Hos the fuck whit talcing about fucking CDs 8 tracks have always bean the best sistem on the Market iv got lots of 8 tracks tapes and players and real to real fuck CDs you fucking moron
I bought a 2005 Hyuandai....with a freakin broken CD player....that just spits the C.D.s back out, as fast as you inset them... I call it my "Virgin" C.D player...LOL! I am now planning on installing and XM radio system. But I do remember the 8 tracks. I also remember the cheap cassette stereo player in my first car that ate tapes like a bum on a bologna sandwich.
My parents had 8-tracks. Contrary to popular lore, they were not a failure. They were quite popular for playing music in your car/truck prior to compact cassettes and CDs.
Heck I got piles of carts and players (as well as reel to reel, cassette, and vinyls) I use them all but I'm most fascinated by the 8 track. Ive got cassettes and 8 tracks as well as players for both well over 30 years old and they still work great! I'd love to see a ho chi minh made ipod or droid be working 30 years from now, and I'll still probably have analog stuff that still works (unless I'm dead by then...)
@soupdujur Keep telling yourself that. For most of us with normally priced stereos, vinyl always sounded like crap. For 99% of us CDs gave us far better audio than what we had at home for the average needle drop. CD didn't take over because it sounded worse, for most of us with department store grade audio equipment, cd was a HUGE step up!
I'd gotten a Realistic/Radio Shack 8-Track Tape Recorder! With VU Meters and Volume Controls,too! I'd had to give it up when I'd moved in 1989-I was heartsick-I'd gave up pretty much nearly everything!
@henryloco11 yeah but vinyl did not die cd is but new albums always come out on vinyl I just got tthe new Jimi Hendrix album Valleys Of Neptune. And you can still find new albums on ebay on cassette for instance ive seen Keisha daft punk and Paul McCartney on cassette. All dance music and hip hop comes out on vinyl and Dj use vinyl, Im not fussed i use vinyl cassette or cd, I use the formats along with Mp3, But i prefer vinyl for home listening and Mp3 for travel and Cd or cassette in my car.
@tubtanic1 I had the red version with am/fm radio that took 8 batteries, a/c power or 12 volt power from a cigar lighter. That thing was bullet proof. It lasted me over 10 years and when I gave it away, the radio still worked.
This is great. Thanks for posting. I like how they tell you the original price, the sale price, and then the 30 dollar savings. As if people can't even add by themselves. Radio shack now: "You got questions, we got cell phones"
Can you still do 8-track today? My Good Will and Salvation Army Thrift Stores still carry these things. They have stereos that play 8-Track, and lots of old tapes.
I have a documentary about 8-Tracks called 'So Wrong, They're Right'. Ever seen it?
I remember these...when cassette debuted, they also had the bolt-it-on-under-the-dash models. We had a '75 VW Bus with a Craig under-dash cassette. All dad had was 8 track tapes, so we went to the gas station and bought some. Yep, you could buy 8 track and cassette tapes at the gas station!! Good times...dad got himself some Glen Campbell and Jose' Feliciano if I remember correctly.
"Or buy one and have enough money left over for car speakers AND your first tape," he shouts breathlessly. Many folks were sweating it out wondering whether they were going to be able to come up with the money to access this new technology. Additionally, how would they get it all installed and where would they find the money for this?
Are there actually still Radio Shack stores? Everything around here is under the Source name these days. I think for me Radio Shack died when the realistic brand name died.
Yeah but Radio Shacks are now cell phone/computer connection stores, they don't hardly sell shit anymore. The days when they had all kinds of neat gadgets/CB & Ham radios/Electronic parts/etc are over.
Just a bunch of shit now, their salesmen are dumbfuck kids
8-track tapes; yeah, that's the ticket. Hear 3 songs, then the annoying whirring sound and that loud "click" as it changed programs. Then the thrill of having to jam a matchbook in between the tape and the opening of the player to get it to play properly after a few playings Oh yeah, I almost forgot the joy of hearing a long song like "Free Bird" interrupted by the changing programs so it fades out right at the beginning of the guitar solos, then the whir and click and the fade-in - FUN!!!
I asked where the resistors were. What is that? I need a 3.66 ohm 1% tolerance , 1/4 watt resistor. What do they look like? Enough I'm gone. Stopped a place that fixed pinball machines, and got two for free. Way to stay in business.
TRS-80 anybody! The company I worked for got sued for giving RS a bad rep when they got into the pc market and the 8086 based crap we made for them bombed. They couldn't own up to the fact people didn't like the fact you had to buy their over priced accessories!
Yeah. Radio Shack was a great place when I was a kid in the 80s. They had a lot of great unique products. Now they have nothing but generic junk and morons working who have no knowledge of electronics. And they seems to worry about pushing cell phones on people, not to mention they talk on the damn things too much. Ours advertises vacuums and dish internet. Good grief, that store will be gone before too long. Of course, internet will put a lot of walk in businesses out before too long.
hey everyone, i would have stayed at rs all day as a kid if i could. Those were the days! What other things do you all remember? Anyone have those old crystal scanners from rs that in many areas are no good? My uncle had one and my first handheld from there was a 10 ch programmable one. These were just a few of the many neat items gracing the rs stores of the day. If only those days could come back just one more time!
Yep! This cheap player required the extra help of a folded matchbook cover! and you would be getting into a tune and all of a sudden hear that squealing sound of the tape being eaten! You old timers like me know what im talking about! LOL.
Out of desperation I walked into Radio Shack and asked if they still carried a "stylus"
(I should have known better) the two guys said No without a thought. Then one of them lit up and said wait I think we do - He came back with a pen stylus for the old PDA's. Not the old stereophonic needle for my "Record Player"
Writing is on the wall. When you are just a haven for Cell phones and not much else, you won't stay for long. I remember when Radio Shack was anything to kits, Hifi and much more. It was fun going to Radio Shack, now it is a useless fast food or quickie mart store of cell phones and batteries. A shame!
@vincedog3 The equivalent of Tandy. Still a decade and a half ago, it was a shop for all kinds of electronics. Now they turned the Tandy shop into a 'consumer electronics' shop with cheap Chinese rubbish with planned obsolescence over them. Remember the brand Realistic?
