Richard has been involved with electronics and computers since 1979. He attended Radio and TV vocational classes in high school, and in 1981, he began his tech career at the newly opened Tandy Computer Assembly (TCA) in San Antonio. As one of the first 25 employees at the factory, Richard quickly made his mark.
At just 17 years old, Richard was the youngest employee at TCA. He started in the Model 3 board prep area, but this role was short-lived. TCA technicians discovered a flaw with several National Semiconductor 74LS04 chips (U2) on the Model 3 PCB. Tandy’s on-site management concluded that the IC needed to be replaced with a Motorola 74LS04 IC. They required someone skilled in soldering and operating an oscilloscope, but they didn’t want to pay a tech $6/hour to fix nearly 400 boards.
Fortunately, there was a young employee fresh from Radio and TV training working in the PCB assembly area who knew how to solder and operate test equipment. Richard was promptly promoted to “Junior Tech Aide,” and his wage was increased to $4.20/hour.
From there, Richard quickly rose through the ranks at TCA and given the nickname “Boyson” from his supervisor (that’s another story). In late 1985, Richard left Radio Shack as a Computer Repair Manager.
Over the next 30 years, Richard owned an independent computer store and repair shop, founded an Internet Service Provider (ISP) company, and worked for a company specializing in high-voltage industrial controllers.
In 2015, Richard decided to relive his Tandy/Radio Shack days and founded BoysonTech.
