Not everyone knows this about RS components .

[@peteb3365]

used to love thumbing thru these catalogs when i was young, dad used to bring them home. what i remember it was very thin paper

[@michaeldranfield7140]

Correct , like tissue paper .

[@buttyboy100]

I found the catalogues useful reference books, even when they were years out of date. It's just not the same doing everything online.

[@joejoejoejoejoejoe4391]

RS, and Buck and Hickman (engineering)

[@MrFixiit]

You channel is like a living time capsal and i love it bring back some fond memories.

[@Barbarapape]

There are still a few of us left , my time in the trade started in 1970 and my soldering iron is used most days.

[@ollysworkshop]

It's a great wind up to say Radio Spares when a rep comes in from RS, the one we see absolutely won't have it! Also referring to Farnell as FEC has a similar effect.

[@michaeldranfield7140]

next time you see the RS rep mention Doram and see if they know !

[@turboslag]

Shows my age then, as I did know they were originally Radio Spares. I started my working life with CES in Newcastle Upon Tyne and there was an RS shop in the town then. CES had an account there of course, so my friend and I were frequently in there collecting orders. One day though, we decided to see if we could add a few, ahem, personal items to the order, for our own hobby use!! A bit naughty I know but we were young!! If the office had noticed we would have paid, but they didn't, even after a few months! So we actually did this a number of times and it was never picked up! Nothing major, just resistors, caps, semi conductors etc. At one time RS would only deal with genuine trade with an account, but that was years ago, now of course anyone can buy from them. Their catalogue was bedtime reading for me, how sad is that, but the last time I had a current edition was in the 90s, and then it was only the electronics section as they wouldn't give you all parts unless you actually qualified for them!!! To be fair though, all the parts comprised a massive hunk of paper about 10 inches thick! No wonder they no longer produce a hard copy edition!!! Still have quite a few RS parts in my stash, must get some vintage catalogues to flick through, it's like vintage electronics porn!!!

[@dutchgray86]

I did have the complete set once, a late 90's edition of the RS catalogue that someone gave me.

[@michaeldranfield7140]

RS closed my account in the 80 s because I didn't buy enough but I have an account now they deal with anyone again .

[@turboslag]

@@michaeldranfield7140 Competition makes a difference! Something I never liked about RS was how they added their own brand labels with part numbers to already well known makes, like AVO for example. If I buy an AVO or whatever brand new, I want an AVO not an RS AVO. Not sure if they still do that. Shouldn't be too hard on them though, they are a very successful British company that now operates internationally.

[@doublehaven]

@@michaeldranfield7140I made them aware of your video and posted a link. They have now featured it in a LinkedIn post 😀

[@steveurquhart5895]

Fantastic video. I remember the RS book at school it really didn't have many pages back then. I wish that they still stocked some things.

[@johnrockley9472]

I well remember the rep calling in the shop, 'we've got a special deal on co-ax cable' etc. They were the first source of silicon rectifiers, to replace stinky selenium ones. We didn't always at first get the mounting and value of the series resistor quite correct I recall! It was a cheaper repair for the customer than a set with an expensive PY32 valve. Of course the 'stink' returned later with the Thorn/BRC eht trays. It was an era of unreliable equipment and many families who were poor. It was devastating for them to return home after a weeks holiday in a pokey damp caravan with the worse weather ever, to be told their TV that they were still paying off but was out of guarantee needed a line output transformer. Thanks for the great content you provide.

[@michaeldranfield7140]

I remember the bad egg smell from the selenium stick diodes in the BRC trays , infact I still have a few sticks in stock .

[@andysims4906]

Even after all this time I still refer to them as Radio Spares . I believe others do as well . I have a old catalog from 1973 . My dad bought it home from work when the company he used to repair arcade games at the time . The other guy he worked with made a couple note inside of the machines they ordered the parts for . A nice reminder. I picked up a bag of 12 or more Radio Spares droppers for BRC 1400 and 1500 at a radio . Most in boxes at a rally for a couple pounds. I have used most of them now . I also got lots of the polo mint ones . Again from radio rallys. The polo ones never seem to burn out . All good stuff. Thanks for the great video as always.

[@michaeldranfield7140]

All I need now is some more 1500 s to use these in , got a load more droppers in a box somewhere .

[@johnbewick6357]

Takes me back to 1971 when I started work at a Radio TV shop direct from a C&G course at college. I couldn't believe the cost of B&W TVs back in the fifties ( looking through old sales brochures ) they were far more expensive than in the seventies. Well remember the RS sales rep Rolly coming every week in his blue Morris Minor Traveller company car.

