magnetic field

[Daniel J. Stern]

On Fri, 24 Sep 2004, Don Bruder wrote:

~^Johnny^~ <nospam@gyrogearloose.com> wrote:

=plonk!=

Awwww... Guess I hurt his poor widdle feelings...

Well, yeah, but he's got this *great* gold-plated DVD player dust cover,
which you need if you're going to watch DVDs put out by Disney in the
widescreen format, and it's available for only $39.99. It's also eligible
for the Radio Shack Protection Plan for only an additional $13.49. How
many would you like today? Three dozen? Four dozen? Let's start by giving
me your home address and telephone number...

 

[Daniel J. Stern]

On Fri, 24 Sep 2004, ~^Johnny^~ wrote:

There is no doubt in my mind that Radio Shack is starting to suck.

Umm..."starting"?

They *started* a little over a decade ago. They've pretty much finished
the job.

For instance: They are carrying less and less in the way of discreet
electronics components

Right, they mostly carry the loud and impolite kind, nowtimes.

But still, I have little empathy for railers like Don Bruder.

You think DB is a "railer"? Shug, you ain't seen *nothin'* yet!

DS

 

[Bob Ward]

On Fri, 24 Sep 2004 17:49:09 GMT, Don Bruder <dakidd@sonic.net> wrote:

Radio Shack:
You've got questions, we've got blank stares.

Despite being something of a cliche, it's dead-on accurate in the huge
majority of RS stores.

Since you are making this statement as some sort of authoritative
comment, are we to assume that you have personally visiterd over 3500
stores (more than half would be a bare majority - we'll give you the
benefit of the doubt) in doing the research that leads you to this
conclusion?

Name them.

 

[Bob Ward]

On Fri, 24 Sep 2004 12:47:49 -0700, ~^Johnny^~
<nospam@gyrogearloose.com> wrote:

The only hope RS (or any other retailer) has, is its customer base.
With condescending assholes in the field, it can only get worse.
I'll tell you: Every time I walk into a RS store, I express my feelings,
and they are not ALL good. For instance: They are carrying less and less in
the way of discreet electronics components, like IC's, connectors, small
accessories, and even resistors and capacitors. I tell them that. But I do
it constructively. Will it get better? Probably not. It's largely driven by
the market trend.

Is there a discreet way to point out the difference between "discrete"
and "discreet"?

I guess not.

 

[Nate Nagel]

Bob Ward wrote:

On Fri, 24 Sep 2004 17:49:09 GMT, Don Bruder <dakidd@sonic.net> wrote:


Radio Shack:
You've got questions, we've got blank stares.

Despite being something of a cliche, it's dead-on accurate in the huge
majority of RS stores.



Since you are making this statement as some sort of authoritative
comment, are we to assume that you have personally visiterd over 3500
stores (more than half would be a bare majority - we'll give you the
benefit of the doubt) in doing the research that leads you to this
conclusion?

Name them.

Have you ever visited a RS store where the counter help actually knows
anything about anything other than the CD players out front? I think I
may have, once, but I'm not sure. Most of the time I can find what I'm
looking for (or determine they don't have it) faster than any employee.

I suspect the "parts" section of RS is much like the little bins of
metric fasteners in the "big box" hardware stores - they're stocked
once, when the store opens, and never looked at again.

nate

--
replace "fly" with "com" to reply.
http://home.comcast.net/~njnagel

 

[Watson A.Name - \"Watt Su]

"~^Johnny^~" <nospam@gyrogearloose.com> wrote in message
news:0sc8l0dopocvkubu3u9meglbgesc6scp4k@4ax.com...

On Thu, 23 Sep 2004 16:39:19 GMT, Don Bruder <dakidd@sonic.net> wrote:

Unless, of
course, you're at Radio Shack, where you'll get a look that's not
just
puzzled, but positively bovine in its utter lack of anything
resembling
the spark (Errr... no pun intended) of intelligence.


Be nice! A lot of RS stores have gone to Hell in a hand basket, but
I resent
the stereotype, nonetheless.

Up until fairly recently (I'm talking 6 or 7 years ago), my local RS
stores
had quite knowledgeable staff.

But let me tell you what happened to me about 19 or 20 years ago.

There was a local RS office in downtown ("Old Town") Eureka. It was a
few
years prior to the start of the "Urbanization of Eureka" project. God
Damn
the city council!

In this event, there was an employment ad run in the local job
market, for a
"manager trainee" position. This point is important to note! I did
not want
to be a salesman. I like dynamics, not stagnation. Thank you very
much!

