I worked for Tektronix between 1976 and 1978. I worked in the Cables and Probes department putting the ends on cables by hand. I eventually worked my way up to a Q&A department. Tektronix was a great place to work. It was my first job out of high school. Tektronix gave me a great start in life. I was able to move out on my own, buy a car and live independantly all by the age of 20.
Several years ago I bought a Tek 7834 storage scope with 2 time bases and 2 vertical plugins, from a surplus store for a good price. When I got home and looked it over more, I noticed some pencil markings on the rear panel for the probe power sockets and the markings were made by ME back when I worked for Hughes Aircraft!!!! 76-89'! I found the service manual on CD too, so I went through the cal procedure and it is spot on, of course! It's a Tek! How lucky to find the scope I USED and cherished, to be in my possession again!
What an amazing and totally cool story! I was a senior FAE for Tek in the late 1990's, specialized in TDR, real-time spectrum analyzer, and Rohde & Schwarz support... My second month at Tek Canada, I spent 4 days with the AE group in Beaverton ( Rita Roberts' group!!) , what a great way to kick off the job. I later worked at Agilent, but my "customer first" and "honest evaluation" policies got me axed after about 18 months. They had some great folks in R&D, but their phone support group were not in the same ballpark as Tek, and they hated it when, in role-playing at competitive sales calls, if I represented R&S, or Tek, in the role, I would beat their own sales team 90% of the time.... It was so bad that one guy in Santa Rosa even started a rumor that I was a "plant", actually working for R&S!! The politics, and FAE as Sales-First was...
Really interesting and informative video. Here in the UK, last August, I visited a local amateur radio rally that I frequent each year. Before setting out, I made a strict promise to myself not to purchase any more oscilloscopes, as I already own an embarrassingly large number (about 13). So, after being at the rally for about an hour, I happen to spot the unmistakeable shape of a big wide 7000 series, on a stall a few tens of yards away...here we go again. Closer inspection revealed it to be a 7104, which I instantly knew meant game-over as far as any hope of self-control was concerned (I have never seen one before in the UK), and the asking price was £50 (with a full set of plug-ins). In case you really needed to ask, I now own 14 Oscilloscopes, lol.
I am using my Type 545B scope daily as I restore an old CCA 1000D broadcast transmitter for Ham Radio use. My shop also has some of the 7000 series Tek scopes. Many times I have said that I would rather have a 50 year old Tektronix scope than a cheap new one. The side benefit of using my old 545B is that on cold nights, it keeps my shop warm. My first exposure to Tektronix was the Type 503 in school back in 1975.
During the 80's decade I worked for a mobile and base station CB antenna manufacturer. We always had 2 or 3 Tek scopes in the shop on all the time. I don't recall the models, but they never gave us any problems.
I grew up in the Ridgewood neighborhood across the highway (now I-26) from the Tektronix Sunset Plant. I knew the Vollum family very well. In high school, I was a member of the Explorer Scout troop that Tektronix sponsored. The experience I gained from people at Tek gave me a great example to follow and aided my career in many ways.
I am so glad that we managed to find a way to get that 556 to you in one piece. It really went to someone with the same passion for the brand (and with more room than I have, apparently ;-) ). I absolutely enjoyed your storytime, nice video to watch while slurping a hot cup of tea.
In the mid to late 80's, I ran my own companies, buying and selling used gear made by the Graphics Terminal division, and a separate company which bought and sold used video teleproduction gear. So with the video co, I had exposure to Tek scopes, Grass Valley switchers and terminal gear, and I was always happy to buy and sell it because it generally did not break and was universally regarded as top-rate quality. The Graphics gear was excellent, and I had a wonderful relationship with Tektronix. One guy in his garage became the largest US purveyor of refurbed Tek terminals, and Tek bought loads of their own gear from me that I had rescued from junkyards so that they could provide refurbed gear. Imagine selling Tek gear to Tek. "We need 10 terminals this month" "Can you use 14?, I just got them in" "Sure, send em out, I'll change the PO". By the truckload. It was by far the best business I've ever been involved with. I never had a single problem working with them, they were a very friendly company. Always paid on time, always cooperative. I didn't realize how good I had it.
