I have a 556 and 547 that I still use. They work fine. They slowed down a bit from the resistors drifting but whatever. Still very fun to use and they heat the workspace in the winter.
And Tektronix equipment is absolute delight to work on. And I defy anyone to find better handbooks and maintenance manuals anywhere, they're absolutely marvelous. They should be held up as the quintessential examples.
I look at the shit tech manuals around these days (that's if they exixt at all) and can't help but feel how much tech companies have screwed users in recent decades.
HP stuff is too beige/bland. Tektronix stuff is more colorful.
Some of the Japanese brands were even more colorful, but we always used either Tektronix, or HP, where I worked (I used to write GPIB controller programs for them).
There are just two photos in the entire gallery of 150+ that show modern scopes. The rest is vintage CRT equipment, going back to black-and-white films.
It also is just the right era to fit a hugely wide range of periods - you can get away with them into the 20s or 30s if you're doing a bit of retro futurism, and they're not out of place even today.
And, almost always, working and displaying traces.
Vintage Tektronix equipment is gorgeous inside. Ceramic terminal blocks. Silver solder. All resistor color codes facing in the same direction.
Agree with all of the comments there - Tektronix gear were great examples of American engineering and manufacruting excellence.
And a tiny spool of silver solder inside each unit, so you don't use the wrong solder for repairs.
I have a 556 and 547 that I still use. They work fine. They slowed down a bit from the resistors drifting but whatever. Still very fun to use and they heat the workspace in the winter.
And Tektronix equipment is absolute delight to work on. And I defy anyone to find better handbooks and maintenance manuals anywhere, they're absolutely marvelous. They should be held up as the quintessential examples.
I look at the shit tech manuals around these days (that's if they exixt at all) and can't help but feel how much tech companies have screwed users in recent decades.
It's very "movie-friendly."
HP stuff is too beige/bland. Tektronix stuff is more colorful.
Some of the Japanese brands were even more colorful, but we always used either Tektronix, or HP, where I worked (I used to write GPIB controller programs for them).
There are just two photos in the entire gallery of 150+ that show modern scopes. The rest is vintage CRT equipment, going back to black-and-white films.
It also is just the right era to fit a hugely wide range of periods - you can get away with them into the 20s or 30s if you're doing a bit of retro futurism, and they're not out of place even today.
Back in the 80s, the Tek 4115 (color, 1280x1024) was so much fun for a young programmer working at RADC/Hanscom AFB.
Mandelbrot sets and Towers of Hanoi were so exciting to write in Fortran (I think Fortran 77), running under, iirc, CP/M.
As an Eventide owner, this is a personal favourite of mine:
https://www.reddit.com/media?url=https%3A%2F%2Fi.redd.it%2F8...