@SlimeTron5000 yeah, but as early as the mid 70's they were already having offerings of inexpensive plastic fabricated junk...even the raw speakers they used to sell (aside from the old Realistic 'metal' bullet tweeter) were pretty inefficient and made for them overseas for pennies however I do remember the guys working there to have good understanding understanding of electronics,specifications and the multitude of devices used to create your own electronic equipment.
@MightySaturn5 to decry further implications... REALISTIC isn t he optimal audio vidoe BRAND.. as at 2 an era their record player decks for instance contained the typical BSR........get it? LOL
8 trax didnt come at POPULACE in Australia as everyone bought cassies xDxdxdD!!
you've got questions? We've got cell phones. I went in looking for a part for a TV is was fixing. I knew they had the part since I'd seen them before. The lady asked me what I wanted so to have a little fun, I told her I was looking for a 3.58MHz color crystal. You should have seen the deer in the headlights look on her face. she didn't a clue and proceded to try to talk intellegent so she wouldn't look dumb. I also heard someon call something a VHS antenna. (its VHF)
LOL! I worked at RS back then, and those were the good old days of the company. The Realistic brand of speakers were the #1 on the market, and were actually quite good. Their audio equipment was MUCH better than people realized (myself included, before I worked there). Yes, we sold crystal radio kits.... 8-tracks and the dreaded CB radios!!!
Today I am very reluctant to step foot in "The Shaft" ;)
@TheZepmeister I had the first Skynyrd album on 8-track. When you got to "Free Bird", the song would fade out right before the guitar jam, then the whirring and clicking as it changed programs. Then it would fade back in just as Allen Collins started his solo. It probably did the same thing with "Stairway to Heaven" on Zeppelin IV.
lol, I have a nice collection of 8-tracks i recently bought at an auction. Does anyone know if there is some hardware that I can buy to convert the 8-tracks to my computer?
Don't or get the vast sea of inane RC cars and other crap as it's also a toy store. They should officially change the name to Phones and Crap and hire retards with less than average problem solving skills from McDonald's or 7-11.
You have to face a Holy God on Judgment Day(Hebrews 9:27). He counts lust as adultery(Matthew 5:28) and hatred as murder(1 John 3:15). All liars will have their part in the Lake of Fire(Revelation 21:8). No thief will inherit the kingdom of God(1 Corinthians 6:9-11). Jesus Christ is the only way to be saved(John 14:6). YOU MUST REPENT OF YOUR SINS AND SUBMIT TO THE LORDSHIP OF JESUS CHRIST TO BE SAVED! THERE'S NO OTHER WAY! There's no second chance after death, so repent NOW! Proverbs 29:1
3500 stores. When I worked for Radio Shack (88-90 or so), there were more Radio Shack's than McDonalds. A new sandwich placed named Subway came in to town sometime around there, and their signage said something like "over XXXX stores by YYYY" which would have been more than Radio Shack, and I remember thinking "wow, they want to be bigger than McDonald's?" Hard to believe the growth (and decline) since!
Radio Shack -- well at least the ones near me -- still do supply transistors, capacitors, switches, ICs, transformers, etc ... in bins drawers .. I guess they needed to start focusing on cell phones and other hi profile items because that's where the revenues come from. Still beats most other stores
Radio shack knows very little about electronics. I went in once to buy a part for a color TV. The employee ran up to me asking if he could help. I thought I would have some fun so axed him if he had 3.58MHz color TV crystal. The look on his face was priceless. He didn't have a clue. He started stammering and asking all sorts of questions trying to figure out what the hell I was talking about. So I told him I knew wher they were and got it myself. He looked at me like "What the hell?"
I worked for Radio Shack briefly way back in the early 80s. The only thing Radio Shack cared about then was sales...they had little interest in educating their well-dressed $5 an hour staff about electronics.
Or paying them.... I did a brief tour there during the Christmas season of 1999. The only good part about that job was getting to play with the RC cars.
I know what you mean. the employees don't even know what electronics they sell or what they are for. I asked if they had any radio crystals and they laughed in my face. Then another time I asked if they had any 7805 transistors and they didn't know what they were. It's a joke when you are looking for parts for a project and they come up and say, "Can I help you with anything?"
@themadhacker2 I went in asking for Dual Layer DVD-Rs and they thought i meant a TiVo box (DVR)....i swear, Radio Shack needs to change their slogan to ANYTHING but "you've got questions, we've got answers"...even if its "If you've got questions, don't ask us"
@DvdXploitr yup just proves their ignorance even more. Hmm. I ran out of solder the other day. I should go in and have them get it for me and see how long it takes them to figure out what solder is.
@themadhacker2 i know, i used to work there. i was working towards my electronics major at the time (so i actually knew some about what i was selling out of the parts drawers). but i was let go because i didn't shove enough cell phones down people's throats. my view is, if someone comes in to order a record needle... they're probably not looking to buy a 2 year cell phone contract or 2000 dollar plasma screen.
I remember the days you could go into a Radio Shack and actually find someone who worked there who actually knew something about electronics... instead of hounding you to buy a cell phone (if they got off theirs long enough to help you).
@marcotor949 Yeah, now there are stupid black girls there that don't even know what a @!#$% bread board is. Seriously, they didn't. I had to show them.
I have one of these brand new in the box that I got at a flea market back in the early 90's. I never used it, just wanted a "new old" piece of technology.
well yeah thats because they were young and innovative. now all their head guys are old. nothing wrong with being old unless you think old. theyre analog players in a digital world. damn i love that quote.
they need to just give up. best buy is way more diverse then they are and offer better deals. radio shack's leaders are old and out of touch. its over.
IMO Radio Shack/Tandy's best era was the 70s and 80s. A local supplier for electronic components including some unusual and interesting stuff, and the really great Archer and Science Fair project kits, I had several of those. I would spend hours just browsing their catalogues, wondering what to save up for and buy next.
It seems 'The Shack' or whatever they're going to call themselves now, is just trying to compete with Best Buy, and failing at it. See also Circuit City.
The name change is probably because they don't sell many radio's any more. They certainly don't sell much in the way of electronic components for hobbyists either these days.
Radio Shack in the UK was called Tandy, because the name Radio Shack was already been used by another business.
In the UK there was a chain called Radio Rentals, Who primarily rented TVs and videos, and hadn't rented radios for decades. These days hardly anyone rents a TV, so Radio Rentals has now gone.
