Hidden Vintage Electronics Shop: Chester Electronics, Kenosha Wisconsin

[@LGR]

What a delightful shop!

[@a4e69636b]

Awesome seeing you here.

[@jackkenney10]

Great video! I'm a local from this area, and I stopped in to Chester today and they said people have been talking about your video nearly every day since you posted it. They even mentioned that at least two people are flying in from out-of-state to check it out after seeing your video. You've done a great service to a local electronics shop, and I'm sure they're very grateful for it. Thanks Rinoa!!

[@RinoaL]

that fills my with happiness tbh

[@bubba842]

If I had the money and time I would be flying driving there from Canada.

[@lesjones5684]

How about dinner tonight dear ❤❤❤❤

[@lesjones5684]

I’m in New Jersey sweetheart 😂😂😂❤❤😅😅

[@lesjones5684]

Trump casino 🎰 😂😂❤❤❤

[@highvoltagemayhem3345]

I would walk into a place like this and probably never come out again.

[@alanwoodcock3284]

I would buy things i dont really need😊

[@jstro-hobbytech]

​@alanwoodcock3284 as would I to keep them in business. But our host here pays with "so cool's". I'd already know what I was going to spend before I went in. Call me crazy.

[@nicholaslandolina]

All junk get rid of it

[@dennisristow2102]

They don't have enough shops like this anymore. Cool stuff.

[@RegularFootisChris]

epo houston

[@johncarson2877]

You may be surprised to know that there was a 'second' Chester Electronics in Largo Florida (Tampa area). It was just about 5 miles from where I lived and shut down about 7 years ago. I was in there one day looking for a hard to find item and they made a call to the Wisconsin store to see if they had my item. I was blown away thinking that there were actually '2' of these stores. The Florida store had the exact same look and feel as the Wisconsin store. So sad they closed it down.

[@pierre-rose7783]

Reminds me of a big garage sale! I've had boxes of old resistors, led"s switches, etc just sitting around for many years, thinking I'll use them for all kinds of fun DIY projects, but in the game of life, there was never enough time!

[@schuetting]

Hehe, you have tons of stuff at home and then you have to walk in such a store to buy a litte knob ... ;-) I know this. Greetings from Bremen, Germany

[@realpower9ir]

Same here, i have also lots of items to do DIY, but in the game of life, there was never enough time meanwhile 40 years of hard-work in the world of Electronics.

[@blipblip88]

Think of the millions of tons of this stuff that got hauled to the dump over the years! I don't know what 99% of that is, but I think it's very cool that there's people who see the value in preserving old electronic gear for other aficionados. Thanks!

[@orbitaaltube]

Really enjoyed this video. These places are to be cherished for sure. The dedication of the people running them is testament to their interests. Thanks for taking us along.

[@BixbyConsequence]

Wow. Last time I actually saw a stock of vacuum tubes for sale in a store was around 1990. I know there are plenty available online. I used to love watching the tubes in our old TV warm up.

[@toamaori]

it's like a museum where you can buy the exhibits

[@orange11squares]

yep, they should charge tickets at the entrance, it wouldn't be fair to enter such a place and see all that and buy/pay nothing.

[@cttv90108]

Man that place is like a dream come true. Where else would you find vacuum tubes still on the shelf for sale? I remember places like that when I was a kid unfortunately they are going away or gone these days. I wonder what they are selling with so much vintage merchandise still on the shelf I wonder what they're making money on and how they keep the door open. Thanks for sharing.

[@thermionicman6700]

Chris , I’ve been wondering for years how they stay in business myself lol. I bought a Pioneer laserdisc player there brand new in 1979 or 80. At the time they did the kind of business a Bestbuy does today.

[@tonyp7779]

@@thermionicman6700 my hunch is they own that shopping mall, and have tenants, or they at least own their store front. no way they could stay in business if they were paying market rate rent,

[@mikeburch2998]

See kids... this is what it looked like before the internet. :-) That was a great tour. Thank you. Greetings from Arizona.

[@unlokia]

WAY, WAY better, I can't articulate this sufficiently, but the modern generation barely know they're even born!

[@jed-henrywitkowski6470]

I feel old!

[@kb1kos]

...yet we can thank the internet for this video.

[@xela8384]

I'm in nerdvana! I was thinking of trying to describe how watching this was making me feel --- but your face at 14:51 expresses it far better than any words I could write. Thank you!

