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Hello everyone,

Just picked a 531A scope locally today, my first 500 series scope... I do have a little 310A and a 317, but this 531A is my first really BIG tube scope... quite a beast. Front panel looks really crusty and off putting, but with patience and some elbow oil, I am hoping to bring it back to its former glory...

Sorry I digress.

I don't know much about these 500 scopes, so this 531A will teach me a lot I am sure, during the course of its future restoration.

The first thing that grabbed my attention is : at the top of the cabinet, near the carry handles, there is a little compartment with a spring loaded lid.
It's about the dimension of a wallet, and is very shallow, 10mm or so. It seems a bit too shallow to house a probe, so I am bit intrigued/curious : what was it meant to house ? I think I have seen this compartment on other 500 models, maybe they all have it, I don't know.

I just downloaded the manual from the TekWiki, well I only found the manual for the vanilla 531, not the 531A, but I am hoping it will do...
Anyway, I don't see this compartment mentioned in there.

So.. if anyone knows ? It is so shallow, I think the only thing it might able to house, would be a little leaflet ? A small "getting started" user guide ? Some printed material of some kind... if so, is there a scanned version of it available somewhere, that I could print and put back into the scope, to add a bit more authenticity to it ?! :-)


Vincent Trouilliez

I is to store a small operators manual.?Leon Robinson ?? K5JLR

Political Correctness is a Political Disease.

From: Vincent Trouilliez <vincent.trouilliez@...>

Hello everyone,

Just picked a 531A scope locally today, my first 500 series scope... I do have a little 310A and a 317, but this 531A is my first really BIG tube scope... quite a beast.? Front panel looks really crusty and off putting, but with patience and some elbow oil, I am hoping to bring it back to its former glory...

Sorry I digress.

I don't know much about these 500 scopes, so this 531A will teach me a lot I am sure, during the course of its future restoration.

The first thing that grabbed my attention is : at the top of the cabinet, near the carry handles, there is a little compartment with a spring loaded lid.
It's about the dimension of a wallet, and is very shallow, 10mm or so. It seems a bit too shallow to house a probe, so I am bit intrigued/curious : what was it meant to house ? I think I have seen this compartment on other 500 models, maybe they all have it, I don't know.

I just downloaded the manual from the TekWiki, well I only found the manual for the vanilla 531, not the 531A, but I am hoping it will do...
Anyway, I don't see this compartment mentioned in there.

So.. if anyone knows ?? It is so shallow, I think the only thing it might able to house, would be a little leaflet ? A small "getting started" user guide ? Some printed material of some kind... if so, is there a scanned version of it available somewhere, that I could print and put back into the scope, to add a bit more authenticity to it ?! :-)


Vincent Trouilliez

On Sun, 23 Sep 2018 12:22:49 -0700, you wrote:

Hello everyone,

Just picked a 531A scope locally today, my first 500 series scope... I do have a little 310A and a 317, but this 531A is my first really BIG tube scope... quite a beast. Front panel looks really crusty and off putting, but with patience and some elbow oil, I am hoping to bring it back to its former glory...

Sorry I digress.

I don't know much about these 500 scopes, so this 531A will teach me a lot I am sure, during the course of its future restoration.

The first thing that grabbed my attention is : at the top of the cabinet, near the carry handles, there is a little compartment with a spring loaded lid.
It's about the dimension of a wallet, and is very shallow, 10mm or so. It seems a bit too shallow to house a probe, so I am bit intrigued/curious : what was it meant to house ? I think I have seen this compartment on other 500 models, maybe they all have it, I don't know.

I just downloaded the manual from the TekWiki, well I only found the manual for the vanilla 531, not the 531A, but I am hoping it will do...
Anyway, I don't see this compartment mentioned in there.

So.. if anyone knows ? It is so shallow, I think the only thing it might able to house, would be a little leaflet ? A small "getting started" user guide ? Some printed material of some kind... if so, is there a scanned version of it available somewhere, that I could print and put back into the scope, to add a bit more authenticity to it ?! :-)

IIRC, getting started and a short guide to the scope.

No idea if any are available, but I think it was comb bound.

Harvey

Vincent Trouilliez

The little book was bound with a wire binder, and the back
cover page was stuck to the lid with pressure sensitive double
sided tape. The tape let loose over time, and the books got lost.

