05-02-2020, 11:35 PM
Tek were planning to use a fibre optic readout on a panel next to the screen - like the 576 curve tracer. Gilbert was horrified that what he saw a kludge was going to be adopted. So he built an on-screen readout, skunk works style, out of regular TTL and analogue bits. It was clearly the right solution and Tek committed to custom silicon, which is what is used to generate the on-screen readout.
What is left of the fibre method was on every 7000-series plugin - the little extension on the top of the moulding with four holes in it. Tek had committed to the tooling already, and were not about to change it.
They eventually made use of it with one plugin - the 7A21N direct access plugin. It carries signals directly to the deflection plates through connectors fitted in the four holes. But it is the only plugin that does.
What is left of the fibre method was on every 7000-series plugin - the little extension on the top of the moulding with four holes in it. Tek had committed to the tooling already, and were not about to change it.
They eventually made use of it with one plugin - the 7A21N direct access plugin. It carries signals directly to the deflection plates through connectors fitted in the four holes. But it is the only plugin that does.