[@johnt7502]

Reminds me of Arlington Electronics, the old one on Lee Hwy. Monthly visits as a teen. Thanks for the tour. 👍

[@waycoolscootaloo]

I've been in this store once to have a look around. It was a true time capsule of the electronics industry for sure. This place was quite amazing. I live right down the street from this store actually and I love Kenosha. There is just so much to see and do here. Mars Cheese Castle is another awesome gem in town, as well as the Kenosha lakefront with it's amazing museums and even electric street cars. And all on the beautiful shore of Lake Michigan. And there's tons of shopping, hotels and restaurants as well in town. Kenosha is now a bustling place for sure with a lot to see and do. Definitely a great tourist town for those not from here.

[@joemaldonado3]

our store in Orlando Florida USA is called Skycraft Surplus. still waiting for the other galaxies to arrive there and buy stuff...!

[@eebaker699]

Now that's a real electronics store! I would love to get my hands on some of that stuff.... Reminds me of a small shop near me that recently shut down...

[@stan.rarick8556]

They should have a donation jar for 'cool'. "No, I didn't buy any equipment, but I paid for $5 of cool. " Thanks for the smile. 😊

[@LowCostCncRetrofits]

Shes got a pretty smile I would love to have a techy girlfriend her

[@LowCostCncRetrofits]

@Another Dick haha she seems pretty female to me :-)

[@neville3151]

Some of my fondest times as a (nerdy) kid was prowling around the local army surplus electronics store. The owner was a disabled army vet with unlimited stories to tell.

[@DougEStile-gj7wy]

What I wouldn't give to have a store like this in my town.

I could spend a few hours looking around that place, nothing quite like that around here if I ever get down that way I'll have to stop and check it out.

[@millerrmann]

It would be awesome to have this store in my town.........oh wait this is my town and I live about a half mile away from Chester's. I have been in there several times.

[@frankchang436]

@@millerrmann you are so lucky. i hope there is a store like that in my town.

[@radiolabworks]

@@millerrmann Me too. About four miles for me and I do go there about once a month. :)

[@antoniojoaquimlucaslucas7476]

They have tubes,a rare thing in europe

[@marshallohio5512]

This facility is Absolutely Beautiful 🤩. My late father worked for Goodyear Aerospace in Akron as an Electronic Engineer.. US kids took a truck load of electronic stuff to the dump 😕 after his passing .. Every now and then , l think of all those cases of various tubes , transistors, capacitors, etc we threw away when building a guitar amp ..😢😢😢

[@danebeck7900]

I love stores like this. Sadly many of them struggle to survive.

[@LowCostCncRetrofits]

true

[@station240]

I used to have a shop like this in my city. However it was rarely open, hard to find, and difficult for me to get to. By the time I did get someone to take me there, it had pretty much been picked clean. Owner was retiring and so had not bought any more stock. I bought the two things I knew I would use, and left.

[@RandoWisLuL]

It reminds me of the Frys Electronics components section. I miss those days.

[@libertyauto]

Cool place. Thanks for bringing us along. 14:57 Such a pretty smile. grin.

[@RuneTheFirst]

It's like a walk-in eBay!

[@kkristopher7413]

And the prices are cheap like when ebay was actually good

[@FishDS9]

While I did very much enjoy this video, I enjoyed seeing you feeling out and smiling ear to ear even more. 😁 Seeing all of the content of the store brought me back to managing stores for RadioShack. Ah, the memories.

[@chrisretired5379]

Such a beautiful smile,and wonderful tour, through the best electronics / assorted parts place. The people there must be friendly indeed to let you tour unimpeded. 💝

[@jeffreyhaynes5774]

That is an electronics candy store.A store like that should be in every state like the old days when people repaired electronics equipment,i hope it will stay open.

[@jamesford7182]

Since those streetlight appear to be a variety of the Fresnel design you might be surprised of their output with various different sources of lamp types.

[@yourdiytechlife]

This reminds me of years ago when I would spend hours at Purdue salvage co. In West Lafayette Indiana. They would salvage and sell all the old lab and other equipment from Purdue university. That was a blast. You would see anything from mainframe computers to old desks and chairs. It was so cool!

[@pulesjet]

Dang I miss the ol Brick and Morter shops. First place I use to go was the bargain racks. This was like stepping back in time for sure. I remember when 7-11 stores had tube testers just like that one . You tested your radio or Tv tube and hopped they had the one you needed in the little shelf under the tester. LOL That is one AMAZING Store.