[@michaeldranfield7140]

Bit before my time but I saw in a 60s Murhpy news technical brochure that radios and TVs were subject to 30 percent tax and it killed the sales of these items .

[@johnbewick6357]

@@michaeldranfield7140 Indeed, we had Purchase Tax on luxury goods such as TVs which had been as high as 66% when introduced in 1940 reducing to 33% in the 50s. Purchase Tax was charged on TVs until VAT came along in 1973, starting at 25% for TVs and later dropping to 10% before rising again to 20% as we have now. Prior to VAT, Purchase Tax was only charged on a complete ready to plug in and go item. This brought about a very good market in ' Kits ' of parts to build your own item. Heathkit were a major supplier of electronic kits, as were Sinclair and many others. Even cars were sold as build your own from a kit of parts, to avoid paying any Tax.

[@ianhuxstep211]

Brings back memories, I remember the old Radio Spares catalogue that was A5 size. Seeing those droppers, those were great times when you could fix the TV in the customers home.

[@willtucker2774]

Yes, I remember those times too, you made a wooden toolbox and you had ceramic resistors, a few EF84's ECC83's PL504's, a soldering iron n solder an yer tools😂

[@willtucker2774]

Apprentice engineer, done radio TV and electronics mechanics course no. 332 for city and guilds . Started that in 1968/9

[@pjaj43]

Happy days! Yes, I remember Radio Spares well. I started back in the mid 1960s and regularly ordered components from RS at the telecomms R&D labs where I worked. I was still ordering stuff from RS Components 40 years later when I retired. And I've continued to do so occasionally ever since for my tinkering at home.

[@michaeldranfield7140]

My first awareness of RS components was as a small boy when on Sundays my dad use to double up as the security person at the mines research establishment, now called the health and safety laboratories, just to love looking round the labs at the packets with yellow label's .

[@cornwallonline]

Brilliant, brought back some happy memories! In the early to mid 70's, there was a local TV repair shop around the corner from wher I lived as a kid. IThe owner used to allow me to order bits from the RS catalogue to build my hobby circuits and when I was 15 (1975!), I did a Day Release from school there and learned a great deal...mostly about fixing Triumph motorcycles and a bit about valve TV's!!! I still use RS now, including their excellent Designspark PCB design software!

[@michaeldranfield7140]

Same here , as a kid my boss opened and account with RS and I would take the catalogue home and bring it back the next day with a list off stuff for him to order for me , I find service is second to none , next day courier delivery and top quality components .

[@cornwallonline]

@@michaeldranfield7140 I also had a Home Radio Componants catalogue (I think about 1973/4) that I used to spend many hours looking through, wishing I could afford the goodies withing its pages! I don't know if you remember it - often advertised on the back of the likes of Everyday Electronics, before Maplin took over cover ads and started with its 'Site of Londons New Airport' stuff!!!

[@eliotmansfield]

as a kid in the 80’s it was impossible to actually order any from them had to get a friend of my dad to get it via his work. Then i started working at Olivetti age of 16 in the lab, they put an order in every few days and I could get anything (cheap and work related) for free - it was like a dream come true. Still own RS branded side cutters and nut runners 38 years later

[@michaeldranfield7140]

Still got the nut runners with the red handle !

[@johnburns6422]

Thanks for the memories the wages were small but the job/work was very enjoyable , The sixties to the late eighties .

[@michaeldranfield7140]

Fault finding to component level was so enjoyable , now sadly long gone and it wont be coming back .

[@JustInspiredKent]

Fascinating! I'm a relative newcomer to the space but I must say I am extremely impressed with their delivery times. I ordered some SMD components last week after 6pm and they came the next day!

[@michaeldranfield7140]

Expensive but like you say next day courier delivery and top quality parts , I use to buy a lot from Farnell but lately RS have always come out the cheapest .

[@paulsmith3652]

Great video Michael, what a blast from the past. Unfortunately I’m old enough to remember changing these. Looking back now, life was a lot simpler as a engineer then, it might not have seen so at the time, but I’d rather be changing triplers, lopt transformers, even setting up convergency coils then changing smd components that you can’t even see without magnifying glasses!

[@michaeldranfield7140]

me too , the older days of component level fault finding were the best , I'm glad I lived through those times as they wont be coming back now .

[@duncanwood261]

Takes me back to fitting droppers in ferguson 1500 tv's and triplers in colour tv's great days. Used RS alot. Thanks Michael.

[@willtucker2774]

Early Phillips valve colour telly's weighed a ton😂

[@hymermobiler]

Also did fantastic data / info sheets in huge binders always had a set at hand

[@doublehaven]

Yes, the Data Library which was regularly updated with each catalogue issue 😊

[@rustandoil]

The RS catalogue was a fantastic reference... Even better when they divided it into themed sections.

