Tektronix analog oscilloscopes

Tektronix 2235A

[4] The first 2000-series Tektronix oscilloscopes were introduced in the 1982 catalog. New models available that year were the 2213, 2215, 2335, 2336, and 2337. They offered excellent portability along with light weight and low power consumption. Very rugged, they were rated to withstand 50g. Most of this was due to the simplification of circuit design, and a lightweight switching power supply. They were significantly lighter than the 400-series.

These early models were limited in bandwidth, but in 1984, that changed with the introduction of the 2465 and little brother, the 2445. Both models had 4 channels, but the 2465 bandwidth was 300 MHz, with triggering to match. Completely microprocessor driven and firmware controlled, these were a new breed, similar in appearance but not otherwise related to the 2200 scopes. By 1989, the 2465B had 400 MHz bandwidth with triggering beyond 500 MHz.

The peak of the 2000-series seems to be in 1984, when there were no less than 21 models introduced for a total of 33 models offered. The 2430, the 2432A, the 2465B and the 2467B lasted until 1996. By the 1997 catalog, there were no longer 2000-series listed. Indicating a long 14 year production run.

The main differences between the non-storage, non-digital analog 2200 series are as follows: the 2200 series is mostly 2 channel, with 2245, 2246, 2247, and 2252 being the 4 channel exceptions (the two extra channels having only two vertical attenuation values). The 2335 and 2336 are 2 channel, ruggedized versions mostly made for the military. The 2400 series are 4 channel, 2 of the channels having full attenuators. Otherwise, the main difference is bandwidth. The 2200 series is 20 - 100 MHz. The 2400 series starts out at 150 MHz (2445, 2445A) but goes up with the 2445B; 150 MHz for early units, 200 MHz for late units. The 2465 has a bandwidth of 300 MHz, the 2465A 350 MHz, the 2465B 400 MHz.

The 2467 is a special case, having a micro-channel plate (MCP) CRT. This oscilloscope offers extremely high speed writing, making one-shot pulses at nanosecond duration visible in normal room light. In that aspect it was the only non-storage CRT to be able to do this. The same type of crt was used in the 7104.

One of the digital storage oscilloscopes of the 2400 series which featured both conventional analog and also digital models was the 2440 with a sampling rate of 500 MS/sec and bandwidth 300 MHz

[6] The Tektronix 2400 Series oscilloscopes were perhaps the most powerful instruments of their time, with the 2445, 2465, and 2467 being the top-end models and the 2430 series of digitizing storage oscilloscopes providing digital storage. They combined high bandwidth and sampling rates with automation features and waveform processing capabilities. In 1991, four models were available: 2430A, 2431L, 2432A, and 2440. Together with the 2402 and a PC, they constitute a complete waveform processing and analysis system.

One of the basic models of the 7000 series was the Tektronix 7603 with single beam and three plug-in slots

The above model 7603 in a rare version for mounting in a 19-inch rack with an amber-coloured screen

The Programmable Digitizer plug-in 7D20 from 1982 for the 7000 series models took up all three module plug-ins. It had a special ADC design allowing to capture single-shot events at 40 MSample/s and could store waveforms, thus turning an analog oscilloscope into a digital storage oscilloscope. It had a GPIB interface for programming and was controlled by a microprocessor Motorola 68B09.

The 7000 series, a high end modular oscilloscope family, was introduced in the early 1970s. The series included a readout system that would display the plug in's settings on the CRT.

Some conventional single-beam oscilloscope models were the 7603 ($2,700 in 1983), 7704, 7704A (250-MHz BW, $4,260), 7904 (500-MHz BW, $8,910), 7904A, and 7104 (1-GHz BW with high brightness for single shot events, $20,160). The last digit of the model number indicated the number of plug in slots the mainframe had. The 7844 ($12,665 in 1983) was a dual-beam 400-MHz BW oscilloscope. The series also included some storage scopes: 7613 (variable persistence, $5,025 in 1983), 7623, 7633 (100-MHz BW, $7,765), and 7834 (400-MHz BW, $11,705). The series also wandered into digital oscilloscope territory. The 7854 waveform processing oscilloscope ($13,750 in 1983) could function as both an analog or a digital oscilloscope with GPIB. The 7612D programmable waveform digitizer ($26,400 in 1983) and the 7912AD programmable transient waveform digitizer ($24,800) were GPIB digitizers that did not have a display.