[@007-xl97]

+1 for Chester's!! My local shop for.. well my whole life! Glad someone brought some attention to the great store and employees!

[@joerowland7350]

That my home town haven't been thare in years

[@alcampbell]

Great video. I remember places like this in the seventies when I was growing up. Now all those places are gone. I built a lot of electronics from all that junk I bought back then. Mostly for Ham Radio projects.

[@goodun2974]

The financial district of Manhattan once was an area that became known as Radio Row after the end of World War II; several blocks of electronics, radio, and TV stores, and lots of military surplus parts and devices. Those business were all forced out in order to build the World Trade Center. Some of the businesses took a buyout from the city and closed up; others attempted to band together and sue the city and the developers, but eventually lost and were forced to relocate to less desirable areas with less foot traffic and therefore reduced sales. Some years ago, Antique Radio Classifieds magazine ran a series of articles about the area, the history, and the legal fight that left the original shop owners broke and broken.

[@jeromewysocki8809]

good 'un , we had an area like that here in Chicago. It was on Michigan Ave., about 1-2 miles, south of the "Loop" (downtown Chicago). You could buy anything electronic there : government surplus radio from WW2, etc. I was in high school then (early to mid 1960s) and bought up everything I could afford. I'd build everything I could, ham radio stuff. I kept it all through the years (now in boxes and crates in my basement). I sure miss those days! Kids today don't have a clue about how much fun (and education) one can get with this kind of "junk." Most wouldn't know which end of a soldering iron to grab! ( I know : "What is a soldering iron?" They would ask.)

[@goodun2974]

@@jeromewysocki8809 , I bet that was one heck of a great electronics bazaar and flea market spot, considering how many electronics manufacturers were based in Illinois and especially the the Chicago area. Chicago transformer, CTS, clarostat, centralab, UTC, I believe they were all based in that area camera also triad and thordarson if I remember correctly. And Valco, who made guitar amplifiers for Gretsch and Sears and Montgomery wards and other retailers as well as their own brands, National and Supro.

[@alcampbell]

@@goodun2974 Yep. End of and era there. Back in 1988 the Marines shipped me out of Japan to California. It was still hopping here with electronics and computer stores. I cant tell you how many times I took my Apple IIE to one of those "junk stores" to have something replaced. Usually the power supply or something. Nowadays I would have to throw that out and get a new one. LOL. The young kids dont know what they missed. Those bastards walk around praying to their smart phones.

[@alcampbell]

@@jeromewysocki8809 And you know what Jerome, to add insult to injury, all the electronics and police scanner magazines have disappeared from the store shelves. Some of them like popular electronics tried to go digital but I dont see them anymore. maybe they were too early in that game. All the great electronics magazines I grew up with are gone. Even a lot of the early computer magazines are no more. We have to thank the housing financial crisis and the recession or whatever the hell that was back then. It was a hell of a reset. It was good in a way because a lot of the competing stores closed. But that left us with a more expensive economy and now we have to pay an arm and a leg for rent and goods.

[@JoeJ-8282]

WOW, this is an awesome store! I wanna go to it sometime if I'm ever in that city for any reason! I would absolutely Love to go to this store, because I'm a major electronics nerd and I would be in heaven here! We actually used to have a store similar to this in my city up to about 20 years ago when it went totally out of business, because this last generation just doesn't fix or work on or build anything electronic anymore, and as all of the older repair techs and ham radio guys die off, now no-one is interested in buying these kinds of component level parts anymore, so the store like this in my city didn't have enough sales on a regular basis to pay their building rent fees amd so they had to shut down! That was a VERY sad time for me because that store was always one of my regular go-tos for vintage electronic parts of ALL types!... Nowadays you never can tell if you're even getting a genuine original quality part if you order stuff online, and a LOT of this kind of stuff isn't even available online at all because they don't make it new anymore, so this type of store is a LITERAL goldmine for electronics hobbyists and repair techs, if there's anyone out there who's actually still into building and repairing vintage electronic stuff! I REALLY miss the store we had like this in my city, and nowadays there isn't really any place local for me to buy this sort of stuff anymore, which REALLY sucks for me because I'm still interested in all things vintage electronics, including stereo equipment gear, but you just hardly ever even see it anywhere anymore! :( I'm glad that at least a few of these types of stores are still around in this day and age, because many of these kinds of stores are just going totally out of business because no-one wants to or even knows how to work on anything anymore, they ALL just throw stuff away and buy a new one now instead of ever bothering to repair anything that stops working correctly... But some of us who are still actually into vintage electronics would absolutely Love this store, so some of us can maybe travel there and see and shop at this truly beautiful, and greatly organized (for used and vintage surplus stuff anyway), store! This place is a real treasure, and you're VERY lucky to have such a place in your own city!!

