Tandy - childhood interests
Discussion
So who frequented Tandy as a kid ?
I started off with these kits, self assembly no soldering
Progressed to soldered kits making a few projects as a nipper.... then found computing
merged the two together computer control of projects etc...
Then ended up going down the route of a maintenance electrician.
Things lead to things.... but fond memories of getting something from Tandy and then Magenta electronics...
saw they have a kit on ebay.... I might purchase it and relive those years lol
I tried to build my own speakers so bought a woofer to start with from the Tandy catalogue as the shop was just up the road. I found some wood in the garage and got the circular saw out to start chopping. My dad hit the roof when he found out it was actually a kitchen cabinet I was chopping up! 
In the end, I bought some Jamo 110's instead.
In the end, I bought some Jamo 110's instead.
I had two of them IIRC. If you spent more, you got more stuff so it become a 160-in-1 or something.
I remember making a pressure pad from a cut-up tin can, wired in to whichever kit I had at the time and wanted to put it under the stairs carpet to sound an alarm if anyone came upstairs
I remember making a pressure pad from a cut-up tin can, wired in to whichever kit I had at the time and wanted to put it under the stairs carpet to sound an alarm if anyone came upstairs
Harpoon said:
I had two of them IIRC. If you spent more, you got more stuff so it become a 160-in-1 or something.
I remember making a pressure pad from a cut-up tin can, wired in to whichever kit I had at the time and wanted to put it under the stairs carpet to sound an alarm if anyone came upstairs
An excellent early warning system for getting rid of the porn stash! I remember making a pressure pad from a cut-up tin can, wired in to whichever kit I had at the time and wanted to put it under the stairs carpet to sound an alarm if anyone came upstairs
ruggedscotty said:
So who frequented Tandy as a kid ?
I started off with these kits, self assembly no soldering
Progressed to soldered kits making a few projects as a nipper.... then found computing
merged the two together computer control of projects etc...
Then ended up going down the route of a maintenance electrician.
Things lead to things.... but fond memories of getting something from Tandy and then Magenta electronics...
saw they have a kit on ebay.... I might purchase it and relive those years lol
I used to love Tandy as a kid and bought all sorts of gadgets there.
It still makes me sad that I went in with some birthday money once to buy a gadget only to discover it had just been discontinued and they had no more It was basically a small glitter ball cut in half that you put over the spindle of your record player and shone a light at, thus filling your room with sparkly lights as the record played.
Despite looking for one ever since at car boot sales, vintage audio fairs and eBay for the last 30 odd years, I've never seen one.
It still makes me sad that I went in with some birthday money once to buy a gadget only to discover it had just been discontinued and they had no more It was basically a small glitter ball cut in half that you put over the spindle of your record player and shone a light at, thus filling your room with sparkly lights as the record played.
Despite looking for one ever since at car boot sales, vintage audio fairs and eBay for the last 30 odd years, I've never seen one.
I too had one of those kits, led me to a life of assembling prototype electronics and onto CNC machines and 3d printing, and being able to produce prototype products as a whole not just parts of them. I still many years later play with electronics. Mostly now with home automation. I loved Tandy and would often buy stuff from there as a kid or teenager.
And strangely i was just looking at one of those sets for sale in an antiques shop the other day.
And strangely i was just looking at one of those sets for sale in an antiques shop the other day.
Was a great shop in the day....I remember Tandy, I think there was one in Kingston upon Thames (unless that was actually a Maplin!) where I bought bits and bobs for my schoolboy soldering attempts.
It was a shame to lose Maplin - it was great being able to browse the project enclosures and so on. But, it wasn't surprising that they went under as they didn't seem to be getting the volume of sales. Like so many such losses many of us shoulder the blame by ordering stuff from eBay/Amazon/Ali express that previously we would have got at Maplin.
One thing I loved was that they were selling STEM type project kits, I bought a few for my nephew to get him into science and engineering. They also did a lot of Arduino projects - never tried any but I expect that the current crop of young engineers includes some who cut their teeth doing cool stuff with Arduino they bought from Maplin with their birthday money. The circle of life continues!
It was a shame to lose Maplin - it was great being able to browse the project enclosures and so on. But, it wasn't surprising that they went under as they didn't seem to be getting the volume of sales. Like so many such losses many of us shoulder the blame by ordering stuff from eBay/Amazon/Ali express that previously we would have got at Maplin.
One thing I loved was that they were selling STEM type project kits, I bought a few for my nephew to get him into science and engineering. They also did a lot of Arduino projects - never tried any but I expect that the current crop of young engineers includes some who cut their teeth doing cool stuff with Arduino they bought from Maplin with their birthday money. The circle of life continues!
I worked in Tandy in the mid nineties and it was utterly soul destroying selling loads of things (remote control cars, hifi etc) in the run up to Christmas only to find a big queue of people outside when reopening after Christmas wanting their money back cos it was all absolute s
te.
Tandy was only good for the components.
My manager at the time told me Tandy UK was the outlet for all the crap the US couldn't sell.
Was relieved to leave and work in a supermarket.
te.Tandy was only good for the components.
My manager at the time told me Tandy UK was the outlet for all the crap the US couldn't sell.
Was relieved to leave and work in a supermarket.
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