Electronics Plus

Among the great things that I have found to really dig about San Rafael, and Marin County, is an electronics store that is keeping it real, Electronics Plus.

I used to get the vast majority of my electronics pieces and parts from Radio Shack.  Back in the day, you could go in and dig through the racks, and find what you came in for, and a few things you never thought you needed.  I loved that about the Shack.  In fact, my first contact with an actual computer was taking BASIC programming on a TRS 80 at the Flint Radio Shack computer training center.  Of course, I now understand that the training center was really there to try to get interested people into a computer, or to help people who had purchased a TRS 80 to figure out how to get it to do stuff.  At roughly age 11 or 12, my typing skills were very poor, so I didn’t fare well in the class, and failed to complete my programming tasks in the time that the class was held.  Not having a computer of my own, I couldn’t save anything and further my knowledge and understanding at home, so I quickly lost interest in programming, until I got my Timex Sinclair 1000, but that’s another story for another day.

Nowadays you are more likely to walk into a Radio Shack and be asked if you want to upgrade your cell phone or plan.  And that is one of the main reasons I just don’t enjoy going into the Shack any more.  But I still like to mess around with electronics, so that is what brings me to Electronics Plus.

Before you walk into Electronics Plus, you are welcomed to the world of electronics possibilities just by looking at the window display.  There is everything from a flashing LED array to a Tesla Coil, and everything in between.  And that’s just the window display.  When you walk into the store, it takes a second to pick up your jaw off the floor.  After you gather yourself you start to see that Electronics Plus isn’t just a store that sells electronics, but a full featured shop that has a staff who really know their stuff and are available to help you find just what you need.

I had been looking for a few things that just weren’t available at other places around town, and getting them through internet stores didn’t make sense due to the shipping costs.  They were a little calculator battery, a funny 12 volt light bulb from our refrigerator ice cube dispenser, and a PS/2-USB adapter.   Dorothy and I walked into Electronics plus, sidled up to the counter and asked for each of the items on the list.  In a matter of seconds, all of the items were on the counter and ready to buy, how about that?   We walked around the store a bit, looking at their selection of everything from switches to project boxes to books, cases, wires, you know, the kind of stuff you should expect to find in an electronics store. Best of all, nobody asking if I would like to upgrade to the newest smart phone with a 2 year contract.