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The RCA 151 oscilloscope was a cost-reduced scope made in 1936. While still expensive, this scope brought visual trace confirmation in the price range of the experimenter and small radio shop. This cost $47.50 in 1936, which is roughly $960 today.

This unit was built in Montreal, Canada, and was designed to operate on 25Hz power. This simply means it had a bigger filter in the power supply to compensate for the ripple from the lower frequency. It operates fine on modern US 60Hz power.

Tube lineup is a type 80 for the rectifier, a type 885 for the sweep, and two 6C6 that handle the remaining functions. The CRT is a 1" 913 tube. The 80 and 6C6 are fairly common today, the others are scarce or unobtainable.

This particular example is fairly pristine save for the "oops, it was live" mark on the right side near the input jacks. The inside appears to have been worked on at some point in the distant past, probably before WWII. I didn't open it because I need to clear another project off my actual test bench before doing so, but there are plenty of examples of the inner works online.

Here's the original ad for the scope (not mine) http://www.myvintagetv.com/oscilloscopes/rca_151_adv.jpg The inside (again, not mine) http://www.myvintagetv.com/oscilloscopes/rca_151_inside.JPG

The RCA 151 oscilloscope was a cost-reduced scope made in 1936. While still expensive, this scope brought visual trace confirmation in the price range of the experimenter and small radio shop. This cost $47.50 in 1936, which is roughly $960 today. This unit was built in Montreal, Canada, and was designed to operate on 25Hz power. This simply means it had a bigger filter in the power supply to compensate for the ripple from the lower frequency. It operates fine on modern US 60Hz power. Tube lineup is a type 80 for the rectifier, a type 885 for the sweep, and two 6C6 that handle the remaining functions. The CRT is a 1" 913 tube. The 80 and 6C6 are fairly common today, the others are scarce or unobtainable. This particular example is fairly pristine save for the "oops, it was live" mark on the right side near the input jacks. The inside appears to have been worked on at some point in the distant past, probably before WWII. I didn't open it because I need to clear another project off my actual test bench before doing so, but there are plenty of examples of the inner works online. Here's the original ad for the scope (not mine) http://www.myvintagetv.com/oscilloscopes/rca_151_adv.jpg The inside (again, not mine) http://www.myvintagetv.com/oscilloscopes/rca_151_inside.JPG

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[–] [deleted] • 1 pt

Yeah ive been considering trying to buy another one to use as parts for the exact reason you just mentioned. All the newer scopes that i could actually afford are coming out of china and are no longer analog.

[–] • 0 pt

AFAIK, there are no "analog" scopes left. There really aren't any CRT-based scopes left.

I'd say if you want to pick up one or two for parts, the next few years are probably the time to do it. I see less and less of those at shows every year.

[–] [deleted] • 0 pt

I need to figure out where the HAM shows are in my new town. Haven't had a lot of time to mess with hobbies after the move. Been trying to get my shop set up but it needed to have some involved renovation to get the interior office space acceptable for moving all my electronics into.