I miraculously managed to fix my Tektronix 7623A (which I bought for around 200 euro in 1999). In doing so I was forced, among other things, to read a patent from Barry Gilbert on how they generated letters and symbols just using the crt beams. I was amazed at their inventive. Nowadays there are many decent oscilloscopes at a ridiculously low price, and I am very happy about that because of course we want to reach our goals easily. For high end equipment at work we prefer Teledyne-Lecroy. But I still look at my tektronix with pride.
I was born in the same month and year as the first Tektronix scope, June 1947. So these are old friends to me. I suppose the real end of the golden days was around 2011 when analog designers (and Tektronix fans) Jim Williams and Bob Pease died.
A great history on a great company. I've got a decent handful of Tek scopes: a 535, 547, the good curve tracer (I'm forgetting the number just now), and a handful of 4000 scopes. I've got a 7834 sitting right beside me as I type this. I'm getting old and don't use the 5xx scopes anymore, but several of the 7000 scopes still get used a few times a month. They work just fine to this day. I got flown up to Beaverton at Tek's expense for a job interview in the 70s. Got offered the job, but decided to stay at Burroughs rather than moving north.
I am so glad to have lived during this time period. Compared to today where there is nothing like this sort of companies that marked Made in the U.S.A markings. I am an engineer and was proud to be part of the these sort of innovative. Using these scopes back in those day. Those day are GONE. good to seeing these historical info on these companies that provided the world this technology.
Tektronix equipment represented frozen passion. The products of clever, industrious people who loved electronics and loved solving a problem to the limits of perfection, no matter what it took to do so, with the technology they had at hand. The next generation used the tools they made to construct the digital world, which makes perfection cheaper, but less romantic. I too am glad to have lived during the time that was their heyday.
To the best of my knowledge the bistable memory CRT was invented and patented by 'Hughes' as the 'Memotron' and put in a nice scope from the same company ('Memo-scope'), later Tek bought the patent ....
I grew up in Oceanside Calif. in the '60's, the Hughes Vacuum Tubes Product Division was there. My first "oscilloscope(s)" were surplus, mostly solid-state, Hughes Storage Display units, (followed by an old Heathkit OS-9). What fun 17-year-old-me had with those, tinkering together transistor circuits to see the graphic results.
A friend of mine have a sea freight container in southern California full of vintage Tektronix stuff including 7104's and much more. We would like to get rid of most of it at a good deal.
Nice video, thanks. I agree that the current state of affairs with Tek is somehow sad. Forgive me the nitpicking - they did not buy Keithley, that would be far too good. Both Keithley (in 2010) and Tek (in 2007) were bought by Danaher - a faceless and heartless business conglomerate. That could explain the lack of drive. Breakthrough technical companies are typically not managed by beancounters.
Danaher is truly "faceless". The state of TE company acquisitions is very Kafka-esque. Thanks for the mention, I didn't think it was that important, but I could have been mistaken.
My first spectrum analyzer was a 492. It is an absolute monster, weighs about 25kg and was I think the first Tek product to use a microprocessor. I loved that thing, it went up to 28GHz (!) but it wasnt without its limitations. On the back it literally had a port with access to the system bus. And oh boy, you dont want to take it apart, its so damn complex and stuffed absolutely to the brim. Despite being completely digital, with markers and readout, it was very easy to use and still used analog waveforms, and you could save and display them and read them out digitally. I only sold it because I hadnt used it in a while and thats the rule. Everything is just a badly programmed windows computer nowdays and I hate it. I want dials and buttons.
16 днів тому+2
I also used a Tek 492P spectrum analyzer in TV RF work. Great fun hauling that anchor up a 2000 ft. TV tower to service tower top microwave equipment. I always called it my "rectum paralyzer". Closed my 58 year "career" in broadcast TV engineering, at 78 years of age, using a HP 8592B analyzer. It also was a "rectum paralyzer" !!!!
That was my scope I had in the 80's working as a support engineer for medical equipment. I really liked that thing. It was also just barely keeping up with the speed I needed. I believe it was 100MHz scope. They also had a 200MHz (465 or 485 or something like that) version that was a bit better for the applications I had.