I found one scope that had a piece of paper taped into
the lid that dropped down when the lid opened, and said
"Pop goes the weasel".

I found another scope that had the business card of the repair
and calibration shop that worked on the scope.

-Chuck Harris

Harvey White wrote:

Hi Chuck,
Pop goes the Weasel is pretty good.
Thanks for remembering it.

john ferguson

I have a hardcopy of the 535A/545A booklet, but not the 531A.
-Dave

From: Chuck Harris <cfharris@...>
To: [email protected]
Sent: Sunday, September 23, 2018 1:41 PM
Subject: Re: [TekScopes] 500 tube scope : what is this compartment on top of fit ?

The little book was bound with a wire binder, and the back
cover page was stuck to the lid with pressure sensitive double
sided tape.? The tape let loose over time, and the books got lost.

I found one scope that had a piece of paper taped into
the lid that dropped down when the lid opened, and said
"Pop goes the weasel".

I found another scope that had the business card of the repair
and calibration shop that worked on the scope.

-Chuck Harris

Harvey White wrote:

On Sun, 23 Sep 2018 12:22:49 -0700, you wrote:

Hello everyone,

Just picked a 531A scope locally today, my first 500 series scope... I do have a little 310A and a 317, but this 531A is my first really BIG tube scope... quite a beast.? Front panel looks really crusty and off putting, but with patience and some elbow oil, I am hoping to bring it back to its former glory...

Sorry I digress.

I don't know much about these 500 scopes, so this 531A will teach me a lot I am sure, during the course of its future restoration.

Hello Vincent, the small compartment is for a small user manual. The 535A I used to have had one as well. I really can't remember what was all in that little booklet. I am pretty sure that it went over all the basics of the scope.

Brenda

Kurt,
Thanks for posting the 535_545 operator's handbook.
Can someone in the group explain what the stability control in the trigger circuit actually does electronically?Why was it dropped (not needed?) ?in later generations of Tek scopes?
I understand the intended operation of the stability control (as explained in the handbook) and recall using it with success with a 500 series scope.? But I've always been curious what it actually did in the trigger electronics.I suspect it sets?the high frequency?rolloff?in the trigger circuit.?
John HuntPortland, OR

On Sun, 23 Sep 2018 23:54:14 +0000 (UTC), you wrote:

Kurt,
Thanks for posting the 535_545 operator's handbook.
Can someone in the group explain what the stability control in the trigger circuit actually does electronically?Why was it dropped (not needed?) ?in later generations of Tek scopes?
I understand the intended operation of the stability control (as explained in the handbook) and recall using it with success with a 500 series scope.? But I've always been curious what it actually did in the trigger electronics.I suspect it sets?the high frequency?rolloff?in the trigger circuit.?

Let's see if I can remember this. The stability control on the 500
series was a voltage input to an astable multivibrator which would
control the threshold of the trigger amp/generator. This would set
the threshold of the minimum value needed to trigger the scope. In
the "auto" position (not on all scopes), the threshold allowed the
trigger amplifier to trigger itself at (perhaps) a 60 Hz rate or so.

This was an old style method where the trigger generator had the
threshold that was variable and the trigger amplifier was fixed (as I
remember it, this was from a long time ago).

More modern scopes have a variable gain amplifier (or at least, pick
off the trigger after the vertical amplifier so that the trigger
signal is a fixed amplitude), then the trigger amplifier deals with a
consistent signal, has a comparator with a variable level, an inverter
to control +/- triggering (circuit only triggers on one edge, invert
as needed). If there is no trigger within a certain time, an
additional circuit provides a trigger pulse. If there is a trigger,
then the "auto" circuit is reset. Not the same as having the trigger
circuit have a variable threshold and be an astable.

So modern timebases do not have a stability control.

Older scopes (very old!) had a ramp generator that could be triggered
"early" which was the synchronization control's function. You always
set the repetition rate so that the waveform triggered early. There
was no time/cm here, but more of a repetition rate.

As I remember it.

Harvey

John HuntPortland, OR

Here is a pic from a 585, operators handbook inside its nest.

/g/TekScopes/photo/72360/0?p=Name,,,20,1,0,0

Regards
Rajesh

--
/Rajesh

Funny. Theres a similar spot on the 575.

I use it to hold adapters...

On Sun, Sep 23, 2018 at 10:48 PM Rajesh VS <rajeshvs@...> wrote:

Here is a pic from a 585, operators handbook inside its nest.

