Arnie Frisch

Arnold M. Frisch (? – d. 12 Dec 2019) was a graduate of Stuyvesant High School and Brooklyn Polytechnic Institute (now part of New York University).

In 1962, Arnie, along with Morris Engelson (1935 - ) and Larry Weiss (1936-2018), started Pentrix Corporation in Brooklyn.

Pentrix made spectrum analyzer plug-ins for Tektronix oscilloscopes, initially to get funds to develop a stand alone spectrum analyzer of their own. In the early 1960s, Tektronix made little except oscilloscopes and a few related products. Spectrum analyzers are different from oscilloscopes. They are designed to show the amplitude of a signal versus frequency, as opposed to amplitude versus time.

Tek had almost no experience in the radio frequency world of spectrum analyzers and needed to avoid becoming a one-product company.

Arnie was probably involved in just about every spectrum analyzer at Tektronix until about 1972.

Links

• TekWeek, November 18, 1985: Chief Engineer Arnie Frisch

Timeline

• In April 1964, Tektronix bought Pentrix for 30,002 shares of Tektronix stock, and the three New Yorkers joined Tektronix at the Sunset South Plant, Building 81 in June 1964. It was a culture jolt for both.
• The stand alone spectrum analyzer Pentrix had aimed for became the 491 in August 1966.
• In Sept 1969, Arnie is Program Manager of Spectrum Analyzers & Generators on the third floor of Building 50 (Technical Center)
• In November 1979, Arnie was in “Staffing Staff” in Building 55 in probably in preparation for starting a new business unit, CBI (Computer Based Instruments).
• In 1981, Arnie became Tek's first Chief Engineer.
• In March 1986, Arnie was listed as CBI Administration in Building 02 [(45.49308 -122.81496)]
• In July 1987, Arnie was back in Building 50, third floor, in Tek Labs Staff.
• In Aug 1989, he was in ESL Engineering, still in Building 50. ESL is Electronic Systems Laboratory
• In Mar 1991, Arnie was listed as being in ESL Engineering.
• In Jul 1994, Sep 1995, Jan 1996, and Aug 1998 he was listed in Building 50, but the these directories no longer listed responsibilities along with phone numbers.
• Arnie left Tek after 1998, but did not leave electronics. He went on to work at Intel on advanced ICs in Hillsboro, OR.
• Arnie Frisch, a legend around Tektronix, died December 12, 2019.

Patents by Arnie Frisch

Page	Office	Number	Title	Inventors	Company	Filing date	Grant date
Patent US 3274505A	US	3274505A	Series transistor circuit with selectively coupled stages	Arnie Frisch • Larry Weiss • Morris Engelson	Tektronix Inc	1964-02-28	1966-09-20
Patent US 3325754A	US	3325754A	Resistor-diode attenuator	Arnie Frisch • Larry Weiss • Morris Engelson	Tektronix Inc	1964-05-13	1967-06-13
Patent US 3375456A	US	3375456A	Variable bandwidth crystal filter circuit	Arnie Frisch	Tektronix Inc	1964-12-07	1968-03-26
Patent US 3321712A	US	3321712A	Phase lock system for spectrum analyzer	Arnie Frisch • Gordon D. Long	Tektronix Inc	1965-08-16	1967-05-23
Patent US 3487314A	US	3487314A	Radio receiving and display apparatus	Arnie Frisch	Tektronix Inc	1966-12-06	1969-12-30
Patent US 4707834A	US	4707834A	Computer-based instrument system	Arnie Frisch • Allen L. Hollister • Larry L. Hutchinson	Tektronix Inc	1985-09-17	1987-11-17
Patent US 5428626A	US	5428626A	Timing analyzer for embedded testing	Arnie Frisch • Thomas A. Almy	Tektronix Inc	1993-10-18	1995-06-27
Patent US 5418470A	US	5418470A	Analog multi-channel probe system	Thomas P. Dagostino • Arnie Frisch	Tektronix Inc	1993-10-22	1995-05-23
Patent US 5905383A	US	5905383A	Multi-chip module development substrate	Arnie Frisch	Tektronix Inc	1995-08-29	1999-05-18
Patent US 5793642A	US	5793642A	Histogram based testing of analog signals	Arnie Frisch • Thomas A. Almy	Tektronix Inc	1997-01-21	1998-08-11
Patent US 5949284A	US	5949284A	CMOS buffer amplifier	Arnie Frisch	Tektronix Inc	1997-11-10	1999-09-07

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  Arnie Frisch, Larry Weiss, and Rich Nute