[@n1vca]

So cool ... at 12:53 on the left Turner Microphones for CB & Ham Radio ... these are more than 40 years old! That stuff brings back childhood memories. This is really like a museum where you can buy things. Here in Munich, Germany we used to have such a store downtown "Nadler Elektronik" until just a few years ago, it looked just like that ... I was always surprised they would survive for so long. I am glad we still have one electronic store outside of Munich where I can buy modern electronic components from ultra tiny SMD parts to RF components and also more common electronic parts and devices with their main focus on industry customers and sure almost all of their sales go out via postal delivery but they still have an old fashioned sales area. It is so nice when you have an idea for a circuit and you can just drive there, buy the parts and get it up and running the same day!

[@chuckpatten7855]

Such a cutie, and the store is awesome also. Thanks for sharing...

[@WMSchoenhofer]

thanks for sharing places like this with all of us

[@RinoaL]

no problem

[@jacobforbes9115]

I remember driving 2 hours with my Grandpa to go to Chesters just for some for some old Radio tubes. I left with a big box of DC motors through $8 for 25 of them. I have been using them for may different projects over the years.

[@michaellichter4091]

What a lovely store, I'm thrilled! The shelves are filled with tubes, and that tube tester must be heaven. America has many interesting stores where you can find what you need. It's great that old components can find a new purpose there, it's good for the environment and reduces unnecessary waste. I'm curious to see what new uses these glass enclosures will find.

[@henrymach]

I can see myself spending a whole day at this store

[@electronicsworkbench]

I can see myself spending my whole life savings at this store! :-D

[@niaz.shovon]

Thanks for showing.

[@backpackertrip5709]

*So long !* I'm living in Brazil ! ! !

[@kaoshavoc]

Wow, you have not showed up on my feed for a long time, yet I see that you have been very active, Good to have you back on my feed, I love your content.

[@dimesgamer]

People who disliked are kids that don't know anything about old electronics and think this store is trash. Btw cool store i would love to buy many stuff for my projects

[@amiralozse1781]

used to spend half my wake time in shops like these during the 80's and early 90's - they all but vanished. none nearly as big as Chester Electronics but still. happy something like it still exists. thanks for uploading!

[@donmoore7785]

Your beautiful smile provides nice interludes with the magnificent variety of vintage goods. Thanks for the tour of yesteryear.

[@arthurroberts491]

Just like several stores in Sunnyvale and Mt. View in California. Also looks like my storage locker. At least now I can walk through a place like that and not be tempted to buy it all.

[@shanee7511]

You are SO lucky! There are no such surplus stores in my area to my knowledge. Reminded me of my first real job at Radio Shack. We even had one of the tube testers you showed.

[@johnrehwinkel7241]

Posing with vacuum tubes, that's totally something I would do.

[@DerinTheErkan]

It's crazy to think all these oddball parts were sold at enough volume to be put in retail packaging like this back in the day

[@johnjacobjinglehimerschmid3555]

Used to be a place like this in Colorado Springs .... Was fun to go inside and just see the STUFF they salvaged.

[@tumundodotorg]

I remember hanging out at places like this in college, great to see them still around. But these are really nerdy venues to a large majority of people. And yet here I am watching 🤓

[@davemitchell116]

We had a place just like this in Utah. Raelco Electronics. Unfortunately it burned to the ground a couple of years ago. Tragic loss.

[@Ra-zor]

Wish places still existed like this in the Uk. All the places like this here are long gone, and have been knocked down and turned in to cheap flats due to trying to house 15+ million people in the last 20 years coming over the English Chanel to live... Cherish these places you have while you still have them...

[@cfb33774]

Wow! We used to have a Chester Electronics store in Largo, Florida and it closed many years ago. I used to buy TV antennas and every kind of electronic components there. I sure miss it. Now I have to use web based companies like eBay, Amazon, Mouser, Newark,Digikey, Jameco, etc. and wait for the components to arrive.

