Oscillo-porn! A $500,000 Oscilloscope! (video)

I don't know,  I think I like my Tek 465 better!  But if any of you guys are thinking of buying one of these, PLEASE do so via the Amazon link on my web page!

Our book: "SolderSmoke -- Global Adventures in Wireless Electronics" http://soldersmoke.com/book.htm Our coffee mugs, T-Shirts, bumper stickers: http://www.cafepress.com/SolderSmoke Our Book Store: http://astore.amazon.com/contracross-20

Ham Radio, the tsunami, HW-101, Tek 465, BITX-20

I know many of you guys have seen this before. And I know that Farhan is tired of seeing it pop up again and again.  But it just appeared on my Facebook page today and I watched the whole thing and saw things I hadn't noticed before:  There's a Heathkit HW-101 (or maybe its an HW-100).  There is a Tech 465 oscilloscope. There is a BTX-20!  

Our book: "SolderSmoke -- Global Adventures in Wireless Electronics" http://soldersmoke.com/book.htm Our coffee mugs, T-Shirts, bumper stickers: http://www.cafepress.com/SolderSmoke Our Book Store: http://astore.amazon.com/contracross-20

Vintage Tektronix Museum

The radio gods seem to have been guiding me to this web site.  Last night I was listening to 17 meter phone and I heard a station calling TEK guru Alan, W2AEW.  I couldn't hear Alan (skip zone and all that) but just hearing his call turned my thoughts to Beaverton, Oregon.  This morning I found a message from Dino, KL0S, alerting me to the VintageTEK museum.  FB!  Analog Rocks On! 


http://www.vintagetek.org/

Our book: "SolderSmoke -- Global Adventures in Wireless Electronics" http://soldersmoke.com/book.htm Our coffee mugs, T-Shirts, bumper stickers: http://www.cafepress.com/SolderSmoke Our Book Store: http://astore.amazon.com/contracross-20

In the Shadow of Giants (at Tektronix)

From: Dave Haupt
Subject: Club 465
To: n2cqr
Date: Monday, May 7, 2012, 1:40 PM

I work at Tektronix, in a group that designs, among other things, front-ends for our spectrum analyzers.  In our lab full of gear, the most coveted scopes are the 465, the higher frequency 475 and the ultimate manifestation of the breed, the 2465 (four 350MHz channels).  Yes, we have the more recent higher-frequency digitizing scopes in the lab, and for much of what we develop, we need the higher frequency and superior triggering capability.  But for ease of use, confidence that what's on the screen is the real signal and not some processor's guess, those of us with more gray in our hair than any other color still have warm and fuzzy feelings toward a good analog scope.

What REALLY makes me stand still in my tracks is when I comment to someone at work that I have a 465 at home, and they reply, "Oh, yeah, I remember that design.  I did the horizontal sweep circuit."  Talk about standing in the shadows of history!

Dave W8NF

Our book: "SolderSmoke -- Global Adventures in Wireless Electronics" http://soldersmoke.com/book.htm Our coffee mugs, T-Shirts, bumper stickers: http://www.cafepress.com/SolderSmoke Our Book Store: http://astore.amazon.com/contracross-20

Hans Summer's Homebrew 'Scope

  

The picture right away gives you a sense of the depth of this project, and of the guy who completed it.  One of my biggest mistakes in the UK was missing the opportunity to meet Han Summers, G0UPL.  Check out Han's Homebrew 'scope project, and be sure to look around his site for other, similar adventures:


http://www.hanssummers.com/tinyscope.html

Our book: "SolderSmoke -- Global Adventures in Wireless Electronics" http://soldersmoke.com/book.htm Our coffee mugs, T-Shirts, bumper stickers: http://www.cafepress.com/SolderSmoke Our Book Store: http://astore.amazon.com/contracross-20

Alan Sends Video Through HIs 'Scope

Who needs plasma screens!  Real hams get their video on the screens of Tektronix oscilloscopes! 

Good one Alan!  Glad to see that you made it onto Hack-a-Day with this one! 

Our book: "SolderSmoke -- Global Adventures in Wireless Electronics" http://soldersmoke.com/book.htm Our coffee mugs, T-Shirts, bumper stickers: http://www.cafepress.com/SolderSmoke Our Book Store: http://astore.amazon.com/contracross-20

Club 465

I mentioned on the podcast that a generous friend sent me a Tektronix 465 scope. It now seems like every day I'm discovering new and interesting things about this magnificent piece of gear.   I've also discovered that there a LOT of guys out there who are loyal and enthusiastic users of Tek 465s.   George Heron, N2APB, and Joe Everhart, N2CX, have been putting out an excellent podcast called "Chat with the Deigners." They recently talked about oscilloscopes with our friend Alan Wolke, W2AEW:  http://www.njqrp.org/teamspeak/Apr10.html
George mentioned that he has a 465.  Our friend Farhan, VU2ESE, is using one.  Who else is in Club 465?  Send us your names! 


