585

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The Tektronix 585 is a 100 MHz 580-Series scope that Tektronix introduced in 1959. It was designed by John Gates. The 581 is the same with a single timebase. The 585A facelift model was introduced in 1963 and discontinued after 1971.

The 58x series were the first Tek scopes with distributed deflection plates, the first Tek scopes to use a cross-wound continuous delay line, and the last with a distributed amplifier.

At 100 MHz (down-rated to 95 MHz in 1962 and 85 MHz for the 585A in 1963) with the Type 80 plug-in and up to 85 MHz with the dual-channel Type 82, they were the highest-speed general purpose scopes of Tek's tube scope era. (The 1 GHz 519 was specialized with no vertical amplifier.)

The 585's front panel layout is almost identical to the 545A that came out at the same time. The 585 also shares internal construction and circuits such as the power supply with the 535/545 line of scopes.

Key Specifications

Rise time	3.5 ns with Type 80 plugin and P80 probe
Timebase A	50 ns/Div to 2 s/Div, 1−2−5, variable ×2.5, magnifier ×5, single sweep; X input
Timebase B	2 μs/Div to 1 s/Div, 1−2−5, can delay timebase A by 1 μs to 10 s
CRT	T581, distributed vertical deflection plates, 10 kV acceleration
Outputs	A Sawtooth, A Gate, B Gate, Calibrator (0.2 mV to 100 Vp-p, 1−2−5)
Power	107−127 or 214−234 VAC, 50-60 Hz, 890 VA / 710 W
Dimensions	(W/L/H) 330×610×432 mm³ (13"×24"×17")

585A differences

The 585A uses a tunnel-diode trigger circuit (see below), adds HF Sync and AC LF reject modes to the timebase A trigger selector, and adds a trace rotation coil.

Links

• Tek 585 @ radiomuseum.org
• Inside a Tek 585A @ YouTube

History

John Kobbe said:

Later on there was another special CRT designed with distributed vertical deflection for the 100 Megahertz 580 (well almost 100 MHz).

The 580 was the first, at least at Tek, to use a cross wound continuous signal delay line.

The 580 used a similar horizontal system lifted from the 530s which was too slow and [had] insufficient writing rate.

The active probe and plug in system left a lot to be desired. I wasn’t very proud of the 580 design as it was too compromised.

Internals

Plug-in Interface

The 585 uses 580-series plug-ins which look like letter-series and 1-series plug-ins but are electrically different. The main difference is the impedance of the signal that passes through the interface from the plug-in to the mainframe.

In 530/540/550-series scopes, the plug-in expects the mainframe to be a high impedance load, driving tube grids in the mainframe. The 580 Series plug-in interface, on the other hand, presents a differential transmission line input with an impedance of 93 Ω per side, going into the first distributed amplifier stage. The other end of this transmission line is returned to the plug-in for termination and biasing. The pin-out of the interface connector is also different, the 580-series pin-out being essentially flipped 180° from its 530/540/550 series counterparts (Signal Out is between pins 14 and 16 as opposed to between pins 1 and 3, etc.)

The Type 81 adapter allows the use of letter-series and 1-series plug-ins in a 585.

Trigger Circuit

The original 585 (up to serial number 1070) has an "A" trigger circuit that has a differential trigger amplifier made of a pair of 6EW6 miniature pentodes, followed by a Schmitt trigger made of a pair of miniature dual triode tubes.

Starting at serial number 1071 (and sometimes retrofitted to earlier instruments), the dual-triode Schmitt trigger circuit was replaced by an STD615 10 mA tunnel diode AC-coupled to the base-emitter junction of an OC171 germanium PNP transistor as a pulse amplifier.

The slower "B" timebase uses a Schmitt trigger circuit.

Vertical Signal Path

Like the 545, 551, and 555, the 585 uses two distributed amplifiers in the vertical signal path, one with seven differential 6DJ8 stages driving a helically-wound, differential delay line, followed by a five-stage differential distributed driver amplifier and a 7699 or 6939 dual tetrode power stage driving the CRT.

