The August 1951 Tektronix Catalog had two pages highlighting “Fingertip Controls” ease of operation of their oscilloscopes. It features controls from the 511AD, 512, 513D, and 514D. Click on the image to view the PDF.
Continue reading →The Fall 1966 TekTalk had a 9 page article on computers at Tektronix with some future forecasts. In the 10 years prior the the installed base of computers grew from several hundred to over 30,000. This article has been extracted … Continue reading →
Our website features a Tektronix Equipment in Movies and Shows with over 30 sightings and faithful viewers continue to send us more. We thought these product placements deserved more visibility at the museum so we created posters highlighting some of … Continue reading →
Ken Walling was the seventh employee at Tektronix. He worked in shipping, purchasing, wiring, and stock control before managing the print shop for several years. This photos shows Ken Walling on the left with Bill Causgrove. The following four photos … Continue reading →
This excerpt from the “Winning With People: The First 40 Years of Tektronix” book describes the first Tektronix board of directors.
Continue reading →These interesting risetime calculators were in use at Tektronix in the early days (note the 51X-style knobs and the Portland address). They consist of a small battery-powered analog computer specifically for calculating cascaded risetime calculations. Risetime is defined as the … Continue reading →
The 4014 19″ direct view storage tube (DVST) graphic terminal was introduced in 1974. This photo is of a Tektronix 618, a 19″ display designed to fit into an IBM office environment. The 618 was described in the Tekscope Volume … Continue reading →
Here’s something you don’t see everyday. This advertisement appeared in the August 27, 1960 issue of the Saturday Evening Post. It features Bill Webber discussing the selection of Employers Mutuals of Wausau for the carrier of Tektronix workman’s compensation along … Continue reading →
Our December 2019 Photo of the Month was this rack of instruments taken sometime in 1967 or 1968. We did not have any more information about it and asked for input in the November newsletter. A reader responded with this … Continue reading →
The Pamplin Media Group publishes a number of local newspapers in the Portland metro area. Their southeast Portland paper “The Bee” recently featured an article on the boyhood home of Howard Vollum. The article has some great information on Howard … Continue reading →
TekTalk and TekWeek issues in the 1950s and 1960s featured stories on employees in different departments around the company. Some of these stories focused on immigrants and migrant workers with different backgrounds and how they found work at Tektronix and … Continue reading →
vintageTEK made an equipment donation to S1 in Portland. S1 is a non-profit artist and volunteer-run center for contemporary art in Portland, Oregon. In addition to performance and education programming, they have a publicly-accessible modular synthesizer and music production library … Continue reading →
The vintageTEK museum has scanned transformers drawings widely sought-after by collectors and restorers of vintage Tektronix products. These drawings are scans of microfiche which detail the construction and specifications for the 120- series of transformers. They include the transformer voltage, … Continue reading →
The museum has a photograph of a 500 Series Optical Spectrum Analyzer concept. This analyzer was never produced but in 1975 the 7000 Series Rapid Scan Optical Spectrometer was introduced. Note that the plugin spelling is “Analyser” and the optical … Continue reading →
vintageTEK hosted a booth at the NW Electronics Design & Manufacturing Expo (NEDME) on October 30, 2024. We displayed a 4052 DVST graphics system, 310A oscilloscope, TDS784C with a color shutter, and the original Type 101 and 511 oscilloscope. Volunteers … Continue reading →
This 671-0573-00 PCB was recently discovered in a 1781R PAL vectorscope/waveform monitor. It contains the signatures of the design team (along with one for Alfred E Newman). These higher resolution photos better show the signatures.