[@RandoWisLuL]

5:33 thats how they packaged those LEDs even in the late 2010s. Frys Electronics used to sell them all the way up until they closed. So 2019-2020 was the last time i saw that package in person. website was on the back when i bought them last. The white ones could blind you. Idk about nowadays. I really really miss Frys. I was in there weekly looking at components.

[@williammanganaro9070]

Wow, this is really a great store ! Wish this was in my area here on Long Island NY. Now that I have been getting into working with older computers and video games from the late 70's and 80's, this would be perfect. Thanks for the tour! Much appreciated.

[@ForgottenMachines]

9:15 boxes of vintage 60s-70s TV and radio knobs...absolutely unheard of in the 21st century in a retail store...this is just getting better and better!!!

[@RuneTheFirst]

This takes me back to the 80s when we had a store like this - Herbach & Rademan. Displaced by urban development, it and several other unique shops did not last long in their new digs. Sorely missed. (One does remain in another town - Nicolas Smith Trains.)

[@goodun2974]

"Radio Row" in Manhattan was "displaced" in order to build the World Trade Center. It's a sad story and a huge loss.

[@henrikniehaus]

Hah, Nixdorf Computer AG. That's from Paderborn, Germany. 10 Miles from where I live. Heinz Nixdorf was one of Germany's computer pioneers. A department of the university is called after him and there also is the Heinz-Nixdorf Museumsforum, which is said to be the biggest computer museum in the world. That's so cool to see an old Nixdorf circuit randomly lying around in an electronics store in the US.

[@drewames254]

11:06 That tube tester is Awesome! 😍

[@repereechoppe89]

hello, I love this video and this store! I am French and I manage a store of the same type in France, in Burgundy, smaller, but I too, I have old PC cards from old keyboards... I don't like throwing away and I love "ordinosaurs"

[@iana6713]

What a place. The phrase 'kid in a candy shop' probably best described that smile! I'll freely admit I don't understand much about electronics, but I would still love a look around a place like that. As someone from the UK who grew up with a ZX Spectrum or two (or three...) I have a thing for older technology.

[@douggwyn9656]

Be thankful that there is still a local store for parts etc. The one we had (Mark Electronics) just north of D.C. closed several years ago.

[@Evilduckcreations]

I have GOT to make a trip to Kenosha! We do have a shop here in Grand Rapids, MI that does carry a lot of old electronics, but it is about a tenth the size of Chester Electronics, if that! Thanks for posting this. It's nice to see that here is a place like this not that far away!

[@RandomGreymane]

I didn't know this was so close to me! I'm like about 20 miles south in IL. Also - those weren't floppy controllers. Those were combined floppy and either MFM or ESDI hard drive controllers. The one to the left was probably a cache card - likely a caching hard drive controller. I sent a link to this video to a group of friends I have in the classic computer scene to see if they noticed anything they're looking for. (This means you're unlikely to get a Model-M if you go back later. Sorry. XD ) Thanks for making this video!

[@RinoaL]

well you can find model Ms in almost any dumpster, ive thrown away a few lol

[@kkensington]

You must be young, since they had a store about 20 miles south on Washington, in Waukegan.

[@MiketheratguyMultimedia]

I remember trying to find a way to copy movies back in the mid 90s. Back then there were "copy guards" which detected when two VCRs were used together and garbled the image when trying to copy a commercial tape. I talked to someone who worked in the A/V section of the library of my high school and he quietly told me that there was a "copy guard" blocker for $30 bucks at Chester's. I still have all those copied VHS tapes that I made thanks to this. :D

[@goodun2974]

At 3:50, I own a significant collection of Sam's Photofacts schematics for tube audio equipment and guitar amps, but I didnt know they even printed them for use in servicing early computers! Hmmm, 50% off on all books; doesn't anybody *read* any more, from paper formats that is? I bet I'd end up buying a few of those books if I was there...

[@JoshGarsideMeyers]

I love going to this place. I have gone there for record player belts, cartridges, needles, blank audio cassettes, and replacement capacitors for a Reel to Reel tape recorder. The owner knows his shit, too. None of that Radio Shack and Best Buy salesman bullshit. Walk in, look around without being bothered and when you have a question, it will be answered.

