Went to Radio shack to buy an AC/DC adapter for my Rio, as I wanted to leave the nice little one it came with in the Pelican case full time - bought this big hulking brick of power supply, rated at output of 1000mA, 12VDC - works, but not really. Constantly get the little 'battery +-' symbol (low power) on the player, and it occasionally powers off, then back on again..

I know, I know - I should have read the AC/DC Power adapter FAQ first, but really - who woulda thunk it!?

Yeah I had the exact same problem. Big hulking transformer with a linear reg. Rated at 12V 1000mA but kept getting the battery symbol and rebooting. And that was with only one drive too. Got mine from Dick Smith in Oz (kinda like Radio Shack but started by an Aussie)

Ended up finding some nice little switch mode jobs which besides being much smaller and lighter, they actually work. Only around A$20 for me too.

And anyway, you did follow the FAQ assuming the power supply could actually deliver it's rated power, then it should have been OK. Obviously it couldn't

The only thing I wondered about was that in the FAQ the recommended "All Electronics PS131" is actually 13Volt, not 12 like the player is stamped with requiring - (and the original power supply is stamped as providing). Now admittedly I have read it will work with 12-16V, but perhaps it really is more like 13-16 is optimal for sustained use?? Hmmm.. I'm going to see if Radio Shack have a 13V 1A version, and give that a shot -

Failing that - any Canadians out there have a recommended unit I can buy 'this' side of the border?!

Well the empeg specs 11-16V on the back. Seeing as the empeg has a switching power supply it's pretty efficient so in my opinion the supplies we got were just crap. The extra volt at 1A would be another 1W of power though I think the main problem with our supplies is they simply sag too much when a spike of current is required.

Perhaps try and look for a switchmode (it will be much smaller and lighter) rather than a linear reg version. Quite often they aren't even regulated and simply have a bridge rectifier and a large filter cap in them. Particularly cheap and nasty if you ask me.

In reply to:

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Perhaps try and look for a switchmode (it will be much smaller and lighter) rather than a linear reg version. Quite often they aren't even regulated and simply have a bridge rectifier and a large filter cap in them. Particularly cheap and nasty if you ask me

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That will explain the size differential - I asked Mr. Radio Shack what the deal was, why his was so much 'bigger' than the one I had, and of course - he didn't have a clue.. and nor did I to be honest.. I figured AC/DC was AC/DC - I am now 'edumecated' thanks!

works, but not really.

Sounds like any other Radio Shack product to me. Probably able to deliver 1A @ 12v, but not clean.

Beefed up the FAQ.

Cheers Tony!

I just finished ordering the All Electronics one, getting it shipped to a US friend - too much for shipping to Canada.... as it is, the power adapter is only $6.50, and shipping is $6! Crazy..

Surely, "avoid Radio Shack" would have covered the subject, without the bit on power supplies.

At least that was the case when they traded as Tandy in the UK

Surely, "avoid Radio Shack" would have covered the subject, without the bit on power supplies.

Well, you know - I usually don't have anything 'bad' to say about Radio shack - I buy little bits n pieces there now and again, such as ac/dc adapters (never had issues before) or in a pinch I've bought serial null modem cables, adapters, etc - I dunno - in Canada, Radio Shack is a staple, right up there with Canadian Tire - no complaints about my digital voice recorder I got there either for leaving myself quick vm's about mp3's that need to be re ripped, etc, etc..

I agree. I don't think Radio Shack is that bad. They have their place, it's just not the same as they used to be in the 70's and early 80's since the era of the D.I.Y. electronic hobbyist has fallen dramatically.

They used to have competition with others such as Lafayette and Olson electronics. But since those went out, what R.S. carries is exponentially smaller than it used to be and they only seem to carry a token representation of each item.

But... at least they're still around.

I like them too, but all those stores are effectively half as big as their floor space. What I mean is, the back half is the only place I go since it has all the cables and adapters and what-not, whereas the front half is filled with cheap RC cars and such.

I have had the same supply for over a year and it has worked flawlessly. Never a single problem so maybe I just got lucky.

I like them too, but all those stores are effectively half as big as their floor space. What I mean is, the back half is the only place I go since it has all the cables and adapters and what-not, whereas the front half is filled with cheap RC cars and such.

LOL! That's so true, never even thought about it before - I don't even "see" all the cheap stereos, RC cars, and low-end TV's at the front, cause my eyes are always glued on the shelves of wonder at the back!

I used to love Tandy when I was a kid and first got into electronics, and even in the 80's they used to do low-end consumer electronics. In fact my first 'walkman' was one of their brands - a monstrous brick that had play, FFD and stop/eject and ran through 4AA cells in about 3 hours. The sound quality was crap - and God only knows how my hearing survived the volume required to get anything resembling bass to register... but hey - they were the days of wonder, where for the first time it was possible to carry music with you when you did your paper round.

On the one hand, it's a shame that they hung their boots on the consumer electronics peg - as most of the stuff is just overpriced junk. But on the other hand, I think that they've done well to keep all of their stores open. Hobbyist electronics just doesn't support a store in every mall, and the fact that I can get some basic components within 5 minutes is useful from time to time.
My biggest gripe is really with the product knowledge of the staff - it seems now that if it isn't a cellphone or related calling plan that they don't know squat. But there still very 'helpful' and I've learned to dismiss the first staff member that I clap eyes on when entering the store so that I can browse in peace.

My other gripe is with some of the component availabilty - it's a bit stone-aged in some respects. For instance, they stock a 1489 compatible RS232 receiver chip, but not the 1488 transmitter (hmm..did I get those numbers the right way around?..anyway) . Both of those are archaic anyway, and they'd sell a lot more MAX233 compatible devices if they sold them instead.

My biggest gripe is really with the product knowledge of the staff - it seems now that if it isn't a cellphone or related calling plan that they don't know squat.

The Radio Shack in Garnerville, NY is actually the best I've been in as far as staff goes. All the workers have FRS radios on them. If I can't find something (usually because there is a mountain of RC cars in the aisle), the person I ask immediately picks up the FRS and says something like "customer advanced" if they don't know what I'm asking for. Then someone with a clue comes out of the back room to assist me.

That Radio Shack is about 5 minutes from my house, and I am in a very small town. I can't believe they do enough business at that location, but they've been there for 3-4 years now.