7844

Manuals – Specifications – Links – Pictures

The Tektronix 7844 is a 400 MHz dual-beam CRT oscilloscope that takes two 7000-series vertical plug-ins and two 7000-series horizontal plug-ins.

Versions include the 7844 bench-top lab scope and R7844 rack-mount model.

Circuit design for the 7844 was done by Chuck Scott, Dick Anderson, Keith Taylor, and Bob White. Project manager for the 7844 was Murlan Kaufman. The 7844's CRT was designed by Conrad Odenthal and Ken Hawken.

A typical configuration might have included 7A19 or 7A24 amplifiers, 7B80/7B85 or 7B92A timebases.

Key Specifications

Bandwidth	400 MHz with 7A19, 7A29 (eq. 0.9 ns rise time), 300 MHz with 7A24
Fastest calibrated sweep	1 ns/Div (with 7B80, 7B85, 7B92A)
Beam isolation	> 100:1 from DC to 150 MHz, > 30:1 from 150 MHz to 400 MHz
X-Y Phase Shift	< 2° from DC to min. 50 kHz
Horizontal bandwidth	DC to at least 1 MHz
Z axis input	2 Vp-p for full intensity range (positive decreases), input impedance 500 Ω, rise time 15  ns, max. 1 MHz
CRT	T7840, p/n 154-0713-00 with P31 phosphor, or 154-0713-04 with P11 phosphor (Opt. 78), acceleration 24 kV (−3/+21)
Calibrator	4 mV, 40 mV, 400 mV or 4 V into >100 kΩ, 0.4 mV, 4 mV, 40 mV or 400 mV into 50 Ω; 1 kHz
Power	90-132 V or 180-264 V, 48 to 440 Hz, max. 235 W
Weight	16.3 kg (36 lbs) / R7844: 15 kg (33 lbs)
Options	Opt.03 – EMI shielding Opt.21 – Dedicated vertical deflection system (eliminates vertical mode switch and crossover board) Opt.22 – Enhancer (generates raster scan to illuminate the entire CRT at the end of beam 2 sweep) Opt.78 – P11 phosphor

Internals

The 7844's CRT has distributed vertical deflection plates. It uses a number of custom ICs, such as 155-0064-00, 155-0065-00 and 155-0059-00 in the vertical amplifiers, 155-0095-00 in the vertical interface, 155-0078-00 in the trigger selector, and 155-0022-00 in the horizontal interface. The horizontal and Z axis amplifiers are discrete.

The 7844 is more complex than all other 7000 mainframes except the 7854 because vertical and horizontal amplifiers as well as the Z axis control boards exist twice, and there is an extra switching logic board. As a consequence, verifying correct operation requires testing many possible combinations of settings – for example, a defect on the vertical switching board could cause a problem only in the case of both beam 1 and 2 using horizontal bay B, but not if beam 1 used A and beam 2 used B. Moreover, calibration and adjustment is significantly more work than in a single-beam scope, e.g. CRT geometry trimpots need to be adjusted for matching both beams, not only for best geometry, and these adjustments even interact slightly.

The power supply is a resonant switch-mode inverter with linear post-regulation, similar to the one in the 7904. It uses the 155-0067-02 controller. Despite having an SMPS, the 7844 is fairly heavy behause of the duplicate internal components, especially the second vertical delay line. The delay lines need extra space and are located vertically to the right of the CRT instead of below the CRT as in other 7xx4s.

Unlike some other 7000 series mainframes with switchmode PSUs, the 7844 does have a fan.

Early 7844 (SN B109999 and earlier) have issues with horizontal aberrations for sweep rates of 1 ns/Div. After discovery of the issue modification kits (040-0804-00) that replace the horizontal amplifier were offered. For more information see the manual of the 067-0657-00 Normalized Ramp Generator that was use to investigate this issue.