[@ashleycox432]

You've got some really fascinating stuff. I'm so glad someone out there keeps all of these old NOS bits. I've spent the last few months trying to hunt down drivers for some vintage AR speakers (part numbers 200035 and 200036 if anyone has a source) and finding replacement parts that even 10 years ago would have been relatively easy to find is getting a lot more difficult. I dread to think how much of this NOS stuff has ended up in landfill or e-waste over the years.

[@michaeldranfield7140]

Have a look at my workshop tour video if you want to see my stock, no room left of the walls for any more draws !

[@beautifulsmall]

Fascinating to see those old catologues . CPC has a similar but more recent history selling TV repair transistors , I can remember having a fold out card with just a few hundred components on.

[@michaeldranfield7140]

CPC was a good supplier of manufacture's components back in the 80s , I still have an account with them after nearly 40 years.

[@caramba10]

Radio Spares were always known as being 'the' most expensive way to buy components especially so if you were a hobbyist. But yes I remember the small yellow boxes and the catalogues getting thicker with each edition to the extent that the last ones I received came as three or maybe it was four separate books the size of a telephone directory (if anyone's old enough to remember those). One of my favourite memories was one of our teachers driving us 80miles to London's Tottenham Court Road and visiting all the stores like Proops, Henry's Radio etc. it was like being in heaven when you were an electronics geek.

[@martinploughboy988]

There was also Lisle Street, round the corner from Leicester Square underground station. Many a happy luchtime spent in those places.

[@deang5622]

Yes, I remember, they were more expensive but their delivery time was next day, if I recall? And of course they had products that Maplin and Farnell didn't sell.

[@MrAvant123]

The page where it showed 'droppers' resonated with me. This was 'meatball' electronics at its best ! Use a massive resistor to deliver differing ac voltages to be rectified and used, instead of using a pesky expensive transformer ! But you were turning the TV into a room heater instead !

[@michaeldranfield7140]

my favourite thing , a valve tv set dissipating loads of heat, sadly I don't have too many valve sets in my collection .

[@deang5622]

One of the great things about going to university, we could place orders through the university electrical engineering department to RS. This was when they sold only to other companies and didn't sell to the public. Maplin (may peace be upon them...) in those days were mail order only.

[@michaeldranfield7140]

Trade only as you say but they did eventually have a retail arm and they called it Doram , cant remember how long it lasted though.

[@philalsop5939]

I was a TV apprentice in 1977 I remember the RS rep coming to the workshop. Changed many a dropper in my time.

[@michaeldranfield7140]

I just need some more sets to use these in now .

[@shaunhw]

When fitting polo mints - we used to cut away the open circuit winding of the main dropper as it wasn't unknown for the winding to make contact again making the bridged segment half the resistance of that it should be. Later working at a well-known Thorn owned rental company bridging droppers with mints or other high power resistors was complely banned, and only the correct part could be used.

[@michaeldranfield7140]

I never actually cut the old part away but I guess it would be possible to re connect if it was a bad connection at the end .

[@hughoneill9929]

Takes me back to the '50s and '60s when I used to buy from Radios Spares for our Coventry development laboratory. Went to their HQ, before it moved to Ebury Street, London, and was shown round by the Chairman (Mainwaring or Waring, I think) and the Tech director (Sebestien - odd spelling). At dozens of order filling stations there were girls using an amazing stocking, order filling and invoice printing system based on the old Addressograph machines with metal plates for both customer account addressing and the component names and pricing. All orders received during a day were dispatched the same day - brilliant and simple. Expensive but on time. Had an out of town warehouse to replenish stocks daily. Then, the small catalogue was about the size and shape of a DL size envelope with a string through one corner so you could hang it on a hook by your desk - very simple and effective sales technique! Different world, no computers - invoices totalled on 'comptometers'.

[@michaeldranfield7140]

A very different world now as you say but one thing remains the same and its why I like them so much , next day courier delivery if ordered before 6PM at night .

[@hughoneill9929]

@@michaeldranfield7140 That figures. Waring(?) told me that he had reprimanded his orders manager for asking if he could close receiving customer orders at 4pm on a particularly busy day. Apparently even thinking that might be possible was a mortal sin! Of course, Waring might have been saying that just to emphasis to me the reason for their excellent service.

