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.

Our November 2026 Photo of the Month comes from the 1968 Tektronix Annual Report to Shareholders. In the early years of being publicly traded, Tektronix published numerous photos in their shareholder communications to demonstrate how its instruments were being used. Most investors probably had no idea.

This photo was shared by Texas Instruments from their semiconductor failure analysis laboratory. The caption of the photo states: “Eight oscilloscopes are pictured here: six are Tektronix instruments.” That actually was a fair representation of Tek’s market share at the time.

It appears to us that the two oscilloscopes that don’t have the Tektronix’s characteristic “up and to the left” positioning for the CRT are HP130As, one of the two first oscilloscopes offered from Palo Alto. From left to right, starting in the center we spot: A 545A oscilloscope with CA plug-in with a 575 curve tracer underneath. To the right, the HP oscilloscope is beside another 545A with another 575 curve tracer below. Toward the upper right-hand corner, there appears to be a third 545A with an HP130A to its right. Barely visible in front of the man in the extreme upper right it looks like there’s yet another 575 with just the corner showing. We looked long and hard at the instrument hidden under the shelf in the lower left beyond the microscope, but couldn’t determine its identity. If you have an idea, let us know.

Photos of the Month:  Jan 2025 - Present

Photos of the Month:  Feb 2019 - Dec 2024