Where can you even buy 8 tracks anymore? I'm guessing eBay. they did have good audio quality but it was so annoying having your favorite song fading out as the track changed then fading back in. I wish we could exchange todays artist for 1970s. Music was so much better back then.
a FEW THINGS...yeah i would say pop/top 40 was better then, but there's great music out there, you have to look around for it, i hear loads of cool new things on satelitte radio-little steven's underground garage, deep tracks to name a few channels....and there's a store here in michigan called the corner record shop that has in their 45's room thousands of used 8 tracks, i kid you not!
The head in the player that reads the tape was probably out of alignment. It's easy to fix. You just need to open up the player and there is a screw somewhere inside that can adjust the head.
When American cars were No. 1 in the World! This used to be a hell of a good country! By this time (late 70's) the Japanese already had a lot of small realiable cars on the road! And American companies understimated them! You know the rest fof the story!
Ok, I don't like to brag too much, but my grandfather William P. Lear, invented the 8 track and this commercial rocks!!! A friend just emailed me the link and I have to revel just a bit...
WOW! A 77-78 T-Bird!A couple of our neighbors had those back in Indiana,the black one was gorgeous.I bought a 79 back in 88 & it ran pretty well except 4 a leaky radiator!They downsized em for 1980!
Lol I liked the 80 cougar xr7 the thunderbird tried to keep the same styling and it didnt work. I have a 78 as a daily driver but it has fords 8 track.
i love old stuff just as much as anyone else but i moved along with the times and love the new technology. do you also still use the 1980s commodore computer? you might as well with that attitude.
oh really i clocked 297,000 on a B210 on all original factory parts except for a clutch and brake pads. I did a compression test and all 4 cylinders were exactly 180 psi meaning there was no engine wear The card would have ran for ever but some jerk ran a stop sign 7 the B210 was no more. B210 was the most trouble free car ever made
B210's ran forever... but struts got 'knocky' early on at 180,000 miles. Needed to be replaced. Next thing the alternator brushes were gone at 250,000 miles.
Other than that the car was perfect. 400,000+ miles and dad gave it to his brother.
What I remember from the B210 was the seatbelt buzzer and warning light.
on the earlier ones. The B210-GX was the better version of them. I had a few of those too. Back then struts were filled with oil although mine never wore out. BTW the B210 engine was the most trouble free engine Nissan or any other car manufacturer ever made
$29.95 on sale back in the 70's was like $199 now - in 74 I was making like $1.25 hr minimum wage during high school and after taxes you didnt see a lot more than $50 a week on the check. Of course gas was like 39 cents a gallon then and milk came in glass gallons at 79 cents a gallon.
I want to install an 8-track in my 1984 Jeep CJ. I hate modern formats such as CDs, which are hopefully dying-off (I've heard that vinyl and MP3 packages are causing CD to die). Hopefully, 8-track will make a return, and you will be able to buy them brand-new. I would buy new 8-tracks, because 8-track rules.
I also own a fair amount of cassette tapes, but stereo eight will never return. There's no companies set up to make certain parts like the heads, and there's not enough demand to justify making players. The only thing that actually would be feasible is to make new blank carts, but there's inadequate demand to justify molding the plastic cases and stuffing them with 1/4" low-grade ferric reel to reel tape. Oh... but Quantegy no longer exists... no correct formulations available.
VaderNES I found you. I love CRT tv's but have one I cannot bring to life. Mid 80's unit with 19" CRT stereo SAP and on-screen menu + clock.
Will send it to you and also pay for shipping. Too good of a set to throw it away. I don't have time to fix it and closing down my storage. Email me your address and will send it to you.
Drivers originally saturated color. Replaced the Toshiba color processor IC and now blank screen (on screen clock still works).
I really can't accept it. I will be moving soon, and I will have to unfortunately part with some of my TVs (I will definitely keep the good ones, like my late 1960s/early 1970s Zenith (exact date unknown)). The ones I must get rid of will be given away (no trashing).
i must add, back then both the guy who worked at RS and the guy buying the stereo for his van (i'm sure) were both pot heads dude. wow.. the memories.
lmfao! omg nearly 60 bucks for that crap! i remember when that was the NEXT big thing.. lmfao! NOT, glad cassette beat them out... for the time being. radio snack!
Omg, Well im an 19 yearold 8-track collector and i bought a realistic car deck (unopened), it is almost identical to this model! Infact it is one of the smallest decks out there...So i installed it in my first car, a 1991 buick Le'Sabre ...I took out the ashtray and it perfectly fitted into the dash, looked like it belonged there (used the power leads from the lighter lol....Sound was good, but too much noise due to age of curcuits.
actually that is common misconseption, 8-track tapes still play great. I repair tapes from any condition, after a little TLC they will work like new. Although i will admit major problems normaly serface only when the tape(s) have been abused. Aswell all the tapes i have play beautifully (without the noise) on my pioneer H-R100. And i did some trouble shooting with the car player and it is a prob with the negative ground & the motor. I wish it worked well enough to put in my new car, 84' cutlass!
hey dude, you have an 8 track player in your car? So do I! Bought it at a flea market, still in the original box, and never installed! Sure looks and works great in my 1974 Ford LTD.
I hooked the hot wire directly to the + terminal of the battery, and the antenna cable acts as the ground. Works great!
And your Pioneer 8 track deck, is that the one with all the bells and whistles? Mine's an H-22, and it has no special features. Just the tape slot and the programme button.
Indeed this type of Realistic tape player looks really nice when installed properly! And Yes "that" can be said about my H-R100. The H-R100 is the best pioneer 8T player ever made, Dolby HR, records amazingly, looks great and it has the most reliable tape transport I've ever encountered! But your H-22 in all probability has the same style transport & reliability. UPDATE: Fixed the Realistic player and beyond professional workmanship installed it into my 84' Cutlass Supreme Brougham!
That's way better than the turntable on my dashboard. Count me in!
bacnstrpsnbacnstrps 2 months ago
For $29.95 gotta get me one
video409 3 months ago
Hos the fuck whit talcing about fucking CDs 8 tracks have always bean the best sistem on the Market iv got lots of 8 tracks tapes and players and real to real fuck CDs you fucking moron
TheBIKERDOOD 3 months ago
Anyone who has taste in cars that eclectic can't be all bad.
