1. TekScopes@groups.io
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Re: 56 pins (TM500/5000 and 5000 series scope plug-ins) and 76 pins (7000 series scope plug-ins) connectors

robeughaas@...
 

I find a convenient way of debugging TM500 modules is to use a bare TM502 power supply. It can be removed from the case. You can rotate it to get convenient access to the plug-in. It can be use with double-wide plug-ins such as the SC504. I'll attach a photo when I figure out how to do that.

--
Bob Haas
Re: TEK514 needs new 5V4G tube

Chuck Harris
 

Back in the olden days, if you saw:

5V4, you were talking of the metal envelope tube.
5V4G, you were talking of the coke bottle glass tube.
5V4GT, you were talking of the straight sided glass tube.

Metal tubes largely fell by the wayside, as they were
expensive to make, and caused problems with capacitance...

5V4GA, is typically an outlier, as it should be marked as
5V4GTA, but the "T" envelope was standard by the time any
of the letter revisions came out, so the nomenclature
revised it to simply "GA".

-Chuck Harris



Steve Hendrix wrote:

At 2020-01-28 12:11 PM, Tom Phillips wrote:


Note that, per the RCA tube manual, the 5V4G and the 5V4GA have the same
electrical specs but he 5V4G is packaged in a larger old style bottle. If
you fine one, you will need to determine if it will physically fit your
scope.
Thank you for that clarification. I was puzzled by the fact that two adjacent 5V4G tubes were in different bottles. So if I'm reading your comment correctly, the straight-sided, smaller one is newer (possibly replaced at some past time) and the bad one in the larger "coke bottle" glass is older, possibly the original.

Also thanks for the tips on a good source.

Steve Hendrix
Re: Guernsey Island 2445

Chuck Harris
 

Colin,

Hatchet is sheathed.

My point on my spelling of Guernsey, is the only internal spelling
checker I have in me (an intentional redundant redundancy) spells
phonetically. So, every time I type Guernsey, I start out "Gurn"
before my higher brain function catches my mistake, and causes me to
back space 3 times, because twice wouldn't do, would it?

And then I type "G...u..ernsey". This happens every blooming time!

If my higher brain function is distracted by doing other higher brain
things, the correction doesn't happen.

Each and everyone of us (who isn't a liar), has a problem like this
that vexes them. For some it is spelling, for others it is homonyms,
and others, its it's (snort!), or who vs that, or effect vs affect,
or colors we see differently from others, ... it is always something.

If it doesn't really affect the point being made, I try to just let it
go. You say colour, I say color... we are all different.

-Chuck Harris

Colin Herbert via Groups.Io wrote:

Chuck,

Since this whole thread on the Guernsey Island 2445 has that (correct) spelling as its title, I wouldn't have thought it would be so hard. I am only being a bit grumpy, not really fuming mad. Please don't take too much offence (that's the way we spell offense in the UK) as it isn't intended.

The reference to "Holland" wasn't directed at you, it was a "point of order". As I said, Holland is just one part of the Netherlands. Some people in the UK call the whole country "Holland" incorrectly. I think even the national (association; "soccer") football team gets named "Holland". I'm not sure whether many Dutch agree with that, but if I was Dutch, I wouldn't agree. OK, I admit to having a bit of a bee in my bonnet on this score.

Can we bury the hatchet on this? I really didn't intend to have a big go at you, it was more in jest. I'll buy you a drink when and if I see you to apologise.

Colin.

-----Original Message-----
From: TekScopes@groups.io [mailto:TekScopes@groups.io] On Behalf Of Chuck Harris
Sent: 28 January 2020 17:06
To: TekScopes@groups.io
Subject: Re: [TekScopes] Guernsey Island 2445

Tektronix called its factory in Heerenveen, The Netherlands,
"Tektronix Holland" Why should I differ? Calling it "Holland",
for short, when I am writing about Tektronix factories, simplifies
my writing.

I recognize that I have a tendency to spell Guernsey phonetically
as Gurnsey. I have been trying to spell it correctly for this
entire thread, but I slip up from time-to-time. Phonetic spelling
was how I was taught as a child. It is an indelible part of me,
and has reared up its ugly head to bite me all of my life.

