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| Old electronics shops in Melbourne: what's there today (video) |
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| vk6zgo:
--- Quote from: vk3yedotcom on November 07, 2015, 10:58:07 pm --- --- Quote from: VK3DRB on November 07, 2015, 09:59:09 pm ---Here's my list where I used to hang out in the 70's and 80's... McGraths All Electronic Components Japanese Transistor Supplies Stewart Electronics United Trade Sales Tasman Electronics (in Coburg - they were a hidden gem just off Sydney Road, run by a young Italian family) Ellistronics (the best!) Radio Parts Group (had everything back then) Ham Radio Supplies Altronics Dick Smith (if I had to) Rod Iriving (if I really had to) Tandy Electronics (last resort) --- End quote --- A great list! Curious about Altronics. My understanding was that the '80s Altronics only had the Perth store (in Northbridge) but there were resellers interstate and in country areas. Did the Melbourne CBD place brand itself Altronics and have most/all of their range? (as opposed to the Tandy reseller model where a country appliance store would have a few hooks and shelves with Archer bits and Realistic amps) From their catalogues and EA ads Rod Irving seemed to have a similar range to Altronics or Jaycar (with more PC stuff as the '90s wore on) but an eye opener has been the low opinion in which they were held (eg your post here and others' elsewhere). --- End quote --- Yeah,Altronics started out in Stirling Street diagonally opposite the Mail Exchange,as a "Dick Smith" reseller before DSE had their own shop in William Street. The old shop is still there,selling sports equipment------or was,last time I was in that area. You never know in Perth--turn your back,& your life is demolished!! ;D The DSE shop,(which is something else now) was conveniently just around the corner from my old Telecom Aust workplace in Robinson Avenue,(which is now a hotel!}. ;D A more recent workplace is now a housing development-----go figure! |
| SteveLy:
Cool videos (Parts 1 & 2) and the positive spin at the end of part 2 is good. Stores with walk-in get-what-you-need, let alone being able to talk to someone knowledgeable, ... stores with that level of service are dying. Jaycar Melbourne is all that's left. I hope the niche market is enough to make them stick around for the long haul without becoming a consumer electronics (no parts/components) store like DSE did. Not an electronics store (though it became Jaycar later) but a TV repair shop in the group of the North-West corner shops (where there used to be a Dick Smith's as well) at the intersection of Princes Hwy and Springvale Rd was where I visited frequently in the late 1980s and early 1990s. After I bought one $120 second-hand TV set there, the owner was happy to share tips on how to fix old TVs and I learnt a lot of electronics from him: fairly complicated stuff about colour signals. Actually I learnt most of that by studying the yellowed paper circuit diagrams tucked inside the back panel of old TVs, but the shop owner inspired me enough to have a go. I think he was Chinese, maybe Vietnamese, but as a young whipper-snapper I never had the courage to ask (and I was not all that curious about it anyway). I forgot his name too. :( I fixed a few kerbside TVs using what I learnt and our financially stretched household had zero-cost colour TVs for many years as a result. Online interaction is very different from walking into a store and finding someone genuinely willing to help you. Online info is great for getting the job done, but it lacks the warm fuzziness of face-to-face interaction. |
| vk3yedotcom:
One no one has mentioned, and which I didn't cover because it was out in Richmond(?), was Kitsets Australia from c1972 to 1974. Seemed to be like a shooting star - emerged suddenly, opened several stores in different states, then disappeared. I think they offered modern supermarket-style shopping but Dick Smith's expansion might have trumped them. On one hand the 1974 tariff cut would have helped electronic retail but on the other hand the wages breakout that year would have made paying wages tough. |
| EEVblog:
Nice work on the video. Karl (State of Electronics) was looking for old photos of the York Street stores in Sydney (David Reids, Tricky Dicks, Jaycar, Tandy). Would anyone have any old photos? |
| vk6zgo:
--- Quote from: vk3yedotcom on November 03, 2015, 07:50:04 am --- --- Quote from: vk6zgo on November 03, 2015, 07:07:04 am ---There once was an Electronics shop at the top end of Hay St,in Perth. --- End quote --- Wasn't Willis Trading was it? I used to drool over their ads (being pretty much the only WA place that advertised in the 10 year old EA magazines I lived on) and remember being disappointed when they moved to Vic Park then closed down before I had much money to buy stuff. Some compensation came from Worldwide in George St which wasn't far away and open early in the mornings. Reading about electronic shops in other countries there does appear to be some association between their location and those of 'red light' areas. And I'm not just talking Fyshwick, ACT. I suspect it is that they, like pawnbroker shops, are in the less salubrious, low rent quarters of town. Not that I'm sufficiently well travelled to vouch for it myself, but it's certainly been written about: http://www.smh.com.au/digital-life/computers/blog/gadgets-on-the-go/akihabara-a-beginners-guide-to-the-ultimate-geek-pilgrimage-20130923-2ua1r.html --- End quote --- Sorry for the long delayed answer,but yes,it was Willis Trading. It used to be in Murray Street when the old bloke ran it,just around the corner from General Accessories (Genacs). He had,apart from Electronics parts,quite a few secondhand Amateur Radio transmitters/transceivers---mostly Heathkit single band things. After the young bloke took over,they moved to the Hay Street spot. Do you remember "Genacs"(maybe before your time)---they were probably the first self service parts shop in Perth. They had two "lolly jars" of unmarked NPN & PNP silicon transistors near the checkout ( we called 'em "BC10?s"). You could get a handful for a dollar. Way before your time,were the Melbourne & Sydney Radio Shops & Surplus stores which used to advertise in the old "Radio & Hobbies" magazine. As a kid,I used to love digging through my big brother's collection of R&H mags & drooling at all the wonderful things that appeared. I wrecked the mags,too ---little turd! They were mostly gone,or "gone legit"as suppliers of new stuff by the mid '60s. |
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