[@drubradley8821]

WOW!!! This brings back memories of my local store as a young man some 15 to 20 years ago, called Pembleton Electronics in Fort Wayne, Indiana. The original owner (Jim Pembleton) had stories a mile long. My weekly ventures to his store started in a basement, as it was known, to them into a larger industrial building... I so much miss him and the store... Thank you for taking the time to show this...

[@jackamelar1455]

I was at Pembleton once. Anybody know whatever happened to all that stuff?

[@drubradley8821]

@@jackamelar1455 One of Jim Pemblton's young employee's purchased all of to take it over due to its potential $$$, Misener Electronics. I forget his first name, "Mike, Mark, Steve?" its been approx 20 years since chatting with Misener. But in the process of taking over, there was ALLOT of blind issues that Jim Pembleton left on the door step of Misener Electronics Inc or LLC. When you buy a business and their inventory, one would never expect to also buy all the hidden or bad business deal as well. I don't quite remember all the exacting details of what Misener said, but, although he tried to put of a good fight to keep it all going, it was just too much politics fighting against him, when old history still wanted their cut or debts paid. for example, some of the inventory that Misener took over, and paid for, Jim never paid for. Basically, double dipped. Please note, I do not know Jim's side of the story, as I only head this side from Misener after Jim past away. So, the factual story is unknown, as this is just one side only. I politely say, I do not believe mush of what Misener said, for all the claims of corruption Jim was involved in, and magically somebody else is not liable for that? I doubt that. But who knows. Why I question the truth of what or most of what Misener stated, vs he is just horrible at running a business, which is possible, (no disrespect to Misener, just stating that is possible) but, Jim Pembleton, being a crooked business man, screwing people over, for 50 years, is also possible, even though I doubt it, for one simple reason. many of the contractors that surplus was purchased from where through auction houses, and gov't contract auctions. and you don't get to rip those people off, it just doesn't work that way. First, you don't get to take you winnings home, until you first pay. that is any auction. Second, there was several contracts that would use Penbletons as a dump site, so that they didn't have to pay to have new/old stock dealt with in recycling, trash dump, HAZ-MAT process ,etc. and Jim would take it, and harvest it, and sell it ,LOL. key word: DONATED. and everybody wins. So, those people LOVED that end of the deal. As per Misener, I do not have anything bad to say about his attempt to keep it up and going, I do wish he was a success, but, it wasn't, for what ever the truth might be. That last I heard from Misener, those many years ago, that he was trying to set up a new location, as he did still have the majority of the inventory / surplus, but, that was a struggle, for the size building needed, vs, inventory size vs lease/rent/mortgage price, that all on its own can be a horrible adventure in trying to secure a store front, and be bonded, and insured utilities, etc.... I can only imagine, one month would cost every bit of $4000, and likely be closer to $12K a month... That is allot of overhead to deal with, unless you just already owned the building. As of now, I have no clue if Misener still has all that surplus, I doubt it.

[@Anunum-cq2dy]

Very cool shop! In my city in northern hessia /Germany we had in the 70th/80th a lot of such shops! competition of the online trade destroied the most of them. They still survived 2!!! ☹

[@modtwentyeight]

Reminds me of Leeds Radio that was in Brooklyn, NY. They moved to the South Bronx a couple years ago. Piled high and wide with NOS parts.

[@burntorangeak]

I can smell this place.

[@mrradio2187]

My thoughts exactly as I recall visiting old surplus electronics stores in the 70's and 80's.

[@GeekBoy03]

Is that you Creepy Joe?

[@kb1kos]

A wonderful nostalgic aroma.

[@onefatstratcat]

Kind of a like a shoe store but not...lol

[@LowCostCncRetrofits]

Yeah musty hahaha

[@JLFamilySong]

As a kid, I remember being in this and their previous location with my dad who knew Chet. Chet (short for Chester) was friends with my dad's and they would talk for hours. We always knew when Chet was in the store because he smoked a cigar that unmistakably lingered in the air. While my dad talked with him for what seemed like hours to me as a kid, I would walk around in total amazement and look at everything. My dad would test tubes at that very tube tester from our RCA Color TV. My older brother would purchase parts for yet another electronics project of his that he probably got from those SAM's books. As far as we knew it was the only place to purchase all that project wire and reel-to-reel recording tape for our brand-new tape recorder! Oh, the memories!!! Thank you for this. If you can't find it, go to Chester Electronics.

