Visit to the Vintage Tektronix Museum

[@Errr717]

I was one of the thousands who worked there. I worked in the Microprocessor Development Group from 1977 to 1982 first in the test group for 6 months then the development group as a software engineer. We moved to Walker Road in 1978 or 1979 when the facility was opened. We were in the same business unit as the o'scope development team so we were on the north side of the building and they were on the south side. Manufacturing was right below us. Our cubicles had a complete set of tools in the toolbox, a logic analyzer, computer terminal, and a scope. What brought me to Tektronix was due to my experience with the 545 while in the Navy as a sonar technician working on the sonar systems and the digital fire control systems. When HP came out with their much smaller scope I wanted one too so I had my guys try to destroy the 545 including dunking it in the salt water. They sent it to the repair shop which was aboard the repair ship and lo and behold it came back running like new. So I was pretty much stuck with the behemoth 545 until the ship was decommissioned and the end of my enlistment. After finishing college I went to work at Boeing in Seattle as a software engineer and when the project was finished I decided to go south ... in this case Beaverton. It was the best experience that a young engineer could ask for. Tektronix provided a lot of educational opportunities including allowing us to take classes remotely at OSU at different hours of the day. The experience I gained from Tektronix carried me throughout my career and I have Tektronix to thank for that. I also kept some of the stocks I bought that is still increasing in value.

[@K7AGE]

That’s a great story about your time at Tektronix!

[@rogdaw7243]

Great tour, excellent editing and descriptions! This old Ham, EE, Video Editor very much enjoyed every minute!!!

[@paulrosen234]

Great video. The 465B was the best scope ever! Have a few of them here.

[@rewalton46]

Thanks for the tour. Brings back a lot of memories. I worked for Tek beginning in 1979 in CRT testing. I moved to the Wilsonville plant and worked first on the Tek 31 calculators, then later on a variety of digital storage products. All that work was a a manufacturing technician. Then I got laid off, and came back as a tech writer (the BA degree finally paid off). Later I worked on the X terminals that Tek built in Wilsonville before working on the Profile video stroage product. In 1999 I moved with that product to GVG when Tek was going through one of its periodic reorganizations and downsizings. That lasted till 9/11 when GVG had to lay off folks to survive the revenue disruption. So where did I wind up? In Wilsonville at Xerox working in the same buildings with many of the same people I'd previously worked with. This time was writing service documentation for the printers. Later I moved to the training group developing multimedia training programs for the various Xerox products made in W'ville. Your tour and the items you highlighted brought back so many memories.

[@K7AGE]

I worked at GVG from 1976 to 2015. I survived many layoffs.

[@CorollaGTSSRX]

Also also, those wax printers are soooooo cool. The prints are so vibrant and smell like crayons!

[@brucebuckeye]

Thanks for sharing. You made an excellent tour guide. Very interesting!

[@philipershler420]

I worked in a Cardiology Research Institute from 1973 until 2018 at the University of Utah. Designing and building many types of research instruments, we used a long list of Tektronix equipment. We also used a lot of Tek 4010 computer terminals. During my electrical engineering school years I found and refurbished a Tektronix RM 45A Oscilloscope as a lab project. I paid $25.00 for the scope and it still works very well. I also have a complete TM 500 system on my bench as well. Thank you very nice trip down memory lane.

[@kennethandrysiak4130]

Electronic architecture! Beautiful works of art. Fantastic engineering. Form… Fit… Function… Truly marvelous.

[@davecasler]

Thanks for the tour! 73, Dave, KEØOG

[@nixieandyakyak3837]

Thank you for showing the museum. Love Tek products. Had a 465a for years. They were made to last.

[@PacificAirwave144]

Grew up near Tektronix in Wilsonville, OR and got a little tour in late-highschool in ~1980 from a neighbor who worked there. Oh they were doing amazing stuff! They were the primary test instruments I used for the next 20 years... I need tovisit this museum!

[@johnplump3760]

Boy!! Did this bring back memories. Back in the 60s/70s I built computers. Used these scopes to troubled the components. Could not have done my job if we did not have a Techtronic’s scope with 2 channels and a trigger. Thanks for the tour!!

