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Old 22nd Mar 2011, 3:43 pm   #21
Richard984
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Default Re: Oscilloscope Collection / Junky

"I also run a retirement home for oscilloscopes"

Nicely put, yes!
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Old 22nd Mar 2011, 4:00 pm   #22
Richard984
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Default Re: Oscilloscope Collection / Junky

Thanks for this post, you have helped solve a puzzle for me. My dad used to work at the Met Office instrumentation lab (located in, of all places, McFisheries, Bracknell) and there was a massively impressive Marconi scope. I have tried without success to identify this, until now. From your post, I searched for TF2000 which put me onto TF2200 which is what I have been looking for! Now, the question is, will one of these turn up on this side of the Atlantic? I don't fancy taking a chance/paying for shipping one here!
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Old 22nd Mar 2011, 4:04 pm   #23
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Default Re: Oscilloscope Collection / Junky

I meant TF2200, not TF2000. This is the beast. http://www.radiomuseum.org/r/marconi...2200tf220.html It's the size and weight of a 500 series Tek but inferior in both design and build. The only outstanding feature was the slideback measurements which were much more accurate than reading directly from the graticule.
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Old 22nd Mar 2011, 5:21 pm   #24
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Default Re: Oscilloscope Collection / Junky

Quote:
Originally Posted by Richard984 View Post
Now, the question is, will one of these turn up on this side of the Atlantic? I don't fancy taking a chance/paying for shipping one here!
Marconi scopes are rare this side of the pond. I had one which looked as if the front had been hit with a sledge hammer. I forget the number but it was about 1970, nuvistors and tunnel diodes. I didn't have any documentation for it anyway. It was the only Marconi scope in the junk shed of a retired scope repairer which had numerous Solartron/Dynamco/Cossor/Philips/Telequipment/Hameg/Tektronix/HP/Roband/Scopex scopes.

You might find one in the US through the wonders of ebay, if you are patient.

Pete.
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Old 22nd Mar 2011, 6:29 pm   #25
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Default Re: Oscilloscope Collection / Junky

When I lived in Canada in early 1970's a friend gave me an old really beat up scope. The name on the front was "Television Equipment Corp or Company", and it was full of Marconi valves, ECC81's and 2's, and had a date stamped on the back of 1945.

I never found any info on it, but it was, as the name implies most likely for TV use. I spent several months restoring it and made good use of it for many years.

Unfortunately one day we had flash flood and my basement was inundated with water, and this scope which weighed a ton was on the lower shelf and ended up rather wet.

To cut a long story short, the mains tranny never worked after that, and while I was able to use another tranny out of an old TV for the heaters and HT, I could not find a suitable replacement for the EHT, which needed about 2KV. When I moved to the US I reluctantly had to bin it.
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Old 22nd Mar 2011, 6:44 pm   #26
Brian R Pateman
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Default Re: Oscilloscope Collection / Junky

Quote:
Originally Posted by ppppenguin View Post
I meant TF2200, not TF2000.
Oh dear, I hoped never to meet one of those again!

Many years ago one lived in the corner of the calibration lab in which I worked.

It had more faults than you could shake a stick at, most of them intermittent. We used to give it to newcomers to the department to play with.

Engineers can be very cruel.
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Old 24th Mar 2011, 4:51 pm   #27
Richard984
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Default Re: Oscilloscope Collection / Junky

Somehow, this does not surprise me (both the intermittent faults and the occasional nature of engineers). Our ability is mostly hard-won and we like to make sure the youngsters get a hard ride too!

Last edited by Dave Moll; 24th Mar 2011 at 5:50 pm. Reason: unnecessary full quote of preceding post removed
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Old 28th Mar 2011, 8:31 am   #28
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Default Re: Oscilloscope Collection / Junky

Hi there everybody --

I'm a mass-scope-collector as well !!!

My collection is growing, and while several need extensive repair, I currently have --

1 - Tektronix 545A, fully operational, my go-to scope.
1 - Tektronix 565 dual-beam scope, in good shape, but missing many tubes
1 - Tektronix 515A, operational, needs a couple new tubes I think, possibly some HV repairs.
1 - Tektronix RM502, dual-beam, low-bandwidth unit. Pretty decent shape, fan is bound up though, haven't decided whether to restore, or to use for parts for other scopes.
1 - Tektronix 524AD, old old old old TV scope. Saved from scrapping, needs extensive repairs. Missing all tubes, except HV rectifiers, and CRT.
1 - Tek 465, working
1 - Tek 465M, also working, a bit of horizontal work needs to be done, but it's a good unit
2 - Dumont 274 oscillographs. Operational, both need to be re-capped though. More of a conversational piece than an actual go-to scope.
1 - Tektronix 547 parts unit
1 - Tektronix 545 parts unit

Like it has been said, the analog scopes are excellent, and at the prices they are sold for today, they are very affordable to most everybody !
I'm primarily a collector/operator of the Tek 500-series scopes, they are without a doubt my favorites.

