K

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Tektronix {{{type}}}
30 MHz amplifier plug-in
Type K

Compatible with [[500-series scopes]]

Produced from 1955 to 1971

Manuals
Manuals – Specifications – Links – Pictures

The Tektronix Type K is a plug-in for 500-series scopes.

Max sensitivity is 50 mV/div, and bandwidth in a 545 is 30 MHz.

Type 53K/54K was introduced in March 1955 along with the 541/545. At that time, it was the only plug-in that could utilize more than half of the new mainframes' speed; the Type A, Type B, and Type C upgrades weren't ready until August 1956. In August 1955, just five months after introduction, it was renamed Type 53/54K, and in 1959, when the 541A/545A mainframes came out, it got its final name, Type K. It was dropped after 1970, with Type L replacing it.

K, L, and T are tied for longest production life, at 16 years. B, D, and G are next at 15 years.

Type K was the fastest of the single-channel plug-ins, and the first plug-in to use T-coils. Tek did not equal it until Type L in 1957, and did not exceed it until Type 1A1 in 1964.

Earlier single-channel plug-ins had two inputs and a switch to select between them, making it convenient to probe two test points at once. The Type K design could not tolerate the extra stray capacitance, and the feature was dropped, never to return. (Exception: the 7A16P, which has two input connectors and provides the ability to select which one is fed to the amplifier.)

The name was deliberately chosen to be halfway into the alphabet. Slow plug-ins would use A-J and fast ones L-Z. This idea never went anywhere.

Late versions had a BNC connector instead of a UHF connector.

Types K and G are the only letter-series plug-ins where the Gain vernier is not concentric with the step attenuator.

Key Specifications

  • please add

Pictures