The Vintage Electronic
Art Books Collection
Why should art books be limited to painting, sculpture, or architecture?
We engineers are perfectly capable of recognizing masterpieces, even when they are created with technologies far more advanced than those humans have had at their disposal since antiquity.
There are electronic creations born not only from research, investment, and engineering, but also from passion, enthusiasm, and the brilliance of extraordinary individuals. Many of these works are true masterpieces; they are simply more complex to understand and therefore dismissed as mere “technical objects” by most people.
Yet many of these instruments have shaped our lives, enabled entire fields of scientific research, and even helped preserve freedom in the modern world. And they are really beautiful to look, if your eyes can see their beauty. They—and their creators—deserve to be described and celebrated with the same care we devote to classical art.
These are the ideas that inspired me to begin writing what I call technical art books. The aim of this book collection is also to preserve and share the vast technical and historical heritage left by great engineers and scientists—lessons that extend well beyond material science and remind us how powerful our industry can be when guided by creativity and vision.
Giovanni Becattini
giovanni-becattini.books@gmail.com
Elektor Books International
Through my collaboration with Elektor Books International, three beautiful volumes have already become a reality—true hardcover art books with glossy premium paper and exceptional print quality, far beyond what I had ever hoped for. A fourth book is currently in print (Macintosh) and a fifth is in preparation (Tektronix 7000 Series).
An Illustrated chronicle of Technology for collectors and restorers
Oscilloscopes have made a major contribution to the advancement of human knowledge, not only in electronics, but in all sciences, whenever a physical quantity can be converted into a time-related electrical signal.
This book traces the history of a crucial instrument through many Tektronix products. This is the company that invented and patented most of the functions found in all oscilloscopes today. Tek is and will always be synonymous with the oscilloscope.
In nearly 600 pages, with hundreds of gorgeous photos, diagrams, anecdotes, and technical data, you'll travel through the history of Tektronix in a superb collector's edition with a technical point of view. The author is not afraid to get his hands dirty restoring his own Tek equipment. The journey starts in the early 1950s. It ends in the '90s, after exploring the ins and outs of the most interesting models in the 300, 400, 500, 5000, 7000, and 11000 series, from tubes to advanced hybrid technologies.
Read more...
An Illustrated Handbook of Vintage 'Scopes Repair and Preservation
Tektronix oscilloscopes are true masterpieces of electronics and have helped mankind advance in every field of science, wherever a physical phenomenon needed to be observed and studied. They helped man reach the moon, find the cause of plane crashes, and paved the way for thousands of other discoveries. Restoring and collecting these oscilloscopes is an exciting activity; it is really worthwhile to save them from the effects of time and restore them to their original condition. Many parts are quite easy to find, and there are many Internet sites, groups, and videos that can help you. Much of the original documentation is still available, but it is not always sufficient. This book contains a lot of information, descriptions, suggestions, technical notes, photos and schematics that can be of great help to those who want to restore or simply repair these wonderful witnesses of one of the most beautiful eras in the history of technology. Read more...
A Pictorial and Technical Analysis from WW2 to the Internet Age
Most real world life, since the introduction of radio and until the late eighties, passed through shortwave communication. World War II proved beyond a shadow of a doubt that communications equipment was a necessary prerequisite for military success. After the war, shortwave became the backbone on which the world's most important services depended every day. All the radio equipment through whose cathodes, grids, plates and transistors all this human history has passed, is therefore an extraordinary subject of study and enjoyment for us enthusiasts of old electronic stuff. In this book, which begins after the Second World War, you will find a lot of information, descriptions, suggestions, technical notes, photos and schematics that can be of great help to those who want to restore or simply know these wonderful witnesses of one of the most beautiful eras in the history of technology. Read more...
20+ Macintosh Models, from 1984 to Today – History, Engineering, Restoration
Apple is not like any other company. More than anyone else, it transformed technology into something people could desire, love, and even identify with—much like a luxury brand. Users were not only buying a tool; they were buying a vision, a way of life. At the center of this transformation stands the Macintosh. First introduced in 1984, it was radically different from everything before. With its graphical interface and mouse, it made computing approachable, even friendly. What now feels obvious—clicking on icons, dragging files, pointing instead of typing commands—was revolutionary at the time. The Macintosh not only changed the way people related to technology. The Macintosh forced the entire industry to rethink the way we use computers. This book tells that story through some of the most significant Macintosh models. Each one is presented not only in words but also in images, because these computers are more than technology—they are design icons, symbols of a unique vision. History, technical detail, and photography come together here, aiming to show each Macintosh as it truly deserves to be seen. Coming soon...
