517: Difference between revisions

{{Oscilloscope Sidebar  

|series=

|model=517  

|summary=50 MHz scope  

|image=Tek 517 vt.jpg

|caption=Tektronix 517 at VintageTek Museum

|introduced=1951  

|discontinued=1965  

|designers=Logan Belleville;Dick Rhiger

|manuals=

* [[Media:IM-517.pdf|Early 517 Manual (IM-517)]] (PDF, OCR)

* [[Media:070-229.pdf|Later Manual (070-229) Covering the 517 and 517A]] (PDF, OCR)

* [[Media:Tek_517_calibration_guide.pdf|Tektronix 517 Calibration Guide]] (PDF, OCR)

The 517 does not take plug-ins. There is also a 517A (1955-1965).

{{Spec | Power consumption | 1250 W }}

* Indicator: 76 pounds

* External Power Supply: 72 pounds }}

The 517 closely resembles a scope that Tektronix developed under a contract for the US military during 1949 and 1950.  (See link below.)

Work was well underway by [[Logan Belleville]], [[Dick Rhiger]] and [[Howard Vollum|Howard]] on the high speed scope, the 517.

 

This used some brand new circuitry, [[distributed amplifier|distributed (or chain) amplifiers]], using 16 to 20 tubes in each stage to get the power needed to handle the high frequencies.

 

Our best prediction at that time was that there were only about 30 to 50 people in the whole world who had need of a scope with 60 to 100 megacycle bandwidth.

As it turned out, when we brought out a higher speed scope, people were able to design equipment of greater bandwidth and needed even faster measuring instruments.

The cycle was regenerative. Having faster, more accurate measuring tools created a demand for even more measuring tools.

 

The external power supply and oscilloscope are connected by a removable cable with a Jones plug on one end and a Jones socket on the other end.   

Units with serial numbers from 101 through 1739 use 12-pin Jones 2412 connectors; after that it is a 16-pin Jones connector.  

''(Was a 16-pin Jones connector used or did they go directory from the 12-pin Jones connector to the 16-pin Amphenol power connector used by the [[555]]?)''

* Pin 7: −250 V, regulated

Although they use the same cable, they are completely incompatible – the voltages are different.   

The 517's external power supply provides +750 V to the indicator unit.   

The highest voltage provided by the 555 and 551 power supplies is +500 V.

Also, for example, the 517A has +180 V on pin 8 of the 16-pin connector while the 555 and 551 have -150 V on pin 8.   

Originally the [[5XP]] CRT was used, which has 38 V/cm vertical deflection sensitivity when operated with 24 kV acceleration voltage.  

Since the vertical sensitivity at the input connector is 0.1 V/cm, we can calculate that the voltage gain from the input connector to the vertical deflection plates is 380.  

For 4 cm deflection, a 152 V differential output swing is required.  There are DC blocking capacitors at various places in the signal path.   

The slowest sweep is 20 μs/cm.  The 517 is not designed for low-frequency use.  

There is a trigger amplifier in the 517 which can take its input from an external source, or from the trigger pickoff in the vertical pre-amp, or from the internal rate generator circuit.   

The trigger amplifier circuit has five stages:

It uses a 1.8 kHz oscillator to produce the high voltage, unlike other Tek scopes which use HV oscillators in the ultrasonic range.

The 517 has a switch on the front panel that selects between normal vertical sensitivity, which uses the full 24 kV acceleration voltage,  

Later units use a Tek-made CRT, the [[T517|T517PxH/T54PxH]], where "x" designates the [[phosphor]] type: 1, 2, 7, 11, or 16.   

The 5XP used [[multi-band acceleration]] and has three anode connections, at 6.6 kV, 13.3 kV, and 20 kV.   

The Tek-made CRT has just one anode connection, 20 kV, and has 15 V/cm sensitivity at 24 kV total acceleration voltage.

The 517 might be the only Tektronix instrument to have a part made of wood - a support for a large electrolytic capacitor, C826, which filters probe power.

The 547 uses a non-distributed solid-state vertical amplifier, [[tunnel diodes|tunnel diode]] triggering, and a 6.5 V/cm CRT,  

thereby achieving good performance with lower cost, size, weight, complexity, and power consumption than the 517.

{| border="1" class="wikitable" style="text-align: center;"

! scope="col" width="33%" | 517A

! scope="col" width="33%" | 547 with 1A1

| 50 MHz

| 50 MHz

| 148 lb / 67 kg

| 71 lb / 32 kg

| 1250 W

| 510 W

Tek sold the [[108]] pulse generator as a tool for maintaining the 517, since a fast scope requires a fast pulse generator to test it.

* [https://w140.com/tektronix_milspec_high_speed_scope_OCR.pdf Final Report on Tektronix MILSPEC High Speed Scope (PDF, cleaned up and OCR)]

* [https://w140.com/tektronix_milspec_high_speed_scope.pdf Final Report on Tektronix MILSPEC High Speed Scope (5MB, PDF, cleaned up)]  

* [https://w140.com/MILSPEC_High_Speed_Scope.pdf Final Report on Tektronix MILSPEC High Speed Scope (220MB, PDF, original)]

* [https://w140.com/flynn_johnson_fast_gray_wedge.pdf Flynn and Johnson "Fast Grey Wedge Analyzer for High Input Rates"]

* [https://w140.com/thomas_and_hearst-measurement_of_exploding_wire_energy.pdf Thomas and Hearst, "An Electronic Scheme for Measurement of Exploding Wire Energy"]

Tek 517 lvps internal.jpg