[@mikecummings7054]

Those resistors used to get hot and sometimes cooked other components below them. Rifa caps were the first to go along with a few resistors and capacitors. Used to be a common fault on Ferguson. Marconiphone, Ultra and HMV TV sets. The wires coming from the resistor had a heat sheath around them. I once saw a HMV tv that had a brittle back cover. The heat affected the plastic. Tv sets in those days gave off heat from this resistor and cats would sometimes sleep on top of the television set due to the warmth.

[@willtucker2774]

All those names were basically badge engineering, same inside. Wish I could find an old valve radio to show my great grandkids.

[@mikecummings7054]

@@willtucker2774 Indeed because the radios they made were identical to but a different badge. Same goes for Bush radios of the 1970s under the Rank organisation which included Dansette and Murphy.

[@willtucker2774]

​@@mikecummings7054I remember them, Rank Bush Murphy. I had an old late 40's early 50's bush radio I bought at a jumble sale non working for 2s and 😂6d (half a crown) a weeks wages as an apprentice TV tech was about four quid.

[@mrnmrn1]

I knew they were Radio Spares, but didn't know they phased out radio and tv parts so early. I thought that happened in the '90s.

[@4bitsystem]

I often wondered, what RS stands for. But never bothered to look it up. Thank's for telling.

[@mrnmrn1]

@@4bitsystem Many years ago I thought RS was the European division of Radio Shack. But I read somewhere ~10 years ago about their origin. Or maybe it was a YT video. Since then I know they were Radio Spares and have no connection with Radio Shack.

[@georgeprout42]

​@@mrnmrn1Tandy was the UK Radio Shack. My grandad always called RS Radio Spares, so it's what I've always known them as.

[@iandobson8846]

I used a dropper resistor to put over my soldering iron, so i could put a hot iron back in my toolbox when I was out repairing TV's in the home.

[@willtucker2774]

In a house repairing TV about early 70's and had soldering iron (Henley Solon 25watt) propped on floor, had to re~adjust my position and put my hand straight on top of hot iron !!!! Oh , that hurt bad

[@tenmillionvolts]

Me too. The old Thorn ones didn't like New Zealand summers, so there were plenty of dead ones

[@iandobson8846]

@@willtucker2774 ouch! I would question putting the iron on the floor in the first place though. The Antex irons we used had hooks that one could use to hang the iron from the TV's chassis etc. Later on I used a gas iron, that cooled down quite quickly anyway.

[@doublehaven]

It was originally Radiospares and became RS Components when the listed PLC Electroconponents was formed. They purchased a number of their distributors, the oldest of which was Radionics in Ireland. There was also Mulder Hardenberg in the Netherlands and others. Electrocomponents became RS Group a couple of years ago, all companies are now branded RS with the components part dropped. I worked there for 36 years 😊

[@jasejj]

Funnily enough I was just watching a video on YT by "Electronic Workshop" run by an Irish fella who referred to Radionics while showing an item on the RS website... shows how names stick!

[@doublehaven]

@@jasejj They sure do, RS in France was a purchase from Verospeed known as Bevis. For years after the sign said Radiospares Composants. In the USA they purchased Allied in 1999 and it’s only recently it became RS Americas. Many customers thought it had closed !

[@jonathanInLondonUK]

I have the Dec76/Mar77 catalogue here, with just one page of TV replacement parts. It lists the Electrocomponents Group companies as: RS Components Limited (still Radio Spares to me), The Radio Resistor Co, Reading Windings Limited, and Doram Electronics. As RS didn't sell to the public, Doram was this teenager's go-to for mail order components, alongside Watford Electronics.

[@michaeldranfield7140]

Strangely I don't know the Electrocomponents but I do remember very well Doram , in fact I have a couple of Doram items on my you tube channel , they were the retail arm for people who were not in the trade.

[@jeffmoore4153]

Ah yes the mains dropper, common fault on radios, sometimes did not replace the whole dropper just the faulty section with suitable wire wound resistor.

[@roberthorwat6747]

They used to sell our heatsinks. I worked at Redpoint in 1977. My first job out of school.

[@michaeldranfield7140]

I have used a few RS heatsinks over the years , in fact I still have a couple at home in the loft , the big ones are horrendously expensive now though .

[@kendom33]

I remember radio spares ! I had those very catalogues until recently. Yes it was the thorn 1500 mono

[@michaeldranfield7140]

These old catalogue's sell on e bay for £30 up .,Glad I kept mine ,the memories are worth more than the money.

[@Cornz38]

Just like the fabled Maplins catalogue from the 80's and 90's. I worked in the Hillsbourogh branch when it 1st opened...