Preston. WJ2V, up in the Big Apple sent me a very interesting message about a feature of the 'scope that I was unaware of.  Thanks Preston!

Bill,

I am caught up and just listened to number 142.  The podcasts continue to be new and interesting each issue.  I too have a 465 workhorse in the shack.  I have one suggestion that will turn it into an even more valuable instrument.  Note that you have an amplified output in the back with the vertical signal presented at a BNC connector.  This is made for connection to a frequency counter.  In fact, some of the military versions of this scope came with a frequency counter.  If you have a counter in the shack, just connect it to the vertical output in back of the scope.  This will faithfully report the frequency of any wave you see on the screen.  Since the signal is amplified, the counter will be able to read small signals in receiver stages, while you view them on the scope.  Amazingly helpful in setting up and troubleshooting receivers.  I leave a dedicated counter connected to the 465 all the time, as it enhances the usefulness of the scope many times.  I also am lucky enough to have an early Steve Weber ("Melt Solder") SASA II device available for connection to the scope whenever needed.  This is a 100 MHz spectrum analyzer adapter, with a built-in calibrator.  It gives a great view of the output of transmitters.  But, of course, you can see the quality of a clean sine wave with just the scope.  The SASA II will just help you to see where in the spectrum the junk is coming from.  Sadly, I don't think Steve made more than about a hundred of these terrific kits.  Also, it did not have provision for a tracking generator, which would have made it an ideal instrument for designing and checking IF filters.  Steve and I talked about this, and he said he might revisit this someday.

As to seeing your QRP (or even higher) signals on the scope, of course you would not connect a transmitter to the input of the scope--that would burn it out in short order.  But a proper bypass/attenuator connected to a proper 50 ohm pass-through termination at the input to the scope would give the ability to see why your SWR meter is showing an abnormally high SWR with your homebrew transmitter that's generating spurious stuff.  There is a very practical article for building the two pieces you need on simple PC board "cabinets"  (more like half-cabinets) in the wonderful Drew Diamond books, I think in volume II.  These simple devices will give you the ability to see what you're doing with your transmitters, using the scope--

72,

WJ2V

Our book: "SolderSmoke -- Global Adventures in Wireless Electronics" http://soldersmoke.com/book.htm Our coffee mugs, T-Shirts, bumper stickers: http://www.cafepress.com/SolderSmoke Our Book Store: http://astore.amazon.com/contracross-20

Alan Wolke on "Chat with Designers" Tonight!

From the fellows at NJQRP:

This week's session of Chat With The Designers is tomorrow evening(Tuesday), starting at 8pm Eastern (0000z) on Teamspeak. We are in for a real treat this week, as Alan Wolke, W2AEW, a field applications engineer for Tektronix, will be leading the discussion on atopic he is very familiar with ... "Oscilloscope Basics. '' If you watch an electrical engineer tackling a tough design project, or a service engineer troubleshooting a stubborn problem, you¹ll see them grab a scope, fit probes or cables, and start turning knobs and setting switches without ever seeming to glance at the front panel. To these experienced users, the oscilloscope is their most important tool but their minds are focused on solving the problem, not on using the scope. We have a Notes page set up with a terrific presentation that we¹ll betalking to in this session, so be sure you have your browser set to thisduring the discussion as well ... http://www.njqrp.org/teamspeak/Apr10.html

If you¹ve not joined us for past topics, you¹ll find that we have some funin this 1-hour online meeting talking about various technical topics thatare likely of interest to homebrewers and experimenters here in our hamranks. It¹s open for everyone and all you have to do is have the Teamspeakdriver loaded onto your computer. (For guidance on this, see

http://www.njqrp.org/teamspeak/TeamspeakInstructions.html)Looking forward to seeing
(hearing) many of our 30-some regulars, and inviteothers who have not yet joined in on the fun!73, George N2APB& Joe N2CX& Alan Wolke W2AEW
Chat With The Designers ...http://www.njqrp.org/teamspeak/TeamspeakChat.html

(See this page too for past sessions and MP3 podcasts of the audio portionof each week.)PS: If you happen to follow us in our audio podcasts each week, the lastsession on ³Soldering 101² is loaded and available at:http://www.njqrp.org/teamspeak/Mar20.html
-----------------------------------------
Our book: "SolderSmoke -- Global Adventures in Wireless Electronics"http://soldersmoke.com/book.htmOur coffee mugs, T-Shirts, bumper stickers: http://www.cafepress.com/SolderSmokeOur Book Store: http://astore.amazon.com/contracross-20

EE Web Featured Engineer: Alan Wolke, W2AEW

I really liked this interview with our friend Alan. You can see definite signs of an early case of The Knack here: I was especially impressed by the fact that he made one of his first antennas from wire salvaged from the deflection coil on an old TV. (I took the easy path and chopped up my dad's extension cords!)