[@bobreiber2066]

Brings back a lot of memories ! Thanks for the tour .. ( VE3RMR )

[@alfonsea3bfl869]

Thanks for the tour! I'm a proud owner of aTek 453, Tek TDS320, and Tek 2230.

[@WATARUUNAKAMI]

Have a 565 dual beam with 3A6 (nuvistor input) and 3A72 , 2 time base . It's 2 in 1 Greetings from Brazil

[@Moraren]

Really neat stuff. Thank you for the tour! 73, OH1CIR

[@gregorymccoy6797]

Thank you so much for sharing with us! I have a tek scope on my bench now.

[@glasslinger]

I used them from the mid 60's till the 90's when HP began taking over. Now I suppose Keysight is the scope leader. I like my DSO1202-G but I think I would have been as happy with the Rigol equivalent for half the price!

[@Fishing_Fiddles]

Super cool. My grandfather was at Tek for 50 years and worked on the dev for a lot of that equipment.

[@Ragchewer]

I went to Tektronix in the 70's and was given a tour. Truly great technology. My first job after high school in 1966 was using a Tektronix 545 oscilloscope to troubleshoot integrated circuits. I used a scope probe connected to an XY table and a microscope to probe directly onto chips. I went on to use their equipment throughout my aerospace and NASA career.

[@gregebert5544]

Been a long time since I ran across another GVG employee. I was a latecomer, from 1990-1991 and designed a few ICs for their Model 3000 digital switch. They had a nice new facility in Nevada City and I always enjoyed taking walks thru the heavily forested campus. I remember using the 545B in high school, and the 465 was the weapon-of-choice when I was a computer tech in the early 80's. One thing you will never see again is the amazing workmanship that went into building these amazing scopes, and that's why so many of them are still running today.

[@nethoncho]

GVG made the best stuff. Built like a tank.

[@nethoncho]

I have installed lots of Grass Valley Group equipment in TV stations and post production houses. Thanks for sharing your videos.

[@mikemcguire1160]

Here's a bit to add to the Hickock copy story, perhaps apocryphal. Hickock ordered a 545 from Tek, who were suspicious. So Tek took a chassis punch a put an extra tube socket hole inside somewhere which they knew had no function or purpose. They sent this one to Hickock. Sure enough when they got a chance to examine a Hickock scope it had a hole exactly the same size and position. Finally to add insult to injury the Hickock scope had a better maintenance record. The reason was that any time a technician had a choice in checking one out of the equipment bay, they would go for Tek so they got used a lot more.

[@K7AGE]

Thanks

[@SallySallySallySally]

I worked for Tek back in the day. At the time, it was the largest private employer in Oregon.

[@richardbrobeck2384]

for sure I remember when they came to my college back in the 1980s !

[@MirlitronOne]

Excellent tour, thank you.

[@robertkat]

They were the best.

[@Rory-jk9us]

Another GVG alum here. I still have a 465 scope I got a discount on being a GVG/Tek employee. I worked as a design engineer in the modular products group first as an employee and later as an outside contractor. I designed a long list of modular stuff from the mid 80's to early 2000's.

[@nethoncho]

GVG equipment worked well. I miss the old days of broadcast TV.

[@K7AGE]

I remember you!

[@rodgermckeon]

Thanks for the tour, Randy! 73 de KJ7LLX

[@TomSorrentino-r2p]

thanks for the vid, I have a working 310A scope.. vintage 1959, and the original service/user manual. I love looking at it and was pleased to see one briefly covered in your tour. The museum piece looks cleaner than mine, so now I'm going to have to detail mine a bit. Tom S. Ocala Fla.

[@Joseph-ut4ui]

I still use Tektronix today; have a 7834 on the bench and one for backup. Also have a 7603 and lots of plugins. The design and layout are shear beauty.

[@marcmckenzie5110]

The summers of 1978 and 1979, along with a lot of really smart kids, I was selected for a Computer Camp at Northwest Missouri State University. It was a joint project between Iowa, Nebraska, Missouri, and Kansas departments of education, and we geeks had a great learning experience. My favorite part was getting to use and experiment with a Techtronics vector graphics terminal, powered by a DEC PDP-11/70 with all the bells and whistles. It inspired me to write an early portable graphics library, and after college I went on to work in HP high-performance graphics workstations. Of course today your smartphone has more capability, but it was all exciting.

