These Resources are in no particular order.
Peter A. Keller of Tektronix is the author of a hard cover book closely related to oscilloscopes, called The Cathode-Ray Tube: Technology, History, and Applications. It is a very readable book and covers radar, television, and computer display CRT's as well. CRT development is traced as far back as the early 1600s and the first man-made phosphor. Oscilloscope CRTs are discussed from laboratory curiosity stage up to current technology. The history of RCA and Du Mont CRTs is also well-covered as are many others. There are approximately 300 illustrations including many photographs of historic CRTs and approximately 800 references to aid in locating additional information of interest to the reader.
It is of particular interest to the classic Tek collector as it includes quite a bit on the history of the development of Tek CRTs. In particular, it covers the development of the such classic CRTs as those used in the Tek 530/540 series and many more. It goes on to talk about technological developments like the scan expansion and microchannel plate CRTs.
If you are interested in this book published by Palisades Press, it may be ordered directly (signed copies available on request) from
Peter A. Keller,
7445 SW Bayberry Drive,
Aloha,
Oregon 97007,
USA
for $69.50 USD plus S&H (62.50 plus S&H for TCA members). S&H is 6.00 USD for all
US orders, 10.00 USD for international surface mail, and 25.00 USD for
international air mail.
The ISBN number is 0-9631559-0-3, should you wish to try to obtain it locally via your own bookstore.
Peter Keller is always interested in discussing Tubes and CRTs in particular.
Ed Matsuda has an excellent assortment of manuals for your old Tek for very reasonable prices. He also sells HP manuals. Ed can be also be contacted by Email.
Ed Matsuda
Test Equipment Manuals
P.O. Box 390613
San Diego, CA 92149
Tel: 1-619-479-0225
Fax: 1-619-479-1670
If you are interested in old Tektronix scopes, I might especially recommend Stan Griffiths' "Oscilloscopes: Selecting and Restoring a Classic", which is a handy reference to all Tek scopes made before 1970. It lists all Plugins and Scopes, and has a chapter on how to troubleshoot and repair them.
It can be bought for US$ 24.95 from Stan himself: (price includes shipping by surface mail)
Stan Griffiths, W7NI
18955 S.W. Blanton Street
Aloha, OR 97007
USA
If you are in Australia, the book can be bought from:
Dean Davidson
PO Box U116
University of New England
ARMIDALE NSW 2351
AUSTRALIA
The price is Austr. $20, which includes shipping to anywhere in Australia.
Dean can be contacted by phone on 067 73 2585 or by email at ddavidso@metz.une.edu.au. Although by no means an expert he might be able to help you - or at least provide a shoulder to cry upon! Dean also dabbles in HP test equipment.
Tektronix also has a website, which does not contain a lot of interesting info on tube scopes.
In terms of parts and manuals: (This info is provided as per February
1997) Ed Caryl of Tektronix tells me: "We try to support the older
scopes with technical information whenever possible. Unfortunately, many
of the older scope manuals are out of print. All the manuals are still
available on microfiche. The prices (for the microfiches) are in the $5
to $20 range."
In terms of parts, Tektronix does NOT stock most of the parts for your
500 series 'scope. They do NOT have tubes, switches, transformers, and
other major parts like CRT's. Some special semiconductors like sampling
bridges may still be available. Inquiries with the part number can be made
to the customer support centre.
On the subject of transformers and the 'lifetime warranty' that is
spoken of in the old manuals: "The lifetime warranty on transformers
was discontinued in about 1971." That is when your scope died for
the law. New transformers for 500 series scopes are NOT available from
Tektronix. Some 400 series transformers may still be available. Again,
mail contact the customer support centre if you have a specific enquiry
and they will see what they can do for you.
A.G. Tannenbaum sells manuals for old Tek scopes. If you have a manual they want and don't have yet, I am told they will also do swaps. They have a Homepage . You can also check directly to see if they have the Tek manual you need.
Bruce Rogers is interested in discussing older Tek and HP equipment, and is interested in buying/selling/swapping scopes & parts. Bruce has a Homepage and can be reached by email.