"The hp Model 175A Oscilloscope is an accurate general-purpose test instrument that provides at least 50 mc of bandwidth for a wide variety of measurements. It has both horizontal and vertical plug-in capability, allowing the user to choose the exact features he desires. Circuitry has been simplified, making it easier to adjust and maintain. In addition extra features such as improved triggering, logically arranged controls and convenient beam finder make the oscilloscope easier to use" (Hewlett-Packard, Catalog, 1965)

BRIEF SPECS

When Hewlett-Packard entered into the laboratory oscilloscope business Tektronix dominated the market:

"As time went on it became quite clear that if we were going to offer a complete line of electronic measuring instruments, we needed to fill in the line with our own oscilloscope. So in 1956 we designed an oscilloscope, the Model 150, which we hoped would provide a strong challenge to Tektronix. But as it turned out, the 150 was very unreliable, and of course we had to do our best to improve it. In retrospect we should have gotten into the oscilloscope business much earlier than we did. But even after we had built up a family of well-designed, high-quality oscilloscopes, Tektronix had such a strong position that over the next few years we were able to capture only about 15 percent of the market." (David Packard, The hp Way, 1996)

The model 175A came up in 1963 and did compete against the Tektronix type 544, 546 and 547 launched in 1964. The most remarkable difference was it's adaptibility because of different time base plug-ins whereas Tek users couldn't upgrade the horizontal characteristics. The price for the scope plus dual-trace (1755A) and delayed time base (1781B) plug-in was 2,225$ compared to 2,200$ for a Tektronix 547 plus 1A1 system. Even hardcopies of the screen were possible by a special printer plug-in (1784A).