Continue reading →vintageTEK has been included in a recently published video wiki “Must-See Museums In The Pacific Northwest” hosted on the ezvid wiki. Click on the image to view the video on their website. (external website) Ezvid Wiki is a free-to-use … Continue reading →
The vintageTEK museum put together a set of equipment to introduce children to the concept of waves and oscilloscopes and donated it to the Sherwood Public Library. This will be part of their new library of things. The museum crafted … Continue reading →
Thanks to the generosity of our donors, the museum has acquired a new scanner for manuals. Our old auto-feed scanner was no longer functional and we have been relying upon our multi-purpose printer to do scanning. We recently purchased a … Continue reading →
The museum was contacted by volunteers restoring Site Summit near Anchorage, Alaska, about obtaining a representative oscilloscope for the facility. Commissioned in 1959, it is one of three Nike Missile sites that protected Anchorage, Elmendorf AFB, and Fort Richardson during … Continue reading →
This photo started out as our June Photo Of The Month. We didn’t know a lot about it but recipients of our June Newsletter which featured this photo helped us out with more detail. This complex looking machinery was part … Continue reading →
This photo of Jeff Bezos in his Seattle Office in 1999 features a Tektronix 647A oscilloscope in the lower left hand corner. We have no idea why Jeff had an oscilloscope introduced in 1970 in his office in 1999 but … Continue reading →
The museum received a donation of Chuck Miller training tapes. Chuck was an instructor in Field Training. Early on Sales Engineers were expected to be able to fully support customers with both sales and service. Sales Engineers were issued tool … Continue reading →
We are proud to again offer Oregon Public Broadcasting’s “Oregon Experience – The Spirit of Tek” DVD. This 30 minute documentary on the history of Tektronix was produced in 2010 and offered on DVD. Oregon Public Broadcasting no longer sells … Continue reading →
KOIN TV channel 6 news features a weekly segment called “Where We Live”. It is hosted by news anchor Ken Boddie and features interesting aspects about the local Portland area. The May 20, 2019 episode is “Where We Live: Tektronix … Continue reading →
We are proud to again offer Stan Griffith’s book on Oscilloscopes: Selecting and Restoring a Classic for sale. We have reprinted this book and all proceeds support the museum. We also offer it as a searchable PDF on CD, both … Continue reading →
In February we posted our first Photo of the Month, this image of a Final Inspector at Sunset. Well, it turns out he is actually the final inspector at Sunset. His name is Clyde Faber and he is found … Continue reading →
Tektronix used T-Coils as a peaking circuit to improve the bandwidth of its oscilloscope designs in the 1960s through the 1990s. Engineer Bob Ross derived the design equations and Tektronix kept this as a trade secret in its use in … Continue reading →
A visitor to our website sent us three new cartoons from the Universal Load Unit 067-0883-99 schematics. They are on the A1 Main Board Channels 7 & 8, 9 &10, and 11 & 12. See our Schematic Cartoons for a … Continue reading →
We have uncovered another mystery part at the museum. This tube is constructed with glass rods in the typical Tektronix methodology. It has a 14 pin base which appears to be the same as used in Tektronix first CRT, the … Continue reading →
vintageTEK is back on Twitter! We’ve been absent for a number of years but a new volunteer will be sending more frequent tweets about news and new items at the museum. Follow us to keep up with the vintageTEK museum. … Continue reading →
Tektronix has a series of video stories from engineers on their website at www.tek.com/stories. Two of these video stories feature work that was done at the vintageTEK museum. When You Were Born To Engineer – Watch Nick’s Story is about a … Continue reading →
The vintageTEK museum was pleased to host a visit by the new Tektronix President, Marc Tremblay, on January 17, 2019. Marc’s appointment was announced earlier in the month and this visit was part of his immersion into Tektronix’ history. Details … Continue reading →
A sharp-eyed collector sent us an email identifying four new cartoons that we didn’t have on our Schematic Cartoons page. All are from the Type 624 Monitor manual. Enjoy.
Continue reading →This is great news for Tektronix collectors and restorers. We have worked with Tektronix to obtain a release for the Master Publication Index (MPI). Our MPI is from 1986. It is available on Tekwiki at Reference Material (external site). The … Continue reading →
We came across this 157-067 “tube” at the museum. A 157- prefix is reserved for Electron Tubes (Matched, selected, and sets from 154s). We had never seen one before and since it didn’t have a mate it must have been selected. … Continue reading →
TestEquity is a value-added distributor of electronic test and measurement solutions. They are an authorized Rental Partner and a Distributor for Tektronix and the relationship goes back 45 years. TestEquity is planning to create a museum showcase in the sales office … Continue reading →
Tektronix participated in the annual Fortive Day Of Caring and had five individuals volunteer at the vintageTEK museum (Fortive is the parent company of Tektronix and has over 20 companies/brands in their portfolio). Their efforts were greatly appreciated and helped … Continue reading →
March 16, 2019 Update We were requested and have scanned and uploaded the RPR for 152- (Diodes). December 22, 2018 Update We have scanned and uploaded the RPR for 366- (Knobs). This represents a total of over 4200 pages scanned and … Continue reading →
Did you know Tektronix developed technology made its way to the Hubble Space Telescope? This March 24, 1989 TekWeek features the CCDs that were installed on Hubble. Click on the image to view the PDF. This 1990 Focus On … Continue reading →
Gale Morris was the first industrial design engineer hired in 1958 at Tektronix. One of his first projects was to redesign the Type 500 Scope-Mobile into something more functional and aesthetically pleasing. The result was the award winning Type 200 Scope-Mobile … Continue reading →
7-8-20 Update To make it simpler and more predictable, we now charge 10¢ per microfiche image scanned rather than an hourly rate. 3-6-19 Update Our volunteer has finished compiling an index for the microfiche. See our Printed and Microfiche Manuals … Continue reading →
Today the vintageTEK museum announced the official launch of their instrument library. This is an opportunity for adults and students, age 10 and older, to check out instruments on loan for their personal projects and education. Museum volunteers have worked … Continue reading →
The USS Midway at San Diego has a couple of Tektronix products on board ship. This 5441 Mainframe with a 7B40 timebase (right side of photo) was spotted by Yinghang Zhou, a business development manager at Tek China. This 4205 terminal (left … Continue reading →
STEM isn’t just for kids. All ages can learn about technology and engineering with a visit to the vintageTEK museum. This group of seniors from the Edgewood Downs Senior Center did just that with a visit to the museum. So did … Continue reading →
Today we discovered yet another cartoon in a Tektronix schematic. This one is a 7D11 Digital Delay “snail”.
Continue reading →What do the Thomas Edison National Historical Park, The Hewlett-Packard garage, Signal Hill, the Computer History Museum, and the Alexander Graham Bell laboratory have in common with vintageTEK? They are all sites listed along with vintageTEK on the 10 sites of electrical history to … Continue reading →
The direct view storage tube (DVST) invented by Bob Anderson in the 1960s had significant impact in multiple industries. We have a number of different exhibits, articles, and documents relating to the storage tube and will tie them all together … Continue reading →
The vintageTEK museum often sets up a booth for Tektronix at their worldwide sales meeting to highlight the impressive and fascinating history of the company. We received a request for a similar showing at the Tek Japan Innovation Forum. While … Continue reading →
The vintageTEK fundraiser to purchase a microfiche scanner is progressing well with over 70 contributors donating nearly $4500 towards our $6000 goal as of April 15, 2018. The museum is very hopeful we will reach the goal and be able … Continue reading →
November 19, 2018 Update We continue to make progress indexing the microfiche and have published a partial index on our Printed and Microfiche Manuals page. We have also added a short video on Scanning Microfiche on our Video Gallery. July … Continue reading →
If you visit the museum you will see new cards by many of the exhibits. These cards have identify the exhibit and have a QR code which can be read by a smartphone or tablet. The QR code opens up … Continue reading →
Our documentation volunteer Pat Green continues to organize the library and forwards items of interest for hosting on our website. These new pages were added this past month. 155-0022-00 Sweep Circuit IC 2200 Family Marketing Presentation (video) 4100 / 4200 … Continue reading →
A 3 alarm fire broke out in the commercial building formerly occupied by the vintageTEK museum just after 8 AM on Sunday, January 28, 2018, at 4626 SW Beaverton Hillsdale Highway. Although in the same building, the fire was west of … Continue reading →
This month we thought we would look back over 2017. This time last year we had just moved into our new location in Building 13 on the Tektronix campus. The move took place in December and we were hampered by … Continue reading →
We are continuing to catalog new donations of equipment and documentation at the museum. Although the showroom and classroom are nearly full, we recently added a display of some of our analog and digital probes. This month we bring you … Continue reading →
The new location on the Tektronix campus has significantly increased traffic to the museum. If you haven’t been in to our new building then stop by for a visit. Days, hours, address, and a map are on the right sidebar … Continue reading →
October was also a busy month at the museum. The vintageTEK museum has had a booth at the Northwest Electronics Design and Manufacturing Expo for the past 5 years. This is a fun event as we reach and interact with … Continue reading →
The vintageTEK museum had a very busy and productive summer starting with preparing for our grand opening, two grand opening events, hosting an evening SID (Society of Information Display) meeting, several summer youth STEM (science, technology, engineering, math) visits, a … Continue reading →
With the help of a few ex-Tek and ex-Sony/Tektronix employees who have graciously provided information, photos, and scans, we now have a fairly complete page on Sony/Tek history. It is located under “Information and Resources”>”Locations and Subsidiaries”>”Tektronix Locations”>”Sony/Tektronix”. Under “Information … Continue reading →
Today is the 100th anniversary of Jack Murdock’s birthday. Melvin “Jack” Murdock was born in Portland on August 15, 1917. Jack went by his middle name as did his friend and business partner Charles “Howard” Vollum whom he met in … Continue reading →
The vintageTEK museum just completed two very successful events at our new location. We participated in a Tektronix company-wide event on July 20th with a vintageTEK booth and a Grand Opening and T-Shirt give away for Tektronix employees at the … Continue reading →
The vintageTEK website is proud to host a six-part article written by former Tek engineer Peter Keller. These articles were first published in The Tube Collector and are provided with the permission of the publisher and the author. They describe in detail … Continue reading →
For questions please contact: Bob Haas 503-310-7829 Email: [email protected] FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE vintageTEK Museum Announces Its Public Grand Opening Delivering on its Mission to Share Engineering Knowledge and History through an Active Museum and STEM Education Facility … Continue reading →
The vintageTEK museum invites you to our Grand Opening at our new location on the Tektronix campus. Saturday, July 22nd 10:00 am to 6:00 pm 13489 SW Karl Braun Dr Beaverton, OR, 97077 Our location is on the southeast side … Continue reading →
Volunteers at the museum have been busy the past 6+ months with the move and reorganization of the museum at our new location on the Tektronix campus. Now that things are settling down, we are getting back into our regular … Continue reading →
The vintageTEK Museum has a new home on the Tektronix Beaverton Campus. Thanks to the many museum volunteers who helped move the equipment to the new location. Below are videos of packing up for the move. The bottom two are … Continue reading →
A Tektronix Field Engineer in Los Angeles Region from 1968 to 1972, Ed was promoted to Army Account Manager in Philadelphia. After earning a Marketing Degree (cum laude) at The Wharton School, University of Pennsylvania, he moved to Beaverton in … Continue reading →
I recently obtained a copy of A History of The General Radio Company, published in 1965 by Arthur E. Thiessen Board Chairman of General Radio. The management style and policies of GR as Tek employees later referred to it, were strikingly similar to those … Continue reading →
We have opened a vintageTEK web store. In addition to the publications we have been selling at the Museum, we are adding several exciting new publications. These include Stan Griffiths Classic Oscilloscopes: Selecting and Repairing a Classic. Stan wrote this … Continue reading →
The family of the late Dr. Gertrude Rempfer donated the Tektronix Electron Microscope prototype that the Tek group was working on around 1968 when the project was canceled. Bruce Baur, John Addis, and Ed Sinclair, assisted by Gert’s son Willie … Continue reading →
We have added a Volunteers Wanted menu button to our home page with information on how to volunteer and our needs. We have a small group of local volunteers who repair and refurbish instruments and bench test equipment, organize our … Continue reading →
Donor Wall A Reality (Click photo for full size) We want to thank Rod Gilbert, an ex-Tek ME, who is also an accomplished woodworker, for the marvelous job he did on building the Donor Wall for our Museum. A reminder … Continue reading →
Phil Crosby a current vintageTEK volunteer discovered a new cartoon in the manual of the 524AD he is refurbishing for the Museum’s TV Equipment Display. Stan Griffiths and Bill Den Beste cataloged these cartoons for years, beginning with the first … Continue reading →
vintageTEK is now set up to accept and process donations on our website www.vintagetek.org . You can find a DONATE NOW button in the LH Column on every page except the Blog Page: Click on the DONATE NOW button; Select … Continue reading →
This month ex-Tek Linda Morrisson donated her extensive coffee cup collection to the vintageTEK Museum. I was surprised to even find one I commissioned for the Mobile Calibration Team, consulting for Ed Vaughan in the Service Division at Merlo Road … Continue reading →
Jim Williams an analog circuit designer, Tek aficionado, and author, passed away from a stroke in June 2011. The San Jose Mercury News just published an article on Jim and his workbench that was world renowned. It has been enshrined … Continue reading →
Saturday we had a visitor accompanied by his son. The father had several Tek friends, owned several Tek scopes, and was a career geologist. His son, Will Gannett, is a Ph D candidate in Physics attending Berkeley. As any proud father might, dad had … Continue reading →
I have created an Adobe Acrobat file of 23 Early CRT Department Photos we would like identified so we can post them on our website. Since we have a very active ex-employee group from CRT that meets regularly, I have … Continue reading →
Marshall Lee, Pacific University History Professor, is interviewed by the Oregonian on a date unknown (approximately 1986) regarding his work with Tektronix. Marshall told me that Earl Wantland hired him to create a Tektronix corporate archive, and only later was … Continue reading →
I have requested permission from Heike Mayer, Ph.D., Assistant Professor in Urban Affairs and Planning at Virginia Tech, for permission to reprint her article Planting High-Technology Seeds Tektronix’s Role in the Creation of Portland’s Silicon Forest on our website. As … Continue reading →