[@molletts]

Ah, good ol' Maplin's in their heyday. [settles into armchair, all misty-eyed...] I remember being given the 1987 (I think) catalogue (mostly orange sci-fi front cover illustration featuring a maglev-type train, if my memory serves me correctly) as a Christmas present; it was the first time I had heard of Maplin. As a kid who was obsessed with electronics, it was absolutely perfect. The other kids at school (I would have been in Year 4 if I've got the right year) were baffled when I talked about it when we started back after the holidays. They were all similarly excited about getting Scalectrix sets or whatever. It was more than just a catalogue, though - there was a wealth of data about the components, especially the ICs. For a hobbyist like me who scrounged old broken electronic stuff from friends and family, desoldered the components and used them for experimenting on my breadboards, it was invaluable - suddenly I had pinouts and even example application circuits for many of the assorted ICs I'd accumulated whereas before I could only use the ones that had been featured in the selection of Forrest Mims' "Engineer's Mini Notebooks" I owned. The highlight of my school holidays from then on were the pilgrimages with Mum to the Southampton branch (Bevois Valley Road) to buy new stuff. It was a small, very cluttered store, crammed with goodies and with the friendly team (I particularly remember Eddie) on hand to help. Skip the candy store - take this kid to Maplin's!

[@deang5622]

Before I did my degree, the Maplin was a great source of education looking through at all the chips. And being able to walk in to a Maplin store (when they started opening them), going in with a components list, handing it to a assistant and he'd just pick all the components you needed into little plastic bags. Absolutely fantastic. All gone now, sadly.

[@Cornz38]

@@deang5622 I remember using the psion organisers to take customer lists as it sorted them and gave us the bin location in the store room where all the goodies were.

[@NOWThatsRichy]

@@molletts I used to love looking through the Maplin catalogue. Back in 1982, when DIY electronics kits were popular, my dad bought the Maplin electronic organ kit, at the time it had the biggest one piece PCB in any consumer product, the board was about 4 feet long!! The kit contained box loads of hundreds of components & included the wooden cabinet, which we had to bring home on the roof-rack on the car, this was from the Hammersmith store in London, the nearest one to us in Portsmouh, which had this kit in stock, it took my dad & me several months to build this then complex electronic organ, but it did all work eventually!

[@BongbongA99]

I'm coming over all nostalgic now Michael. I even saw a good selection of record player cartridges as you flicked through the pages. If only I could go back to those days ....

[@michaeldranfield7140]

If only indeed , I only have memories now , old days were far better , I'm glad I lived thorough it .

[@willtucker2774]

Cheers for this channel sir.

[@michaeldranfield7140]

No problem , thanks for watching.

[@DadofScience]

That's awesome, thanks Michael!

[@michaeldranfield7140]

Thankyou for watching.

[@tonyiliffe8907]

In the late 60's I worked at the R&D labs at Rank Taylor Hobsòn in Leicester. I seem to recall the RadioSpares 'Catalogue' was a single, folded, sheet and seemed to be largely Bulgin control knobs, a few switches and some other bits. Their last printed Catalogue was 3 or 4 volumes in a cardboard case. Times change.

[@robertsneddon731]

RS provided technical data sheets in the catalogues for a lot of their components, very useful if you were designing or modifying equipment.

[@jimsimpson1006]

Another quick but very interesting video. Old, slightly tatty boxes but with shiny new parts inside!

[@michaeldranfield7140]

I'm trying to do interesting content and not run of the mill what everyone else is doing .

[@geoffhastings281]

I was working for Radio Rentals and had to order a couple of droppers for the remaining couple of Ferguson 1500 black and white tvs that were still out there. I’m not sure what went wrong but when the order turned up two guys struggled out to the workshop with the box of 400 droppers!

[@michaeldranfield7140]

Happened to me once with SEME, ordered 1,000 scart leads by mistake instead of 100 and they wouldn't take them back, that was the last time I ever used them .

[@johnwaby4321]

Very interesting. 👍👍. Used to use them .still have one of there books .

[@michaeldranfield7140]

The old catalogue's are very collectable now , some sell for £30 up on e bay .

[@nowster]

RS used to take chips from well known firms (eg. Texas Instruments), dip them in black paint and relabel them with their own markings.

[@michaeldranfield7140]

Yes I still have these , I have heard some people comment these were poor quality , seconds or fallouts but personally I have not had any that didn't work .

[@marksntl7632]

Thanks for sharing Michael, I used to drive past one of the factories (forgotten the name of the firm now) on the Isle of Wight back in 1979 that used to manufacture at least some of the black multi droppers for Thorn sets. I can remember seeing sets with the polo mints too 🤣

[@MartinE63]

Several years ago, I would suspect it would be in 1987 which would be the 50th anniversary of their formation, they produced and distributed to account holders a facsimile copy of their 1937 catalogue. It was full of radio spares :)

[@michaeldranfield7140]

That would be a very interesting read now .