/g/TekScopes/photo/72360/0?p=Name,,,20,1,0,0

Regards
Rajesh


On Sun, Sep 23, 2018 at 1:41 PM, Chuck Harris <cfharris@...> wrote:

The little book was bound with a wire binder, and the back
cover page was stuck to the lid with pressure sensitive double
sided tape. The tape let loose over time, and the books got lost.

I found one scope that had a piece of paper taped into
the lid that dropped down when the lid opened, and said
"Pop goes the weasel".

I found another scope that had the business card of the repair
and calibration shop that worked on the scope.

-Chuck Harris

Harvey White wrote:

On Sun, 23 Sep 2018 12:22:49 -0700, you wrote:

Hello everyone,

Just picked a 531A scope locally today, my first 500 series scope... I

do have a little 310A and a 317, but this 531A is my first really BIG

tube

scope... quite a beast. Front panel looks really crusty and off putting,
but with patience and some elbow oil, I am hoping to bring it back to its
former glory...

Sorry I digress.

I don't know much about these 500 scopes, so this 531A will teach me a

lot I am sure, during the course of its future restoration.

--
/Rajesh



--

Sent from Mobile Annoyance thingy, please pardon any typos

My 575 has adapters I It, too. No little manual... that would have been fun!

Phil, N6OMM

Thanks for all the replies people, I am overwhelmed ! LOL

Didn't expect that many replies in just 24H, this list never disappoints ! :-)

Too bad that only the 535/545 booklet was scanned, but all other scopes would have had a similar content/presentation/format Ima sure, so that's still relevant.

Plus, the 535/545 is/are in my short list of 500 scopes models I would like to get !
So chances are that this scanned booklet will be of great interest to me one I finally manage to get hold of one of these scopes ! :-)

Thanks again for all the replies chaps ! An I don't know what triggering systems had to do with this booklet, but it was interesting all the same, so I don't mind ! LOL



Regards,


Vincent Trouilliez

On Mon, Sep 24, 2018 at 01:01 PM, Vincent Trouilliez wrote:

Plus, the 535/545 is/are in my short list of 500 scopes models I would like to
get !

Oh, not the 547?

On Mon, Sep 24, 2018 at 06:03 PM, snapdiode wrote:

Oh, not the 547?

Well, never say never, I guess, but in the current state of things, the 547 does not appeal much to me. Sure it has more BW and Triggering features with its tunnel diode.. but... features and performance is only part of the "mix" that make this or that particular tube Tek scope appeal to me. Like most people I have newer scopes when features and performance is really needed. So, the look and feel is just as important, I am ashamed to admit !
And the 547 does not appeal to me because it looks too modern... it introduced a new style of controls for the Triggering options, these little levers, that look very much '70s not 50/60's... Also they introduced a new connector for the probe calibrator, the same style they would use in their '70's scopes. Have the same connector in my 5111A scope for example. I also don't like the BNC connectors, they looks skinny, a bit out of place surrounded by all these big knobs all over the face plate. And of course BNC is definitely very modern because still current...

No, I like tube scopes when they look really as old as the tube era they belong too. So for me : big rotating knobs all over the place, a round CRT rather than rectangular, and beefy UHF connectors :-)

I love the 535 because it has all of that, coupled with the "feature" side of the mix : the dual time base ! I just love this feature, I always found it magical for some reason... and seeing a '50's tube scope featuring such an advanced feature, when many '80 scopes still didn't have it, just blows my mind.
This mix of elegance and advance features/engineering, is what appeals to me in the 535.

Of course the 545 being basically the same scope but with twice the BW, 30MHz instead of 15 IIRC, makes it appeal to me as well ! :-)

The ultimate 500 scope for me I guess would be the 585 ! Uses a tunnel diode like they 547, so has all the same goodies that come with that.. but it retains the looks I like in the 535/545... and adds 100MHz of BW to boot, twice that of the 547, no less !

100MHz in the late '50's ! Even brand new entry level Tek scopes today, 60 years later, still don't offer 100MHz as standard ! Standard is still only 50 or 60MHz today. Need to pay extra to get 100MHz.


So yeah, I would much rather have a 585 than a 547. I guess they are as rare as hens teeth though, so I am not holding my breath ! LOL



Vincent Trouilliez