Well, it turns out that the so-called "manager trainee" position was
a hoax:
A come-on. Truth is: ANY employee can be later considered, trained,
and
promoted. I didn't realize that then, but I do now.

Let's backtrack.

OK. I applied for the job.

At the interview, we talked turkey. This is where I probably shot
myself
down, but I didn't care at the time. I was blinded by intellect.
During the
course of the interview, I was alarmed to learn that RS was phasing
out the
"smart salesmen", in a quest for volume sales push. The interviewer
started
to explain the policy to me. Here is what I heard him say:

"Actually, we are not looking for manager with electronics knowledge.
The
less they know about electronics, the better."

I asked, "Why?" (big mistake)

"Well, it's a distraction. We don't want customers calling up our
store to
pick our brain. We want to be able to keep sales on an even keel,
and
basically just run the store."

I proceeded to tell him, quite frankly, what I thought about that
protocol.
I didn't get the job, needless to say. But at least I left an
impression.


Yeah, it's sad.
In the past 20 years, ost of the knowledgeable staff in my area RS
stores have
either been transferred, fired, or have gotten frustrated and quit!

You left out one other alternative: They got a better job - especially
pay-wise.

--
-john
wide-open at throttle dot info

 

[Watson A.Name - \"Watt Su]

"Don Bruder" <dakidd@sonic.net> wrote in message
news6Z4d.14971$54.225510@typhoon.sonic.net...
[snip]

Radio Shack:
You've got questions, we've got blank stares.

Despite being something of a cliche, it's dead-on accurate in the huge
majority of RS stores.

Why just RS? Include McD and BK in there too.

I call 'em as I see 'em, and if you don't like what I'm seeing, you
need
to change what it is I see. At Radio Shack, I see morons. Don't like

In the education biz, they're called intellectually challenged, among
other things..

that? Then change it - Get yourself at least rudimentary education in
the field you're supposedly working in, so that when I come in with a
question, you've got an actual answer, instead of a blank stare or a
line of bullshit that's so obvious even a blind man couldn't miss
seeing
it.

Izzat clear enough for you to understand, "Johnny"?

Oh, bruder - er, brother!

--
Don Bruder - dakidd@sonic.net - New Email policy in effect as of Feb.
21, 2004.

 

[Daniel J. Stern]

On Fri, 24 Sep 2004, Watson A.Name - "Watt Sun, the Dark Remover" wrote:

You've got questions, we've got blank stares. Despite being something
of a cliche, it's dead-on accurate in the huge majority of RS stores.

Why just RS? Include McD and BK in there too.

The critical key difference is that Shit Shack *used* to be useful.
McDeath and Booger King have *always* sold crapola.

 

[keith]

On Fri, 24 Sep 2004 21:21:21 -0700, Watson A.Name - "Watt Sun, the Dark
Remover" wrote:

Yeah, it's sad.
In the past 20 years, ost of the knowledgeable staff in my area RS
stores have
either been transferred, fired, or have gotten frustrated and quit!

You left out one other alternative: They got a better job - especially
pay-wise.

My son hired a RadioShaft assistant manager away because he was tired of
*having* to sell cell phone service in an area that had no coverage. A
large part of his compensation was in useless cell phone contracts.

--
Keith

 

[Ed Price]

"Bob Ward" <bobward@email.com> wrote in message
news:vo99l05cluekidbs03k7j9okbu1j8qn0c9@4ax.com...

On Fri, 24 Sep 2004 17:49:09 GMT, Don Bruder <dakidd@sonic.net> wrote:


Radio Shack:
You've got questions, we've got blank stares.

Despite being something of a cliche, it's dead-on accurate in the huge
majority of RS stores.


Since you are making this statement as some sort of authoritative
comment, are we to assume that you have personally visiterd over 3500
stores (more than half would be a bare majority - we'll give you the
benefit of the doubt) in doing the research that leads you to this
conclusion?

Name them.

Radio Shack used to be (maybe 30 years ago) an intriguing place to browse
and buy project parts. But for whatever reason, the selection and quality of
discrete components has plummeted to the joke level. It was bad 10 years
ago, and it's even worse now.

My proof? Well, I can go into any store in the San Diego region, and get the
same level of cheap parts. From what I hear on Usenet, this is typical
everywhere else. You could refute my experience, if you could cite a Radio
Shack that sells RG-214 coax, type N coax fittings, or switches that have
tin-plated terminals and a good "feel."