[@rosscammisola335]

Radio Spares was expensive but fast to deliver by post and sometimes got you out of trouble as other suppliers were Slower , I really liked the Red Hi Stab Resistors similar to Grundig type , the quality was so good they rarely went faulty , we used to get the RS Mugs , Pens and Rulers etc , CPC , Willow Vale ,HRS from Birmingham , Charles Hyde were good ordering parts for Tv, Hifi and Domestic white good spare parts , you could order and it would arrive next day like Amazon, Sendz Components had a Aladdins Cave of bits that was amazing, Gone are those days 😊😊😊😊

[@robertsneddon731]

I was working at a film studio making special effects gear and we had a deal with the local RS Components store to get parts delivered by motorcycle courier in an hour or so if we needed stuff in a hurry. As they say in the film business, you can tell the director your special effect isn't ready for principal shooting once. That's because you'll never work in the industry again, and spending fifty quid to get a pack of resistors to the workshop fast enough to meet the deadline was well worth it.

[@gonzinigonz]

Got an RS at the bottom of my road, about a 10min walk. Never visit it though as buy everything online these days. Handy to know its there though!

[@michaeldranfield7140]

not much point now as the deliver is next day by courier, I find it a first class service .

[@RWL2012]

I knew, because my Grandad called them Radiospares long after they were RS.

[@peteb2]

In the late 1980s RS went all machinist supply for some strange move. It was great for myself though as i had bought a lathe & a reasonable milling machine to make stuff on &my employer allowed me to order any tooling i needed to make parts for him & if i needed for the work i did there. I well remember the 6061-T6 aluminium billet stock i bought & a selection of endmill & flycutters, taps & dies just to repair the the bosse's wireless controlled remote golf caddy trundler that had broken it's handle off...! To this day i have that RS catalog still for all the tech notes for machinists & i use that same very expensive tooling from RS still... as i turn perfectly good bits of metal into swarf & chips making parts for my electronics projects!

[@midlifelab]

I remember having the more “retail” oriented Electrocomponents catalogue back in the early eighties!

[@michaeldranfield7140]

I don't actually know Electrocomponents but I do remember in the 80 s they had a retail arm for people not in the trade and it was called Doram .

[@midlifelab]

@@michaeldranfield7140 Oh, Doram! Gosh, yes, I remember them!

[@grahammeakin781]

Hello Michael, it’s Graham from the farm, if you need any more test gear etc let me know. As your droppers and things are still “new” stock they should be still under warranty from Radio Spares if any are faulty from new, although I think that you’re likely to get a credit note rather than a replacement item, brings back memories.

[@michaeldranfield7140]

Hi , Graham , not forgotten about you , I will be back sooner rather than later ,I'm sure David would like to see you again .

[@Total-Solutions]

Known as Radio Spares and I went to the shop in Mitcham, South London Purchased my AVO 8 there. (still have it)

[@michaeldranfield7140]

never been an Avo fan , sorry !

[@truthreigns7]

Thank you Mr Michael

[@michaeldranfield7140]

no problem at all.

[@AllTheFasteners]

Despite their reputation for high prices, when you get to production quantites (when you get your own sales rep), RS can be very competitive.

[@michaeldranfield7140]

and top quality with next day delivery. I find RS are a lot cheaper than Farnell now , it use to be the other way round

[@AllTheFasteners]

@@michaeldranfield7140 Totally agree, although for reels of SMD, Digikey are usually cheapest.

[@willtucker2774]

Heaters on old vave sets used a " wattless" dropper" then a big dropper resistor.

[@michaeldranfield7140]

Yes , was it the Thorn 950 that used the capacitor dropper ?

[@willtucker2774]

No Michael, it was diode. Very clever thought went into that.

[@willtucker2774]

Used on heater supply.

[@Stop..carry-on]

I’ve got a few old rs branded tools, they’ve been good over the years

[@michaeldranfield7140]

same here , still have the nut runners with red handle .

[@MrBobWareham]

Yes I used to have an account with them when I had my electronics business the rep used to call to see me in Bournemouth UK.

[@michaeldranfield7140]

Still have an account today, when I set up on my own in 1985 I had an account for a while but they closed it because I didn't buy enough, but now there not fussy .

[@anthonyjones5711]

I remember dealing with them in the 80’s they required us to place orders with them by telex!

[@robertsneddon731]

Telex was recorded at both ends of the communication line, useful for payment disputes and the like.

[@allthegearnoidea6752]

That brought back some happy memories

[@michaeldranfield7140]

Showing you age !