MattTheSaiyan 3 months ago
And that was like paying $500. in today's money for a 3 watt sound system, neat.
freethoughtmusic 3 months ago
I bought a 2005 Hyuandai....with a freakin broken CD player....that just spits the C.D.s back out, as fast as you inset them... I call it my "Virgin" C.D player...LOL! I am now planning on installing and XM radio system. But I do remember the 8 tracks. I also remember the cheap cassette stereo player in my first car that ate tapes like a bum on a bologna sandwich.
aftershock71 5 months ago
My parents had 8-tracks. Contrary to popular lore, they were not a failure. They were quite popular for playing music in your car/truck prior to compact cassettes and CDs.
maxwestcomics 5 months ago
2, 8
benkir13 5 months ago
Heck I got piles of carts and players (as well as reel to reel, cassette, and vinyls) I use them all but I'm most fascinated by the 8 track. Ive got cassettes and 8 tracks as well as players for both well over 30 years old and they still work great! I'd love to see a ho chi minh made ipod or droid be working 30 years from now, and I'll still probably have analog stuff that still works (unless I'm dead by then...)
shoprat17 5 months ago
It sucks when you are old enough to have bought Led Zeppelin IV, 5 times(record, eight track, cassette, cd, and mp3)! Haha!
Navdan87 5 months ago 7
@Navdan87 I only got it free once, on 8 track, and it still works, despite where i found it at...
shoprat17 5 months ago
@Navdan87
every thing sounds better on vinyl (record), it is true
soupdujur 4 months ago
@soupdujur Keep telling yourself that. For most of us with normally priced stereos, vinyl always sounded like crap. For 99% of us CDs gave us far better audio than what we had at home for the average needle drop. CD didn't take over because it sounded worse, for most of us with department store grade audio equipment, cd was a HUGE step up!
ihatestupidsignups 4 months ago
how they used to click click when they changed tracks,
Trashfished 6 months ago
@Trashfished hell yeah, thack change button was the hardest thing to push in, could break your thumb
LoreYseult 5 months ago
I'd gotten a Realistic/Radio Shack 8-Track Tape Recorder! With VU Meters and Volume Controls,too! I'd had to give it up when I'd moved in 1989-I was heartsick-I'd gave up pretty much nearly everything!
mrmjb1960 8 months ago
first 8 tracks then Vinyl records,then 8 track players then cassette players then cd players nd now ipods
henryloco11 8 months ago
@henryloco11 yeah but vinyl did not die cd is but new albums always come out on vinyl I just got tthe new Jimi Hendrix album Valleys Of Neptune. And you can still find new albums on ebay on cassette for instance ive seen Keisha daft punk and Paul McCartney on cassette. All dance music and hip hop comes out on vinyl and Dj use vinyl, Im not fussed i use vinyl cassette or cd, I use the formats along with Mp3, But i prefer vinyl for home listening and Mp3 for travel and Cd or cassette in my car.
hambone9119 7 months ago
i use to have a blue radio shake 8-track boom box. it took 6 d-sized bateries and this was in 1990,lol...8-tracks r still alive 1n 2011!!!!!
tubtanic1 8 months ago
@tubtanic1 I had the red version with am/fm radio that took 8 batteries, a/c power or 12 volt power from a cigar lighter. That thing was bullet proof. It lasted me over 10 years and when I gave it away, the radio still worked.
barriobajaj 7 months ago
@barriobajaj Well, Why Did you give it away?
ThePaddyjoejr1 6 months ago
@ThePaddyjoejr1 I've got 3 portable radios and 4 home systems. I don't want to be one of those people on Hoarders.
barriobajaj 5 months ago
Fuck. 8 track players? Wow. It was Vinyl records then 8 track players then cassette players then cd players now Youtube and the internet.
DarkReapersGrim 8 months ago
@DarkReapersGrim 8 track never replaced vinyl...NOTHING ever replaced vinyl for some people (like me).
vantageIIx 7 months ago
Hell Yeah! I went many a mile listening to my 8-tracks. Who wants a cassette player? You gotta turn those things over.
FamilyOfMan1975 9 months ago
hell yeah i got to get me one of those...or maybe even 2 if i dare
stingraystud 9 months ago
This is great. Thanks for posting. I like how they tell you the original price, the sale price, and then the 30 dollar savings. As if people can't even add by themselves. Radio shack now: "You got questions, we got cell phones"
margaretsville 9 months ago
An 8-track player? Groovy!!
ftsjr 10 months ago
Hey! I've got one of those!
Chub4ChubsRule 10 months ago
Can you still do 8-track today? My Good Will and Salvation Army Thrift Stores still carry these things. They have stereos that play 8-Track, and lots of old tapes.
I have a documentary about 8-Tracks called 'So Wrong, They're Right'. Ever seen it?
SuperCartiel 10 months ago
I'm puzzled at how Radio Shack is still in business.
cosmojay 11 months ago 19
I remember these...when cassette debuted, they also had the bolt-it-on-under-the-dash models. We had a '75 VW Bus with a Craig under-dash cassette. All dad had was 8 track tapes, so we went to the gas station and bought some. Yep, you could buy 8 track and cassette tapes at the gas station!! Good times...dad got himself some Glen Campbell and Jose' Feliciano if I remember correctly.
virnman 11 months ago
'
now is better CD player
bestamerica 11 months ago
Sweet! Was it the sedan or hardtop coupe?
quirpco 11 months ago
"Or buy one and have enough money left over for car speakers AND your first tape," he shouts breathlessly. Many folks were sweating it out wondering whether they were going to be able to come up with the money to access this new technology. Additionally, how would they get it all installed and where would they find the money for this?
Fairfaxcat 11 months ago
hahaaa...my parents had that same 8-track player in their '71 Mercury!
quirpco 11 months ago
@quirpco My parents had it in their '68 Dodge Dart :)
NoIDidunt10 11 months ago
@NoIDidunt10 Sweet! Was it the sedan or hardtop coupe? Our Merc was the coupe, in yellow. I used to nickname it "The Big Banana". lol
quirpco 11 months ago
I had that Yellow lemon Datsun 1975 B210 model bought it in 1984....lasted 3 yrs!
supremes1964 1 year ago
any one have the super bubble 8 track?
markmarshall39 1 year ago
Are there actually still Radio Shack stores? Everything around here is under the Source name these days. I think for me Radio Shack died when the realistic brand name died.
northernchicken 1 year ago
@northernchicken
Yeah but Radio Shacks are now cell phone/computer connection stores, they don't hardly sell shit anymore. The days when they had all kinds of neat gadgets/CB & Ham radios/Electronic parts/etc are over.
