Tom,
No, it most certainly was not. A fully optioned Chevy Caprice Classic cost half as much as 485 around that same time.
It's fascinating, however, that the 2465, which has many of the same features, and almost the same bandwidth as the 485, was quite economical by comparison. I'm fascinated by the fact that the 2465 also neatly replaces both the 475 and 475A at the mid-$4000 price point, but outdoes both scopes in features. The more I look at the catalogs, the more it seems like the 2236 was ill conceived. There would have been buyers who had spent the previous 10 years salivating over a 475, who were suddenly presented with something in the same price range, but with the features of an instrument twice as expensive. I would not have been able to resist that kind of temptation, I am sure.
I've read the memo to sales on the release of the 465 and 475 in 1972 (), and I can only imagine that a similar memo must have been circulated on the release of the 2445 and 2465.
Steve,
I'd be interested to know what the printing date is at the bottom of the first page of your copy of the 2236 service manual.
-- Jeff Dutky
