The museum has been closed since mid-March and the volunteers have been busy behind the scenes. We now have guidance to reopen but must meet specific criteria. We believe the best way to accommodate these requirements is to open for visits and tours on a reservation basis starting on June 27th. If you would like to schedule a visit to the museum please send an email to contactus@vintagetek.org. We will do our best to accommodate your requested date and time. We will not be keeping regular museum hours but you may call (503) 644-0161 on Saturdays to attempt a same-day visit.
We require all visitors wear a mask and use hand sanitizer and their temperature taken with a touchless system upon entry. Visitors must maintain 6' distancing between household groups and the tour guide and ensure all children abide by these rules. All interactive exhibits are closed so visitors may not touch or handle any of the exhibits.
Please do not visit the museum if you have any symptoms or fever or cannot abide by these rules. Things seem to change daily so always check the website for the latest information.
Our June Photo of the Month is a sign for a demonstration of the green worm. This photo is one of the signs displayed in Plant 2 on Family Night, October 1, 1958. Plant 2 was the first level of Assembly East, building 39. Family Night was an organized event to show Tektronix products, technology, and processes to an expected crowd of over 5000 employees and their families. The event was featured in the October 1958 TekTalk.
We've added this group photo to our Sunset Plant page. We believe the second from the right is Jack Day. If you know any of the employees or the occasion of this photo please contact the museum.
Our Odds and Ends page highlights different photos and articles that don't quite fit any other category. We have recently added several photographs of Oregon products being made in the display window of Meier & Frank in April 1951. The two women in the photo are Barbara Ekstrom and Peggy Whoolery. Visit our Odds and Ends for more photos and other items of interest.
There are numerous photographs of Tektronix products in use on the internet. We found some interesting photos of 10' x 53' trailers with 60 Tektronix oscilloscopes used for nuclear diagnostics on David Diffenderfer's Flickr page. We contacted David and he wrote an article and gave us permission to post several of his photos. His article is on our Customer's Stories page.
In addition to the 517 we highlighted last month, we have aquired a 570 vacuum tube curve tracer which is now operational and on display. These instruments are still in high demand by audiophiles for matching vacuum tubes for hi-fi and stereo gear. More photos and information can be seen on our Curve Tracers page.
We also aquired a Type 121 preamplifier. The 511, Tektronix first oscilloscope, had limited vertical sensitivity. It had two stages of gain which could be switched in to provide 250 mV, 2.5V, or 25V per cm of vertical deflection.
To achieve greater vertical sensitivity the 121 preamplifier was developed provide up to 100X gain from 5 Hz to 12 MHz. The 121 first appeared in the 1950 catalog for a price of $265.00. more information can be found on our 121 Preamplifier page.
There are a number of films by various companies highlighting some aspect of their research, development, manufacturing, or service. These films also feature the equipment used to enable their success, and many feature Tektronix instruments.
We've added a new page Enabling Customer Success for films that prominently feature Tektronix products. These films are not on the vintageTEK website. Be sure to send leads for additional films to the museum.
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We continue to regularly enhance our web site with new documents and photos. Recent additions and enhancements are:
If you have an item, story, documentation, photos, or videos to donate, please contact us. If you would like to volunteer, also please contact us. Our regular email is on our home page.
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