Just a bunch of shit now, their salesmen are dumbfuck kids
TheJomogogo 1 year ago
8-track tapes; yeah, that's the ticket. Hear 3 songs, then the annoying whirring sound and that loud "click" as it changed programs. Then the thrill of having to jam a matchbook in between the tape and the opening of the player to get it to play properly after a few playings Oh yeah, I almost forgot the joy of hearing a long song like "Free Bird" interrupted by the changing programs so it fades out right at the beginning of the guitar solos, then the whir and click and the fade-in - FUN!!!
elc1960 1 year ago
I asked where the resistors were. What is that? I need a 3.66 ohm 1% tolerance , 1/4 watt resistor. What do they look like? Enough I'm gone. Stopped a place that fixed pinball machines, and got two for free. Way to stay in business.
johned1956 1 year ago
TRS-80 anybody! The company I worked for got sued for giving RS a bad rep when they got into the pc market and the 8086 based crap we made for them bombed. They couldn't own up to the fact people didn't like the fact you had to buy their over priced accessories!
Most people went with AT configs instead.
150grnballistictip 1 year ago
They bought as T-bird and a DATSUN???!!! Well, that's an eclectic taste in autombiles!
TonyMaximMuscles 1 year ago
@TonyMaximMuscles Yeah, sort of like having a Porsche and a Yugo . . .
elc1960 8 months ago
Yeah. Radio Shack was a great place when I was a kid in the 80s. They had a lot of great unique products. Now they have nothing but generic junk and morons working who have no knowledge of electronics. And they seems to worry about pushing cell phones on people, not to mention they talk on the damn things too much. Ours advertises vacuums and dish internet. Good grief, that store will be gone before too long. Of course, internet will put a lot of walk in businesses out before too long.
filmmakingjoe 1 year ago
hey everyone, i would have stayed at rs all day as a kid if i could. Those were the days! What other things do you all remember? Anyone have those old crystal scanners from rs that in many areas are no good? My uncle had one and my first handheld from there was a 10 ch programmable one. These were just a few of the many neat items gracing the rs stores of the day. If only those days could come back just one more time!
manyvideoinerests 1 year ago
man, ya'll so so right, I remember the same thing!!! too bad those days are gone, I'd shop there more if the people working there were knowledgeable
steeltag 1 year ago
Yep! This cheap player required the extra help of a folded matchbook cover! and you would be getting into a tune and all of a sudden hear that squealing sound of the tape being eaten! You old timers like me know what im talking about! LOL.
le238man 1 year ago
Out of desperation I walked into Radio Shack and asked if they still carried a "stylus"
(I should have known better) the two guys said No without a thought. Then one of them lit up and said wait I think we do - He came back with a pen stylus for the old PDA's. Not the old stereophonic needle for my "Record Player"
MJCPeters 1 year ago
Writing is on the wall. When you are just a haven for Cell phones and not much else, you won't stay for long. I remember when Radio Shack was anything to kits, Hifi and much more. It was fun going to Radio Shack, now it is a useless fast food or quickie mart store of cell phones and batteries. A shame!
vincedog3 1 year ago
@vincedog3 The equivalent of Tandy. Still a decade and a half ago, it was a shop for all kinds of electronics. Now they turned the Tandy shop into a 'consumer electronics' shop with cheap Chinese rubbish with planned obsolescence over them. Remember the brand Realistic?
SlimeTron5000 1 year ago 2
@SlimeTron5000 yeah, but as early as the mid 70's they were already having offerings of inexpensive plastic fabricated junk...even the raw speakers they used to sell (aside from the old Realistic 'metal' bullet tweeter) were pretty inefficient and made for them overseas for pennies however I do remember the guys working there to have good understanding understanding of electronics,specifications and the multitude of devices used to create your own electronic equipment.
MightySaturn5 1 year ago
@MightySaturn5 to decry further implications... REALISTIC isn t he optimal audio vidoe BRAND.. as at 2 an era their record player decks for instance contained the typical BSR........get it? LOL
8 trax didnt come at POPULACE in Australia as everyone bought cassies xDxdxdD!!
SlimeTron5000 1 year ago
@vincedog3 I remember that too...and I remember as a kid of the 80s that they had free educational comic books, with ads for radio kits in them :)
fivebearrugs 1 year ago
you've got questions? We've got cell phones. I went in looking for a part for a TV is was fixing. I knew they had the part since I'd seen them before. The lady asked me what I wanted so to have a little fun, I told her I was looking for a 3.58MHz color crystal. You should have seen the deer in the headlights look on her face. she didn't a clue and proceded to try to talk intellegent so she wouldn't look dumb. I also heard someon call something a VHS antenna. (its VHF)
patrick9648 1 year ago
Had one. And it was from Radio Shack.
alicefay 1 year ago
Going Monday to purchase one. That's a good deal I think.
umbsix 1 year ago
LOL! I worked at RS back then, and those were the good old days of the company. The Realistic brand of speakers were the #1 on the market, and were actually quite good. Their audio equipment was MUCH better than people realized (myself included, before I worked there). Yes, we sold crystal radio kits.... 8-tracks and the dreaded CB radios!!!
Today I am very reluctant to step foot in "The Shaft" ;)
thekidrocks72 1 year ago
8 track???? I've heard of it, but never actually seen one in my life.... are they like extinct or something?
jriley1992 1 year ago
Skynyrrrrrrdd!!! Yeaahh!!
TheZepmeister 1 year ago
@TheZepmeister I had the first Skynyrd album on 8-track. When you got to "Free Bird", the song would fade out right before the guitar jam, then the whirring and clicking as it changed programs. Then it would fade back in just as Allen Collins started his solo. It probably did the same thing with "Stairway to Heaven" on Zeppelin IV.
elc1960 1 year ago
Interestingly Europe I don't think really had these. Anyone?
nyer82 1 year ago
lol, I have a nice collection of 8-tracks i recently bought at an auction. Does anyone know if there is some hardware that I can buy to convert the 8-tracks to my computer?
jakeburbrink 1 year ago
@jakeburbrink You need a flux capaciter to hook it up LOL
supermarx1 1 year ago
@famouswolfy
Don't or get the vast sea of inane RC cars and other crap as it's also a toy store. They should officially change the name to Phones and Crap and hire retards with less than average problem solving skills from McDonald's or 7-11.
alwaysopen 1 year ago
The RS near us actually shrunk their store and just has mostly cell phones. Epic fail since there's cell phone stores on every corner like Starfucks.