I believe my spelling of Guernsey, correctly, is better than 50%,
more like 80-90%. But every time someone else quotes my mistake,
the weed of my misspelling gains a new root.

Prior to this thread, I am not sure that I have ever had to write
the name Guernsey for any reason.

How well do you do when dealing with terms/names foreign to you
for the first time?

Or did you have something else on your mind when you wrote your
complaint?

-Chuck Harris

Chuck Harris wrote:
Bite me!

-Chuck Harris

Colin Herbert via Groups.Io wrote:
Chuck, speaking as a Brit, can you please stop spelling it "Gurnsey". I don't think you would like it much if I referred to the US city as "Filadelfia" would you? I should maybe point out that in UK English, "gurning" is a term for making silly faces.

While I am in this mood, The Heerenveen Tek factory was in Holland, but "Holland" is a term for a part of the Netherlands, not the name of the whole country. [grumpy mode off]

Colin.

-----Original Message-----
From: TekScopes@groups.io [mailto:TekScopes@groups.io] On Behalf Of Chuck Harris
Sent: 27 January 2020 17:14
To: TekScopes@groups.io
Subject: Re: [TekScopes] Guernsey Island 2445

Hi Raymond,

Very well, I must have misunderstood what I was told by
a former tektronix engineer from Gurnsey, 40 years ago.

I met him at one of my customer's sites, he was working
for a division of my customer's company in Guernsey, and
was TDY here in the states for training.

He noticed my brand new 2465, and clearly was itching
to talk with me about it. He was involved in the design
when he was at Tek Guernsey. He looked at my scope's serial
number to see where mine was made, and that brought on
a discussion of the serial numbers, factory of origin,
and revisions.

40 years is a long time, and I am somewhat surprised that
I remember the meeting at all. It was just a transient
thing one morning.

In the 40 years since, I have seen only one example of
a scope from any tektronix overseas factory, other than
Japan, and that was a 468 that I own that came from Holland.

I own two 468's, one from Holland, and one from Beaverton.

Both appear to be identical in board revisions, and software
revisions...

One is B014XXX, and the other is 705XXX

To my eye, it looks like they relate by subtracting the
universal Beaverton "zero" serial number (B010101) from the
Beaverton unit... but my sample set is too small.

Tektronix isn't stupid enough to have not had a simple way
to connect the dots between the scopes that were made in
multiple countries.

-Chuck Harris

Raymond Domp Frank wrote:
On Sun, Jan 26, 2020 at 10:17 PM, Chuck Harris wrote:


The primary thing I was trying to relate is the last
5 digits determines which engineering change orders
apply to your instrument.
I'm pretty sure that's incorrect across serial numbers from different countries of manufacture, Chuck, but I'm happy to check and provide (dis)proof when I'm back in the lab...
Unless unwelcome signs of old age have set in, ISTR that's exactly what many of us (mostly non-US based) have had to deal with for years.
It is one unfortunate thing that I have never understood from Tek.

Raymond
Re: TEK514 needs new 5V4G tube

Steve Hendrix
 

At 2020-01-28 12:11 PM, Tom Phillips wrote:


Note that, per the RCA tube manual, the 5V4G and the 5V4GA have the same
electrical specs but he 5V4G is packaged in a larger old style bottle. If
you fine one, you will need to determine if it will physically fit your
scope.
Thank you for that clarification. I was puzzled by the fact that two adjacent 5V4G tubes were in different bottles. So if I'm reading your comment correctly, the straight-sided, smaller one is newer (possibly replaced at some past time) and the bad one in the larger "coke bottle" glass is older, possibly the original.

Also thanks for the tips on a good source.

Steve Hendrix
Re: Guernsey Island 2445

Colin Herbert
 

Chuck,

Since this whole thread on the Guernsey Island 2445 has that (correct) spelling as its title, I wouldn't have thought it would be so hard. I am only being a bit grumpy, not really fuming mad. Please don't take too much offence (that's the way we spell offense in the UK) as it isn't intended.

The reference to "Holland" wasn't directed at you, it was a "point of order". As I said, Holland is just one part of the Netherlands. Some people in the UK call the whole country "Holland" incorrectly. I think even the national (association; "soccer") football team gets named "Holland". I'm not sure whether many Dutch agree with that, but if I was Dutch, I wouldn't agree. OK, I admit to having a bit of a bee in my bonnet on this score.