Links

• Murlan Kaufman, A 400 MHz dual-beam oscilloscope. Tekscope Vol.6 No.4, Sept/Oct 1974, p.3
• Tek 7844 page at amplifier.cd and a repair report (switch-mode PSU)
• Tek 7844 @ barrytech.com
• R7844 page with frequency response measurements
• Tek R7844 page @ EB5AGV, lots of internal photos

Prices

	Year	1976	1980	1984	1990 (R7844)
Mainframe only	Catalog price	$6,100	$9,125	$13,435	$19,500
	In 2021 dollars	$32,600	$33,700	$39,300	$45,400
Mainframe with 2 × 7A19, 7B85, 7B80	Catalog price	$9,500	$14,275	$21,520	$30,660
	In 2021 dollars	$50,800	$52,700	$63,000	$71,300

Pictures

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  Tektronix 7844 front view

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  Tektronix 7844 rear view

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  Simultaneous time and frequency domain display using a 7A26 amplifier, 7B92A time base, and 7L5 Spectrum Analyzer

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  Tektronix 7844 front view (with 7A26, 7A19, 7B80 and 7B85, Opt.03 CRT EMI screen)

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  Tektronix R7844

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  Tektronix R7844, rear view

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  7844 with options 78 (blue P11 phosphor) and 21 (dedicated vertical slots, i.e. no vertical mode switch)

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Interior

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  Right interior. Top row: Calibrator board (l), readout board (c), beam 2 vertical amplifier (r), fan.

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  Right/above interior. The dual delay lines can be seen behind the readout board. Horizontally mounted boards in the center are: Crossover mode switch (l), trigger selector (c), power supply (r).

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  Beam 2 vertical amplifier, CRT and termination detail (right side)

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  Left interior. Beam 1 vertical amplifier (l), crossover vertical interface (r).

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  Left/above interior. Top row: Beam 1 Z axis (l), Beam 1 / Beam 2 horizontal amplifiers (c/r).

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  Vertical mode switch board, back side

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  Vertical mode switch board, back side (detail)

Option 22

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  An 7844 with option 22 (board right of the readout).

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  Opt. 22 board

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  Readout board (l), Opt. 22 board (r)

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  Opt. 22 board

CRTs used in the 7844

Page	Part nos	Description	Designers	Used in
T7840	154-0713-00 • 154-0713-04	dual-beam CRT	Conrad Odenthal • Ken Hawken	7844

Custom ICs used in the 7844

Custom ICs used in the 7000 series readout system

Page	Model	Part nos	Description	Designers	Used in
155-0014-01	M019D	155-0014-00 • 155-0014-01	analog-to-decimal converter	Barrie Gilbert	7000 series readout system • 7854 • 7934 • 7J20 • 7L5 • P7001
155-0015-01	M020F	155-0015-00 • 155-0015-01	analog data switch	Barrie Gilbert	7000 series readout system • 7854 • 7934
155-0017-00	M025	155-0017-00	5 MHz decade counter	Barrie Gilbert	7000 series readout system • 7854 • 7934
155-0018-00	M026	155-0018-00	zeros logic control	Les Larson	7000 series readout system • 7934
155-0019-00	M027	155-0019-00	decimal point and spacing control	Les Larson	7000 series readout system
155-0020-00	M028	155-0020-00	output assembler	Les Larson	7000 series readout system
155-0021-00	M029C	155-0021-00 • 155-0021-01	timing generator	Les Larson	7000 series readout system • 7854 • 7934
155-0023-00	M160	155-0023-00	character generator (0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9)	Barrie Gilbert	7000 series readout system
155-0024-00	M161	155-0024-00	character generator (↓ < I / + - + C Δ >)	Barrie Gilbert	7000 series readout system
155-0025-00	M162	155-0025-00	character generator (m μ n p X K M G T R)	Barrie Gilbert	7000 series readout system
155-0026-00	M163	155-0026-00	character generator (S V A W H d B c Ω E)	Barrie Gilbert	7000 series readout system
155-0027-00	M164	155-0027-00	character generator (U N L Z Y P F J Q D)	Barrie Gilbert	7000 series readout system