Random tube scope screenshot

[Alex Eisenhut]

No reason, I was just playing around with my NTSC test signal generator and my Amiga monitor when I got the urge to see the NTSC colorburst.

The upper waveform is NTSC video with a highlighted colorburst, and the lower trace is the expanded view.

That's the B intensified by A alternate mode, and a big old 10 turn pot sets the intensified area.

I just think it's cool, and it does help heat the place a bit as winter winds down...

[PwrElectronics]

Nice 

I also have a 547 and a 1A4 in my collection.  547 not working and went to cold storage though.  1A4 was working last I know but has broken plastic coupler things on some of the pot shafts inside.

[David Hess]

The 547 was the last "fast" oscilloscope from Tektronix which did not use scan expansion, so it produces a sharper display than later instruments.  TV production businesses kept them in service long after they were obsolete because of this.

[basinstreetdesign]

I have the same scope and a calibrated NTSC test-signal generator as well (Leitch CTG-210).  I sometimes make the same display just for old times sake.  But I do not have the 1A4 and wish I did.

[vk6zgo]

No reason, I was just playing around with my NTSC test signal generator and my Amiga monitor when I got the urge to see the NTSC colorburst.

The upper waveform is NTSC video with a highlighted colorburst, and the lower trace is the expanded view.

That's the B intensified by A alternate mode, and a big old 10 turn pot sets the intensified area.

I just think it's cool, and it does help heat the place a bit as winter winds down...

That is the sort of display that early DSOs tried to reproduce, failing miserably in the attempt.

A lot of previously "digital friendly" Techs & EEs in the TV Industry were put off by their disappointing performance on standard video signals, compared to even the earlier generations of analog instruments, such as the 547.

[Alex Eisenhut]

The only thing missing from the 547 is a video trigger. Just a basic "TV line H or V" like on cheap service scopes would be nice.

I've been meaning to slap a LM1881 and some other junk on a piece of perfboard for about 10 years now. Maybe this year...

[vk6zgo]

The only thing missing from the 547 is a video trigger. Just a basic "TV line H or V" like on cheap service scopes would be nice.

I've been meaning to slap a LM1881 and some other junk on a piece of perfboard for about 10 years now. Maybe this year...

We triggered 545Bs on both horizontal & vertical syncs for years without needing "no Steenkin' video trigger".
It's just a matter of thinking where to set your trigger point.

The only time I've needed an external trigger box, with either 500 or 7000 series Tek CROs was if I was looking at Vertical Interval Test Signals, & even with those, you can do without, with a bit of "fiddling".

A sneaky trick for looking at field rate signals is just to trigger the 'scope off the so-called "Line" (50/60Hz Mains) trigger facility.
It isn't perfect, as there is some very long term drift compared to field rate, but short term, it is unnoticeable.

[tautech]

We have similar from the STB-3 that is very difficult to trigger on with a normal edge trigger but you can get it sorta stable with some holdoff and some fiddling but when zone triggers got added to scopes it became easy to get a good rock solid capture.
Here I use an edge and 2 zone triggers.

[TomKatt]

Years ago I picked up an old Waterman 'Pocket Scope' made in the late 1940's for cheap at a ham market. Came with a beautiful purple velvet lined hardwood box case.  Considering the size of tube gear, I guess 'Pocket' somewhat applies, although it's nowhere near what you would consider pocket today.  It has a very simple 4 tube (+rect & crt) design with no triggering or calibrated timebase.  And yet looking through the manual, it can be used very cleverly and I'm sure was a handy mobile service tool for radio and the first days of television.  Almost like a cheap DMM, it's great for just checking the presence of signals and seeing if they appear visually correct - which can actually get you quite a ways towards diagnosis and repair.

I'm inclined to believe it has the original tubes, and although it 'worked' when I obtained it, the old electrolytic caps were completely gone.  Not to mention replacing the old dried up 2 prong line cord (outlets didn't have ground pins back then). An easy fix, and now it serves as a nice scope clock and other random vector project displays (even has Z input capability).

Edit - re the OP... The 547 with the 4 channel 1A4 vertical (4 channels!) is pretty cool because you can view multiple timebases on 2 channels, almost like a true dual beam scope.  Nice!

[vk6zgo]

Years ago I picked up an old Waterman 'Pocket Scope' made in the late 1940's for cheap at a ham market. Came with a beautiful purple velvet lined hardwood box case.  Considering the size of tube gear, I guess 'Pocket' somewhat applies, although it's nowhere near what you would consider pocket today.  It has a very simple 4 tube (+rect & crt) design with no triggering or calibrated timebase.  And yet looking through the manual, it can be used very cleverly and I'm sure was a handy mobile service tool for radio and the first days of television.  Almost like a cheap DMM, it's great for just checking the presence of signals and seeing if they appear visually correct - which can actually get you quite a ways towards diagnosis and repair.

I'm inclined to believe it has the original tubes, and although it 'worked' when I obtained it, the old electrolytic caps were completely gone.  Not to mention replacing the old dried up 2 prong line cord (outlets didn't have ground pins back then). An easy fix, and now it serves as a nice scope clock and other random vector project displays (even has Z input capability).

Edit - re the OP... The 547 with the 4 channel 1A4 vertical (4 channels!) is pretty cool because you can view multiple timebases on 2 channels, almost like a true dual beam scope.  Nice!

The only thing I've seen from Waterman was a old (1940s/50s) slide projector, years ago.

[David Hess]

Edit - re the OP... The 547 with the 4 channel 1A4 vertical (4 channels!) is pretty cool because you can view multiple timebases on 2 channels, almost like a true dual beam scope.  Nice!

The 4-bay 7000 mainframe oscilloscopes preserved that capability with a mode where one timebase is assigned to each vertical plug-in.

[Alex Eisenhut]

Edit - re the OP... The 547 with the 4 channel 1A4 vertical (4 channels!) is pretty cool because you can view multiple timebases on 2 channels, almost like a true dual beam scope.  Nice!

The 4-bay 7000 mainframe oscilloscopes preserved that capability with a mode where one timebase is assigned to each vertical plug-in.

The 1A4 has something similar, there's a switch behind the plugin, it locks channels 1 and 2 to time base A of a 547 and 3 and 4 go to B.

[Alex Eisenhut]

I have the same scope and a calibrated NTSC test-signal generator as well (Leitch CTG-210).  I sometimes make the same display just for old times sake.  But I do not have the 1A4 and wish I did.

Here's the junior edition:

https://www.ebay.ca/itm/175614472627

A bit dinged up and missing Nuvistors... but ...