I have a memory of the CT8500 terminals being made by someone else, and
Tek just branded them and sold/serviced them.
I may be wrong, but I spent a lot of time hanging around with MDP
(Microprocessor Development Products) folks at the Tek Walker Road
facility, and I think that is where I may have heard mention that the
terminals weren't "Tek Inside".
Did the circuit main logic board appear to be Tektronix-made? Tek-made
ECBs (etched circuit board) were very distinctive through the 1980's.
Tek would put a title of the board, a part number (usually 670-xxxx-yy),
and in some cases, the initials of the circuit board layout designer(s).
This nomenclature was in etch, not silkscreen, although sometimes they
would also silkscreen identification on to the boards. If it's a
Tek-made board, then likely my memory is incorrect about the terminal
being an OEM item that Tek sold under its name.
I remember using these terminals -- the keyboards -- not the best.
But, they were pretty inexpensive, and as a basic terminal, did pretty
well. I thought of buying the parts for one from Engineering Stock,
where employees could order up parts at 10% over Tek cost. I never got
around to building up a CT-8500 terminal, but I did buy all of the parts
and build a Tektronix 6130 Unix workstation this way, which was a real
kick. Amazingly, it came up into the ROM-based monitor on the first
try. Took a few troubleshooting sessions before I was able to install
UTek on it, though (some cabling issues with the floppy drive), but
that's another story.
-Rick