I also liked Alan's response to the question about his favorite software tool: "Gee, solder is soft, can we consider that software? I use a lot of that!" This is very reminiscent of a quote from the legendary Bob Pease (colleague of Jim Williams): "My favorite programming language is solder." (That quote was sent to me by Steve WA0PWK. Thanks Steve.)

Lots of good troubleshooting wisdom in this interview, and Alan's enthusiasm for electronics clearly shines through:
http://www.eeweb.com/spotlight/interview-with-alan-wolke

If you're also interested in the field of electronic repairs, visit www.guidetocareereducation.com for a list of schools offering electronics and engineering training programs.

Also, be sure to check out Alan's YouTube videos, especially those on how to use an oscilloscope:
http://www.youtube.com/user/w2aew

 
Our book: "SolderSmoke -- Global Adventures in Wireless Electronics"http://soldersmoke.com/book.htmOur coffee mugs, T-Shirts, bumper stickers: http://www.cafepress.com/SolderSmokeOur Book Store: http://astore.amazon.com/contracross-20

Yi Yao has The Knack!

Hi Bill,

I discovered SolderSmoke a few years ago by listening to another pod
cast. Ever since, I have been hooked on this podcast and listen to it
whenever I have time. I have finally caught up and finished episode
142 today. I love the enthusiasm and spirit of discovery and creation
that goes into the stories in SS.

The first time I heard about amateur radio was in high school. It
seemed to be a overly nerdy thing at the time and I wasn't sure what
it was. However, after I started listening to SS, I discovered that
this is something that I wanted to do. So, on New Years Eve with the
kind help of a local examiner (Ori, VA3XW), I wrote my basic and
advanced exam and passed with honours. In Canada, we only have 3
categories: basic, advanced and morse code. I am very excited about
this and I am glad that SS made me make the jump.

You know, every time the word knack comes up, it is portrayed in a
negative way. Someone is "afflicted" with the knack or shows knackish
"symptoms" as if it was a horrible disease. I would like to change
this perspective.

I hereby declare myself blessed with the knack. Ever since I was a kid,
I disassembled various electronics around the house (to the dismay of
my parents). I knew when I was doing something right when I could put
something back together and it worked, or later, it worked better than
before. Despite my parents' persuasion to pursue other branches of
non-technical studies, I made up my mind to study electrical
engineering (must have been a teenage rebellion thing). Nonetheless
I finished school and found a job doing electronics design which I
love. Some of the people that you meet in this field are just
phenomenal. It has been a good career decision and I think it is truly
amazing. Thus, I see the knack as being a gift which I was fortunate
enough to hold.

I think one of the most important aspect of the knack is the desire to
understand and have self reliance on what we use on a daily basis. I
repair my own bikes and I've never bought a ready made computer.
Having a home machine shop greatly helps in this regard too. My first
oscilloscope I designed and built myself:
http://yyao.ca/projects/oscilloscope/
I have also resolved to build my first rig instead of buying one.
However, work is really busy these days, and it doesn't look like I
will be able to do this soon. One of these days, I will construct my
own rig and wiggle the ether.

I am currently visiting Silicon Valley here in California. There is
much to visit and do here. For example, the De Anza Flea Market
happens every 2nd Saturday (which is my first introduction to a swap
meet):
http://www.electronicsfleamarket.com/

The Computer History Museum is amazing:
http://www.computerhistory.org/

For a limited time, you can see Jim William's work bench at the
museum. If you thought your workbench was messy, you haven't seen
anything:
http://www.eetimes.com/ContentEETimes/Images/EELife/williams%20desk.jpg

Now, imagine having the world's most smartest electronics engineers
having dinner together. That's what the Analog Aficionados Party is about:
http://www.edn.com/blog/Anablog/41523-Analog_Aficionados_party_Feb_18_2012.php

On top of that, there are a lot of trade shows which you can go to
check out the latest and greatest of test equipment. They don't have
the same feel as some of my analog oscilloscopes, but they are shiny.
As you can see, this is a paradise for anyone blessed with the knack.

Anyhow, this email is long enough and I hope your eyes haven't glazed
over yet. My best regards to you, Billy, Maria and your wife.

