[Premium-Rx] IP-250/wj1240, the first: Where was it used and will it work without controller ?

[Peter Ratuschni]

A friend found a IP-250/wj1240 "Refreshing Display" for me. Later displays got the description "digital refreshing display" which seems to make more sense for advertising - a displays should always be able to refresh or it would be completely useless (?).
The actual display in the unit is a Tektronix 604 which occupies the left half. On the right is the black faced wj unit, with a big label telling it's origin: Palo Alto.
I wondered about the serial and on the inside cover I found it: S/N 001. I thought it must be possible to find out where this was used but so far I am in the dark.

After changing line voltage from 115V to 230V in both units and adapting a power cable to the Deutsch connector (don't know, it looks like Deutsch) I gave it some time at the variac. The 604 seems to be totally dead, though I can measure some voltage inside. This unit is well documentated and so I ignored it for now and connected a scope in xy-mode to the wj unit. This shows some nice lighted green push buttons but on the scope I can only measure some little positive deflection, nothing else.
I had no time to connect some receiver IF output to the unit (I guess it takes 160MHz), but I expected to see at least some horizontal stripes. Does it take a connection to a controller to do anything?

best regards
Peter