jon_k
Member
I'm aware of Texas Towers, though unsure if they just sell Towers and Radios or if they are full scale.
I went to 4 local radio shacks in the North Richland Hills area. My quest was simple. I needed a BNC to SMA adapter so I could use my VX-7R radio in my mobile antenna rig. Further, if available, I was going to pick up the Radio Shack Discone.
All 4 radio shacks let me down in both regards! They had strange SMA RF mounts and other RF odds and ends that are useless for a scanner/radio operator (though some the items were great if you were a Microwave deployment person.) They had special GHZ rated plugs that I've never seen anyone use.
I need a place local where I can pick stuff up when I don't want to wait for shipping. I was hoping radio shack would have enough stuff to help me out. I wasn't expecting Universal Radio, but nor was I expecting RF trinkets that aren't useful. They had an amateur radio drawer with solder-on DIN plugs and "replacement mics". Again, not very useful. I assume amateur operators need antenna adapters more often than they would need a new solder-required replacement MIC component for their rigs. (An operator of today would more likely buy a new DTMF mic, than take the assembly apart to replace the microphone component.)
I mean I saw RF plugs that you would think would have to be special mail-order from Sweden they looked so unusual, unneeded, and rare. You think "wow if they have such a low-demand trinket in this drawer, the next SURELY must have my adapter." You comb through all inventory then to find not a single BNC to ??? (in my case SMA) adapter for interconnecting cable.
Any ideas anyone? I didn't want this to be a rant. I'm sure all of you have felt this too, and I've seen rants before about this. If anyone has any brick and mortar suggestions for the Fort Worth area, please suggest! Texas Towers doesn't count because they're 30+ miles away.
I went to 4 local radio shacks in the North Richland Hills area. My quest was simple. I needed a BNC to SMA adapter so I could use my VX-7R radio in my mobile antenna rig. Further, if available, I was going to pick up the Radio Shack Discone.
All 4 radio shacks let me down in both regards! They had strange SMA RF mounts and other RF odds and ends that are useless for a scanner/radio operator (though some the items were great if you were a Microwave deployment person.) They had special GHZ rated plugs that I've never seen anyone use.
I need a place local where I can pick stuff up when I don't want to wait for shipping. I was hoping radio shack would have enough stuff to help me out. I wasn't expecting Universal Radio, but nor was I expecting RF trinkets that aren't useful. They had an amateur radio drawer with solder-on DIN plugs and "replacement mics". Again, not very useful. I assume amateur operators need antenna adapters more often than they would need a new solder-required replacement MIC component for their rigs. (An operator of today would more likely buy a new DTMF mic, than take the assembly apart to replace the microphone component.)
I mean I saw RF plugs that you would think would have to be special mail-order from Sweden they looked so unusual, unneeded, and rare. You think "wow if they have such a low-demand trinket in this drawer, the next SURELY must have my adapter." You comb through all inventory then to find not a single BNC to ??? (in my case SMA) adapter for interconnecting cable.
Any ideas anyone? I didn't want this to be a rant. I'm sure all of you have felt this too, and I've seen rants before about this. If anyone has any brick and mortar suggestions for the Fort Worth area, please suggest! Texas Towers doesn't count because they're 30+ miles away.
Last edited: