The Ad of the Month for July 2026 comes from the museum’s advertisement archives. It features the Type 524-D oscilloscope, offering a solution to the early television industry for precision maintenance of their broadcast equipment. The ad appeared in the July 15, 1953 edition of TV Factbook, an early television trade magazine.

Tektronix and the television industry got started at roughly the same time, right after WWII. While RCA had introduced America to television at the 1939 World’s Fair in New York City, most all work was stopped until after the war. Tektronix advertised the 511-AD as suitable for television signal measurements in September, 1949, in Electronics.

The 524-D first appeared in the July 1952 Tektronix catalog, selling for $1,180 (roughly $14,800 today). Designed by Cliff Moulton, he modified the existing 514 to optimize it for measuring television waveforms. The initial market estimate for the 524D was about 200 instruments, but including the 1953 revision, the 524-AD, a total of 10,000 instruments were produced. The 524-AD last appeared in the March 1967 catalog. The 524 launched Tek’s highly successful Television Products Business Unit focused on instrumentation for the television industry. Note that the ad also features the Type 105 Square Wave Generator. Much more information about the 524-D is found on the museum's Television Products page.

Advertisements of the Month: Sept 2025 - Present.