Old Oscilloscopes

I have a Dumont 274-A Catghode Ray Oscillograph in perfect working condition! White picture tube with green trace beam. Very fun to use. I actually use it regularly when I am working on projects. It may be dated, but it was good enough to use in the 1940s so it's good enough now. I see no need to upgrade and am quite happy with it!

[nasadowsk]

The only bad thing about the 500 series teks, besides the weight, and the noise and the heat and Tek's non support, is the screen glows BRIGHT at night. Wake up, freak, scream, then realize it's the darn scope....

I still like 'em though.

Mine's got a scope cam, Polaroid. Don't misload one of those, or it's MESSY

[mhardy6647]

hmmmm... I don't sleep with my oscilloscope (or any of my equipment, for that matter)

;-)

[larschr]

I have a spare CRT for the earlier mentioned Philips scope on the shelf over my bed, and that glows at night too! And so does my TV. But the scope tube is brightest.

[Phil Nelson]

I have a couple of old scopes, a Triumph 830 Oscillograph-Wobbulator ( http://antiqueradio.org/trium01.htm ) and an RCA WO-33A ( http://antiqueradio.org/art/temp/RCA_Oscilloscope.jpg ).

Both of them work, although I own them just for fun. When I need to use a scope, I have a modern BK Precision.

[Dave S]

I ran across an ancient 5" DuMont scope at a hamfest a couple of weeks ago. Huge, heavy, steel rail frame. I almost grabbed it, then had an attack of common sense (Wish I'd have thought to grab a photo of it though.)

--Dave

[jerryjg]

Originally Posted by Dave S

I ran across an ancient 5" DuMont scope at a hamfest a couple of weeks ago. Huge, heavy, steel rail frame. I almost grabbed it, then had an attack of common sense (Wish I'd have to grab a photo of it though.)

--Dave

I had an old silly-scope I dumpster dived. There are a bunch of great old Knobs on that sucker that I cannbalised for old audio gear.I threw the ray tube and the steel case away-especially after I found a big ol patch of Asbestos in there-that stuff causes cancer in labarotory.Rats!

[Pete Deksnis]

Originally Posted by Dave S

I ran across an ancient 5" DuMont scope at a hamfest a couple of weeks ago. --Dave

When still in my early/mid twenties there was a "Huge, heavy, steel rail frame" Dumont scope with a 1-microvolt vertical sensitivity setting I used to check the residual noise of mercury batteries that supplied reference voltage to mandrels (sp?) in plotters. IIRC, the scope had a 100-kc vertical bandwidth. After cutting my teeth on 545's with CA plugins, it was quite an impressive hi-sensitivity performer.

[nasadowsk]

The trick to getting a CA plug in to work is to either let the scope sit for an hour or so, or sim ply pull the CA out and put a 1A1 in

The CA's best feature is you can't kill it. It otherwise drifts all over the place like John Kerry..

[daro]

Originally Posted by nasadowsk

Heh
I like the old Tek 500 series stuff. It...just...works...

Would love a good scope cart for my 545A. And get a 580 (they NEED a scopecart!) or a 547...

I have an 547 that I got in '88, It's Ex Australian army & was made in '64 & it is still in service in a TV repair shop used to align tape paths on LG vcrs.

I have a Philips PM3226 Dual Trace w/Power Cord, 1 set of probes plus Coax and fittings on the way to me for $48 (hope it works)

[Steve McVoy]

Here's a Philco made in 1939 specifically for TV:

http://www.earlytelevision.org/early...equipment.html

[Dave A]

Here is my old RCA scope that just sits around for decoration. It did have a trace at one point, but the cord is telling me not to plug it in right now. Not sure of the date, but pre-war is suspected.

Dave A

[wa2ise]

Originally Posted by blue_lateral

I have a Tek 535
John

I had one of these about 11 years ago, but I gave it away. Posted a notice on a usenews newsgroup "free Tek 535 scope with a ton of plug ins, come get it out of here. First email claims it." I was happy to gain a few cubic yards of space, the guy who came was happy to get it.

BTW, I found that i still have a "Type 80 Vertical plug in". Somewhat incomplete, and the external probe I don't have. Anyone want it (cost of postage gets it)? You could build something custom to fit your scope with it.

I have a modern 400Mhz Tek scope when I need to look at a waveform.

[jpdylon]

I picked up a Tek 515 today. Its working, and I may use it until I can find a good dual trace unit. I like the look of these old scopes. Probabyl not the best for modern equipment, but good for old TV sets.

I was told it was used in a classroom environment and it has been well cared for. No rust anywhere.