As we continue to work our way through our archive of photos, we run across some that are a bit out of the ordinary.  They may be humorous or unique but they stand out from the other photos. We post new photos here monthly with the previous photos in the slideshow.

The photo of the month for May 2026 is a collection of twelve oscilloscopes from around 1950. Several are from the “Encyclopedia on Cathode-Ray Oscilloscopes and Their Uses” by John F. Rider, published in January 1950. There are four Du Mont and two RCA oscilloscopes. Du Mont was the dominant brand at the time. Its Type 248 oscilloscope had been the performance leader and the 511 offered better performance, was lighter, less expensive and was delivered calibrated from Tektronix.

Milt Bave, a fellow US Coast Guardsman with Jack Murdock during World War 2, worked closely with Howard Vollum on the industrial design for the Tektronix’ first oscilloscope product. Do you see a prominent difference between the 511A and all the rest of those other oscilloscopes? For reasons not apparently ever committed to paper, the Tektronix oscilloscope is unique in that the CRT is not mounted in the center. It could be argued that this configuration suits right-handed people, about 85-90% of the population, where adjustments could be made with the dominant hand without obstructing line of sight to the screen. Upper left positioning also created a larger inner space adjacent to the cathode ray tube and it made for a shorter signal path and lower capacitance when the CRT’s deflection plates were directly driven. It was just one more distinguishing characteristic of Tektronix oscilloscopes.

There was a huge marketing and brand-awareness advantage with this unique CRT placement. Many other oscilloscopes look somewhat similar to one another at first glance. However, the 511 was instantly recognizable as a Tektronix oscilloscope from across a room or when it appeared in a photograph in a trade magazine. This upper-left CRT placement was consistently employed as long as cathode ray tubes were used in Tektronix lab scopes through 1990s; the dual-gun 555, 556 and 565 instruments being the primary exceptions. Tektronix oscilloscopes are instantly recognized in this collection of magazine covers and advertisements. Click on the image to view a higher resolution PDF.

Photos of the Month:  Jan 2025 - Present

Photos of the Month:  Feb 2019 - Dec 2024