KimmiKat 1 year ago
Save enough for Speakers!!...lol
StoneCold75 1 year ago
Realistic was THE WORST! Brand I ever had! Looked and felt like it was made in the 1950's it was awful!!!
PAM2167 1 year ago
@famouswolfy No doubt. I can think of several cool things their print catalog from years back had in it that they offered. Online there's nothing.
RacerE7773 1 year ago
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9001tank 1 year ago
They made stuff to last back in the days, I STILL have my 8 track tape deck, and it works too
KevinCarey 1 year ago
@KevinCarey I miss 8 tracks and cassettes. None of our radios has had anything but a cd player these last few years.
RacerE7773 1 year ago
3500 stores. When I worked for Radio Shack (88-90 or so), there were more Radio Shack's than McDonalds. A new sandwich placed named Subway came in to town sometime around there, and their signage said something like "over XXXX stores by YYYY" which would have been more than Radio Shack, and I remember thinking "wow, they want to be bigger than McDonald's?" Hard to believe the growth (and decline) since!
allenhuffman 1 year ago
the old gadgets FTW :D
Waluigi2009 1 year ago
Radio Shack -- well at least the ones near me -- still do supply transistors, capacitors, switches, ICs, transformers, etc ... in bins drawers .. I guess they needed to start focusing on cell phones and other hi profile items because that's where the revenues come from. Still beats most other stores
JoltinJoeable 1 year ago
NOW ONLY .50 cents!
jzdroid456 1 year ago
wow Russia really is coming out of the closet aren't they. They are selling off all their 8 tracks to the rest of the world.
lucy9359 1 year ago
Radio shack knows very little about electronics. I went in once to buy a part for a color TV. The employee ran up to me asking if he could help. I thought I would have some fun so axed him if he had 3.58MHz color TV crystal. The look on his face was priceless. He didn't have a clue. He started stammering and asking all sorts of questions trying to figure out what the hell I was talking about. So I told him I knew wher they were and got it myself. He looked at me like "What the hell?"
patrick9648 1 year ago
I worked for Radio Shack briefly way back in the early 80s. The only thing Radio Shack cared about then was sales...they had little interest in educating their well-dressed $5 an hour staff about electronics.
BRUC2016 2 years ago
Or paying them.... I did a brief tour there during the Christmas season of 1999. The only good part about that job was getting to play with the RC cars.
laserstun 1 year ago
8 Track was never a success in Australia,mostly found from 1972 till about 1977,definetely gone by the early 1980's
ZDAVIDZ1234 2 years ago
@ZDAVIDZ1234: Why would anybody care about 8-track when cassette was gaining ground, and had Dolby A & B noise reduction in it?
Neville6000 1 year ago
Those were crap from the start!
tripjet999 2 years ago
Till this day The Shack still sale 8-track Players!
siouxmoux3 2 years ago
LOL at 0:19! It looked like he slid a gameboy into that player.
xxashyy 2 years ago
I stuck one of my old Atari cartridges in one of those and it started playing "Pac-Man Fever".
funkmike 2 years ago 3
Whent in to radioshack for a diod ask the guy and he said wats that
HOPPO0187 2 years ago
I know what you mean. the employees don't even know what electronics they sell or what they are for. I asked if they had any radio crystals and they laughed in my face. Then another time I asked if they had any 7805 transistors and they didn't know what they were. It's a joke when you are looking for parts for a project and they come up and say, "Can I help you with anything?"
themadhacker2 2 years ago 39
A 7805 is a +5V voltage regulator.
Daaremikkel 1 year ago
@themadhacker2 I went in asking for Dual Layer DVD-Rs and they thought i meant a TiVo box (DVR)....i swear, Radio Shack needs to change their slogan to ANYTHING but "you've got questions, we've got answers"...even if its "If you've got questions, don't ask us"
DvdXploitr 1 year ago
@DvdXploitr yup just proves their ignorance even more. Hmm. I ran out of solder the other day. I should go in and have them get it for me and see how long it takes them to figure out what solder is.
themadhacker2 1 year ago
@themadhacker2 Radio Shack needs to hurry up and close its doors, they are over priced and not knowledgeable of their stock....what good are they???
DvdXploitr 1 year ago
@DvdXploitr
true, but It is the only electronics store near me, so as much as they deserve it, I would hate to see them go.
themadhacker2 1 year ago
@themadhacker2 The real problem is they don't have some of the most common parts, such as character LCDs and microcontrollers.
flarn2006 1 year ago
@themadhacker2 i know, i used to work there. i was working towards my electronics major at the time (so i actually knew some about what i was selling out of the parts drawers). but i was let go because i didn't shove enough cell phones down people's throats. my view is, if someone comes in to order a record needle... they're probably not looking to buy a 2 year cell phone contract or 2000 dollar plasma screen.
rockabillycat1954 1 year ago
@themadhacker2 When they ask me that I just look em up and down and say"I doubt it"
gforce4all 9 months ago
This has been flagged as spam show
@themadhacker2
"Can I help you with anything?"
"You do not have the technical ability to! - but if you want to learn I can help you...but you'll have to pay me..!!"
ogicabp4u 4 months ago
I remember the days you could go into a Radio Shack and actually find someone who worked there who actually knew something about electronics... instead of hounding you to buy a cell phone (if they got off theirs long enough to help you).
marcotor949 2 years ago 69
Remember the SAMS books you could buy at RS? Those were the days!
Colortiniz 2 years ago
@marcotor949 Yeah, now there are stupid black girls there that don't even know what a @!#$% bread board is. Seriously, they didn't. I had to show them.
cobrachoppergirl 1 year ago
@marcotor949 Holy crap there was such a thing?
Jake199415 1 year ago
@marcotor949 They know what they are talking about, You are just too old and have lost interest enough to loose track of modern upgrades.