Regards
Tom
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Old 28th Mar 2011, 11:21 am   #29
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Default Re: Oscilloscope Collection / Junky

I've got one or two scopes as well...

Tek 535, brown box SN 2889, working OK but triggering a bit rough
Tek 545B working fine
Tek 549 storage working fine
Tek 581A has a trace but pretty scruffy. I rescued this one from a skip.
Tek 515 working
Tek 7704A mostly working
3x Tek 7603 2 working 1 with the power supply electrolytics loose
Tek 7623A storage working
Tek 465B working
Tek 453 working
A selection of plugins -2x CA, 53C, 2x 1A1, 86, 1A1, H, L, 067-0521-01 Calibration Fixture, 4x 7A18, 2x 7A26, 7A22, 7A13, 3x 7B53A, 7B53AN, 7B80, 7D01 with DF1
Also there's
Tek 581 waveform monitor and 1421 vectorscope from the skip not working - I'll turn them into scope clocks.
And then there's
Cossoscope 2000 - from the cellar, this is a restoration job for the future
HP 54600B sampling scope that I use all the time. One of the easiest to use instruments I have found. And you can play tetris on it.
Althouogh a bit off-topic I also have
HP3450A audio spectrum analyser
HP3325A synthesised function generator - very nice
HP8640B RF sig gen and another from which I made the first one work
HP3450B nixie tube multi function meter and its spares donor partner as above
HP534A 500MHz counter
HP5326B nixie tube counter
HP523CR big old nixie tube counter
HP1651A logic analyser
Fluke 8100A and 8120A DVM
- all of which work.
All this as well as the usual AR88 and Lister A stationary engine and a ton of other stuff.

Ging
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Old 28th Mar 2011, 1:35 pm   #30
Richard984
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Default Re: Oscilloscope Collection / Junky

Hello Tom.
Since you are in Oregon, are you in contact with Stan Griffiths? He is THE authority on Tek.
Tek are the best however, my solid state HP USM 281s are my go to scopes. I am currently restoring the failed HP attempt to compete with Tek in the mid 50s, the 150A. It falls far short of the Tek 500 series both in performance and build quality however, where it does win is with the display and the quality of the controls that are for some reason, the best I have encountered on any test equipment.
Richard
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Old 28th Mar 2011, 1:41 pm   #31
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Hi Gring.
Yes, somehow I am incomplete without a Lister! I remember a canal holiday in the early 70s propelled by a 3 cylinder Lister with hydraulic drive. I completely monopolised helming the barge! What I really love though is "hit and miss" engines. Better than meditation.
I have a brown box 535 that I found complete with cart and several plug ins by the side of the road, years ago, it has serial number 1117. It is next in line for restoration after the 150a. At that point all my scopes will be operational.
Richard
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Old 8th Sep 2011, 5:39 pm   #32
6AL5W-Martin
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Greetings from a very warm place in Germany.

Martin
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Old 9th Sep 2011, 10:09 am   #33
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Default Re: Oscilloscope Collection / Junky

I'm not really a scope collector as such but I'm just not very good at selling them on when I upgrade!

Here's my scopes in order of purchase from the huge and noisy 585A I bought (from G4HAC?) as a spotty student in around 1982. (It's still here sat behind me propping up other test gear)

They all still work and the only repairs required were some failed caps on the 585A that caused intermittent intensity issues and one cap failed on the 465 about 10yrs ago.

Tek 585A 100MHz dual trace
Solartron Schlumberger A100 30MHz dual trace
Tek 465 100MHz dual trace
Tek 2012 digital scope

My everyday scope is the fabulous 465 and I have no plans to upgrade it but the digital scope is very useful for capturing data etc

Last edited by G0HZU_JMR; 9th Sep 2011 at 10:22 am.
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Old 9th Sep 2011, 12:52 pm   #34
6AL5W-Martin
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parts of my collection.

