[Elecraft] Near Mint Tektronix 2337 Oscilloscope with 2 P6018a probes, Tek DMM probes and scanned manual

Wed Sep 17 21:30:02 EDT 2008

This is a very nice scope and I thought I would offer it here before putting it on eBay.

The 2337 is a 100 Mhz portable scope that includes a DMM in the front cover that can also measure delay time.  It is more compact than most Tek scopes and is extremely rugged.  It was designed to be used in the field and has a 50G shock rating.  They aren't that common, but are very nice units that are prized by people who work on equipment away from their shop.  The 2337 was the most expensive of the 2300 series and I have put a copy of the Tek catalog sheet (and the photographs described below) at ftp://ashcraftfamily.net.

This 2337 is in near mint condition.  When I got this scope it had two issues, no 10x magnification and the channel 1 attenuator was not balanced.  Although I knew the scope looked very clean, when I opened it I was surprised to find NO dust near the fan and NO dust on the high voltage leads.  This indicates that the scope has very low hours because you accumulate dust in both places if the machine runs for any length of time.  There are photographs that show the interior when I worked on it.  Moreover, the unit came with 2 of the originally specified Tek probes (P6108a) that were in original Tek plastic zip envelopes and the accessory packs were complete and unopened.   I have since opened the packs and the probes had clearly not been used, or used very, very little.  In addition, the DMM leads were Tek original and are still unopened.  There is also the spare shield and fuses that were originally bundled with a 2337. And it has the probe pouch on top.  The only part missing is the user manual, but I have purchased a .pdf service manual that I will include.

The 10 x issue turned out to be a bad trimpot (which I replaced with new) and the channel 1 balance needed to be adjusted.  The scope now runs perfectly.  I suspect that someone noticed it had a problem, put it on a shelf, and then left it untouched until I acquired it.

The scope runs well electrically and has a very strong, sharp trace.

The photographs show a fast edged square wave from a PG506 calibration generator displayed at maximum sweep magnified by 10.  (Photos 8 & 9) This demonstrates that the scope has a good sharp trace (trace tends to be dimmest at fastest magnified sweep) and that the rise time for the vertical amps is well within spec.  Rise time on channel 1 & 2 is less than 3ns, about 2.8 ns. (spec is 3.5 ns) Converted to bandwidth using the traditional 0.35/rise time, you get a bandwidth of about 125 Mhz.  What this means is that the scope is conservatively rated at 100 Mhz.

I also have photographs of the amplitude diminution at 100 Mhz (the other way of looking at bandwidth) that show that it is less than 3db, again indicating that it is well within spec and conservatively rated at 100 Mhz.  (photos 4-7) The measurements are from a Tek SG503 leveled sine wave generator.  If you want information on bandwidth and signal considerations, Tek has a whitepaper I can send you.

Photos 10 and 11 show the display from the standard amplitude output of the PG506.  They are 5 divisions, as they should be, for both channels.  This shows vertical amplitude accuracy.

The comb looking photo (12) displays the output from a TG501 time mark generator.  It shows that the sweep (horizontal time accuracy) is very good.

Why only "near mint"?  Mint in my definition means that it looks like you just unwrapped it from the original packaging.  In this case, there are two small areas where the paint is rubbed on the front panel. But the unit is in such great shape otherwise, I did not want to repaint it (the good condition of the original paint shows that it wasn't abused).  Also, the plastic knob on the DMM selector cracked and I had to repair it as I could not find a Tek replacement.  You can always replace with a non-Tek knob, but the fix should work for a long time and it keeps the original look.

Because I purchased this from the government, I am restricted to selling it in the United States.  Sorry, but I have no choice on this matter and yes, I know it is silly.  Price is $350 plus $35 ground shipping in the Continental US for the scope, probes and .pdf manual.

Howard W. Ashcraft W1WF
hwa_AT_ashcraftfamily.net