Sure, I still go to Radio Shack. Last week I found myself hovering over the
parts trays, looking for female BNC chassis connectors (none found), two
fuseholders (that bright finish on the terminals sure is hard to get solder
to flow onto it), a pair of SPST bat-handle switches (they had one) and a
metal project box (only carry plastic boxes). While I was searching for
parts dumped back into the wrong bins (hope springs eternal), I was
approached by two different sales droids with their canned welcome / help
speech (and both didn't know what a BNC connector was).

I found myself standing there, wondering why I wanted to build anything with
the crappy quality parts they had. I found myself hoping that the other
sales droids would ignore me, as I don't think I could have tolerated
explaining what a BNC connector looks like a third time. Imagine that you
went into a NAPA store looking for flexible fuel line, and all they had was
8 different fluorescent colors of plastic aquarium hose. Or imagine that
they only had 10mm bolts in 2cm lengths, no other length, and they only had
three of those. And no Grade 8 bolts at all. And no stainless either.

Radio Shack's marketing must really understand their market, because I have
never seen any of the local stores go out of business. Clearly, they can
make enough money selling cell phones, cordless phones, stereos, alarms,
smoke detectors and batteries. The square footage of the stores devoted to
component sales seems to shrink every so often, till now there's just a
couple of metal tray bins and a short wall of plastic bagged stuff.

I don't attack the RS people. I just try to avoid them, because interaction
with their store personnel is painfully embarrassing. I wouldn't expect the
NAPA guys to know what a BNC is, so why should I expect the RS people to
know either? Sure, there's that "radio" in the name, and "shack" harkens
back to the built-it-yourself ham radio days, but you don't seriously expect
to find royalty at Burger King, do you?

Times change, salmon die after the upstream swim. Good parts are still
available on the Web (Mouser, Digikey, Newark, Allied). Acquire Zen.
Ultimately, WGASA?

Ed
wb6wsn

 

[Ed Price]

"Daniel J. Stern" <dastern@127.0.0.1> wrote in message
newsine.GSO.4.58.0409251136470.1817@alumni.engin.umich.edu...

On Fri, 24 Sep 2004, Watson A.Name - "Watt Sun, the Dark Remover" wrote:

You've got questions, we've got blank stares. Despite being something
of a cliche, it's dead-on accurate in the huge majority of RS stores.

Why just RS? Include McD and BK in there too.

The critical key difference is that Shit Shack *used* to be useful.
McDeath and Booger King have *always* sold crapola.

Elitist scum!
Haute cuisine is anyplace you can drive through!

Ed

 

[H. Dziardziel]

On Sun, 26 Sep 2004 03:01:48 GMT, Ross Herbert
<rherber1SPAMEX@bigpond.net.au> wrote:

snip

Did you use a digital multimeter?

I have encountered some strange an incomprehensible readings when
taking resistance measurements on highly reactive components such as
transformers when measuring with my Gossen Metrawatt MetraHit 25S
digital meter (a not too cheap instrument), and when this occurs I
always revert back to my trusty old moving coil analogue meter (AVO
model 7) and usually the correct expected measurement is obtained.

Ross H

Hello, yes you've reminded me of that same experience. It's
caused by the DMM sampling (frequency) and back EMF. Sometimes
just shorting out a winding kills the back EMF so a reading can
be made.

 

[Al]

In article <I7x5d.75009$9Y5.72118@fed1read02>,
"Ed Price" <edprice@cox.net> wrote:

"Bob Ward" <bobward@email.com> wrote in message
news:vo99l05cluekidbs03k7j9okbu1j8qn0c9@4ax.com...
On Fri, 24 Sep 2004 17:49:09 GMT, Don Bruder <dakidd@sonic.net> wrote:


Radio Shack:
You've got questions, we've got blank stares.

Despite being something of a cliche, it's dead-on accurate in the huge
majority of RS stores.


Since you are making this statement as some sort of authoritative
comment, are we to assume that you have personally visiterd over 3500
stores (more than half would be a bare majority - we'll give you the
benefit of the doubt) in doing the research that leads you to this
conclusion?

Name them.



Radio Shack used to be (maybe 30 years ago) an intriguing place to browse
and buy project parts. But for whatever reason, the selection and quality of
discrete components has plummeted to the joke level. It was bad 10 years
ago, and it's even worse now.

My proof? Well, I can go into any store in the San Diego region, and get the
same level of cheap parts. From what I hear on Usenet, this is typical
everywhere else. You could refute my experience, if you could cite a Radio
Shack that sells RG-214 coax, type N coax fittings, or switches that have
tin-plated terminals and a good "feel."

