On 2011 May 24, at 11:25 PM, Dave McGuire wrote:
On 5/24/11 11:45 PM, Brent Hilpert wrote:
Of
course, just for vintage warm fuzzies, little can challenge an old
Tektronix scope. I recently acquired a Tek 561A from a friend
locally.
Mmmm, vacuum tubes.... Turn on the scope, go get a beer while it
warms
up, measure and test with confidence. -- Ian
Our radio museum here has several old 500-series tek scopes that I'd
love to refurbish and get working. There's a 4-channel plug-in in one
of
them, too. Size, maintenance and fan noise might make them
not-so-great
for regular use but it would be nice to be able to use them on
occasion.
I loved the crispness of the trace and the blue tint of the phosphor
in
the CRTs of that series. I wonder why Tek didn't continue using that
phosphor.
Oh, I don't know what it's called, but I LOVE that phosphor!
500-series scopes are just amazing devices in so many ways. If you
have the opportunity I strongly encourage you to bring them back to
life. They pull a lot of power and generate a lot of heat, but
properly maintained they'll behave just fine.
Whenever I see those scopes or pictures with the blue phosphor visible
I think "It's 1964, the space race is on and we're doin' real rocket
science". I was a child in the 60s, so they're before my professional
time, but they were *the* scope of the 60s, and even as a child I was
aware of them from photos in books.
Usual time issues to getting one going. I'd like to spend some time
doing some research, acquaint myself with the innards, and go over it
thoroughly before powering up. Sadly, I need to rescue them from the
radio museum, one has been damaged since it came into the museum ..
grumble. I get the impression from the web there isn't much dollar
value to them any longer.