age :( people were cooler back then too nowadays everyone lives in a bubble its horrible i dno about usa but england where i live is ruined it truly is :(
Clint from LGR would be honored, and also amused, with the little LGR Theme Song you created.
More second hand crap
Did anyone anyone let Clint at LGR know about the song at 39:00? Because it's awesome. :D
That louvered cabinet (#270-252) was listed in the 1974 Radio Shack catalog at $2.59, then in 1975 it was $2.89
They still had it in the late 80s. I bought one for a light effect controller.
"Butterscotch Bandit" I thought that was Ben's porn name.
I visited 3 nearby cities back when RS was going out to buy parts. I hit the 70% off and BOGO combo sales. My receipts were usually 6 to 8' long. Why they gave a receipt when all sales were final.
I used that same Project Box to build an adjustable power supply for my first electronics class in the Fall of 1985! So they where still setting them in the late 80's.
Those old HDD iPods can be adapted for MicroSD with much more storage. Replacing the battery is also a good idea.
15:19 drill pc style brass standoffs into the bottom?
It was only a couple of years ago, but for those of you who didn't get to participate, this is what Radio Shack closeouts felt like, and there were at least three waves of closures over two years. Well, that and the impending feeling during the last wave of knowing that Radio Shack would no longer be there.
Yeah, I've got a few plastic crates full of my Radio Shack clearance stuff. Even stuff I find around the house that's old RS stuff I put in the crates now.
Those calculator displays, there's a chance they actually came from RS back in the '80s or so. They sold a lot of surplus stuff like that in "assortment" packs.
The circuit boards, that was one of the things I liked having RS around for, but now they're so cheap off of Amazon, and better quality and assortment too.
The bag o' resistors, that's worse than the pile of SMT resistors I sorted out, because I could actually read those tiny numbers. The colors on most resistors are awful to read.
That case looks 1980-ish. 1A9? That might mean 1979? Yes, you're supposed to drill holes and put in stand-offs and such.
The power supply LED, yeah back in the 70s LEDs weren't very bright. So I guess that's a genuine 70s era LED. My first "real" project ever when I was a kid in the late '70s was a 5V power supply. I used a much bigger case, my light was an incandescent, and I probably put a fuse in line with the mains. I really had to beg with my parents to let me make it. I still have it too, but 5V switching power bricks are so common now, and that's a good thing.
Ben! we need Smell-O-Vision
Hahah this is deja vu. When RadioShack here closed, all the shelves were down and everything was just in boxes on the floor. I spent like an hour sitting there on the floor digging through boxes picking out all the stuff I wanted. Still have much of it...
the metal case remember same design from the 80's, you had to drill holes and put mountiing screws throught from bottom
standoffs ftw!
Logic probes are very cool devices … Even in the 80s they were sub-$30 (now about $13 will get you a pretty fully functional one… If you pay as much as $25 it'd better have a pulser included!)
Use is very simple: Connect to your circuit's power. Touch probe to test point. If test point reads high, red LED lights up (and mine makes a tone.) If point is low, green LED lights (and different tone). If alternating, the tone will warble, and yellow pulse LED will light. If probe has a pulse/mem switch, the yellow LED will light (and stay lit) the moment the test point switches state. (Switch it back to pulse setting to reset.)
Many have/had a TTL/CMOS switch because TTL and CMOS have slightly different levels for hi/lo even at 5v. How well it works at other voltages even on the CMOS setting probably varies a bit. I wouldn't count on it running below 3v3 very well-but my stuff's mostly 5v anyway.
Why not just use a 'scope? You could, but this is awfully fast to just probe a pin or two, and … I don't have an oscilloscope, nor have I learned how to use one yet. A logic probe, though … I picked up my first one back in I think 1991.
Not that long ago, that plywood work table top has been worth about a half a month's rent.
Re the metal project box @ 15:06 - to get boards in there without leaving them floating or touching the metal wouldn't you drill more tiny holes and attach standoffs to mount/space the boards?
Glueee gun
It strikes me that you're even more madcap when you're stone cold sober than when you're doing a beer stream.
So true for most people lol the drugs make you normal when they wear off is when the real problems start haha
38:30 that's a dangerous way to hook up the switch. When it is turned "off", the exposed lug of the switchwill carry the line voltage without any separation. Connecting the earth to GND can seem "safe" but will eliminate the separation to the earth potential. If there's a circuit connected to this PSU, and then measured with an oscilloscope with its GND lead on the + line, there will be a dead short through the scope to earth.
I bought a 3.5mm audio cable as RadioShack was liquidating. Terrible cable. We actually bought all the shelving from that store for $100. It's been awesome.
_big-box games, wood-grain frames..._
that's stuck in my ear now! xD
"I still have the taste of that box in my mouth" I'm Done! lol
Bud can stay. He's a good boy.
I remember the mystery boxes of NOS from when Radio Shack was still around. Used to literally fill a basket with them after I found out the value within.
Thanks for showing us Bud! :)
About the project box, they'd drill or punch holes through the bottom face, and a push nut would go through and serve as a mounting/support point for the circuit boards inside.
Driving round the south looking for some stuff going to hit a Goodwill or two, Big box games, electronics that boggle the brain all wrapped up in woodgrain for you...
I might be remembering this wrong, but I think for the boxes like at 15:00 there was a matching-size perf board to the box and the way you mounted it was to put the board on screws through the bottom or side of the box on spacers, sometimes the same screws as the feet.
Looks like something I would buy at a HAM radio fest. You can find cool stuff at those.
I love how Ben’s Sean Connery voice is Bane’s voice.
Can you use that old display in the old "louvered" project box?
Those calculator domes look like some that were used in making the original lightsabers from A New Hope. I believe it was Luke's and possibly Vader's too.
Radio Shack Mystery Boxes were the absolute best for a budding engineer.