[@monteceitomoocher]

Great tour, if I ever get to America this place is on the bucket list.

[@richardravich8337]

Thanks for the tour which brought back some memories of Tek equipment that I used. 73's de WD6FIE

[@CorollaGTSSRX]

I worked on that campus and didn't know they had a museum. Pretty cool, thanks!

[@ChrisSmith-rm6xl]

Fascinating! Thanks.

[@MarcelHuguenin]

Thank you for the tour sir. What a marvellous collection of beautiful pieces of art, although they were never designed as such of course, but in this time they certainly are.

[@johnwest7993]

I'm afraid my test-bench already looks far too much like the Tek Museum, and I used to work at HP.

[@ralphwaters8905]

Boy, that takes me back. Those were wonderful scopes. I still have a 2236 that works perfectly (I think) and I'd like to find it a loving home before I die.

[@ericinthebush1961]

This was very interesting. Brought back many memories for me too. I also used and repaired a lot of this Tektronix and GVG gear as a Broadcast Television technician in the 1980's. Thanks for the tour. 73's

[@nethoncho]

GVG and Tek was the IBM of broadcast TV.

[@garryrc]

Loved their stuff! Well, the SC502 not so much, but the rest were great!

[@abpccpba]

Thanks for the Tour.

[@danniielle]

Very cool video! 😎 I'm a big Tek fan myself. My main scope is still a 7603 with a 7d20 digitiser. I have a second 7603 with analog plugins too.

[@jimp.7286]

I too sat at a work bench for many years in the 70's/80's with a tektronix scope. We used them to trouble-shoot prom-burner and cpu boards for dedicated industry automation. On a side note; the construction type with rows and components soldered to standoffs was the bridge between point to point and printed boards. You likely knew that but I have to add, others used cheap phenolic? and plated pins - ie; turret boards. These were ceramic! Expensive and built like tanks. Cheers. 👍

[@danhorton6182]

Nice! I live about an hour south in Salem. I have several pieces of Tek gear and proud to do so.

[@richj120952]

Ahh.. Those were the days. I still have a 50 MHz dual trace with sweep delay up in a box in my garage. I had a fully equipped electronics workbench set up with sweeps, frequency counters, spectrum analyzers. All analog. I built that just before retiring. Never did actually use it though. The gear was limited to under 1GHz, so the world went well beyond it's capabilities. The only thing I still use from it is the digital multmeter, and occasionally the soldering iron. But I used a lot of those scopes in my time.

[@jimhall9360]

Thank you for the "tour"! I've been 40+ years at university engineering , so I've seen so much of this come and go... Jim KE8LMQ

[@joewoodchuck3824]

I used a number of Textronix scopes through the years. My individual focus was the 561. I did a formal thesis on it in tech school. Some of them were in general research lab useage where I designed and built custom lab equipment. As if the operational aspect wasn't enough, some of them started to fail all with the same symptoms. Long story short, I discovered a significant design flaw which turned out to be an insulation weakness in the main power transformer. The CRT filament winding was arcing over to an adjacent winding because it was at the high voltage anode potential. After ordering an expensive exact replacement and taking quite a few hours to replace, I had another one fail in the same way. From that point on I merely disconnected the internal winding and ran the filament with an external generic transformer rated for the voltage in use. It probably only existed for other oscilloscope manufacturers, where Tek opted for their own custom design. I mounted them externally on the back of the chassis with proper insulation precautions and the modified units never failed that way again. As a sidenote I used silver bearing solder (not the same as silver solder) for repairs on the ceramic component standoff strips because there was an advisory that regular solder would leach out silver content in the strips. Maybe the special alloy was needed for the solder points in order to keep them held in place to the ceramic. I dunno. I never did get any more information than that other than to use the silver bearing solder my group kept on hand reserved for Textronix repairs and mods. I don't even know where the solder came from as it was already there when I was hired. It was a bit comical that whenever Tek put carry handles on a scope it became designated as "portable". I got a good laugh out of the crowd one time at a local Tektronix seminar when people were speculating on prices of certain models with two carry handles. They were big units. I quipped that Tektronix didn't make anything with two handles for less than $1,000. It turned out to be accurate when the salesperson came over to talk with us and revealed the price! Nice video. N1KHB

[@riscy00]

Thank for this tour ,it bring me happy memory using Tek brand scope. TDS3014 is one I use during my time in Halliburton which is an improvement from Philips CombiScope (mixed ANA and DIG). TDS3014 stand out due to better memory and easy to control as well as FFT feature.

