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Tek vs Hickok and Fairchild - Boeing vs Tupalov

tubesnthings@...
 

I've been meaning to post some pics comparing Tek and Hickok CA's...
Have had many distractions, lately, so you all beat me to it. Am still going to post pics of the CA with IBM logo - sorry for my tardiness.
 
To me, one significant thing about Hickok's version is the much better touch-and-feel of the knobs. I've always been bothered and puzzled by the very sharp edges on many Tek knobs, which can really chew up your fingers on pot cleaning day!!
 
I have a Fairchild solid state scope with cart, which is not a direct clone but bears striking resemblance to the 560 series - the plug-in holes are the EXACT same size, the interface connector is the same make but at different orientation with higher pin count.
 
To copy a Tek instrument certainly is an accomplishment - to copy (in secret and record time!!) a B-29 with its "corncob" turbo-compound engines and their Exhaust Energy Recovery Turbines (TOP SECRET at the time) is the sort of thing you can probably only get done by holding guns to-, and gulags over the engineer's heads!
 
Bernd Schroder
 
 

Ultimately, my hat is off to anyone who undertook series production of these copies. It makes for interesting study! I imagine that relatively small teams of people did it. Still, they had to provide all the necessary specs and procedures for manufacturing dauntingly complicated high quality products. And Tektronix sure ain't gonna help!

Art
David Hess
 

I noticed the same thing about the touch-and-fell of the knobs and
controls. The Lavoie clone that I have has a much nicer feel than the
Tektronix oscilloscopes from that era that I have used although my
sample size is small

When I first encountered the detent instead of a stop on the Tektronix
547A that I bought not long ago, I initially thought it was broken.
The detent makes sense though based on the number of broken
flexi-shaft couplings I have seen.

On Sun, 26 Aug 2012 11:52:46 -0400 (EDT), tubesnthings@... wrote:

I've been meaning to post some pics comparing Tek and Hickok CA's...
Have had many distractions, lately, so you all beat me to it. Am still
going to post pics of the CA with IBM logo - sorry for my tardiness.

To me, one significant thing about Hickok's version is the much better
touch-and-feel of the knobs. I've always been bothered and puzzled by the very
sharp edges on many Tek knobs, which can really chew up your fingers on pot
cleaning day!!

I have a Fairchild solid state scope with cart, which is not a direct clone
but bears striking resemblance to the 560 series - the plug-in holes are
the EXACT same size, the interface connector is the same make but at
different orientation with higher pin count.

To copy a Tek instrument certainly is an accomplishment - to copy (in
secret and record time!!) a B-29 with its "corncob" turbo-compound engines and
their Exhaust Energy Recovery Turbines (TOP SECRET at the time) is the sort
of thing you can probably only get done by holding guns to-, and gulags
over the engineer's heads!

Bernd Schroder

Ultimately, my hat is off to anyone who undertook series production of
these copies. It makes for interesting study! I imagine that relatively small
teams of people did it. Still, they had to provide all the necessary specs
and procedures for manufacturing dauntingly complicated high quality
products. And Tektronix sure ain't gonna help!

Art
Bob Koller <testtech@...>
 

I think that Tek made instruments like your CA for IBM under contract. If I recall correctly the 454 ( or one of the original 45X instruments) was designed in response to an IBM need. Some of these were marked IBM also. Anybody with more accurate info feel free to correct me.


From: "tubesnthings@..."
To: TekScopes@...
Sent: Sunday, August 26, 2012 8:52 AM
Subject: [TekScopes] Tek vs Hickok and Fairchild - Boeing vs Tupalov

 
I've been meaning to post some pics comparing Tek and Hickok CA's...
Have had many distractions, lately, so you all beat me to it. Am still going to post pics of the CA with IBM logo - sorry for my tardiness.
 
To me, one significant thing about Hickok's version is the much better touch-and-feel of the knobs. I've always been bothered and puzzled by the very sharp edges on many Tek knobs, which can really chew up your fingers on pot cleaning day!!
 
I have a Fairchild solid state scope with cart, which is not a direct clone but bears striking resemblance to the 560 series - the plug-in holes are the EXACT same size, the interface connector is the same make but at different orientation with higher pin count.
 
To copy a Tek instrument certainly is an accomplishment - to copy (in secret and record time!!) a B-29 with its "corncob" turbo-compound engines and their Exhaust Energy Recovery Turbines (TOP SECRET at the time) is the sort of thing you can probably only get done by holding guns to-, and gulags over the engineer's heads!
 
Bernd Schroder
 
 

Ultimately, my hat is off to anyone who undertook series production of these copies. It makes for interesting study! I imagine that relatively small teams of people did it. Still, they had to provide all the necessary specs and procedures for manufacturing dauntingly complicated high quality products. And Tektronix sure ain't gonna help!

Art


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