Unlike the other 500-series scopes, the 585 uses a CRT with distributed vertical deflection plates, the T581, enabling it to have both fast rise time and high sensitivity (~5 V/cm vertically), albeit at the cost of limiting vertical deflection to slightly over 4 cm. Total acceleration voltage is 10 kV.

Several improvements were published for the 585 circuitry, including the enhanced trigger circuit. If all of those changes are applied to a 585, it is essentially a 585A.

After serial number 2585, the back termination of the final distributed amplifier output was made adjustable. The manual says this (field-installable) modification (040-275) is "required for proper operation of plug-ins with numbers above Type 81". Non-A instruments with this termination have a front panel label reading "standardized vertical".

Power Supply

The 585 power supply is similar to other Tek scopes of the era such as the 549. A linear regulator with a 5651 reference tube, a 12AX7/6AU6 error amplifier and three parallel 12B4 series pass tubes produces −150 V. This is the only adjustable rail, all other regulated voltages are referenced to it. The +100 V and +350 V regulators use half a 6080 each as the pass element, the +225 V two. In the +500 V path, a 12B4 performs this function. The unregulated +325 V input to the 225 V regulator is used to supply the HV oscillator, a 6AU5.

A transistor-based regulator supplies a +12.6 V heater voltage to the plug-in.

A 6NO45 delay relay controls a multi-contact relay to switch supply voltages on only after the tubes are warmed up. When the main relay engages, the delay relay is cut out so it will be ready to delay again even after a quick interrupt in power input.

The 12.6 V power supply is referenced to the +100 V regulated output. Since +100 V is not available during the warm-up period, an unregulated +100 V (~+180 V) is fed as the reference to the 12.6 V power supply during the warm-up period, then cut out by the multi-contact relay post warmup.

The 585 contains a 53°C (128°F) thermal cutoff.

The power transformer, T601, is Tektronix part number 120-0141-00.

Semiconductors

The 585 uses semiconductor diodes as rectifiers and germanium transistors in the 12.6 V power supply, and except for unmodified instruments before SN 1070, a tunnel diode and another germanium transistor in the time base A trigger circuit.

Rackmount Versions

Rackmount versions were also made, the RM585 and RM585A.

Circuit Variants

Some changes across 585 and 585A
	585	585A
A-Trigger	SN up to 1070 6EW6 Trigger comparator. 6DJ8 Trigger multivibrator	Tunnel diode trigger PNP trigger amplifier 2N2048
	SN 1071 up Tunnel diode trigger PNP trigger amplifier OC171
Sweep Generator	Standard	SN 120000 up D152/252 added to 6AL5 disconnect diodes
12.6 V Power	SN up to 3762 Used for plug-in Selenium rectifier	Used for plug-in and vertical amplifier heaters SN 6580 up Fused
	SN 3763 up Used for plug-in and vertical amplifier heaters Minor design changes from earlier SN
Vertical amplifier grid/plate line fuses	SN up to 3762: No Fuse	Fused
	SN 3763 up: Added F1210, F1260, F1285
Delay Relay	6NO45 Heater power from unregulated 18 V DC 33 Ω dropping resistor.	SN up to 9179 6NO45 Heater power from unregulated 18 V DC 33 Ω dropping resistor.
		SN 9180 up 18NO30 Heater power from unregulated 18 V DC
Trace Rotation	Not present	SN 9000 up: Added trace rotation
Final vertical power amp	6939/AX193/7699 dual tetrode	2 × 7788 Pentode
Power supply Mod	None	SN 9250 up: Main relay K601-4 relocated Details
SN Range not applicable for rack-mount models