Can we bury the hatchet on this? I really didn't intend to have a big go at you, it was more in jest. I'll buy you a drink when and if I see you to apologise.

Colin.

-----Original Message-----
From: TekScopes@groups.io [mailto:TekScopes@groups.io] On Behalf Of Chuck Harris
Sent: 28 January 2020 17:06
To: TekScopes@groups.io
Subject: Re: [TekScopes] Guernsey Island 2445

Tektronix called its factory in Heerenveen, The Netherlands,
"Tektronix Holland" Why should I differ? Calling it "Holland",
for short, when I am writing about Tektronix factories, simplifies
my writing.

I recognize that I have a tendency to spell Guernsey phonetically
as Gurnsey. I have been trying to spell it correctly for this
entire thread, but I slip up from time-to-time. Phonetic spelling
was how I was taught as a child. It is an indelible part of me,
and has reared up its ugly head to bite me all of my life.

I believe my spelling of Guernsey, correctly, is better than 50%,
more like 80-90%. But every time someone else quotes my mistake,
the weed of my misspelling gains a new root.

Prior to this thread, I am not sure that I have ever had to write
the name Guernsey for any reason.

How well do you do when dealing with terms/names foreign to you
for the first time?

Or did you have something else on your mind when you wrote your
complaint?

-Chuck Harris

Chuck Harris wrote:
Bite me!

-Chuck Harris

Colin Herbert via Groups.Io wrote:
Chuck, speaking as a Brit, can you please stop spelling it "Gurnsey". I don't think you would like it much if I referred to the US city as "Filadelfia" would you? I should maybe point out that in UK English, "gurning" is a term for making silly faces.

While I am in this mood, The Heerenveen Tek factory was in Holland, but "Holland" is a term for a part of the Netherlands, not the name of the whole country. [grumpy mode off]

Colin.

-----Original Message-----
From: TekScopes@groups.io [mailto:TekScopes@groups.io] On Behalf Of Chuck Harris
Sent: 27 January 2020 17:14
To: TekScopes@groups.io
Subject: Re: [TekScopes] Guernsey Island 2445

Hi Raymond,

Very well, I must have misunderstood what I was told by
a former tektronix engineer from Gurnsey, 40 years ago.

I met him at one of my customer's sites, he was working
for a division of my customer's company in Guernsey, and
was TDY here in the states for training.

He noticed my brand new 2465, and clearly was itching
to talk with me about it. He was involved in the design
when he was at Tek Guernsey. He looked at my scope's serial
number to see where mine was made, and that brought on
a discussion of the serial numbers, factory of origin,
and revisions.

40 years is a long time, and I am somewhat surprised that
I remember the meeting at all. It was just a transient
thing one morning.

In the 40 years since, I have seen only one example of
a scope from any tektronix overseas factory, other than
Japan, and that was a 468 that I own that came from Holland.

I own two 468's, one from Holland, and one from Beaverton.

Both appear to be identical in board revisions, and software
revisions...

One is B014XXX, and the other is 705XXX

To my eye, it looks like they relate by subtracting the
universal Beaverton "zero" serial number (B010101) from the
Beaverton unit... but my sample set is too small.

Tektronix isn't stupid enough to have not had a simple way
to connect the dots between the scopes that were made in
multiple countries.

-Chuck Harris

Raymond Domp Frank wrote:
On Sun, Jan 26, 2020 at 10:17 PM, Chuck Harris wrote:


The primary thing I was trying to relate is the last
5 digits determines which engineering change orders
apply to your instrument.
I'm pretty sure that's incorrect across serial numbers from different countries of manufacture, Chuck, but I'm happy to check and provide (dis)proof when I'm back in the lab...
Unless unwelcome signs of old age have set in, ISTR that's exactly what many of us (mostly non-US based) have had to deal with for years.
It is one unfortunate thing that I have never understood from Tek.

Raymond
Re: TDS784C

Stephen Hanselman
 

Speaking only from experience with TDS 540x, yes the calibration is kept on the acquisition PCA. I think, but have not taken the time to prove, that the primary use of the NVRAM is to store trace data. Everyone of the NVRAMs I have read seem to have a pile of "empty" space in them along with a bit of stuff relating to options, date, time, and the like.