[@Lyndalewinder]

Showing my age here Michael but I was surprised that anyone would not have known RS as Radio Spares and I still often refer to them as that when chatting to a friend who has just retired from the electronics business. Thinking about it though they must have been RS components for donkey's years now - probably about 1980???

[@HughTVDX]

I think it changed name to RS from Radiospares around 1970-71 Just looked it up, 1971. If you search for 'Radiospares' it links through to RS components.

[@aardvarksmith6852]

I used an old dropper as a cover for my iron so I could put it back into my tool box and on to my next job.

[@michaeldranfield7140]

Excellent idea, I once burnt someone's carpet in the 80 s !

[@user-rf9me7xm1w]

Yes, used them a lot but Maplins were good too.

[@willtucker2774]

Maplin was brilliant until big business bought them out and basically sold down the line

[@graemedavidson499]

I used to have a Radio Spares yellow catalogue or rather pamphlet rattling round the workshop. The logo contained stylised person. I can’t find any pictures on line of that style of catalogue!

[@michaeldranfield7140]

These catalogue's are very collectable now and can sell for £30 up on e bay .

[@graemedavidson499]

@@michaeldranfield7140 Sadly, I think it was thrown out/lost in my recent workshop move. Found some components in neat small yellow boxes but the literature is gone!

[@solsol1624]

They actually have framed pages from old catalogues and a pic of i guess first office in London on the wall of their Dublin branch

[@michaeldranfield7140]

Very nice .

[@nexpro6985]

Yes, some of us knew it was Radio Spares.

[@vk3hau]

There’s Radio Spares Components in Australia trading under RS Components, same logo to.

[@michaeldranfield7140]

from very small beginnings this is a global concern now .

[@moleyrusselswart]

started work back in 72 been using them since

[@michaeldranfield7140]

there focus has changed a lot over that period but they still offer a top quality service which is worth a lot .

[@monteceitomoocher]

Still got quite a few odds and ends with the original logo and brand name, very good quality stuff, especially tools, the modeling drill I bought back in the mid seventies has only just given up, and it's had a lot of use, those polo sections were designed to be stacked so as to make a complete replacement dropper only i never ever saw them used that way!, usually they'd be hanging like a bunch of grapes from a tired old dropper and in danger of singing nearby components or the rear cover!, happy days😂.

[@michaeldranfield7140]

I much prefeed the old packaging with the yellow label's than todays white bag , somehow it made the components much more appealing .

[@Ra-zor]

Brings back warm fuzzy memories of the trade lol

[@michaeldranfield7140]

Glad you liked it , many thanks for watching .

[@cerulyse]

We used to have various RS bits about the house raided from certain parts stores lol Then in electronics college all we ever had to do was sit there and read Maplin and RS catalogues omg

[@michaeldranfield7140]

I use to buy from maplin too , bought the catalogue at W H Smiths every year.

[@jasejj]

When I started at my first proper job at a small engineering company in North Yorkshire in the early 1990s, straight out of Uni and thrown straight into designing test gear for Sanyo, the boss (a fairly old fella) was referring regularly to "Radio Spares" and it took me a couple of days to work out what the devil he was talking about 😂

[@TheEmbeddedHobbyist]

I thought all us old folk knew it radio spares 😂 we used them for prototypes, but their lack of traceability on components meant they couldn't be used for production. Many a happy hour or so reading the set of catalogues when thè rep turned up with 10 or so sets.😂😢

[@KevCornucopia]

"Not everyone knows this about RS components" ... Apparently not everyone knows that since 2022 they have been rebranded as "RS" (without the 'components'!). If you have a look at the RS website under 'About Us' and then click on the highlighted '100 years' experience' it gives a timeline of their existence. Interestingly, not even they seem to know this fact as the copyright at the bottom of the page still calls them "RS Components Ltd"! A couple of things did surprise me though: I started as an apprentice in 1979 and always remember them as Radiospares but, according to the timeline, they dropped that name in 1971! Also, they apparently "Floated on the London Stock Exchange as Electrocomponents plc." in 1967... but the suffix 'plc.' didn't come into use until 1981 - Obviously they were always ahead of their time!!

[@frogandspanner]

They will always be Radiospares to me. That shows my age! Dad was a bacteriologist in MAFF, and each year he'd bring home the latest Griffin & George and similar science porn.

[@video99couk]

Nothing says "we don't care about power consumption" quite like a dropper.

