Finding Age Of Tektronix Equipment

[George_Race]

I am trying to determine the year of manufacture of several pieces of Tektronix Test Equipment.

Is there a year grouping, maybe by serial number, or a particular place one can look inside and find the production date of any of the Tektronix test gear?

Does not help to look in the catalogs, as the same gear and specifications may appear for many years in a row, just the price seems to go up as it become a new year!

Also I have heard that some of the Tektronix gear was manufactured in other countries, is there a way to tell where from?  As well, some is made by other manufacturers, how do you find out who made it?

George

[helius]

Using the catalogs is the best approach, since even though an instrument may appear in several catalogs, there is always one year it appears first. Sometimes people have already compiled this information for you:
http://www.ebay.com/gds/A-Guide-to-Tektronix-2000-Series-Oscilloscopes-/10000000001406477/g.html

Additionally there is usually a copyright date on the stencil artwork.

The country of origin is part of the serial number, as described here: http://www.tek.com/export_codes

[Electro Fan]

This is a pretty good resource:  http://www.barrytech.com/tektronix/tek.html

It doesn't give the age of all models but for some equipment it helps home-in on roughly the years the model was in production - plus it has some specs and occasionally some historical pricing info.

Tektronix has some info on some models, for example:  http://www.tek.com/support/faqs/7000-series-oscilloscopes-faq

Another good site:  http://w140.com/tekwiki/wiki/Main_Page

[George_Race]

Thanks, lots of clues to follow up on.

[amyk]

Don't forget the simplest way: check the datecodes on the components.

[owiecc]

Exactly, check few ICs and you will find date codes in YYWW format (year, week no.). The newest chip will give you a good estimate of production date.

[edavid]

Is there a year grouping, maybe by serial number, or a particular place one can look inside and find the production date of any of the Tektronix test gear?

No.

Also I have heard that some of the Tektronix gear was manufactured in other countries, is there a way to tell where from?

Serial number prefix, e.g. B = Beaverton

As well, some is made by other manufacturers, how do you find out who made it?

Find the OEM model that looks the same, or ask a former Tektronix employee.