[@TouYubeTom]

very interesting. regards from germany

[@paulocavutto3601]

Tektronix products are masterpieces. I still have an old 465 that works perfectly till today.

[@irgski]

Tek used to have a place where you could purchase scrap parts, assemblies and full scopes.

[@charliem.550]

Interesting - thanks for sharing!

[@BjarneLinetsky]

I have some 561 and 564 scopes from the era when Tek was transitioning from tubes to transistors, they work fine, and i have plenty of spares to maintain them. I like them better than digital scopes for a number of reasons.

[@cash2.0]

I picked up a vintage portable like in this video for $1 at a yard sale.

[@richardbrobeck2384]

Great video !!

[@petechallinger4510]

Thanks Randy. Vert Cool. Reminds me of all sorts of Tek products I sold in the UK that I used to pretend I understood!

[@K7AGE]

Hey Pete

[@robertdestefano1409]

thank you i dont remember the last time i said wow so many times one word tektronix says it all i even had a high current scope probe tip that i used for a roach clip and of course used the face cover of a 465 to clean the weed (back when there were seeds)

[@tjtreinen7381]

back in the early 1980's I worked on a computer manually digitizing cable maps for the phone company. We had large digitizing boards and big green phosper techtronix screens to display the map. They were great and had really good resolution.. great displays.. Now I'm starting to get into electronics and was able to purchase two portable techtronix oscilloscopes.. from a goverment surplus site. Starting to learn how to use it... big beefy machine with a nice display..

[@ku4uv]

I spent a lot of time in front of a Grass Valley video switcher when I worked at WTVQ-TV, the ABC affiliate in Lexington, Kentucky. 73, DE KU4UV

[@bctoner]

Yes I still have one of their scopes in my work shop.

[@DK5ONV]

Hey Randy, good to see you. How you keeping? Hope you having a nice Sunday there...73 de Uncle Günter, the Rhine River Maniac 💯👍🙋‍♂

[@gordonwedman3179]

Thanks for the video. I didn't know about this museum and will have to visit from BC at some time. I have owned a few of those scopes including 500 series, a 7704 and a 7904. I have a couple others now.

[@w6wdh]

6:50 The 2467 scope has a microchannel electron multiplier faceplate CRT. You can see single shot traces at 1ns/div. I had one when I worked at HP Labs and bought one on eBay for $400 after I retired. Truly a wonderful analog oscilloscope. But beware - the configuration is stored in a battery backed SRAM module, so when the battery dies after a few years, goodbye configuration (calibration?).

[@wormdamage]

I always wondered why the front of those scopes was extended like that - thanks! I would have loved a chance to use that feature. Interesting/sad to see Tek's love of the integrated battery/SRAM module apparently started in that era. I have a TDS3014 that will never again know the date or remember its last setup. Thankfully, the *factory* CAL constants are stored elsewhere. I'm still trying to determine if a signal path compensation lasts longer than the current session.

[@robertcontri4087]

I sometimes think about how the oscilloscope industry has changed. For many years the magic ingredient was the CRT, 12:19 12:19 which required incredible design and development. With the advent of high speed A/D converters, CRTs are no longer necessary for most applications. The signal in question can be digitized and stored, printed, and further processed. 12:19

[@156dave]

I do Remember servicing the 545 and having to use the special silver solder provided inside the case.Also the transformers were guaranteed for the life of the scope

[@oscope61]

I have 543a Tektronix scope that I have has for about 35 years. It did not work when I got it and It was just a fuse had blown. after I replace the fuse I am still using it and works great. The thing is, after watching all these video's about Tektronix's equipment I have never seen that scope in the video's. Is it rare or nobody likes them. I know it is a 30 meg scope but still it works for what I need it for.

