Pentrix

Pentrix , formed in 1962, was a company that made spectrum analyzer plug-ins for Tektronix oscilloscopes.

Tektronix bought Pentrix in 1964. Some Pentrix models became Tektronix models, with incremental changes to the designs. For example, the Pentrix L20 became the Tektronix L20.

Tek-Talk September 1964 said:

TEK NEWSREEL: Acquisition of Pentrix Corporation, Brooklyn manufacturer of spectrum analyzers, was announced in April. The small company became part of Tektronix through transfer of 30,002 shares of Tektronix, Inc. stock. In June 8330 shares were issued. The remaining 21,672 shares will be issued in installments over the next four years, contingent on spectrum analyzer sales. Three Pentrix owners – Arnold Frisch, Larry Weiss and Morris Engelson – joined Tektronix Engineering in June to continue their work on spectrum analyzers.

Pentrix product was designed as a plugin unit for several Tektronix oscilloscopes, converting them to frequency-based instruments. According to market researchers, the spectrum analyzer market is in the neighborhood of $8 – 10 million per year. “Pentrix fits well into Tektronix’ manufacturing and marketing organization and offers new markets for both its present and acquired products,” Bob Fitzgerald (vice-president, Operations) stated when making the announcement.

Links

• The Pentrix story in tekretirees.org August 2014 newsletter

People affiliated with Pentrix

Products by Pentrix

Model	Class	Series	Description	Introduced	Discontinued
Pentrix L20	Plug-in	500-series scopes	4 GHz Spectrum Analyzer plug-in	1963	1965
Pentrix L21	Plug-in	500-series scopes	20 kHz Spectrum Analzyer	(?)	(?)
Pentrix L30	Plug-in	500-series scopes	10.4 GHz Spectrum Analyzer plug-in	(?)	1965
Pentrix L3742/2	Plug-in	500-series scopes	7.6−8.6 GHz Spectrum Analyzer plug-in	(?)	(?)

Pictures

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  Pentrix Ad in January 1965 Issue of Science Magazine

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  Pentrix Founders