The 7000 series had an extensive collection of plug ins. The 7Ann plug ins were amplifiers. The 7A18A was a 75-MHz, 1-Mohm, 5-mV/div, dual-trace amplifier ($1,180 in 1983). The 7A26 was similar but had a 200-MHz bandwidth ($1,910); the 7A29 ($2,530) was a 1-GHz, 50-ohm, single-channel amplifier. The series included differential amplifiers. The 7A22 differential amplifier ($1500 in 1983) had only a 1-MHz bandwidth, but its most sensitive range was 10-µV/div. The 7A13 differential comparator ($2,865 in 1983) has a 105-MHz bandwidth. The 7A13 differential comparator amplifier can subtract a DC voltage from the input and amplify around that voltage, a feature unknown to modern digital scopes. Looking at voltage rails is a situation where the 7000 series still shows off. For example, one could subtract the nominal core voltage (e.g. 1.1 V) and set the amplifier to 1 mV/div (finest) and see the quality of a processor's core voltage supply in detail.

The 7Bnn plug ins were intended as time bases. There were several choices to match the mainframe's bandwidth. Two time base plug ins could communicate to obtain a delayed sweep feature (e.g., 7B80 and 7B85, $1,335 and $1,605 in 1983). Some time base plug ins included a delayed sweep in one module, such as the 7B53A or 7B92A ($1,430 and $3,175 in 1983).

There were several digital or meter plug ins (7Dnn). For the first time in commercially available oscilloscopes, the 7000 series had a digital read-out system, so a plug in could display its settings or display the value of a measurement on the CRT. The 7D11 ($2,915 in 1983) was a digital delay, the 7D15 ($3,020) was a 225 MHz counter/timer, the 7D13 ($1,105) was a multimeter, and the 7D12/M2 ($2,815) was a sample-and-hold with an analog-to-digital converter. More exotic digital plug ins used the mainframe oscilloscope as a mere display unit. The 7D01 and 7D02 were logic analyzer plug ins. The triple-wide 7D20 programmable digitizer with GPIB ($7,750 in 1983) would turn an analog mainframe into a digital scope.

The series also had some sampling technology plug ins, and many plug ins of this group used the S-series sampling and pulse generator heads. (The S-series sampling heads were used in the Tektronix 560-series sampling plug ins such as the 3S2, 3S5, 3S6). The 7S11 sampling unit ($1,780) was intended for a mainframe's vertical axis slot; it would take an S-series head, and that head would determine the bandwidth. The S-1 sampling head ($1,160 in 1983) had a 1 GHz bandwidth; the S-4 sampling head ($2,665) had a 25 ps risetime 12.4 GHz bandwidth traveling-wave sampler. The 7S11 would work in combination with the 7T11 ($4,460 in 1983) or 7T11A sampling sweep units as a time base. The 7T11 could trigger on a 1 GHz signal or it could synchronize to a 1 GHz to 12.4 GHz input. The 7S12 TDR/Sampler ($3,390 in 1983) was a double-wide time domain reflectometry plug in; it needed both a sampling head (such as the S-6 30 ps risetime 11.5 GHz pass through sampler, $2,295 in 1983) and a pulse generator (such as the S-52 25 ps risetime tunnel diode generator, $1,655 in 1983). The 7S12 could also perform as a sampling scope with a sampling head and a trigger recognizer head (S-53). The 7S14 dual trace delayed sweep sampler ($5,235 in 1983) was a complete 1 GHz sampler that did not use any S-series sampling heads.

There were also a curve tracer plug in, the 7CT1N ($1,385 in 1983), and spectrum analyzer plug ins (e.g., 7L5, 7L12, 7L13, 7L14, 7L18). Combining a 7000-series storage oscilloscope mainframe with a non-storage spectrum analyzer plug in (7L12, 7L13) allowed a slow sweep with a display that did not fade away. The 7L5, 7L14 and 7L18 had their own internal digital storage and were capable of showing a stable display even when used in non-storage mainframes.

In 1965, Hewlett-Packard designed the Hewlett-Packard Interface Bus ( HP-IB ) to connect their line of programmable instruments to their computers. Because of its high transfer rate at the time (nominally 1 Mbytes/s), this interface bus quickly gained popularity. It was later accepted as IEEE Standard 488-1975, and has evolved to ANSI/IEEE Standard 488.1-1987. Today, the name General Purpose Interface Bus (GPIB) is more widely used than HP-IB. ANSI/IEEE 488.2-1987 strengthened the original standard by defining precisely how controllers and instruments communicate. Standard Commands for Programmable Instruments (SCPI) took the command structures defined in IEEE 488.2 and created a single, comprehensive programming command set that is used with any SCPI instrument. Many Tektronix instruments, including the 2430-series oscilloscopes, are available with GPIB interface cards.

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