Just as easily though I could be FoS.

Steve

-----Original Message-----
From: TekScopes@groups.io <TekScopes@groups.io> On Behalf Of Siggi
Sent: Tuesday, January 28, 2020 7:05 AM
To: TekScopes@groups.io
Subject: Re: [TekScopes] TDS784C

On Tue, Jan 28, 2020 at 8:39 AM JJ <jajustin@gmail.com> wrote:

You need to be concerned with the NVRAM chips - DS1486 clock chip and
the DS1650/DS1250. They have internal batteries that hold the
calibration constants and options info.
It's my understanding that the calibration constants are stored in EEPROM on the acquisition board. There's no reason to worry about the options, as it's easy enough to restore those with GPIB or other means.
Re: TEK514 needs new 5V4G tube

Tom Phillips
 

Steve,

If you are hesitant to use eBay you can buy a NOS tube from Antique Electronics Supply.
They currently list a 5V4GA for $29.90 at https://www.tubesandmore.com/products/5v4ga-rectifier-full-wave.
If you can find a 5V4G in stock that version usually sells for a much lower price.
Note that, per the RCA tube manual, the 5V4G and the 5V4GA have the same electrical specs but he 5V4G is packaged in a larger old style bottle. If you fine one, you will need to determine if it will physically fit your scope.

Cheers,
Tom
Re: Guernsey Island 2445

Chuck Harris
 

Tektronix called its factory in Heerenveen, The Netherlands,
"Tektronix Holland" Why should I differ? Calling it "Holland",
for short, when I am writing about Tektronix factories, simplifies
my writing.

I recognize that I have a tendency to spell Guernsey phonetically
as Gurnsey. I have been trying to spell it correctly for this
entire thread, but I slip up from time-to-time. Phonetic spelling
was how I was taught as a child. It is an indelible part of me,
and has reared up its ugly head to bite me all of my life.

I believe my spelling of Guernsey, correctly, is better than 50%,
more like 80-90%. But every time someone else quotes my mistake,
the weed of my misspelling gains a new root.

Prior to this thread, I am not sure that I have ever had to write
the name Guernsey for any reason.

How well do you do when dealing with terms/names foreign to you
for the first time?

Or did you have something else on your mind when you wrote your
complaint?

-Chuck Harris

Chuck Harris wrote:

Bite me!

-Chuck Harris

Colin Herbert via Groups.Io wrote:
Chuck, speaking as a Brit, can you please stop spelling it "Gurnsey". I don't think you would like it much if I referred to the US city as "Filadelfia" would you? I should maybe point out that in UK English, "gurning" is a term for making silly faces.

While I am in this mood, The Heerenveen Tek factory was in Holland, but "Holland" is a term for a part of the Netherlands, not the name of the whole country. [grumpy mode off]

Colin.

-----Original Message-----
From: TekScopes@groups.io [mailto:TekScopes@groups.io] On Behalf Of Chuck Harris
Sent: 27 January 2020 17:14
To: TekScopes@groups.io
Subject: Re: [TekScopes] Guernsey Island 2445

Hi Raymond,

Very well, I must have misunderstood what I was told by
a former tektronix engineer from Gurnsey, 40 years ago.

I met him at one of my customer's sites, he was working
for a division of my customer's company in Guernsey, and
was TDY here in the states for training.

He noticed my brand new 2465, and clearly was itching
to talk with me about it. He was involved in the design
when he was at Tek Guernsey. He looked at my scope's serial
number to see where mine was made, and that brought on
a discussion of the serial numbers, factory of origin,
and revisions.

40 years is a long time, and I am somewhat surprised that
I remember the meeting at all. It was just a transient
thing one morning.

In the 40 years since, I have seen only one example of
a scope from any tektronix overseas factory, other than
Japan, and that was a 468 that I own that came from Holland.

I own two 468's, one from Holland, and one from Beaverton.

Both appear to be identical in board revisions, and software
revisions...

One is B014XXX, and the other is 705XXX

To my eye, it looks like they relate by subtracting the
universal Beaverton "zero" serial number (B010101) from the
Beaverton unit... but my sample set is too small.

Tektronix isn't stupid enough to have not had a simple way
to connect the dots between the scopes that were made in
multiple countries.