CoolConejo 1 year ago
@marcotor949 LOL!
parakeethands 10 months ago
@marcotor949 yeah i never got why radio shack started selling cell phones i think only cell phone places should sell cell phones
slipknot789able 5 months ago
I have one of these brand new in the box that I got at a flea market back in the early 90's. I never used it, just wanted a "new old" piece of technology.
BartelDoo 2 years ago
well yeah thats because they were young and innovative. now all their head guys are old. nothing wrong with being old unless you think old. theyre analog players in a digital world. damn i love that quote.
acedaface954 2 years ago
Comment removed
fizzo20 2 years ago
WOW! I'm going to switch out my iPod deck for an 8 Track deck right now!
4r7f3e 2 years ago 2
omg i know! its like the most incredible thing to happen to music since the 45! dashes off to radio shack*
acedaface954 2 years ago
The sound is too low.
Farfalotis 2 years ago
I understand Radio Shack is changing their name to The Shack.
couponsexpired 2 years ago
they need to just give up. best buy is way more diverse then they are and offer better deals. radio shack's leaders are old and out of touch. its over.
acedaface954 2 years ago
IMO Radio Shack/Tandy's best era was the 70s and 80s. A local supplier for electronic components including some unusual and interesting stuff, and the really great Archer and Science Fair project kits, I had several of those. I would spend hours just browsing their catalogues, wondering what to save up for and buy next.
It seems 'The Shack' or whatever they're going to call themselves now, is just trying to compete with Best Buy, and failing at it. See also Circuit City.
mukatuna 2 years ago 2
yes
evinrudeboy6601 2 years ago
The name change is probably because they don't sell many radio's any more. They certainly don't sell much in the way of electronic components for hobbyists either these days.
Radio Shack in the UK was called Tandy, because the name Radio Shack was already been used by another business.
In the UK there was a chain called Radio Rentals, Who primarily rented TVs and videos, and hadn't rented radios for decades. These days hardly anyone rents a TV, so Radio Rentals has now gone.
mukatuna 2 years ago
Where can you even buy 8 tracks anymore? I'm guessing eBay. they did have good audio quality but it was so annoying having your favorite song fading out as the track changed then fading back in. I wish we could exchange todays artist for 1970s. Music was so much better back then.
redtide2012 2 years ago 3
a FEW THINGS...yeah i would say pop/top 40 was better then, but there's great music out there, you have to look around for it, i hear loads of cool new things on satelitte radio-little steven's underground garage, deep tracks to name a few channels....and there's a store here in michigan called the corner record shop that has in their 45's room thousands of used 8 tracks, i kid you not!
KOSMICKEN09 2 years ago
omg I bought that exact player for my 1978 Chevette. Then I decided on a cassette player because my eight tracks all leaked from channel to channel.
jscharpf 2 years ago
The head in the player that reads the tape was probably out of alignment. It's easy to fix. You just need to open up the player and there is a screw somewhere inside that can adjust the head.
83pgm 2 years ago
I was a kid in the '70s.I remember my parents had an 8track tape deck in their car.They used to play alot of country/western artists in it
justme632 2 years ago
Sweet! Now I Can listen to my Doobie Brothers tracks on the road, man.
arachknight1979 2 years ago
I miss my first car, a 1977 Pontiac Grand
Prix, it had AM/FM/8-Track.
NowhereMan1966 2 years ago
I GOT TO GET ME ONE LOL
bigcaddydevill96 2 years ago
Yes its 2009. And The Shack still sells 8-track tape players.
siouxmoux3 2 years ago
click... "sweet home alabama... where skies..." Click...
Corporations8MyBaby 2 years ago
I want my money back! My old camero and my 8 track!
boogerbangeloscar 2 years ago
i gotta get me one when i have money
MrJeffcool78 2 years ago
i bought one for a dollar it is the greatest 8 track player i ever owned
jacobcschick01 2 years ago
i have an 8track on my 1981 cadillac!
GusTheBus82 2 years ago
Imagine having this unit in a 1976 Cadillac El Dorado roadster, listening to "El Dorado" by the Electric Light Orchestra on 8-track.
Watcher3223 2 years ago
I remember a freind in 1980 install one the same Realistic model in his car. We cruised around town listening to Queen's "The Game" all night. :)
wildbilltexas 2 years ago 2
Saw their TV spots, read their catalogs and ultimately bought a few of their electronics as a kid....none of which ever
properly worked....!
noahf67 2 years ago
My overactive imagination can help correct the quality loss of this video!
Even though I was only born in 1986, I can still relate to 1970s media, and even from before that!
SamuraiClinton 2 years ago
I'm going down to RS now to get one!
zenswing 2 years ago 2
i just found this 8 track brand new in box on ebay. the 70's were the best. my 1970 maverick will be getting this installed soon.
johnemaverick 2 years ago
When American cars were No. 1 in the World! This used to be a hell of a good country! By this time (late 70's) the Japanese already had a lot of small realiable cars on the road! And American companies understimated them! You know the rest fof the story!
brendabaloyan 2 years ago
I need this for my amc hornet!!
tokyofreaky 2 years ago 3
Absolutely! I was thinking about one for my Ambassador too lol
Ambassador72 2 years ago
Ok, I don't like to brag too much, but my grandfather William P. Lear, invented the 8 track and this commercial rocks!!! A friend just emailed me the link and I have to revel just a bit...
- Celeste Lear
celestelear 2 years ago 2
god bless your grandfather , and god bless the 8 track!!!
rflan42250 2 years ago 2
WOW! A 77-78 T-Bird!A couple of our neighbors had those back in Indiana,the black one was gorgeous.I bought a 79 back in 88 & it ran pretty well except 4 a leaky radiator!They downsized em for 1980!
iluvrachellef 2 years ago
Lol I liked the 80 cougar xr7 the thunderbird tried to keep the same styling and it didnt work. I have a 78 as a daily driver but it has fords 8 track.
Lumotaku 2 years ago
tandy?
joshmoss108 2 years ago
the t-bird didnt come with the quadrasonic 8-track deck!!!!!!
coldplays179 3 years ago
God, I bought one of those! It worked really well, too.
798389 3 years ago
i used to lvu radio shack , all they sell now is crappy tv`s and other stuf that you could buy at wal mart,
raidio shack sux now
windoes98se 3 years ago
They don't suck, but had to grow, adapt and change (not without problems) to the crappy disposable society we have today.