73,
Yi Yao
VA3YAO
Our book: "SolderSmoke -- Global Adventures in Wireless Electronics"http://soldersmoke.com/book.htmOur coffee mugs, T-Shirts, bumper stickers: http://www.cafepress.com/SolderSmokeOur Book Store: http://astore.amazon.com/contracross-20

New Oscilloscope!

That, my friends, is a genuine dual-trace, 100 MHz Tektronix oscilloscope. Wow, a new day has dawned on the N2CQR workbench! The 'scope comes to me as a result of the generosity of friend who, like the guy in the old "Millionaire" TV show, prefers to remain anonymous. He claims this is an equipment trade, but the terms were so one-sided (in my favor), that this was really a gift.

As you can see below, the 'scope fits perfectly in the center position on the shelf above the bench. I've already put it to work -- here you see it looking at the output from the VFO of the kick panel rig.

Our book: "SolderSmoke -- Global Adventures in Wireless Electronics"http://soldersmoke.com/book.htmOur coffee mugs, T-Shirts, bumper stickers: http://www.cafepress.com/SolderSmokeOur Book Store: http://astore.amazon.com/contracross-20

Parks, Tektronix, and Beaverton

Hey Bill:

I was listening to the old SS #130 last night (catching up) and heard
you talking about that 6CW4 converter you have. I'm not familiar with Parks
Electronics, but the 6CW4 nuvistor was used in the preamplifiers of many
Tektronix oscilloscopes. I have a hunch that "Parks Electronics" was the
side-job for some Tektronix engineers...possibly ones that are in our fine
homebrew community, although I'd have expected them to raise their hands by now.
I wonder if "Parks Electronics" is in any way related to "Parks Metals", which
is a full-service metal fab shop here in Beaverton...among other things, they
make the metal chassis and cabinets for DCPWR.com, one of the many ham-run
businesses that offers PowerPole parts and accessories.

There's a new "Tektronix Museum" in Beaverton, staffed by volunteers. It's in
its fledgling state. I've not visited yet, but plan to. Some of the inventory
comes from Stan Griffiths W7NI, who is one half of "Bill and Stan's Tektronix
Resource website". One of the many amazing things Stan did in his lifetime in
high tech was to run a very successful service organization...and along the way,
amassed a most impressive collection of Tektronix instruments. His "garage" was
featured in an Oregon Public Television special on the history of Tektronix.
Much more of a museum than a garage, with quite a fascinating curator, as well.

An email went around about a year ago listing all known Tektronix hams - past
and present - there were literally thousands of hams on that list, many are
today in the top ranks not only of homebrewing, but of high tech business
worldwide.

Anyway, you might be able to learn the genealogy of that converter by contacting
the guys at the Tektronix Museum. Their website isn't fully fleshed out yet but
does have contact info, and most are hams.

www.vintagetek.org

If there's a legit Tek connection, they might want to put that converter in the
museum, too.

73 and keep the Solder Smoking

Dave W8NF
Hillsboro, OR

Alan's "Scopes 4 Dopes" (present company excluded, of course)

Hi Bill,

As a follow on to the Scope 4 Dopes class that I told you about (email below - and thanks for the shout-out in #133), I have put a few more videos on YouTube. One is on the use of the Delayed Timebase feature available on the more professional analog scopes - probably not of much interest to you. But, the other two are on taking a little bit of a tour of the RF signal path of the TenTec 1254 Dual Conversion Shortwave Receiver kit that I built over the Christmas vacation. I thought these might be of interest:

(I promise - these are not as long as the 2hr Scopes4Dopes tutorial video!!)

The tour through the 1254 with a look at some of the signals along the RF path (~12min):

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dZNN5RnOdt8

and a short one looking at the modulated and demodulated 2nd IF on a live shortwave signal (~2min):

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pzLA_lRdmPI

Enjoy.

73,

Alan W2AEW

Homebrew Two Dollar Oscilloscope

This is from a short article in the April 1997 issue of Electric Radio magazine. The author is Bob Dennison, W2HBE. Bob is a real genius, and the author of many inspirational articles in ER.

The Sundt Engineering Company of Chicago was advertising this kind of device in the June 1936 issue of Short Wave Craft Magazine. Only two dollars (but that was big money in 1936). From Bob's article: "When the transmitter is modulated with a single audio tone, the waveform of the modulated carrier will be seen. By varying the motor speed (horizontal scan rate) the pattern can be synchronized or made to stand still. Percentage modulation is readily estimated by simple inspection of the display."

So here we have the perfect minimalist 'scope to go with a minimalist AM transmitter!