The AM Forum

Hi!

I'm looking for some information regarding Tektronix 465 oscilloscopes:

1. What are the physical dimensions (amazingly, I can't find these in the manuals available on line at BAMA etc.) H x W x D?

2. Approximately when (what year) did these first become available from Tektronix?

3. When they first became available, what was the approximate list price?

Thanks
Stu

Stu,

This link provides the dimensions:  http://www.wgunkel.com/eBayFolder/ScopeData.htm#467_475_475A_specs

My old Tektronix catalogs are boxed up now.  It is surprising the manual didn't include the dimension info since Tektronix is generally very detailed with all of the specifications.

Rodger

Thanks!

Stu

Stu,

A little more information on catalog prices from notes: 

465 $1,825 (1975)
465B $3,500 priced with DM-44 (1982)

I have a 475A/DM-44 which had some power supply issues which are pretty common.  The problem is not major/expensive to repair and I imagine the 465 probably is very similar.  I recall that some of the early production 465 are prone to capacitor failure in the power supply.

Let me step up and announce how rugged this o-scope truly is. During rough weather over in the Arabian Sea, I was slammed into the bulkhead numerous times while carrying a 465. Likewise it was slammed right along with me. Like Cameron Swaze used to say about Timex, "It takes a lickin' and keeps on tickin'."

Stu,
I used a 465 and a 475 scope back in 1973 when I first started working for Burroughs Corporation.  Those 2 were very similar but the 475 was a bit faster.  I have a 475 to this day and its my main scope thats on my workbench.  I prefer it to some of my more modern digital scopes depending on what I am doing. 
Regards,
Joe, W3GMS   

Thanks to all

I'm giving a presentation at NJIT's "open house" today... for high school seniors and their parents. The title/topic is "personal laboratories". I'm going to be talking about how electrical engineering (both the field of practice and the technology) has changed over the last 50 years. In particular, the transition from large, discrete components (vaccum tubes, individual transistors, resistors, capacitors, inductors) to integrated circuits has made electrical engineering much more abstract and much more difficult for students to develop an intuition for. The equations haven't changed much; but most students have great difficulty relating the equations to anything going on inside real boxes or components. Fortunately, this same technology is now making it possible to produce test equipment (like a "USB oscilloscope") that can complement traditional equations and computer simulations (like SPICE and LabVIEW)... and which are inexpensive enough (less than the price of one new textbook) and small enough to be used by students as "personal laboratories". Thus, for example, sophomores taking their first courses in circuit design can be given "homework" assignments that include experiments... which they can do outside of the traditional university laboratory. This is particularly helpful for students who commute and/or have day jobs.

I will be showing pictures that compare, for example, a Tekronix 465 ($1825.00 in 1975 dollars) to a real (demonstrated) Syscomp CGR-101 ($189.00 in 2010 dollars) that can work with a student's existing personal computer.


Stu

Stu,

That sounds like a great presentation you will be giving.  You raised a lot of good points about the intuition issues.  I could see that as I interviewed new EE right out of school over the years.  In later years, in many cases they were prepared with good system integration skills, but often felt uneasy when dealing with discrete circuit design.  In the old day's the EE out of school was well prepared for discrete design.  Then again, with tremendous integration of complex circuits within IC's many EE jobs today do not have to deal with as much of individual component issues. 

Sorry for pitching the 465 and 475 scope!  I thought you were looking for opinions on how good or poor they were.

Have fun with your presentation!

Regards,
Joe, W3GMS     

Joe

You raise some key points.

Coming from a 26 year 1st career in industry, I feel that the traditional university undergraduate EE or ECE curriculum is too heavily focused on things like circuit theory, and similar equation-intensive subjects. I can still do that stuff "in my sleep"; but that doesn't mean it is important for 21st century EE/ECE students. [As you know, the wheels of change grind very slowly at universities because of things like tenure and the acceditation process. Economic realities are beginning to change that].

At the same time, I believe that every EE undergraduate should have some exposure to traditional analog circuit theory and analysis... and I'm hoping that "personal laboratories" will result in a bigger return-on-investment for the students who take sophomore-level courses in traditional analog circuit design.

Stu