Bill, In the mid-'80s and into the early days of the codeless Tech license we had a great relationship with RadioShack. We did a special RadioShack branded version of our introductory book (which by the way had the side benefit of forcing us to put a realistic -- but high for us -- cover price on our basic book, which over the years generated a lot of revenue that we otherwise would have left on the table through our decades-long practice of underpricing our publications, but that's another story). RadioShack stores had printed lists we provided of clubs and licensing classes in their area, because of an agreement we worked out with the folks in Fort Worth. Their first 10-meter monobander was a sincere effort on their part to support our Novice Enhancement program. Later they added handhelds and mobiles for Techs. But the size of the amateur market didn't support stocking such low-volume items in their stores. The situation probably varies from place to place around the country -- in particular it may not be true of the Dealer Stores that are locally owned and generally carry RadioShack branded products as part of their broader business -- but the RadioShack stores I have been in and walked past lately are not stores that cater to do-it-yourselfers, except perhaps those in need of batteries. They sell consumer electronics. To the best of my knowledge, the folks I knew at the Fort worth headquarters are retired or have moved on. Bob or Harold may be able to provide an update on my admittedly somewhat historical perspective, but I thought sharing it might be useful. 73, Dave K1ZZ ________________________________ From: William Sawders [mailto:k7zm@hotmail.com] Sent: Thu 10/30/2008 9:29 PM To: arrl-odv Cc: Cornell,Jacqueline, KB1PWB; Inderbitzen, Bob, NQ1R Subject: [arrl-odv:17287] Re: ARRL Book Sales on Amazon Update Now, if we could only get a working agreement with Radio Shack. There isn't a town in America that doesn't have a Radio Shack and most perspective hams stop by their local Radio Shack to pick up any information possible about ham radio. Just a thought. Bill Sawders, K7ZM V.D. NW Div. -------Original Message------- From: Kramer, Harold, WJ1B <mailto:wj1b@arrl.org> Date: 10/30/08 13:32:06 To: arrl-odv <mailto:arrl-odv@reflector.arrl.org> Cc: Cornell,Jacqueline, KB1PWB <mailto:jcornell@arrl.org> ; Inderbitzen, Bob, NQ1R <mailto:rinderbitzen@arrl.org> Subject: [arrl-odv:17283] ARRL Book Sales on Amazon Update Hi, Here is an exciting update from Jackie on our efforts in improving and expanding our on-line book sales on Amazon.com and Google. We have also just implemented a similar, but smaller in scale, system on our own Web site. For an example: http://www.arrl.org/news/stories/2008/10/29/10415/?nc=1 73, Harold Harold Kramer, WJ1B Chief Operating Officer ARRL - The national association for Amateur Radio 860 594 0220 hkramer@arrl.org <http://www.arrl.org/> ________________________________ From: Cornell,Jacqueline, KB1PWB Sent: Thursday, October 30, 2008 2:30 PM To: Kramer, Harold, WJ1B Cc: Inderbitzen, Bob, NQ1R Subject: Amazon Update The ARRL Operating Manual <http://www.amazon.com/ARRL-Operating-Manual-Radio-Amateurs/dp/0872591093/ref=pd_bbs_sr_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1225390007&sr=8-1> is now part of the search in the book tool on Amazon. If you click on the book it will allow you to search inside. It's pretty neat. The following books were just uploaded and should be available to search inside shortly. The ARRL Ham Radio License Manual The ARRL General Class License Manual The ARRL Extra Class License Manual Emergency Power for Radio Communications ARRL's VHF Digital Handbook ARRL's HF Digital Handbook ARRL's Low Power Communications Once I receive PDFs for The Handbook and The Antenna Book, those will be added as well. All the same books have been uploaded to the Google Search tool, it just takes much longer to process. Thanks, Jackie