[@kc3ntsanolddoglearningnewt411]

Rinoa, You are awesome. Showcasing all the technology I grew up with. You seriously know vintage tech. Especially the old cable configurations. Sincerely, KC3NTS

[@RinoaL]

well thank you! im tempted to use that old modem cable for the umbilacle to my rocket engine test stand when i end up computerizing my engine. it has like 30 connectors and its cool

[@PeteRondeau]

I'm always searching the background on videos like this on the lookout for SS50 Buss boards to populate an old backplane I have here. very cool place.

[@Gizmologist1]

There is a store just like this in Dallas called Tanner Electronics. Here in Burbank is a HUGE warehouse called Apex Electronics and they sell only surplus and reclaimed merchandise. The ware house is likely 4x the size of this place

[@racingfan2014]

It reminds me of Pacific Radio in Burbank CA. I use to purchase Canare cable and make my own guitar cord. Thanks for your video.

[@tommyg5095]

Thanks for taking me along.

[@jdcunnington]

Having grown up just over the border, Chester's is a GREAT place, and if you go there, catch a game at Simmons Field right out their back door. Literally - the ball diamond is right there. Their back wall is pretty much the back of the left field wall.

[@toyota420xp]

Looks like a junk store to me but two was specific person. There’s probably some kind of treasure in there.

[@peterpegrem9837]

I use to make those single sided, double sided PCB panels in the largest PCB Panel factory in Australia in 70s. We plated the gold finger contact and screen printed the colour mask on the board. We had a then state of the art "Flux Leveling Machine" in the factory this was cool because it was 6 years before Back to the Future came out. We even did the boards for the Australian military. I use to take boards home that QC failed, they looked so good like works of art.

[@Hereford98]

Thanks for showing this place. I became overwhelmed by it. This place has that part you need for say restoring an old piece of equipment, just hope they can find where it is 😮

[@ForgottenMachines]

3:23 OK, now you REALLY have my attention...what late 70s Nixdorf machine is this card a RAM expansion for? I don't recognize it, even though some of the systems I restore have been bought/rebranded by Nixdorf...fascinating!

[@MrSupro]

As mentioned before there used to be dozens of places like this in California, but with the closing of HSC there are really no more. OrVac is still down in Orange County but they have mostly turned over to newer inventory. Also Apex is changing over to just a prop house and since Don left is no longer bringing in any new components. Things of the past unfortunately.

[@RinoaL]

Ive done videos on HSC, Weirdstuff among others. they were really good.

[@johnmoor8839]

I could spend the rest of my life wandering around that place.

[@Outandaboutwithpoggy]

Being a UK Radio Ham, callsigns G7POG & M3MHM , I could spend the rest of my life in there, it reminds me of the Tandy shops that used to trade in UK selling Realistic brand radios and all things electronic etc, after they went off the scene another big player arrived called Maplins, but sadly they went also, now it’s Amazon and Ebay but there’s nothing like coming through the door of a electronics store and being greeted with rows upon rows of goodies, thanks for showing me around, great store, pity this isn’t located in Chester UK, again many thanks Mike QTHR

[@ronliebermann]

There’s a place in Phoenix called Apache Reclamation. They get tons of used electronic equipment. Sometimes people will strip parts, but most of it goes to the dump. It would be nice if they listed every machine as it came in, so people could buy stuff. The problem is that most of the equipment is big. So it would be expensive to crate and ship.

[@tritonwow]

I can't believe it's still open! Dad was a ham operator and electrical engineer and I was in that shop more than I cared for!

[@GeekMustHave]

The old man's electronic shop, where there is a little bit of everything. IN East Lansing we have a place called Fulton Electronics, same idea but smaller and no surplus equipment. For surplus equipment, we have the University Surplus Center where every manner of equipment can be seen from some pretty nice labs and research. Once picked up a $45 box with 28 Stereo Headset retro looking, 12-6 port audio switches and a ton of 1/4 stereo patch cables. Loved the slow walk through the store. Keep broadcasting!!

[@slicksnewonenow]

There was a HUGE store in Dayton, Ohio for 55 years called Mendelson's... 55,000 square feet of it. They had everything from Military Surplus, to Electrical supplies, to new/old stock Electronics... And everything else someone could imagine. There was even a room of about 3,000 square feet that was chock full of brand new 1940s Linoleum in every color imaginable. Nothing in the place was much more than about $100... Vintage Bakelite knobs for radios or amplifiers were a whole quarter apiece. Holy Moley! All of those vacuum tubes and Capacitors you found!

