Um, no. Cat3 is a network cable. Just not suitable for anything above 10Base-T. So it’s usually used in phone network applications. It’s also used for power-over-Ethernet, but with Ethernet side unused. It is not the same as the RJ11 ended wires you would use for connecting home-grade telephony equipment.
Note: Cat3/5e are 8 wires. Standard phone cables are 2-4 wire, but you can get 6 wire versions with the same plug size.
I used to use Cat3 for Ethernet all the time way back in the day before Cat5 became necessary.
For the rare occasion that I darken RS’s door, I have developed a strategy. I basically ignore the staff until I find what I need and only talk to them at checkout.
I learned this by asking for a 120 pf 1/4 watt resistor and getting the dumb wasting stare.
You’d get that same dumb stare from me, too. Resistor units are in Ohms, not picofarads. Speaking as a guy with 2 degrees in electrical engineering, of course.
I was in an RS fresh outta school the first time, when they still sold stereo components. Some annoying clerk was following me around being a monumental pain in my ass, so I pointed at a stereo amp that had FET as part of the logo.
“What does FET mean?”
“Oh. That means the Federal Excise Tax is prepaid.”
:rolleyes:
FET really meant that it used field effect transistors, which worked in a manner much more like vacuum tube and most importantly sounded like a vacuum tube amp, and were all the rage among the audiophile crowd in the 1980s.
Never having heard of Forrest Mimms — which name sounds like a wistful 1920 American painter specialising in young nymphs staring into sunsets — he sounds quite impressive in Wiki.
Plus:
Mims alleges that Pianka advocated genocide with a genetically enhanced Ebola virus with the goal of exterminating up to 90% of the human population. Pianka has stated that Mims took his statements out of context and that Pianka was explaining what would happen from biological principles alone if present human population trends continue, and that he was not in any way advocating that it happen*
So why would somebody with that kind of knowledge be working in retail?
The market demand drives what the market supplies. Apparently when the question was asked “What do you prefer? Low prices with low paid unknowledgable employees, or high prices with well compensated knowledgable employees?” the market spoke and we got what we got.
Well, of course. Everyone knows that the proper symbol for the farad is ‘F’, not ‘f’. They had no idea what you were talking about.
Good test though. There are no more RadioShacks in Canada–their place has been taken by “The Source” due to some complicated multiparty corporate buyout that I don’t fully understand–but the stores are still the same. I haven’t been into one for about three years though. Maybe the componentry is making a comeback thanks to the Maker movement.
Used to be that nerds were happy working at Tandy (RS in Australia) during the day and playing dungeons and dragons at night but now because of Gates and Jobs they all want to rule the tech world!
I am glad to provide a little comic relief with my pre caffeine mis rememberings and wrongly stated values. The guy in question did not know what a resistor was.
I suspect the Forrest Mimms referenced is this one. He was a revered experimenter who looked ideal to take over the Amateur Scientist column in Scientific American magazine until he admitted he didn’t really believe in science if it contradicted what his pastor told him.
You’re right. It was a Z-80 based machine. So was my ZX-81. So was my girlfriend’s father’s Wang. It was fun to diddle her,… err… her father’s machine.
Yes, that’s the guy. He is a creationist fundy loony toon. But his electronics books (written for and sold primarily through RS way back in the day) are excellent and justifiably renowned.
I wasn’t aware (or forgot) about an automatic memory refresh, but I loved the Zilog Z80. Double the internal registers of the 8080, an extended instruction set, also index registers so you could do (limited) relative addressing, and a faster clock speed. The 6Mhz version was the nucleus of many systems I worked with.
Speaking of Radio Shack, one of the employees at our local RS does fit the geek mold. I asked him for a XLR to mini-phone cable, and he knew exactly what I wanted. While he rang up my purchase, he clamped my twenty-dollar bill between his jacket and his sleeve, since he had only one arm.
If you only started going to Radio Shack in the mid 80s you missed their heyday. In the 70s and even into the early 80s you couldn’t stump them on anything. Even beyond that you could still find knowledgable help if you went to the right stores. Where I was living in 1990 there were two RS stores, one in the mall that mostly had consumer gadgets, and a smaller one downtown that carried mostly cables, adapters, and electronic parts. If you asked for a breadboard at the mall store they’d try to send you to the kitchen store next door. If you asked for one at the downtown store, they’d ask what you were building and recommend some parts you might need. Unfortunately, that store was considered a relic and was closed down by 93 or 94.
I think I see the problem. Loew’s is a luxury hotel chain, where they could not care less what you’re looking for, but in a polite and patronizing way, of course. LOWE’S is the DIY hardware place.
