RA-Elco Inc

Related:	gamestop lake success
Category:	Electronics Store
Address:	2780 Main St, South Salt Lake, UT 84115, USA
Phone:	+1 801-487-7749
Rating:	4.6
Working:	8:30AM–12PM 8:30AM–12PM 8:30AM–12PM 8:30AM–12PM 8:30AM–12PM 10AM–1PM Closed

Location

Photos 47

Reviews 14

Paul Doubek

If youre looking for a national chain that can sell you a cell phone and plan, or that has walls of nicely displayed Chinese electronic toys, this isnt it. However, if youre looking for an old-school, locally owned, electronics supply or electronic surplus store with knowledgable staff, THIS IS THE PLACE. This is a treasure-trove for the real electronic hobbyist, hardware hacker, or "maker" type person. There are very few stores like this left in this country, and Salt Lake City is blessed that Robert keeps the doors open and new stock coming in. Ive never encountered the attitude that one reviewer posted, but they certainly can get busy and bogged down helping people trying to solve some obscure problem. If you want to be accosted by a salesman who will follow you around the store like a lonely puppy, go to Radio Shack. If youre technical enough to tackle an Arduino build from scratch or replace the capacitors on a vacuum tube amplifier, these guys will likely have what you need and lead you straight to it.

Josh Chapman

Excellent electronics shop. They sell every sort of component imaginable (resistors, capacitors, ICS, diodes, etc.) They dont sell cell phones, TVs, radios, blueray players and such. If you have a broken circuit board they probably have the part you need to repair it. I dont think they have much in smt components. Mostly through hole parts, switches, motors, and such. They have a TON of inventory. Like walking into digikey. Dont expect a fancy schmancy store with glistening clean floor. You will be disappointed. The store looks like old stores of the 60s where the guys at the counter are very knowledgeable but a little coarse around the edges. They helped me get my mig welder working again.

Adam Noshiravan

Fantastic local resource for electronics hobbyists! Everything is reasonably priced, the staff is incredibly helpful, and they have all of the little odds-and-ends things youll need to hit the ground running. I needed some breadboard jumper wires for a last-minute arduino project. These guys completely saved the day and knew exactly what I needed. I ended up buying the cables, some pin headers, some pre-wired LEDs on cable leads, and various sizes of soild-core wire for my "just in case" scenarios. The shop seems to be made by hobbyists, run by hobbyists, and made for hobbyists. Everyone there was incredibly knowledgeable and eager to help. Thanks for saving the day, guys!

Michael LaRose

I restore antique radios and other tube electronics as a hobby and small business. When I need unusual and hard-to-find parts, I go straight to RA Elco! The owner, Robert, is fantastic. He has been answering my questions and educating me for about 3 years. The staff are patient, knowledgeable, and have a sense of humor. Wonderful people. Sure, sometimes I have to look around for something I need, but I always find it. After a few visits, I began to find everything faster and I needed less assistance. RA Elco is a Salt Lake City institution, and as long as they are in business, Ill be a frequent and loyal customer. Michael LaRose

Russell Bryson

Imagine if you will: A truck full of electronics overturns on the highway. The devices all explode into a shower of individual parts. Through a random act of chaos each type of component finds its way into organized bins. This is what the inside of RA-Elco looks like. Thats not a bad thing though. If you are looking for an electronic component of almost any kind you will probably find it here. It may take a little while to make your way through the narrow aisles but your chance of success will be quite high.

Darrin Williams

I went here looking for parts to build a transmorgifier3000 but could only find the parts for an older therfadoor 2850, and it was used! Not sure what to do now. My hopes and dreams of time travel are rapidly diminishing. Perhaps I will consider a time-loop induction module with a lower capacitance setting in order to reduce the rate of recto-refluxity. I hope I can locate one before the 2nd moon of panthenema erases my chances for enscarption.

Jason Potts

Another reviewer stated that the attitude of the staff was poor, but that has NEVER been my experience. Im an amateur when it comes to electronics and these guys have always been extremely helpful and patient with me and my questions. These guys are an independent shop and have 20x the variety/inventory/knowledge that Radio Shack has and I hope you will give these guys your business and see for yourself just how awesome this shop is.

Rory McDonald

Great store- one of the last of the Mom & Pop Electronics stores. I was able to find parts and components I thought were extinct by now. Staff was helpful and knowledgable for the most part. Much better than the current Radio Shlock guys. If you need an electronic part from the past, this is the place! Store is organized though a bit on the hoarder side, but that is exactly what I want in a store like this! A++

A Private User

Oh man, this place is strange, but in a fun way. Its definitely intimidating to amateurs like me. But just the sight of the thousands upon thousands of seemingly disorganized electronic parts all crammed into a tiny showroom that hasnt been remodeled since the seventies makes the visit totally worth it. If the Ark of the Covenant were an analog component, this is where the government would be hiding it.

Kirk Harker

I have shopped here for years and at first they were great. As the years went by they have become increasingly more difficult to deal with. They act put out when you walk through the door and it gets even worse if you try to ask them a question. They treat you as you are benethe them because you cant get as technical as them. IF YOU HATE YOUR JOB SO MUCH OR THE PUBLIC QUIT AND FIND A DIFFERENT ONE!!!

Almost Not Dumb

I was treated like a nuisance. I had questions on where in their store I could find electro magnets and I kept getting asked to talk to a different employee about 3 times until I was finally helped. Lastly it is a mess in there. It is like a dump of electronic parts Its hard to find what you are looking for and the prices although decent werent worth the scavenger hunt it took to find what I needed.

Jess Kilpack

Needed a part to make my turntable speaker setup work and was up the street at Interwest Electronics, Randy at Interwest called Cal to see if he was open, turned out they closed at 1:00 and it was 1:10. Randy sent me over there, got there at 1:20 and Cal stayed to help me out despite having closed twenty minutes earlier. I got the part I needed and was on my way thanks to Cal. Exceptional service.

Karen Solomon

Awful customer service. My husband was looking for parts to build an electric motor and they seemed to have the parts but they were so unorganized. Nobody was of any help in trying to find parts. They just gestured and said "it should be in the back somewhere". No help in explaining what part would be best either. We just walked out of there and went to Standard Supply Electronics instead.

A Private User

This place is awesome. They have everything youd need in store for hobby electronics and if not, they will get it. Tons of used, cheep items that were desoldered from old electronics. I just took up my first project and have no experience putting circuits together. They helped me find exactly what I needed and gave me ideas on how I wanted to change it. Theyre pretty awesome.