Tek scopes and other equipment has very good standing with me (and most) However, we had one 7630 (?) with plug-ins which did give us quite a bit of problems. Components like resistors, transistors and more were plug-ins, and those sockets made poor contact. Sometimes you had to switch off, pull a module, and "slap" it in again. Believe that scope has had a rough life..
Your English is awesome, what is your mother tongue please ? CRTs are wonderful, just today I was walking home past a recycling point and I saw a 28 inch maybe 32 not sure JVC CRT telly just lying there, it had side speakers that were getting soaked and there was nothing I could do about it, I shall have nightmares ! guilt ridden nightmares tonight that's for sure. Oh my ! the 224 show me a person who doesn't want one, and I will show you a liar ! Shame the picture didn't make it, 20 of my minutes well spent....cheers.
Interesting until i got tired of seeing tyour hands (half way).
16 днів тому+2
sit on that god damn caliper if it bothers u! these hand gestures mean jackshit if the tone and the merit lacks. Not everybody can pull Ave or TOT, don't beat yourselves up over it.
I worked for Tektronix between 1976 and 1978. I worked in the Cables and Probes department putting the ends on cables by hand. I eventually worked my way up to a Q&A department. Tektronix was a great place to work. It was my first job out of high school. Tektronix gave me a great start in life. I was able to move out on my own, buy a car and live independantly all by the age of 20.
Several years ago I bought a Tek 7834 storage scope with 2 time bases and 2 vertical plugins, from a surplus store for a good price.
When I got home and looked it over more, I noticed some pencil markings on the rear panel for the probe power sockets and the markings were made by ME back when I worked for Hughes Aircraft!!!! 76-89'!
I found the service manual on CD too, so I went through the cal procedure and it is spot on, of course! It's a Tek!
How lucky to find the scope I USED and cherished, to be in my possession again!
What an amazing and totally cool story!
I was a senior FAE for Tek in the late 1990's, specialized in TDR, real-time spectrum analyzer, and Rohde & Schwarz support... My second month at Tek Canada, I spent 4 days with the AE group in Beaverton ( Rita Roberts' group!!) , what a great way to kick off the job. I later worked at Agilent, but my "customer first" and "honest evaluation" policies got me axed after about 18 months. They had some great folks in R&D, but their phone support group were not in the same ballpark as Tek, and they hated it when, in role-playing at competitive sales calls, if I represented R&S, or Tek, in the role, I would beat their own sales team 90% of the time.... It was so bad that one guy in Santa Rosa even started a rumor that I was a "plant", actually working for R&S!! The politics, and FAE as Sales-First was...
Really interesting and informative video. Here in the UK, last August, I visited a local amateur radio rally that I frequent each year. Before setting out, I made a strict promise to myself not to purchase any more oscilloscopes, as I already own an embarrassingly large number (about 13). So, after being at the rally for about an hour, I happen to spot the unmistakeable shape of a big wide 7000 series, on a stall a few tens of yards away...here we go again. Closer inspection revealed it to be a 7104, which I instantly knew meant game-over as far as any hope of self-control was concerned (I have never seen one before in the UK), and the asking price was £50 (with a full set of plug-ins). In case you really needed to ask, I now own 14 Oscilloscopes, lol.
I am using my Type 545B scope daily as I restore an old CCA 1000D broadcast transmitter for Ham Radio use. My shop also has some of the 7000 series Tek scopes. Many times I have said that I would rather have a 50 year old Tektronix scope than a cheap new one. The side benefit of using my old 545B is that on cold nights, it keeps my shop warm. My first exposure to Tektronix was the Type 503 in school back in 1975.
During the 80's decade I worked for a mobile and base station CB antenna manufacturer. We always had 2 or 3 Tek scopes in the shop on all the time. I don't recall the models, but they never gave us any problems.
I grew up in the Ridgewood neighborhood across the highway (now I-26) from the Tektronix Sunset Plant. I knew the Vollum family very well. In high school, I was a member of the Explorer Scout troop that Tektronix sponsored. The experience I gained from people at Tek gave me a great example to follow and aided my career in many ways.