Tek, 222A (to repair)
Tek, 305DMM (I need a Murata MSR8501 HV Modul to fix it)
Tek, 323 (my on the road scope)
Tek, 422 (my on the table scope 1, nuvistor inputs)
Tek, 422 (my on the table scope 2, cold inputs)
Tek, 453 (oftenly in use, it`s an A without A on the front, MIL version)
Tek 545B (to restore)
Tek, 551 (p11, big & heavy, very nice, full working)
Tek, 555 (the Triple Nickel, p7, big & heavy, very nice, full working)
Tek, 556 (green, big & heavy, very nice, full working)
Tek, 567 (6R1A is still in repair)
Tek, 7844 (opt. 78, 21, very nice, full working)

Telequipment S51B (full working)
RFT, Picoskop (now in restore)

and some others ..

greetings
Martin
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Old 9th Sep 2011, 1:01 pm   #35
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Default Re: Oscilloscope Collection / Junky

I also have a soft spot for scopes.

1) Hameg 203-4 - rescued from the next door company's skip at work after several days in the rain - dried out, cleaned & lubricated switches works fine. My current day to day scope as doesn't take up much bench space.

2) SE Labs SM112 (50Mhz) with SM602 Timebase & SM599 dual trace plug-ins very usuable apart from recurring CH1 Triggering Problems.

3) Tek 7603 with the usual plug-ins.

4) Tek 545A - Very tatty, intercepted on the way to the works skip; haven't powered this up will get round to it one day!

5) AND a Marconi TF2200 acquired as scrap when an apprentice at Marconi Comms, never got it working, and unfortunately pulled out the mains transformer in an abortive attempt at a diy valve tester I also threw out all the manuals.

Regards Mike Andrews
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Old 10th Sep 2011, 11:03 am   #36
6AL5W-Martin
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Quote:
Originally Posted by audiomik View Post
I find for Audio that Analog 'scopes win every time over Digital ones when trying to see small spikes or other anomalies in waveforms and you just can't beat a good Analog 'scope (Tek 465) for seeing things like this in the attached digital image of the current and voltage waveforms of an Amplifier output
Hello Mik,

Look to get an old Tek 502A
it`s the scope grandmaster of audio gear, the input stage is extremly ! low noise and sensitive enough for a small microphone. In compare to the useful plugins like E and 1A7 the 502 is always the winner.
And, a true dual beam, no Chopping.

greetings
Martin
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Old 10th Sep 2011, 2:55 pm   #37
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Martin
did have one of the Tek 502's a number of years ago when I had the Industrial unit, but no longer have space for them these days.
Currently use Tek 7603 or 7623A's with 7A22 input modules for very low level signals, the filters are very useful for separating out signals - especially when looking at some of the 'modern' digital audio things where SMPS or other digital clocking noise is escaping onto analog outputs.

Like in the image below showing SMPS switching leakage on a balanced line level output, approx 16kHz at about 250µV Pk-Pk extracted from other noise.......
Never used to have these problems with Analog Audio kit
Mik
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Old 10th Sep 2011, 3:23 pm   #38
6AL5W-Martin
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hello Mik,

I understand, this is a world wide problem, no space on the table.
I found the solution for it, now the table is clean, and the scopes come beside, with Scope Mobile. So I like sometimes to use also a triple nickel or like that... Special in the winter time it makes a lot of fun.

last month I got my first 7k, I`m still reading the pack of manuals to learn it.
As a friend of glowing equipment there is so many new to me...

greetings
Martin

p.s. the 7k is also a fat scope, on a scope mobile.
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Old 10th Sep 2011, 4:47 pm   #39
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Martin
like the trolley and have fun with your Tek

Somehow don't think a trolley will fit here with this current stack on one end of the bench... 6 DMM's and other assorted instruments stacked about the same height at the other end of the bench, plus various smaller instruments along the back

All gets used at the same time for some things which have multiple inputs and outputs to test.............
Mik
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Old 10th Sep 2011, 5:19 pm   #40
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Default Re: Oscilloscope Collection / Junky

Quote:
Originally Posted by Richard984 View Post
"I also run a retirement home for oscilloscopes
Glad to see I'm not the only one

Brian R Pateman is totally right - you don't find old scopes, they come and find you. What's worse, the more you end up with, the faster they come...

(I have more than there are listed on my website. Far, far more... )

Ed.
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