Yet you still can't buy the LM324 op amp, human eye light level to frequeny detector or ultra-violet LED at Walmart... not yet.
gavincurtis 3 years ago
vandernes
i love old stuff just as much as anyone else but i moved along with the times and love the new technology. do you also still use the 1980s commodore computer? you might as well with that attitude.
rainydaywoman1957 3 years ago
i hated radio shack they were like nazi,s trying to get your address after you made a purchace
harley145000 3 years ago
yeah I remember that
chinasherry1961 3 years ago
It was for marketing... flyers in the mail. I hated asking customers for that information.
gavincurtis 3 years ago
8 tracks sucked but Datsun B210s were great cars. I used to have a few. BTW that yellow car was a Datsun B-210
chinasherry1961 3 years ago
Not my experience ... 8-tracks actually "ran," ... B210s did not.
rwagoner 3 years ago
oh really i clocked 297,000 on a B210 on all original factory parts except for a clutch and brake pads. I did a compression test and all 4 cylinders were exactly 180 psi meaning there was no engine wear The card would have ran for ever but some jerk ran a stop sign 7 the B210 was no more. B210 was the most trouble free car ever made
chinasherry1961 3 years ago
B210's ran forever... but struts got 'knocky' early on at 180,000 miles. Needed to be replaced. Next thing the alternator brushes were gone at 250,000 miles.
Other than that the car was perfect. 400,000+ miles and dad gave it to his brother.
What I remember from the B210 was the seatbelt buzzer and warning light.
gavincurtis 3 years ago
yup they were great cars but had bad paint jobs
on the earlier ones. The B210-GX was the better version of them. I had a few of those too. Back then struts were filled with oil although mine never wore out. BTW the B210 engine was the most trouble free engine Nissan or any other car manufacturer ever made
chinasherry1961 3 years ago
$29.95 on sale back in the 70's was like $199 now - in 74 I was making like $1.25 hr minimum wage during high school and after taxes you didnt see a lot more than $50 a week on the check. Of course gas was like 39 cents a gallon then and milk came in glass gallons at 79 cents a gallon.
rhblakeman 3 years ago
I want to install an 8-track in my 1984 Jeep CJ. I hate modern formats such as CDs, which are hopefully dying-off (I've heard that vinyl and MP3 packages are causing CD to die). Hopefully, 8-track will make a return, and you will be able to buy them brand-new. I would buy new 8-tracks, because 8-track rules.
VaderNES 3 years ago
did u fell asleep over the past 30 yrs.... wake up!!!.... worlds digital now...
chrisandnataly 3 years ago
Digital sucks. You will never force CD on me! I'm keeping my 8-track and tapes.
VaderNES 3 years ago
I also own a fair amount of cassette tapes, but stereo eight will never return. There's no companies set up to make certain parts like the heads, and there's not enough demand to justify making players. The only thing that actually would be feasible is to make new blank carts, but there's inadequate demand to justify molding the plastic cases and stuffing them with 1/4" low-grade ferric reel to reel tape. Oh... but Quantegy no longer exists... no correct formulations available.
Manimal347 3 years ago 3
VaderNES I found you. I love CRT tv's but have one I cannot bring to life. Mid 80's unit with 19" CRT stereo SAP and on-screen menu + clock.
Will send it to you and also pay for shipping. Too good of a set to throw it away. I don't have time to fix it and closing down my storage. Email me your address and will send it to you.
Drivers originally saturated color. Replaced the Toshiba color processor IC and now blank screen (on screen clock still works).
gavincurtis 3 years ago
I really can't accept it. I will be moving soon, and I will have to unfortunately part with some of my TVs (I will definitely keep the good ones, like my late 1960s/early 1970s Zenith (exact date unknown)). The ones I must get rid of will be given away (no trashing).
VaderNES 3 years ago
Looks like this came out sometime after 1977, as evident by the late 70's T bird in the commercial.
meangreen69Nova 3 years ago
i must add, back then both the guy who worked at RS and the guy buying the stereo for his van (i'm sure) were both pot heads dude. wow.. the memories.
springloadedchicken 3 years ago
lmfao! omg nearly 60 bucks for that crap! i remember when that was the NEXT big thing.. lmfao! NOT, glad cassette beat them out... for the time being. radio snack!
springloadedchicken 3 years ago
AND your first tape!
Did the tapes cost like 30 bucks a pop?
Mapleholic 3 years ago
About 9 bucks a pop in the late seventies..quite expensive!
DrNoose 3 years ago
im gonna get an amc gremlin and have an 8 track in it.
WOLF192 3 years ago 5
Omg, Well im an 19 yearold 8-track collector and i bought a realistic car deck (unopened), it is almost identical to this model! Infact it is one of the smallest decks out there...So i installed it in my first car, a 1991 buick Le'Sabre ...I took out the ashtray and it perfectly fitted into the dash, looked like it belonged there (used the power leads from the lighter lol....Sound was good, but too much noise due to age of curcuits.
laserdiscs 4 years ago
noise probably due to the age of your tapes, not the "circuits".
queensplazasouth 3 years ago
actually that is common misconseption, 8-track tapes still play great. I repair tapes from any condition, after a little TLC they will work like new. Although i will admit major problems normaly serface only when the tape(s) have been abused. Aswell all the tapes i have play beautifully (without the noise) on my pioneer H-R100. And i did some trouble shooting with the car player and it is a prob with the negative ground & the motor. I wish it worked well enough to put in my new car, 84' cutlass!
laserdiscs 3 years ago
hey dude, you have an 8 track player in your car? So do I! Bought it at a flea market, still in the original box, and never installed! Sure looks and works great in my 1974 Ford LTD.
I hooked the hot wire directly to the + terminal of the battery, and the antenna cable acts as the ground. Works great!
And your Pioneer 8 track deck, is that the one with all the bells and whistles? Mine's an H-22, and it has no special features. Just the tape slot and the programme button.
wilkes85 3 years ago
Indeed this type of Realistic tape player looks really nice when installed properly! And Yes "that" can be said about my H-R100. The H-R100 is the best pioneer 8T player ever made, Dolby HR, records amazingly, looks great and it has the most reliable tape transport I've ever encountered! But your H-22 in all probability has the same style transport & reliability. UPDATE: Fixed the Realistic player and beyond professional workmanship installed it into my 84' Cutlass Supreme Brougham!
laserdiscs 3 years ago