The most famous and charming oscilloscopes in electronic history
Tektronix (Tek for short) is a large electronic instrument company founded in 1945, but for my generation, Tektronix "is" the oscilloscope itself. Many others came after Tek in the oscilloscope market, and Tek's activities were not limited to oscilloscopes, but for us the word "Tektronix" is and will always be synonymous with oscilloscopes. The 7000 Series oscilloscopes were introduced in October 1969 and represented a real turning point in the history of instrumentation. Their plug-in concept was not new - it was already present in the old 500 Series, for example - but it reached its zenith in the 7000 Series, and its intelligent declination was perhaps one of the greatest reasons for its incredible success. This book is dedicated to these oscilloscopes, their technologies and their restoration, but above all to those who created them, and must be considered as an in-depth analysis, aiming to complete my book Tektronix Epic Oscilloscopes, where the 7000 Series is only briefly described. In preparation
Quacktech Editions POD Books
Today, with Quacktech, a new initiative begins: a series of smaller, focused booklets, each dedicated to a single theme and designed specifically for Amazon KDP print-on-demand. This approach still ensures acceptable production quality while keeping prices low, allowing readers to choose only the topics that interest them most, with minimal printing and shipping costs.
Tektronix 11302 Oscilloscope
Even we, small collectors of vintage technology, have our own personal Seven Wonders of the World. And if any instrument deserves the title of Eighth Wonder, it is, in my opinion, the magnificent 1986 Tektronix 11302 oscilloscope. Built around its futuristic Micro-Channel Plate cathode-ray tube, it made the invisible visible—even under normal room lighting. Still an analog scope, yet driven by an advanced digital control system, it stands as the final and most sophisticated heir of the analog era. For this book, I had the rare privilege of receiving input from a member of the original 11300-Series design team. His guidance adds a level of authenticity that no amount of documentation could ever provide. An in-depth look at one of the most beautiful instruments a Tektronix collector can own: history, engineering, and restoration. Buy from Amazon...
Tektronix DSA 602A Oscilloscope
The Tektronix DSA 602A is the largest and most complex instrument I have ever worked with—an absolute giant in every respect. It was the biggest, the heaviest, the most intricate, and, with an original price well over today’s $100,000, certainly one of the most expensive oscilloscopes of its time. With real-time sampling rates up to 2 GSa/s, the DSA 600 models were the flagship instruments of the 11000 Series in the early 1990s. They employed a dedicated Digital Signal Processor (DSP) to perform waveform analysis at unprecedented speeds. Among their most advanced capabilities were real-time FFT, signal de-jittering, and fast waveform averaging at over 180 waveforms per second. For engineers and researchers requiring state-of-the-art performance in single-shot acquisition and real-time signal processing—and with a budget to match—the DSA Series offered, and genuinely delivered, a cutting-edge solution. Buy from Amazon...
Tektronix 11000 Series - Closing the Plug-in Era at the Top of Technology
This booklet concludes the story of the Tektronix 11000 Series. After exploring the architecture and flagship models in Tektronix Epic Oscilloscopes, Seeing the Invisible – Tektronix 11302, and The Good Giant – Tektronix DSA 602A, we now focus on the most representative plug-ins of this remarkable family. These modules combine the solid physical presence of the classic 7000 Series with technology approaching the 1990s, offering high density, excellent performance, and full software control—including calibration. They also mark the final chapter of the plug-in era, as oscilloscopes soon integrated all functions internally. Precisely for this reason, these last modules remain particularly fascinating. Buy from Amazon...
Tektronix 564 and 564B
In the early 1960s, oscilloscopes had no memory: a transient signal appeared once and vanished forever, unless captured with slow phosphors, special cameras, or mechanical tracers. Everything changed with the Tektronix Type 564, the first practical storage oscilloscope. Introduced within the new modular 560 Series, it brought a radical idea—an electronic trace that could be written, held, and examined without film or delay. This breakthrough transformed measurement techniques and opened the door to new applications, from industrial diagnostics to early medical ultrasound. This book presents the origins of the 560 Series, the development of the Type 564 and 564B, and the most relevant plug-ins, including a special section on the Type M for the 530/540 family.
KWM-2, 30L-1 and 51S-1: History, Engineering and Restoration
Arthur A. Collins reshaped radio communications with equipment that was not only advanced, but uncompromising in vision and engineering quality. Under his leadership, the Collins Radio Company set standards of reliability, precision, and performance that remained unmatched for decades, influencing both civilian and military technology worldwide. This book presents a selection of three company’s most significant instruments—milestones adopted by amateurs, collectors, embassies, and strategic communication services across the globe. Through these examples, it highlights the spirit of innovation and technical mastery that defined Collins Radio and the enduring legacy of its remarkable founder. Buy from Amazon...
A 1200-pages review of many classical instruments from the fifties to the nineties by the great Hewlett-Packard: spectrum analyzers, oscilloscopes, voltmeters, frequency meter, generators, up to the handheld calculators and the Series-80 computers.
This new second edition has been completely revised and has 200 pages more than the first. It is dedicated to Marc Mislanghe and the HP Memory Project, from where it can be downloaded.
A classical tube-based electronic organ
This is a completely different story than the ones we normally talk about. Today, we are not investigating radio equipment, measurement instruments or computers, but a musical instrument and specifically an electronic organ; however, a masterpiece in its class. What excites me the most, is that it is completely tube based: no transistors, no solid-state diodes, no ICs… The organ we are talking about is a Type S22, produced by Ahlborn u. Steinbach K.G. in Heimerdingen b. Stuttgart. I presume it was produced between 1955 and 1960, because the company was established in 1970, and in 1960 changed its name simply in Ahlborn. Free download...
