Larryr wrote in
:

On Dec 28, 7:20*pm, Larry wrote:
John Navas wrote
innews:vi8fl4dvq9el9saob1hj
:

Radio Shack doesn't build them. *They are sourced from multiple
Asian contract manufacturers.

I knew that. *I think Uniden, the CB maker, made these....

Radio Shack does specify what they want in a product. Some are just
rebranded like the radio shack SM-58 look alikes that have shure
written on the xlr insert. Of course they are 58's that didn't meet
quality control specs for shure...

If radio shack buys tens of thousands of a unit, they damn well can
(but may not) demand robustness in design.They didn't in feature laden
DMM's that fail if you sneeze hard on them.


One of the lapel mics failed a couple of months ago. They had plenty of
spares so didn't hand it to me until I was working on the antique Allen
electronic pipe organ that dates back to the very first point-contact
germanium transistors it is full of....one oscillator transistor for
each note it plays...a hartley oscillator with tapped coil for
stability.

Someone forgot to turn off the preamp in the mic and the button watch
battery in the tiny box was dead. I can't believe how long those things
will run or how much abuse they'll take swingin' and swayin' to the
screaming music every Sunday. They all must be deaf. I even have to
replace mid range speakers!

I buy DMMs, in bulk, from Harbor Freight. At $3.99, they're worth it
even if you toss the whole DMM in the trash just for the nice little
test leads that are nicer than RatShacks and half the price with a full
featured DMM with batteries attached! I keep a dozen or so to hand out
to aspiring young technicians and engineers I may need a hand from 10
years from now....mostly to get out of my wheelchair, probably. Give a
curious kid a little DMM and you can ruin his whole life! Serves them
right....it did me.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r9CxjvIAJqc

http://www.harborfreight.com/cpi/cta...emnumber=90899
Darn, they went up a buck!

At $20, this is my favorite DMM:
http://www.harborfreight.com/cpi/cta...emnumber=37772

While were here, every boat should have this 100A battery tester:
http://www.harborfreight.com/cpi/cta...emnumber=90636
It's only $15 and will snoop out those dead cells in 2 minutes flat!

I held my breath and bought the Big Kahuna of battery/alternator
testers:
http://www.harborfreight.com/cpi/cta...emnumber=91129
Wanna see how much power you can get before the belt starts slippin'?
Dis be the beast! 500 amps. If you're going to try for more than a
hundred amps....make damned sure the clamps dig INTO the posts real hard
or this carbon pile load will really smoke them!

It never ceases to amaze me, an old metrologist (calibration technician
USN) how ACCURATE even the cheapest Chinese analog volt or ammeter is
calibrated. It's uncanny! Those little analog VOMs from Ratshack are
DEAD ACCURATE!