I am so glad that we managed to find a way to get that 556 to you in one piece. It really went to someone with the same passion for the brand (and with more room than I have, apparently ;-) ). I absolutely enjoyed your storytime, nice video to watch while slurping a hot cup of tea.
Multiple thanks again for selling it to my and taking the time to pack it and ship it!!
In the mid to late 80's, I ran my own companies, buying and selling used gear made by the Graphics Terminal division, and a separate company which bought and sold used video teleproduction gear. So with the video co, I had exposure to Tek scopes, Grass Valley switchers and terminal gear, and I was always happy to buy and sell it because it generally did not break and was universally regarded as top-rate quality. The Graphics gear was excellent, and I had a wonderful relationship with Tektronix. One guy in his garage became the largest US purveyor of refurbed Tek terminals, and Tek bought loads of their own gear from me that I had rescued from junkyards so that they could provide refurbed gear. Imagine selling Tek gear to Tek. "We need 10 terminals this month" "Can you use 14?, I just got them in" "Sure, send em out, I'll change the PO". By the truckload. It was by far the best business I've ever been involved with. I never had a single problem working with them, they were a very friendly company. Always paid on time, always cooperative. I didn't realize how good I had it.
I miraculously managed to fix my Tektronix 7623A (which I bought for around 200 euro in 1999). In doing so I was forced, among other things, to read a patent from Barry Gilbert on how they generated letters and symbols just using the crt beams. I was amazed at their inventive. Nowadays there are many decent oscilloscopes at a ridiculously low price, and I am very happy about that because of course we want to reach our goals easily. For high end equipment at work we prefer Teledyne-Lecroy. But I still look at my tektronix with pride.
Loved This Vdieo. Thx!
I was born in the same month and year as the first Tektronix scope, June 1947. So these are old friends to me. I suppose the real end of the golden days was around 2011 when analog designers (and Tektronix fans) Jim Williams and Bob Pease died.
May they rest in peace! And Awesome having you around as a viewer! Thanks for watching!
A great history on a great company. I've got a decent handful of Tek scopes: a 535, 547, the good curve tracer (I'm forgetting the number just now), and a handful of 4000 scopes. I've got a 7834 sitting right beside me as I type this. I'm getting old and don't use the 5xx scopes anymore, but several of the 7000 scopes still get used a few times a month. They work just fine to this day. I got flown up to Beaverton at Tek's expense for a job interview in the 70s. Got offered the job, but decided to stay at Burroughs rather than moving north.
I am so glad to have lived during this time period. Compared to today where there is nothing like this sort of companies that marked Made in the U.S.A markings. I am an engineer and was proud to be part of the these sort of innovative. Using these scopes back in those day. Those day are GONE. good to seeing these historical info on these companies that provided the world this technology.
No doubt!
Tektronix equipment represented frozen passion. The products of clever, industrious people who loved electronics and loved solving a problem to the limits of perfection, no matter what it took to do so, with the technology they had at hand.
The next generation used the tools they made to construct the digital world, which makes perfection cheaper, but less romantic.
I too am glad to have lived during the time that was their heyday.
we all have wonderful tektronix scopes. they are the best.
Not a real Tel fanboy, but after your Tek history tour, I kinda like them a bit more. Awesome video, thanks
The DSA601 and 602(a) can show time and frequency domains at the same time.
Excellent story!
Thank you! I appreciate it!
“It wasn’t a rant. It was a story”
Definitely using that one next time I go on a rant
To the best of my knowledge the bistable memory CRT was invented and patented by 'Hughes' as the 'Memotron' and put in a nice scope from the same company ('Memo-scope'), later Tek bought the patent ....
Thank You ! To Know !!!
I grew up in Oceanside Calif. in the '60's, the Hughes Vacuum Tubes Product Division was there. My first "oscilloscope(s)" were surplus, mostly solid-state, Hughes Storage Display units, (followed by an old Heathkit OS-9). What fun 17-year-old-me had with those, tinkering together transistor circuits to see the graphic results.