[@vladsav8092]

Very good 👍

[@foot2]

GVG 100, 110 and 300. Thermal crayon printers! Thank you!

[@ultrasoundguy1]

The sad part is, I don't consider most of this stuff as all that old. :)

[@nethoncho]

Same here

[@davewright3088]

I remember the day, as a young green tech, when I sat before my first 465B. I stared at the knobs for a little too long, and finally the boss reached past and pulled the On switch, which I had been searching for... A few years later I borrowed $2K from Granny, and bought my own 465 from ElectroRent. I still have it, forty years later...

[@wormdamage]

Great tour - thanks! Some gorgeous pieces there! Any more info on that CRT with the AD PWA on it? Was that on the display end or the gun end and what would that have been used for?

[@williambaldwin4563]

Have a 564 with 3a1 dual trace plug in 😊😊😊😊 love it. 73 WG1HM

[@davidsecord6412]

Several of the best color printers I ever owned were Tektronix. It is unfortunate that their phase-change printers were killed off by Xerox, as their quality was astonishing. RIP.

[@winstonsmith478]

Beautiful hardware. I'm like Homer in a donut shop.

[@geoffreystearns1690]

I looked for but didn't see the Tektronix DAS, a terrific monitor and debug tool for embedded software development.

[@notscot6788]

You missed the two logic analysis systems DAS9100 and DAS9200. Amazing machines in their day. Also, the Personal Fourier Analyzers.

[@K7AGE]

bummer, sorry

[@ronwade2206]

Excellent work

[@K7AGE]

Many thanks

[@jonniez62]

User, I worked on alot of that TMDE in 80 and 90s. Cut my metrology teeth on triple nickel scopes at Kirtland AFB supporting the Air Worce Weapons lab. Tek had good spec ans but nobody could beat HP. Then again, HP couldn't make a decent scope to save their lives.

[@kenandbarbie-b6c]

Great museum of great engineering & workmanship. What saddens me is that a lot of this is a thing of the past, where a lot of people, even in the US, are using oscilloscopes built outside the US.😢

[@mikemiller659]

In the late 90's I bought a Textronix printer that had way ink carts.

[@davidkennedy3878]

GVG MPD/SPD 89-93. Nevada County Multimedia has a GVG museum. Whispering Pines off Brunswick.

[@K7AGE]

I’ve been there too. Sorry, no video.

[@mylesl2890]

hope i can go one day

[@davenewmyer3735]

Nice video!

[@Cookie-Dough-Dynamo]

Also known for "Pump Up the Jam". ... and "Move This".

[@jamesmorton7881]

? The 465 ? Was hot in 1973.

[@CorollaGTSSRX]

Not exactly related, but have you been to Surplus Gizmos?? Highly recommended for tinkerers

[@Sainter5538]

GOD Blessings, Showing the true nature and understanding of where humanity has come from in the likes of magnetic's and frequency’s signals! As you would know digital is only quantitative!! not a natural instance! Hope they have great protection for fire and flood at that location, would hate to see it go the way Motorola museum did!!!

[@DrFiero]

465B FTW! Only because I still have one. :D (I'd really prefer to get a 2245b or similar though)

[@antonsorokin3881]

Хм, не могу найти характеристик показанной в видео 31ЛН4, видимо, опытная была и малораспространенная

[@mmaranta785]

I still have the TN22

[@NineInchTyrone]

Beaver town !

[@n6dl321]

what? no 5000- series, I still have a 5403, needing a card extender to fix the Horz..

[@156dave]

Most of the handbag low end scopes are made in China now

[@nickloughrey9841]

its about thew only reason i would go to the USA these days !

[@michaelmiller9483]

Have a Tek 535 brown cabinet.. rare?

[@K7AGE]

???

[@joeddejohn]

My father has one of their scopes.

[@nethoncho]

Same here. Rest in peace dad.

[@user-mv5bu2kk8b]

I need my scope repaired

[@156dave]

Shame all the great electronics companies like Tektronix Hewlett Packard Fluke are but shadows of there former selves

[@henryzelman33]

WOKE, DEI Fortive corporation

[@59redwing]

Thanks interesting. KE7MAI