-Chuck Harris

Raymond Domp Frank wrote:
On Sun, Jan 26, 2020 at 10:17 PM, Chuck Harris wrote:


The primary thing I was trying to relate is the last
5 digits determines which engineering change orders
apply to your instrument.
I'm pretty sure that's incorrect across serial numbers from different countries of manufacture, Chuck, but I'm happy to check and provide (dis)proof when I'm back in the lab...
Unless unwelcome signs of old age have set in, ISTR that's exactly what many of us (mostly non-US based) have had to deal with for years.
It is one unfortunate thing that I have never understood from Tek.

Raymond
P6041 Cables

Richard Solomon <dickw1ksz@...>
 

I ran across two cables, about
3.5 feet long. BNC on one end
and what looks like a push-on
SMA on the other.
Marked Tektronix 010-164 and
P6041 Zo=50 ohm.

No need for them, will swap them
off for a decent 500 MHz Tek Probe.

Anyone interested ?

73, Dick, W1KSZ
Re: Tek blank box the size of a half rack 620 monitor available

John Griessen
 

On 1/28/20 9:17 AM, Oz-in-DFW wrote:
What country is it in?
Sorry, it's claimed. I promise next time to list things just like they were going in test equip for sale,
with location, condition, price, payment methods...

I just thought this one was not going to get interest and be scrapped.

It's USA TX $25 shipped for parts clean pay by check or extra 4%

But, that's going to be for next time -- David Holland claimed it.
Re: Tek blank box the size of a half rack 620 monitor available

Oz-in-DFW
 

What country is it in? What are you asking for it?
Re: TDS784C

Siggi
 

On Tue, Jan 28, 2020 at 8:39 AM JJ <jajustin@gmail.com> wrote:

You need to be concerned with the NVRAM chips - DS1486 clock chip and the
DS1650/DS1250. They have internal batteries that hold the calibration
constants and options info.
It's my understanding that the calibration constants are stored in EEPROM
on the acquisition board. There's no reason to worry about the options, as
it's easy enough to restore those with GPIB or other means.
Re: Guernsey Island 2445

Chuck Harris
 

Bite me!

-Chuck Harris

Colin Herbert via Groups.Io wrote:

Chuck, speaking as a Brit, can you please stop spelling it "Gurnsey". I don't think you would like it much if I referred to the US city as "Filadelfia" would you? I should maybe point out that in UK English, "gurning" is a term for making silly faces.

While I am in this mood, The Heerenveen Tek factory was in Holland, but "Holland" is a term for a part of the Netherlands, not the name of the whole country. [grumpy mode off]

Colin.

-----Original Message-----
From: TekScopes@groups.io [mailto:TekScopes@groups.io] On Behalf Of Chuck Harris
Sent: 27 January 2020 17:14
To: TekScopes@groups.io
Subject: Re: [TekScopes] Guernsey Island 2445

Hi Raymond,

Very well, I must have misunderstood what I was told by
a former tektronix engineer from Gurnsey, 40 years ago.

I met him at one of my customer's sites, he was working
for a division of my customer's company in Guernsey, and
was TDY here in the states for training.

He noticed my brand new 2465, and clearly was itching
to talk with me about it. He was involved in the design
when he was at Tek Guernsey. He looked at my scope's serial
number to see where mine was made, and that brought on
a discussion of the serial numbers, factory of origin,
and revisions.

40 years is a long time, and I am somewhat surprised that
I remember the meeting at all. It was just a transient
thing one morning.

In the 40 years since, I have seen only one example of
a scope from any tektronix overseas factory, other than
Japan, and that was a 468 that I own that came from Holland.

I own two 468's, one from Holland, and one from Beaverton.

Both appear to be identical in board revisions, and software
revisions...

One is B014XXX, and the other is 705XXX

To my eye, it looks like they relate by subtracting the
universal Beaverton "zero" serial number (B010101) from the
Beaverton unit... but my sample set is too small.

Tektronix isn't stupid enough to have not had a simple way
to connect the dots between the scopes that were made in
multiple countries.