[@grahambrown5874]

You don’t see these places in the UK anymore. We used to have the big companies like Henrys Radio and the US had Radio Shack. I loved walking around the local electronic shop and selecting resistors, capacitors, transistors (NPN and PNP), and aluminium boxes to build projects. These paces had a distinguished smell about them.You could also buy old magazines, Practical Electronics, Practical Radio. When i was small i remember my father buying me in the early 1960’s an electronics lab. In the box was a board with all these electronic components attached to springs. The box had circuit diagrams that you placed over the board that showed you how to wire up a project. I remember building my fist crystal radio and listening to station though a small earpiece. That experience was the basis for my career in electrical and electronic engineering. I also remember the old thermionic valves and CRT’s. Have you ever see these vintage electronic labs for sale? I would love to buy one because it would link me to the bond i had with my father when he was a live. Thanks for sharing this.

[@ForgottenMachines]

2:08 late 60s-early 70s systems connectors "Winchester" (not to be confused with rifles OR hard drives...) I would have purchased every one of those cables you touched, because I restore systems that are 50+ years old which still use them...excellent find!

[@michaelmeisman4731]

There was a place here in Seminole Florida called Chester Electronics. It was just like what you have there. That was my go to place for all my component needs on electronics. You video was exactly like taking a trip back in time. Now there is nothing here and it is a horrible loss..

[@michaelmeisman4731]

@Appalachian Fire WITCH Thats it. So you were here and these are the same guys?

[@jimleonardson4268]

@6:27 science-surplus is mentioned in Milwaukee. That's American Science & Surplus. They have three stores; Chicago, Geneva (IL) and Milwaukee. You should mark your calendar for the weekend after Labor Day when they have their warehouse sale in Niles.

[@SirRobertDole2]

This shop reminds me of a place that i used to frequent in PA called Kemner's Surplus that shut down recently (pre-covid, even). This place looks a lot cleaner and more organized though.

[@steve64464]

Great store thanks for showing us around :-)

[@boggy7665]

One of the downtown buildings in Kenosha the rioters torched Aug 2020, was the former site of Chesters. (That building in Aug 2020 was the parole office.) Chester moved to this south side site many years before.

[@astkcin]

Great store!! The Globar resistors alone would be worth a visit! We have a shop like this in Costa Mesa, MarVac Electronics.

[@mitchellhw2006]

That's a rare place anymore. I grew up in electronics in the mid-1980's and work as an engineer still. I rarely meet anybody that actually repairs equipment anymore. Most just head to the landfill. Good to see there's at least one last shop out there selling parts. Hope they can make enough money to stay in business.

[@ocsrc]

1:18 are those ZIP drives ? I remember there were ZIP, LS120 and 2GB tape drives that looked like that I think the tapes were 2GB. Might have been less. I remember using the tape drives for backups in the office circa 1996 / 1997 I remember the Windows 98 working fine but when we upgraded to Me they crashed the OS when we tried to run the backup. I can't remember who made them, but CompUSA sold them. I remember having to replace one that went bad. I remember around 97 buying an SCSI CDRW drive from CompUSA that came with the SCSI card and cables. It was complicated to install A year later they came out with the IDE CDRW in a small box. I was so happy. But to write 650 MB took 4 hours I remember the updates from Windows over dialup took 35 hours to get 300 MBs downloaded The office closed in 2005. They never got high speed I remember traveling down I-95 from PA to FL and there was no wifi then, and the only Internet was at truck stops using a dial up computer that charged by the minute. Took over an hour to download my email. I had to use dialup the whole trip, even staying in FL for 3 months. I would download my email while I slept. We have advanced so far in just 15 years

[@sewell2777]

Love to rummage through these types of places. Unfortunately here in the U.K. they are few and far between. Wish I could have a look through their tube supply!

[@davidwittie4177]

OMG! This IS sooo cool! As an early teen, I spent many Saturday afternoons at Radio Shack when you could actually by parts. Of course I had the free Battery of the Month Club card. Now I must find this store online. But it won't smell the same. Also, I was smiling largely for fifteen minutes before you turned the camera on yourself. Did I mention "This IS SOOO COOL!"