The Tektronix DC501 is a basic 100 MHz frequency counter plug-in for the TM500 system.

Tektronix DC501
basic 100 MHz frequency counter
Tektronix DC501

Produced from 1972 to 1980

Manuals

Key Specifications

Input frequency 10 Hz to 100 MHz
Gate time 10 ms to 10 s in decade steps, plus Manual (totalize count of up to 107 events)
Resolution 7 digits
Display 7-digit LED, overflow indicator
Input impedance 1 MΩ // 20 pF, ×5/×10/×50 attenuator (front) or 50 Ω // 20 pF (rear)
Time base stability ≤1×10-5; Opt. 1, ≤5×10-7 (0°C to +50°C after ½h warm-up)
Time base drift ≤1×10-5; Opt. 1, ≤1×10-7 (per month)

Options

  • Option 1 – 5 MHz TCXO with 1:5 divider
  • Option 2 – Automatic Gate Control and Readout Scaling Circuit (automatically selects the 0 .1-, 1-, or 10-second measurement interval to display the largest number of digits without overflow)

Links

Documents Referencing DC501

Document Class Title Authors Year Links
Tekscope 1972 V4 N3 May 1972.pdf Article TM500 series - A New Dimension in Plug-in Instrumentation Bob Ragsdale 1972
070-2088-00.pdf Book TM500 Series Rear Interface Data Book 1975
070-2088-01.pdf Book TM500 Series Rear Interface Data Book 1976
070-2088-04.pdf Book TM500 Series Rear Interface Data Book 1985

Rear Interface

Connector Pin Signal
28B Second decimal point (D2) output
27A Internal scan clock disable input
27B MHz light output
26A Reset input/output
25A TS0 (Time Slot Zero) output
25B External scan clock input
24B Internal scan clock (2 kHz) output
23B Overflow output
22B MSD (most significant digit)
20B 28 BCD output, serial by digit
20A 24 BCD output, serial by digit
21B 22 BCD output, serial by digit
19A 21 BCD output, serial by digit
19B Data Good output
17A Signal input ground
16A Signal input

Gerbers

Pictures

Components

Some Parts Used in the DC501

Part Part Number(s) Class Description Used in
2N4249 151-0342-00 Discrete component PNP Si low noise amp. DC501 DC502 DC503 DC503A DC504 DC504A DC505 DC505A DC508 DC508A DC509 DC510
2N4851 151-0504-00 151-0504-01 Discrete component silicon unijunction transistor DC501 DC502 DC503 DC503A DC504 DC505 DC505A DC508 DC508A LA501 R1330 212 214 4002A 4623 4631 4632 4633A 4634 4701 4701R 670-0696-01 670-1274-00 670-1981-00 670-1981-01 7D01 7D12 7L12