[Test-Equipment] Tektronix Oscilloscope 545

[Carl]

I used that scope for many years in industry and later had one at home. 
It did what it was designed for but as they age the alignment control 
ceramic trimmers in the mainframe and plug ins tend to be troublesome.

And as mentioned, its a power hog.

Strip the 6DJ8's, etc and sell them to the audiophools. The cart is the 
best part of that series and very useful around the workbench and out in 
the garage; I have 2 of them.

There are any number of better scopes available today for $100 and less 
on the used market besides not taking up so much room.

Carl


----- Original Message ----- 
From: "J Forster" <jfor at quik.com>
To: "Discussion of Electronic Test Equipment" 
<test-equipment at mailman.qth.net>
Cc: "Floyd Petri" <fpetri at eastex.net>
Sent: Monday, November 10, 2008 12:54 AM
Subject: Re: [Test-Equipment] Tektronix Oscilloscope 545


>A 545 is definitely a very dated scope. That said, it is still a very 
>good
> scope. It is far better than anything Heath, night, Eico, etc. 
> produced.  Tubes
> can be had, even CRTs.  The 545B is essentially the best of the letter 
> series
> scopes. They are still useful for working on stuff of early 1980s 
> vintage, and
> certainly fine for all; WW II and Korea stuff. They are decent for 
> digital stuff
> up to 10 MHz or so clock rate, like DTL and some TTL.
>
> Letter series (including the 1 series like 1A1, ...) will only work in 
> letter
> series mainframes. Stay away from the 585. It's an aardvark and 
> requires
> adapters.
>
> These days, you can expect to buy a scope, PIs, and cart for <$100 at 
> ham fleas.
> Maybe even free.
>
> BUT, the audiophools have taken a liking to parts of them, like tubes 
> and
> transformers. Some are being cut to pieces to make damn idiot tube 
> power amps.
> Hanging, drawing, quartering, and boiling in hot molten lead is 
> insufficient
> punishment, IMO.
>
> FWIW,
> -John
>
> =================
>
>
>
> Mike Manes wrote:
>
>> The Tex 545 is a late-60's vintage vacuum state scope. My 535A is the 
>> 15 MHz
>> version, and it still works fine with same plugins that the 545 uses. 
>> It
>> draws about 750W from the line and keeps the ham shack nice an toasty 
>> on
>> winter nights. But replacement tubes may be hard to find.  I bought 
>> mine
>> from the company I worked for back in 1973 for $350. Not sure if the
>> current price reflects its current capabilities re newer and better 
>> scopes,
>> eg, HP 1740A etc, or inflated value as a working "antique".
>> 73 de Mike W5VSI
>>
>> Floyd Petri wrote:
>> > I have some questions about a Tektroxix Oscilloscope Model 545. 
>> > Just
>> > how old and obsolute are they?  Are they still good, useful and
>> > reliable?  Are they expensive and where can you get them?  Is it 
>> > better
>> > to find someone with one to sell or buy from a business?  Most 
>> > important
>> > is the plug in units.  Are they interchangable among different 
>> > model
>> > oscilloscopes?  If I had some plug in units is there a better scope 
>> > than
>> > the 545 that I can get to use the plug in units?  About what would 
>> > I
>> > expect to pay for one?  I figure shipping will be a killer.
>> >
>> > Floyd
>
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