Sure, I still go to Radio Shack. Last week I found myself hovering over the
parts trays, looking for female BNC chassis connectors (none found), two
fuseholders (that bright finish on the terminals sure is hard to get solder
to flow onto it), a pair of SPST bat-handle switches (they had one) and a
metal project box (only carry plastic boxes). While I was searching for
parts dumped back into the wrong bins (hope springs eternal), I was
approached by two different sales droids with their canned welcome / help
speech (and both didn't know what a BNC connector was).

I found myself standing there, wondering why I wanted to build anything with
the crappy quality parts they had. I found myself hoping that the other
sales droids would ignore me, as I don't think I could have tolerated
explaining what a BNC connector looks like a third time. Imagine that you
went into a NAPA store looking for flexible fuel line, and all they had was
8 different fluorescent colors of plastic aquarium hose. Or imagine that
they only had 10mm bolts in 2cm lengths, no other length, and they only had
three of those. And no Grade 8 bolts at all. And no stainless either.

Radio Shack's marketing must really understand their market, because I have
never seen any of the local stores go out of business. Clearly, they can
make enough money selling cell phones, cordless phones, stereos, alarms,
smoke detectors and batteries. The square footage of the stores devoted to
component sales seems to shrink every so often, till now there's just a
couple of metal tray bins and a short wall of plastic bagged stuff.

I don't attack the RS people. I just try to avoid them, because interaction
with their store personnel is painfully embarrassing. I wouldn't expect the
NAPA guys to know what a BNC is, so why should I expect the RS people to
know either? Sure, there's that "radio" in the name, and "shack" harkens
back to the built-it-yourself ham radio days, but you don't seriously expect
to find royalty at Burger King, do you?

Times change, salmon die after the upstream swim. Good parts are still
available on the Web (Mouser, Digikey, Newark, Allied). Acquire Zen.
Ultimately, WGASA?

Ed
wb6wsn

Let's face it. Few people do electronic hobbies anymore. When I was a
kid in the 50s, I built my own transistor radio before anyone else had
one. You could actually build something which was not available
commercially. Often if it was available, what you built could be
superior. This is hardly the case anymore. And it's not just
electronics. When was the last time to saw a kit for a stick built model
airplane with tissue paper fabric. Why bother building when you can buy
something for less than 50 bucks on the internet and it flies out of the
box?

Radio Shack is surviving by selling what most people want to buy,
pre-built electronic toys. And the realy trouble started when a woman
took over as CEO. At least the stock holders are somewhat happy.

I needed a couple of -12VDC 3-terminal regulators recently. The only way
to get them is by mail order. I lucked out when my son found some at the
MIT Flea Market. I won't be surprised is soon DIP parts will no longer
be available anywhere. And how are hobbiests able to deal with SMDs.

Al

 

[Daniel J. Stern]

On Sun, 26 Sep 2004, Ed Price wrote:

You've got questions, we've got blank stares. Despite being something
of a cliche, it's dead-on accurate in the huge majority of RS stores.

Why just RS? Include McD and BK in there too.

The critical key difference is that Shit Shack *used* to be useful.
McDeath and Booger King have *always* sold crapola.

Elitist scum! Haute cuisine is anyplace you can drive through!

Naw it ain't. Haute cuisine is the kind that comes out of the oven or off
of the stove, as opposed to caulde cuisine, which comes out of the fridge
or freezer.

 

[Rich Webb]

On Sun, 26 Sep 2004 03:48:08 -0700, "Ed Price" <edprice@cox.net> wrote:

Radio Shack used to be (maybe 30 years ago) an intriguing place to browse
and buy project parts. But for whatever reason, the selection and quality of
discrete components has plummeted to the joke level. It was bad 10 years
ago, and it's even worse now.

My proof? Well, I can go into any store in the San Diego region, and get the
same level of cheap parts. From what I hear on Usenet, this is typical
everywhere else. You could refute my experience, if you could cite a Radio
Shack that sells RG-214 coax, type N coax fittings, or switches that have
tin-plated terminals and a good "feel."

I don't have a citation/link (it's been several weeks since I read it)
but a recent industry rag had an article commenting that Radio Shack
might be returning at least partway to its roots. They apparently had a
"D'Oh!" moment and realized that there's no possible way to compete with
the warehouse retailers for the big ticket items. A typical RS has less
total shelf space than in just the notebook PC aisle at CompUSA.