A friend of mine have a sea freight container in southern California full of vintage Tektronix stuff including 7104's and much more. We would like to get rid of most of it at a good deal.
If you have any 519, let me know!
Nice video, thanks.
I agree that the current state of affairs with Tek is somehow sad. Forgive me the nitpicking - they did not buy Keithley, that would be far too good. Both Keithley (in 2010) and Tek (in 2007) were bought by Danaher - a faceless and heartless business conglomerate. That could explain the lack of drive. Breakthrough technical companies are typically not managed by beancounters.
Danaher is truly "faceless". The state of TE company acquisitions is very Kafka-esque.
Thanks for the mention, I didn't think it was that important, but I could have been mistaken.
I recognize that 511! Trying to get it more functional. Great video, or at least audio.
Thanks very mich , great devices
Nice story with great examples; makes me feel proud to own 3 'scopes
My first spectrum analyzer was a 492. It is an absolute monster, weighs about 25kg and was I think the first Tek product to use a microprocessor. I loved that thing, it went up to 28GHz (!) but it wasnt without its limitations. On the back it literally had a port with access to the system bus. And oh boy, you dont want to take it apart, its so damn complex and stuffed absolutely to the brim. Despite being completely digital, with markers and readout, it was very easy to use and still used analog waveforms, and you could save and display them and read them out digitally. I only sold it because I hadnt used it in a while and thats the rule. Everything is just a badly programmed windows computer nowdays and I hate it. I want dials and buttons.
I also used a Tek 492P spectrum analyzer in TV RF work. Great fun hauling that anchor up a 2000 ft. TV tower to service tower top microwave equipment. I always called it my "rectum paralyzer". Closed my 58 year "career" in broadcast TV engineering, at 78 years of age, using a HP 8592B analyzer. It also was a "rectum paralyzer" !!!!
I still have my first scope a model 475 still working!
That was my scope I had in the 80's working as a support engineer for medical equipment. I really liked that thing. It was also just barely keeping up with the speed I needed. I believe it was 100MHz scope. They also had a 200MHz (465 or 485 or something like that) version that was a bit better for the applications I had.
465 was 100MHz, 475 was 200MHz, 475A 250MHz, 485 was 350MHz
@@GearAcquisitionSyndrome Thanks for clearing that up, it was a long time ago.
Tek scopes and other equipment has very good standing with me (and most) However, we had one 7630 (?) with plug-ins which did give us quite a bit of problems. Components like resistors, transistors and more were plug-ins, and those sockets made poor contact. Sometimes you had to switch off, pull a module, and "slap" it in again. Believe that scope has had a rough life..
I had family members world for Tektroniks in portland Oregon
Tektronix
Your English is awesome, what is your mother tongue please ? CRTs are wonderful, just today I was walking home past a recycling point and I saw a 28 inch maybe 32 not sure JVC CRT telly just lying there, it had side speakers that were getting soaked and there was nothing I could do about it, I shall have nightmares ! guilt ridden nightmares tonight that's for sure. Oh my ! the 224 show me a person who doesn't want one, and I will show you a liar ! Shame the picture didn't make it, 20 of my minutes well spent....cheers.
It's the caliper.
That, No Gov. Can Use.... Not Smart Enough....& Put Fluoride In The Water Now What We Got ???
Interesting until i got tired of seeing tyour hands (half way).
sit on that god damn caliper if it bothers u! these hand gestures mean jackshit if the tone and the merit lacks. Not everybody can pull Ave or TOT, don't beat yourselves up over it.
I'm having a hard time understanding what you are talking about. And STOP that nervous tick with the caliper.....!
That is very annoying, just put the caliper down. I'd rather look at a static picture of Tek parts, no hands, no caliper. Constructive criticism.
Maybe you should have closed your eyes?
Ok, sure, maybe irritating, but he's no academy award actor.
Kinda rude ? Why say negative things against people who understand Tektronics scopes? Are you NSA or something?
Watching you fiddling around with the stuff on the table is bloody annoying! Put up a static photograph if you have to.
The DSA601 and 602(a) can show time and frequency domains at the same time.