Howard Vollum agreed to sit down for three videotaped interviews regarding Tektronix History in 1984. They were conducted by Jim Castles, the lawyer who drew up the Tek incorporation papers in 1945 and 1946, and years later became Tektronix General … Continue reading →
Miles Tippery was one of the four founders of Tektronix. Jack Murdock met Miles in the Coast Guard and after the war Jack Murdock, Howard Vollum, Miles Tippery, and Glen McDowell decided to form a company together to develop and … Continue reading →
Richard L. Ropiequet died of a stroke on April 25,2011 in Grass Valley, CA with his devoted family surrounding him. Born in St. Louis, Mo., and educated in Illinois, he graduated with a degree in chemical engineering in 1944 and … Continue reading →
The attached 1960 document: IBM Customer Engineering Manual of Instruction – Tektronix Oscilloscopes, was recently discovered by Pete Lancashire and called to our attention. This was produced by IBM in August 1960 and was a step-by-step tutorial on scopes, and … Continue reading →
When we began design of this new website our departed friend and colleague C. Norman Winningstad had recently died. I felt it would not be proper to take this article down until the public had seen our tribute to Norm, … Continue reading →
With the recent donation by Chris Curtin of the cutaway 7104 micro-channel-plate CRT, I made a call for 7104/mcp information via ex-Tek gateslist, and John Addis immediately responded with a pointer to the Electronic Design January 18, 1979 article by … Continue reading →
vintageTEK has received a number of Engineering News publications for our Library. The intact ones are dated from 1978 with a front cover title Engineering News and were Company Confidential at the time. We are curious about two things. First the format of Engineering … Continue reading →
vintageTEK has received a number of Technology Reports for our Library The intact ones are dated from 1982 through 1985 with a front cover title TEK Information For Technologists and were Company Confidential at the time. The full issues we … Continue reading →
John Kobbe recently jotted down his recollections of Tek’s development of the 500 Series oscilloscopes. Starting with the 310/315 he charts the evolution of many developments, including Howard Vollum’s desire to incorporate plug-in vertical amplifiers, and build our own CRT’s … Continue reading →
Our Grand Opening was very successful following the excellent article appearing on the Front Page of the Business section of the Oregonian Thursday September 15, 2011. We had over 200 visitors, with donations exceeding our highest expectations. Visitors started … Continue reading →
vintageTEK, a Museum for vintage Tektronix equipment and memorabilia from the Tek heyday 1946-1985 will open for Public Viewing Friday September 16, 2011 at 9am. Public Hours will be Fridays and Saturdays only until our Volunteer Cadre is fully determined.Technical … Continue reading →
Pentrix, a manufacturer of Spectrum Analyzer plug-ins for the Tek 530/540 Series was acquired by Tektronix about 1964. They first designed the L10 for NASA. Following the acquisition, they designed the 1L20 and 1L30, and later the 1L5. These successes … Continue reading →
A Story that explains the background and filming of the movie Ask Mr Wizard, The Oscilloscope was published in TekWeek July 21, 1961. Rick LeForge, Field Engineer at Tek’s Long Island office, was present at the show rehearsals in New … Continue reading →
The January 19, 1979 the TekWeek headline reads: Tektronix’ Court of Claims case ‘est finis’. The lawsuit was filed by Tektronix in February 1961. The U.S. Government – Army Signal Corps and US Air Force – awarded contracts for the … Continue reading →
Frank Hood became so famous internally for his great movie productions at Tektronix, beginning with The Tek Spirit, that he became known as “Cecil B. DeHood” amongst his colleagues! Jim Cook recalled this nickname in a 2010 discussion over lunch. … Continue reading →
According to Frank Hood in a 1985 Biography he wrote: “The first mention of Tektronix and the oscilloscope was in the April 1948 issue of the magazine ELECTRONICS. It was not called the 511 but only called “The Vollum portable … Continue reading →
In Howard’s 1984 Interview, Jim Castles asks him if Logan Belleville ever worked at MIT and Howard could not recall. In my recent meeting with Logan’s significant other, Holly Black Belleville, she said Logan was Secretary of the local IRE … Continue reading →
I awoke the other morning at 3am worried that so much Tek History is slipping through our fingers as we discuss a piece here and a piece there, I wanted to provide some way to collect and archive this information. … Continue reading →