[@MichaelBeeny]

My first experience of RS was in tech collage. A much smaller catalogue in those days but was treated as a bible. Here in NZ they are very expensive. In 20 years, I have never used them. Here Farnel (Element 14) What a stupid name change! wins on price. I really miss a REAL catalog, so much easier to find stuff quickly than booting up the PC, getting bloody Windows updates. Ohh dear, I'm showing my age now!

[@willtucker2774]

Maplin catalogue was brilliant. Such a great reference for components

[@MichaelBeeny]

@@willtucker2774 Even that catalogue has gone now. I still have the last edition printed. I was in Hamiltons Maplin just yesterday.

[@applanateearth586]

Maplins magazine was excellent!

[@michaeldranfield7140]

I bought a lot from maplin as a kid but I don't know if I still have my old catalogue's, someone gave me a maplin catalogue a few months ago but its late 90 s so no happy memories in there for me .

[@MikeEdwards-l6m]

Oh yes the days of mains droppers and mains dropper sections.

[@MikeEdwards-l6m]

148 ohm as shown, was this a Thorn 1500 monochrome chassis item then, if I recall correctly?

[@willtucker2774]

When stuck with no tools and asked if I could help at family or friends, I'd touch the chassis with a fingertip and work from the "dead end" end with the other fingertip, until i got a Belt aff it😂 now i i know what polo mint was needed. Always tied the polo mint to the duff dropper with bare copper wire

[@michaeldranfield7140]

My test was a wet finger and see if it dried up or stayed wet .

[@GrahamDenison]

If you were based in the North east, there was also Radio Supplies.

[@ColinMill1]

I'm sufficiently ancient that I still call them Radio Spares when talking to similar old fossils 😀 I can remember when their catalogue was only about 6mm, sorry, a 1/4 inch thick.

The RS books back in late 90s/00s were epic, they came in a box 😂😂, the Canadian guy in the Glasgow shop is a bell end though

[@michaeldranfield7140]

such a great pity there are no catalogue's now .

[@simoncroft9792]

If you have any of the paper data sheets for these RS parts with 123-456 type part numbers DON’T throw them away thinking RS will have them online! They dont any more. Search says they don’t exist.

[@iandobson8846]

Yep, I knew that. Back in 1981, when I started working for a TV repair company, I was told that.

[@KapaliChawla]

Hi Michael, nice to see such vintage collection. Do you know if I can buy such old RS catalog somewhere for a marketing event? Thank you.

[@Shandybrother]

Nice trade prices there at the beginning!

[@michaeldranfield7140]

If only you could buy components this cheap now .

[@PHILG2864]

Yes still called radiospares by older engineers, or sometimes "rad spads"

[@michaeldranfield7140]

I know , I'm old now !

[@nowster]

Farnell (element14) used to duplicate RS Components part numbers for many items.

[@michaeldranfield7140]

I have an account with Farnell but I find RS cheaper now, it use to be the other way round.

[@tenmillionvolts]

Never saw the mint resistors. We hung wire wounds off the tags

[@michaeldranfield7140]

the polo mints were common place in the back of Thorn sets years ago , a cheapskate repair compared to the price of a new dropper

[@hymermobiler]

Had an outlet in Stockport just off the motorway if you couldnt wait for the post

[@nowster]

I believe they still have a Trade Counter there.

[@tubeDude48]

They are like DigiKey and Mouser here in the US.

[@michaeldranfield7140]

I have had parts from Mouser and Digikey , these along with RS and Farnell are my go to places , no fakes here .

[@tubeDude48]

@@michaeldranfield7140 - Or here in the US.

[@willtucker2774]

THORN was manufacturer of most badges

[@michaeldranfield7140]

They made a lot of good stuff Thorn , mostly only let down by poor quality CRT s .

[@willtucker2774]

@@michaeldranfield7140 remember the old transformers that gave you 6.3 volt and a twenty? Percent boost?

[@perkulant4629]

Very cool

[@willtucker2774]

Subscribed. Cheers.

[@michaeldranfield7140]

Many thanks, I'm re living my younger days again .

[@BruceBoschek]

RS is the go-to for components in Germany. 😂

[@Ped0772]

Yep, I have to be that guy and say yes I knew that :) , just wasn't aware of the year

[@michaeldranfield7140]

Did you know RS had a retail arm called Doram , this is a name most people seem to have forgotten about also .

[@Peter-ww8pg]

Bring back the catalogues, the website is no comparison to mooching through the pages.

[@subramaniamchandrasekar1397]

You are a treasure.

[@michaeldranfield7140]

Thankyou , more to come , I'm re living my younger days again as I get older .

[@Golfer-rn7lh]

Massive company massive stock but sadly also massive prices

[@michaeldranfield7140]

Expensive but quality parts , next day courier delivery and cheaper now than Farnell.