David DiGiacomo

Test Equipment and Electronics Information

Updated: 4/08

David's Lists

Component Datasheets Wanted

Test Equipment Information

Mark Kahrs has some test equipment information including a page about the Tektronix 7000 series and one about the TM500 series.
Dennis Tillman has compiled lists of Tektronix 7000 series and TM500 series equipment.
Christian Weagle has compiled excellent Tektronix 5000 series and Tektronix TM500 series guides.
Shannon Hill has compiled a cross reference of Tek 7000 mainframe circuit board assembly part numbers
Tektronix has a page about the 7000 series, but unfortunately it's not very complete or accurate, and hasn't been updated since 1999.

HP app notes
HP/Agilent online manuals web page and FTP directory - thanks to Dave Cunningham of Agilent for making many manuals available.
HP/Agilent Find-A-Part
Agilent discussion forums
HP Labs archive of HP Journal issues
A Tutorial Introduction to HPIB

Fluke online manuals
IET and GR online manuals
Keithley online manuals
Kikusui online manuals
TestMart is a great resource - they have scans of many hard to find test equipment catalogs in their Reference Library. Registration is required for access, but don't let that discourage you.

Mailing Lists

Newsgroups

Repair Resources

Bill Den Beste and Stan Griffiths have a Tektronix resource site which includes a Tektronix CRT cross reference database, a parts shop, and other useful pages.
Bruce Lane has an FTP archive for obsolete Tektronix software and ROM images
Hakan "Zenith" Hintze has a page with Tektronix software and repair documents
Walter Shawlee has cross reference lists for HP and Tektronix part numbers. He is also putting together a Tektronix service tips page.
Konny Lagarde has provided an interesting writeup on adding a variable speed fan controller to a Tektronix 7854 or other mainframe.

History and Nostalgia

Agilent Technologies and Communications: Six Decades of Measurement Contributions
Inside HP: A Narrative History of Hewlett-Packard from 1939-1990, by John Minck
HP history page on the HP Alumni Association web site
Kenneth Kuhn's incredible Online Museum of Hewlett-Packard Test Equipment
Glenn Robb's HP Archive features scanned HP and Agilent catalogs, HP Journals, HP Bench Briefs, a few manuals, and other interesting material
Marc Mislanghe's HP Memory Project
Roger Arrick's amusing display of HP power switches
HP's classic Nixie decade counter modules are described on Dan Veeneman's page and Professor Mark Csele's page
How to trigger the HP 3314A Easter egg

Tektronix 1959 Short Form Catalog

Arnoud van der Wel's Museum of Tektronix Oscilloscopes, now hosted by Alan Bain

Richard Heming's Tektronix museum.

Robert Corriveau's extensive Tektronix museum, plus scanned manuals for sale, etc.

Ilja Vermeulen's very nice Tektronix 500 Series museum.

Rick Bensene's page about the Tektronix model 21 and 31 calculators, in his Old Calculator Web Museum.

Julian Bunn's excellent Tektronix collection page.

Henry Hall and the General Radio Historical Society have a wonderful General Radio web site, including A History of the General Radio Company 1915-1965, by Arthur E. Thiessen.
John Poulton K4OZY has a GR Repository including a number of scanned manuals.
The Heathkit Virtual Museum includes a test equipment page.
Richard Pestinger KC8RP has a Heathkit page with a number of scanned manuals and a parts cross reference database.
Paul Perkins has a great web site Simpson260.com which covers all types of Simpson test equipment.
Stefan Graef has a personal test equipment museum.
Jose Gavila has a growing collection and also has scanned manuals for sale.
Ralf Richard Ohmberger has good photos of the outsides and insides of his test equipment collection.
Dale H. Cook has photos and information on a number of older instruments, mostly GR and HP.
Jon Evans has an Old Test Equipment Gallery and scans of some hard to find Telequipment manuals.
Randy Jams of Tone Lizard Amplifiers has articles about VTVMs and tube testers, written from a guitar amplifier perspective, but still very interesting.

Dealers, Flea Markets, and Surplus Stores

ASVARO electronics flea market (DeAnza College, Sunnyvale)
- flea market photos: Sunnyvale, 2004 Cupertino, 2005 Cupertino, 2006 Cupertino, 2007
LARK swap meets (Robertson Park, Livermore)
Bruce Lane's California Swaps and Stores (frequently updated)

Steve Noll's extensive list of used test equipment and manual dealers.

Manual Trading/Archive Sites

Ken Grimm K4XL's Boat Anchor Manual Archive (BAMA) and Bob Duckworth's mirror (thanks Bob!). Note: Ken is no longer accepting submissions of test equipment manuals.
John Atwood's Technician's Filing Cabinet
Didier Juges KO4BB's manual collection and ROM image repository
Shannon Hill's HP and Tektronix manual collection
Dr. David Kirkby's Test Equipment Manual Collaboration page
Tomas Larsson's Electronic Boat Anchor Archives for Manuals

On-Line Auctions Featuring Test Equipment

eBay test equipment category
DoveBid (live and on-line auctions)
LabX
AuctionBDI

David DiGiacomo
david@slack.com