Connectors

Tektronix equipment makes use of a wide variety of connectors. Most of the connectors were standard parts when the instruments were designed. Occasionally custom connectors were designed. What follows is a partial list of connectors used in Tektronix equipment.

BNC

BNC is the most common connector for measurement equipment up to 1GHz. It was patented in 1951 by Hazeltine Research, Inc. It is available in different impedances. 50-ohm is the most common. Tektronix gear transitioned from UHF connectors to BNC connectors in the early to mid-1960's. For some pieces of equipment, a conversion kit was available.

• BNC Connector Patent (PDF)

SMA

SMA connectors are good to about 20GHz. The male connectors have a protruding center pin and ground shroud that screws on. They are similar to UHF connectors, but much smaller and with much tighter tolerances and better controlled impedance. The female is threaded on the outside.

SMB

SMB connectors are small snap-on RF connectors developed in the 1960's. They come in 50-ohm and 75-ohm variants. Their RF performance in somewhat inferior to SMA connectors, but they are more compact and have the convenience of being snap-on instead of having a screw-on grounding nut.

GR-874

The GR-874 is a hermaphroditic RF connector developed by General Radio in the late 1940's. They are typically 50 ohms, but other impedances were available using the same ground shield and housing, but different center pin geometry. The Tektronix 519 uses a 125-ohm GR-874 connector which has a much thinner center pin. The regular 50-ohm version is used in the 1S1, 1S2, 3S1, 3S7, 3T7, 4S1, 4S2, 5T1, 5T1A, 5T3, 7M11, N, S1, S2, 106, 109, 113, 280, 281, 282, and 282.

Peltola

The Tektronix website says the following about Peltola connectors:

The Peltola connector was developed for in-house use by Tektronix (and developed by Ron Peltola). However, the pieces to make the connector are these:

The Male coaxial connector consists of the RG-174 coax center conductor as the male pin, with the braided shield pressed between two eyelets, part number 210-0775-00 (smaller one) and part number 210-0774-00 (larger one). The outer eyelet is then "dimpled" to secure the eyelet-shield-eyelet combination.

The Female (circuit board mounted) connector consists of 2 pieces. In the center is the socket pin connector, part number 136-0252-07 and the connector recepticle (with 3 circuit board mounting tabs), part number 131-1003-00.

UHF

The UHF connector is basically a banana connector with a screw-on shield. The male is often called a PL-259, and the female is often called an SO-239. Although it is called a "UHF" connector, the connector's construction does does not provide a standard controlled impedance, so it typically used up to 300 MHz, at most. The design has been used since the 1930's, and it is used on many pieces of early Tektronix gear. Tek moved away from them in the mid-1960's. Tek provided kits that allowed owners or field technicians to convert instruments from UHF connectors to BNC connectors, which are smaller, quicker to attach and remove, and have better high-frequency characteristics (controlled impedance).

The UHF connector is used in the 511, 512, 514, 517, 524, 525, 526, 531, 533, 535, 541, 543, 545, 555, 575, 127, 1121, A, B, C, D, G, H, K, L, R, S, T, Z, 2A60, 60, 63, 72, 75, and 360.

Banana

According to Wikipedia, the banana connector was invented in 1924 by Richard Hirschmann. The male (plug) is a 4mm shaft that has a springy shroud so it fits snugly in the female (socket), which is a 4mm hole. In American equipment, when banana plugs are used in pairs (e.g., power and ground), it is customary to place the two banana connectors 3/4" apart. Although the 3/4" spacing is a de facto standard in America, it is problematic in Europe, where a 3/4" double banana plug can easily be inserted into a wall (mains) power receptacle by accident.

N

According to Wikipedia, the N connector was invented in the 1940s by Paul Neill of Bell Labs. The N connector is good to at least 10GHz. It is seen as the input connector for Tektronix spectrum analyzers 1L20, 1L30, 1L40, and 492.

BSM

Several Tektronix products use BSM connectors, such as the 7T11, 11B2, 3S2, S-50. S-51, and S-52. These look like minature BNC connectors. They are much less common than BNC connectors. There are two-lug variants and three-lug variants. Tektronix used the two-lug variant. They are also sometimes called MB connectors. The 067-0587-01 uses one for TRIG OUT.

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  BSM female on front lower right of 7T11

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  BSM to BNC adapters

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  BSM panel jack

Octal

In some Tektronix equipment such as the 160 series, an octal connector is used. The plug resembles the bottom of a tube like a 6L6. The socket is an octal tube socket. The 160 power supply has octal sockets on the back, and octal cables bring the power to the modules such as the 161, 162, 163, and 360.

XLR

The XLR connector is most often used as a connector for microphone cables. It is used in the Tektronix Type E.