Prices

		585		585A
Year		1959	1962	1963	1965	1969	1971*	1972*
mainframe only	Catalog Price	$1,675	$1,725	$1,725	$1,725	$1,800	$2,400	$2,600
	In 2023 Dollars	$17,200	$17,600	$17,300	$16,800	$15,100	$18,200	$19,100
mainframe+80+P80	Catalog Price	$1,825	$1,875	$1,975
	In 2023 Dollars	$19,300	$19,100	$19,900
mainframe+82	Catalog Price				$2,375	$2,575	$3,325	$3,600
	In 2023 Dollars				$23,200	$21,600	$25,300	$26,500
mainframe+86+P6008	Catalog Price				$2,075	$2,185
	In 2023 Dollars				$20,300	$18,300

* "limited demand" instrument

Pictures

585 non-A

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  585 with Type 81 Adapter and Type CA plug-in

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  585 with Type 80 plug-in

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  585 with Type 82 plug-in

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  585 with Type 82 plug-in

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  Front panel label indicating Field Modification 040-275 is applied

585 non-A Internals

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  585 bottom view (with Type 81 Adapter and Type CA plug-in)

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  Distributed delay line driver amplifier

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  Distributed delay line driver amplifier (bottom). Plug-in interface connector to the left.

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  585 left side

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  Vertical amplifier (post-delay 5-stage distributed amplifier). Pre-SN 2585 fixed termination.

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  Vertical amplifier (5-stage dist amp, power output stage)

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  Rectifiers

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  Time Base A

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  585 top view

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  585 rear from above, handle and HV cover removed

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  "Black Beauty" capacitors (leaky!) in original HV circuit

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  HV circuit re-capped with modern ceramic 10 nF / 3 kV caps

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  6080 (large tube) and 12B4 pass elements in PSU

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  585 delay line driver distributed amplifier in operation

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  585 power supply (center) and timebase B (left) in operation

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  585 displaying a ~150 ns pulse at 100 Hz repetition rate at fastest timebase setting

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  Cyclist cartoon in horizontal amplifier schematic

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  Tektronix 585 Low Voltage Power Supply Schematic

585A

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  585A with 82

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  585 with TRIGGER SOURCE switch upgraded to 585A design

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  585A with 81A and Hickok plug-in

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585A Internals

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  585A on cart

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  585A delay line

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  585A delay line

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  585A delay line

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  585A trigger circuit

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  White plastic clip holds tunnel diode for triggering

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  Inside view shows regulator tubes

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  Distributed vertical amplifier

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  T5810P31 distributed deflection plates

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  T5810P31 distributed deflection plates

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  Direct Connection to CRT (from 1964 Service Scope)

RM585A

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  RM-585A

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  RM585A - ALT/DLYD' Trigger

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  RM585A - Rear

RM585A Internals

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  RM585A Internal LHS

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  RM585A Internal underside

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  RM585A Internal Underside - Timebase door open

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  RM585A Top - Internal- Delay line door open

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  RM585A - Internal top

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  RM585A Internal RHS

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  RM585A Internal HV Section

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  RM585A Internal - Rear

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  RM585A Internal - Vamp - Output 7788 pair

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  12.6 V rail silicon diode rectifier with fuse

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  T44 - Trigger coupling transformer (Tunnel diode trigger)

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  12.6 V rail regulator transistors

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  Delay relay 18NO30T

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  Trigger amplifier transistor 2N2048

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  Plate line termination (post deflection plates)

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  T1046 toroid transformer in V-amp, used as phase correction/common mode choke

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  Tek 585A V-amp grid line (Delay Line driver stage)

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  Tek 585A plate line (partial, delay Line driver stage)

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  Tunnel diode in A-trigger (closeup)

Components

Some plug-ins / accessories compatible with 580-series scopes

Page	Manufacturer	Model	Description	Introduced	Discontinued
80	Tektronix	80	vertical amplifier	1959	(?)
81	Tektronix	Type 81	plug-in adapter	1960	1972
82	Tektronix	82	85 MHz dual-trace amplifier	1962	1972
84	Tektronix	84	calibration fixture	1962	(?)
86	Tektronix	86	vertical amplifier	1963	1972
TU-3	Tektronix		calibration fixture	(?)	(?)