-Chuck Harris

Raymond Domp Frank wrote:
On Sun, Jan 26, 2020 at 10:17 PM, Chuck Harris wrote:


The primary thing I was trying to relate is the last
5 digits determines which engineering change orders
apply to your instrument.
I'm pretty sure that's incorrect across serial numbers from different countries of manufacture, Chuck, but I'm happy to check and provide (dis)proof when I'm back in the lab...
Unless unwelcome signs of old age have set in, ISTR that's exactly what many of us (mostly non-US based) have had to deal with for years.
It is one unfortunate thing that I have never understood from Tek.

Raymond
Re: Guernsey Island 2445

Michael A. Terrell
 

None of mine start with a J:

305113
302234
302310
302903
These are Sony/Tektronix323 and 324 scopes.

On Mon, Jan 27, 2020 at 8:21 AM Charlie.c <ctconger@gmail.com> wrote:

To further thicken the plot I know that in the 80 s and later standard
numbering for all Beaverton made models began with B010100.
The first production unit made would carry that serial number. I was told
this was to confuse the competition so they would have difficulty tracking
how many units of a particular type had been made.
Not sure about the other countries. But al the Sony/TEK made stuff I ever
saw began with a J.
Re: TDS784C

Steve Hendrix
 

At 2020-01-28 09:00 AM, Jay Walling via Groups.Io wrote:


Make sure that it passes SPC from the utility menu - at least 10 times
with no failures.
Also run the full self test from the same utility menu.
I'll probably think of it right after I hit "send", but what does SPC stand for in this context?

Steve Hendrix
Re: TDS784C

Jay Walling
 

Any other pointers, pitfalls, etc. from current or past users of this scope would be very welcome. I've seen it occasionally mentioned here, but maybe the relative lack of chatter suggests it's one of those instruments that just plain works.
Hi Steve,

Make sure that it passes SPC from the utility menu - at least 10 times with no failures.
Also run the full self test from the same utility menu.

Jay
Re: TEK514 needs new 5V4G tube

Trevor
 

Steve-
Looking at the schematic I downloaded for the 514, there are five capacitors in the power supply that are two section 20 micro-farad cans, and these all should be tested, reformed, or replaced.  A sensible approach for testing and reforming is to use a separate laboratory bench power supply with a current limiting series resistor.

Be careful with C210, as it has its outer aluminum can (which is the negative capacitor lead) connected to the +225 volts supply. This is common practice in Tek tube scopes, and the case of a capacitor at elevated potential is protected with an insulating blue paper or clear plastic sleeve.

Protective sleeves are also used with capacitors in the negative supply section, as with C216 where the positive capacitor lead is grounded.


Newer 500 series scopes typically have a thermal time delay relay, so the scope's plate voltages are delayed 30 seconds or so, allowing tube filaments to warmed up first. The 514 does not have a delay relay, but the 5V4 rectifiers, with their indirectly heated cathode will yield a desirable slow plate voltage ramp-up. Replacing the 5V4's with solid state rectifiers has some appeal, but note that the slow ramp-up will no longer occur.

Note also, there are three 5V4 tubes in parallel. Ideally, they should share the current equally, but if one tube is near end of life, the other two will need to work harder. Verifying that the three rectifiers are sharing the load equally presents a challenge. Perhaps your infrared thermometer would work. A tube tester would help, if you have access to one. A riskier approach is to remove just one 5V4 at a time, making two remaining rectifiers do the work of three, but just for brief testing. Observe the voltage on C212 to see how good the two installed 5V4s are.


Vacuum tubes typically have an area inside the glass envelope that is shiny and mirror like, which is the "getter flash". Faulty tubes can sometimes be identified by this flash being white, meaning the tube's vacuum has been compromised. You should visually compare the three 5V4s for other differences, such as sputtered metal debris. Test with a DVM for dead shorts too of course.

Work slowly and methodically, and not when tired. The power supply voltage are dangerous. Besides shock hazards, flying molten metal from accidental short circuits can cause eye injury.
Trevor

On Tuesday, January 28, 2020, 6:57:26 AM EST, David Holland <david.w.holland@gmail.com> wrote:

On Mon, Jan 27, 2020 at 10:05 PM Chuck Harris <cfharris@erols.com> wrote:

A hack saw works fine too... if you are careful.
If you completely remove the cap (I usually do), a copper tubing
cutter works wonderfully....

One of these things:
https://www.harborfreight.com/tubing-cutter-40913.html   (Yeah, I
know, Harbor Freight, but they did have a convenient picture.)