On the other hand, a customer driving to CompUSA (or fill-in-the-blank)
probably passes at least a couple RS stores en route. So they're looking
to capture the "I need a ..." market for smaller items and piece parts.

I wish them luck. It is, perhaps, a sign of uber-geek sophistication to
dump on Radio Shack. But, even in the days of on-line ordering and
overnight delivery, it's pretty handy to be able to walk a couple of
blocks to the local RS and pick up a spool of wire-wrap wire.

--
Rich Webb Norfolk, VA

 

[Bob Ward]

On Sun, 26 Sep 2004 15:15:32 GMT, Al <no.spam@wanted.com> wrote:

Let's face it. Few people do electronic hobbies anymore. When I was a
kid in the 50s, I built my own transistor radio before anyone else had
one. You could actually build something which was not available
commercially. Often if it was available, what you built could be
superior. This is hardly the case anymore. And it's not just
electronics. When was the last time to saw a kit for a stick built model
airplane with tissue paper fabric. Why bother building when you can buy
something for less than 50 bucks on the internet and it flies out of the
box?

That would be when I stopped into the Hobby Lobby store in Chino Hills
last week - they still have a full selection of advanced level kits
for RC hobbyists.

Why bother building a high performance aircraft when you can buy RTF
junk on the Internet? You tell me.

 

[Sylvia Else]

Ken wrote:

Hi,

I would like to know what is a magnetic field. I mean what is it composed
of.
I searched google , asked people around me , no one seems to know.
Obviously everyone knows where how, but not what.
I thought it was electrons, but that cant be.

thank you

ken

A magnetic field is part of a theory we use to describe the interaction
between charged particles, which are themselves just part of the theory.

At the end of the day, science only ever describes. It never explains
things except in terms of other descriptions. By asking what a magnetic
field is out in the real world, you're asking for something that is
beyond the scope of measurement, and therefore unknowable even in principle.

Sylvia.

 

[Tim Auton]

Al <no.spam@wanted.com> wrote:
[snip]

Let's face it. Few people do electronic hobbies anymore. When I was a
kid in the 50s, I built my own transistor radio before anyone else had
one.

Was it better (cheaper, smaller, sounded better...) than a
commercially available non-transistor radio?

You could actually build something which was not available
commercially.

You still can. Things have moved on, so we build different things
these days. The components are much better though. I built a PVR
(digital video recorder). I didn't make the motherboard, or the CPU,
or the RAM and I didn't write most of the code (I did write some
though, and I spent a whole lot of time making the damn thing work) -
but I bet you didn't make your own transistors or capacitors or invent
much of the circuit topology for your radio either. I also build
boards for my robots - not from discrete components, but from micro
controllers, integrated H-bridge drivers, packaged power regulators
and the like. Why not make it all from discretes? Same reason you
didn't make your own transistors.

Often if it was available, what you built could be
superior. This is hardly the case anymore. And it's not just
electronics. When was the last time to saw a kit for a stick built model
airplane with tissue paper fabric.

All the time! Go to an R/C hobby shop, the place is full of 'em. Go to
a place they fly gliders, the sky is full of 'em.

Why bother building when you can buy
something for less than 50 bucks on the internet and it flies out of the
box?

Perhaps because the cheap planes suck?


Tim
--
Guns Don't Kill People, Rappers Do.

 

[Brian]

Try quantum physics.


"Sylvia Else" <sylvia@not.at.this.address> wrote in message
news:41575f88$0$23895$afc38c87@news.optusnet.com.au...


Ken wrote:

Hi,

I would like to know what is a magnetic field. I mean what is it composed
of.
I searched google , asked people around me , no one seems to know.
Obviously everyone knows where how, but not what.
I thought it was electrons, but that cant be.

thank you

ken

A magnetic field is part of a theory we use to describe the interaction
between charged particles, which are themselves just part of the theory.

At the end of the day, science only ever describes. It never explains
things except in terms of other descriptions. By asking what a magnetic
field is out in the real world, you're asking for something that is
beyond the scope of measurement, and therefore unknowable even in principle.

Sylvia.

 

[Ryan Wheeler]

Ken wrote:

Hi,

I would like to know what is a magnetic field. I mean what is it
composed of.
I searched google , asked people around me , no one seems to know.
Obviously everyone knows where how, but not what.
I thought it was electrons, but that cant be.

thank you

ken

look at this one http://www.who.int/peh-emf/en/

search word in google is: emf