Radio Shack Resistors

[graybeard]

I believe these are from the early 70's

[AlbertL]

Do they include unlimited talk and text?  I mean, this is Radio Shack, right?

[graybeard]

Do they include unlimited talk and text?  I mean, this is Radio Shack, right?

These are from before the cell phone era.

I'm not sure if these were good, better, or best.

[floobydust]

Most Radio Shack electronic components were from Taiwan, some were from Japan. Quality varied a lot e.g. low end electrolytics, rebadged semiconductors through to high quality parts from Japan like jumper leads, Murata/TDK etc.

I would say the metal film resistors are fine, may even have copper leads (not steel) unlike modern parts. Some eBay sellers are asking silly high prices for Rip Shack parts.

[graybeard]

In the 1960s the components were primarily surplus and old US made parts.   In the 1970s they started to come from Japan.  I stopped buying components from them in the early 1970s. 
I found this package in a box in my mother's garage.  I put them up here because they remind me of when I was just learning electronics.
There is no reason these should be worth more now.   Given they were stored in a damp sea air environment they should be close to worthless.

[floobydust]

I remember the parts ended up super expensive if you bought an Archer Project PC board and tried to build the kit. Prices were really high.
Radio Shack's model for profit in the 1970's seemed to be like many other businesses today - import low cost parts/products from Asia, markup the price a lot, sell for good profit.

I really miss their jumper leads, I tracked down the Japanese company making them and wanted to buy a bunch but the do not speak English and $60 DHL shipping and I got cold feet.
The chinese ones are absolute crap, always a poor connection crimping copper to the alligator clip, the plastic goes rock hard, skinny wire etc.
Radio Shack wasn't all that bad.

[graybeard]

I remember the parts ended up super expensive if you bought an Archer Project PC board and tried to build the kit. Prices were really high.
Radio Shack's model for profit in the 1970's seemed to be like many other businesses today - import low cost parts/products from Asia, markup the price a lot, sell for good profit.

I really miss their jumper leads, I tracked down the Japanese company making them and wanted to buy a bunch but the do not speak English and $60 DHL shipping and I got cold feet.
The chinese ones are absolute crap, always a poor connection crimping copper to the alligator clip, the plastic goes rock hard, skinny wire etc.
Radio Shack wasn't all that bad.

Buy some Mueller alligator clips and insulators and make some.  The quality of the Mueller clips far exceeds those made by others.

For jumper cables my favorite clips are either these Nickel plated steel ones or Gold plated steel ones.

I have Mueller clips that I have been using for 40 years.

[floobydust]

Good you mentioned Mueller Electric, I just noticed they offer alligator test lead sets such as BU-00285 18". Not sure what clips they are using, I thought they're different from their main lineup of clips.
BU-30 alligator clips I dislike, jaw too small only 2 teeth on the side, and it's overall too short and the boots are shaped wrong, like 1970's disco jeans.  They've been around since 1940! and great for tube amplifiers but things are a bit more refined 81 years later. I have lots of them and the build quality is good. The 70 series clip ad 1957 is funny, spring goes 60MPH !

Starting the DeLorean and going back to Radio Shack, the superior alligator test leads are made by Tokyo Teishin Electric (T.SIN)  they have a longer jaw 5 teeth, tight crimp connection, boots that are better shaped, ~20". I think they (medium size) are TLA-2 or TLA-82. Test Lead Catalogue including some metrology-grade on their website but alas no sign of distributors outside of Japan.

[Brumby]

I believe these are from the early 70's

I am doubtful about that time.  In the early 70's there were no such luxurious offerings here in Australia. In their 1981 catalogue, Tandy (as we had here) was selling these RadioShack resistors...

I see carbon composition and carbon film resistors here. Metal film was MUCH later to Australia ... and I'm not sure I ever saw metal film in a Tandy store.  IIRC, they got out of components long before they were bought out.

[floobydust]

I couldn't find metal film 1% in '77' or '80. Don't cry too much   https://www.radioshackcatalogs.com

[graybeard]

Mueller Alligator Clip Jumpers

[Sal Ammoniac]

Starting the DeLorean and going back to Radio Shack, the superior alligator test leads are made by Tokyo Teishin Electric (T.SIN)  they have a longer jaw 5 teeth, tight crimp connection, boots that are better shaped, ~20". I think they (medium size) are TLA-2 or TLA-82. Test Lead Catalogue including some metrology-grade on their website but alas no sign of distributors outside of Japan.

The next time you're in Tokyo, head down to Akihabara. There's probably a vendor there selling nothing but alligator clips, including ones from T.SIN.

[tooki]

I really miss their jumper leads, I tracked down the Japanese company making them and wanted to buy a bunch but the do not speak English and $60 DHL shipping and I got cold feet.
The chinese ones are absolute crap, always a poor connection crimping copper to the alligator clip, the plastic goes rock hard, skinny wire etc.
Radio Shack wasn't all that bad.

I concur with graybeard: make your own using quality clips and quality test lead wire.

Mueller clips are great quality.
I really like the SKS/Hirschmann MA 1 series, which comes in a few styles (crimp, 2mm socket, etc). I actually just bought a few recently to make some new leads.

What I really like about them is that the jaws actually have two sections with different size teeth, one of which is for thinner wire. They’re way better than ordinary clips IMHO.

[bob91343]

The catalog shows 'as low as 79¢' but those were the most expensive in the list.

[floobydust]

I think best to start another thread about quality jumper test leads, not to slide this one 

OP I could not find your resistor pack, late 70's they did offer 1% metal film then they vanished from the catalogues. They are likely made in Japan as nobody in Asia was doing better than 5-10% carbon film back then. I'd still use the parts breadboarding, metal film/epoxy does good and the leads are not tarnished.
Archer-Pak is different, just reselling Poly-Paks surplus rejects.
Radio Shack was all over the place, so many items and either surplus rejects or good quality. Prices were always too high as I recall.

[tooki]

I think best to start another thread about quality jumper test leads, not to slide this one 

OP I could not find your resistor pack, late 70's they did offer 1% metal film then they vanished from the catalogues. They are likely made in Japan as nobody in Asia was doing better than 5-10% carbon film back then.

It says “custom manufactured in Japan for radio shack” right on the package, visible in the first photo…

[floobydust]

Oh, I didn't read the whole package. Still good stuff.

[DrG]

I think 80s not 70s. They were in the 1988 cat https://www.radioshack.com/products/radioshack-50-piece-1-4-watt-metal-film-resistor-assortment

The good news is that you can still get them from Radio Shack https://www.radioshack.com/products/radioshack-50-piece-1-4-watt-metal-film-resistor-assortment  although the advert does not say where they were made

[rsjsouza]

I believe these are from the early 70's

I am doubtful about that time.  In the early 70's there were no such luxurious offerings here in Australia.

You folks from the first world were so lucky... At the end of the 80's and early 90's we could not find 1% anywhere in Brasil... It was a sea of carbon (both comp and film) everywhere and rather expensive (50 resistors for 2.49? Only in a dream...)