David
Re: TDS784C

JJ
 

Hi Steve,

You need to be concerned with the NVRAM chips - DS1486 clock chip and the DS1650/DS1250. They have internal batteries that hold the calibration constants and options info. The batteries expiration date ended many years ago. So, if those chips haven't been changed, you need to attend to it. Many articles on backing those chips up using the GPIB interface, the internal disk drive, and other ways on this site and forum.tek.com. But, hopefully, someone swapped out the chips already.
Great scope - good luck, with it! I have a TDS754C.
Best,
John Justin
Re: Guernsey Island 2445

Colin Herbert
 

Chuck, speaking as a Brit, can you please stop spelling it "Gurnsey". I don't think you would like it much if I referred to the US city as "Filadelfia" would you? I should maybe point out that in UK English, "gurning" is a term for making silly faces.

While I am in this mood, The Heerenveen Tek factory was in Holland, but "Holland" is a term for a part of the Netherlands, not the name of the whole country. [grumpy mode off]

Colin.

-----Original Message-----
From: TekScopes@groups.io [mailto:TekScopes@groups.io] On Behalf Of Chuck Harris
Sent: 27 January 2020 17:14
To: TekScopes@groups.io
Subject: Re: [TekScopes] Guernsey Island 2445

Hi Raymond,

Very well, I must have misunderstood what I was told by
a former tektronix engineer from Gurnsey, 40 years ago.

I met him at one of my customer's sites, he was working
for a division of my customer's company in Guernsey, and
was TDY here in the states for training.

He noticed my brand new 2465, and clearly was itching
to talk with me about it. He was involved in the design
when he was at Tek Guernsey. He looked at my scope's serial
number to see where mine was made, and that brought on
a discussion of the serial numbers, factory of origin,
and revisions.

40 years is a long time, and I am somewhat surprised that
I remember the meeting at all. It was just a transient
thing one morning.

In the 40 years since, I have seen only one example of
a scope from any tektronix overseas factory, other than
Japan, and that was a 468 that I own that came from Holland.

I own two 468's, one from Holland, and one from Beaverton.

Both appear to be identical in board revisions, and software
revisions...

One is B014XXX, and the other is 705XXX

To my eye, it looks like they relate by subtracting the
universal Beaverton "zero" serial number (B010101) from the
Beaverton unit... but my sample set is too small.

Tektronix isn't stupid enough to have not had a simple way
to connect the dots between the scopes that were made in
multiple countries.

-Chuck Harris

Raymond Domp Frank wrote:
On Sun, Jan 26, 2020 at 10:17 PM, Chuck Harris wrote:


The primary thing I was trying to relate is the last
5 digits determines which engineering change orders
apply to your instrument.
I'm pretty sure that's incorrect across serial numbers from different countries of manufacture, Chuck, but I'm happy to check and provide (dis)proof when I'm back in the lab...
Unless unwelcome signs of old age have set in, ISTR that's exactly what many of us (mostly non-US based) have had to deal with for years.
It is one unfortunate thing that I have never understood from Tek.

Raymond
TDS784C

Steve Hendrix
 

I didn't research this as well as I might have, because I really didn't expect to get it. I made a fairly low offer on eBay for a TDS784C, fully expecting it to be rejected. Pleasant surprise when it was accepted. The unit arrived last Wednesday and I've been so swamped with work, family, and volunteer work that I just finally got it out of the box yesterday. Very nice unit, exactly as advertised, and appears to be fully working. It's physically quite a bit bigger than I anticipated, so I need to do some long-overdue housecleaning in the lab to make room for it.

It came as stated with no cables or accessories. Power cords I have in abundance. I have some 100 MHz scope probes available, but of course those won't let me use the full 1 GHz bandwidth. I plan to use another of my KISS-488 interfaces for screenshots and PC control, so that's covered. I have the crippleware version of WaveStar that came with my TDS220 so will try that with this unit. Can anyone here point me to a good reliable source of 1 GHz rated probes (that won't cost more than I paid for the scope!).

Any other pointers, pitfalls, etc. from current or past users of this scope would be very welcome. I've seen it occasionally mentioned here, but maybe the relative lack of chatter suggests it's one of those instruments that just plain works.

Thanks for reading!

Steve Hendrix
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