Introduction to the 7000-Series Oscilloscopes

In August of 1969, Tektronix issued a supplement catalog featuring a new series of instruments, called the 7000 Series.

Howard Vollum himself wrote the introduction message on page 1 of this supplement, where he presented the 7000 series as a replacement to the 500 scope series, emphasizing the necessity to switch to a new platform for modular high-end scopes due to the limitations of the original 500 series platform designed in 1953. According to Vollum, $28 million were spent in two years to develop the initial components and products of the 7000 series.

While the original 7504 and 7704 mainframes introduced in 1969 were short-lived, the series lasted until the early 1990s, with some of the original 13 plug-ins like the 7A22 or the 7S11 remaining in production throughout.

Common features of 7000-series scopes

• One (7912) or two (all other 7000) vertical plug-in slots
• Zero (7612D), one (7xx3, 7912) or two (7xx4) horizontal plug-in slots
• Horizontal and vertical plug-ins can be used in non-native slots
• On screen readout controlled from plug-ins including probe scaling
• Differential, calibrated 50 Ω signal and trigger connections from plug-in to backplane

7000 series functional color code

Mode Selection

Trigger Source or Control

Uncalibrated Variable

Denotes functional relation

Links

• Scopes
• Plug-ins
• Readout system
• Backplane Interface
• List of 7000 series equipment
• Plug-in packaging
• Soviet Clones