Thanks for the link. I have not read that manual for over 40 years. Appendix B "Advanced Display Programming" is where I learned the mischief I did at the show.
I guess I could have prevented a lot of HN grief if I had clarified that a AC power cycle absolutely clears all display memory and completely eradicates anything that I had put there.
You did make it clear by stating that it was in volatile memory.
I'm really surprised at the venom and all the extrapolation here.
Obviously, nobody should be judged by the stupid pranks they pulled decades ago, it's like telling my neighborhood kids that they are terrible people for ringing my doorbell.
By the way, awesome piece of gear. I never owned one but did work with one at a physics institute in Amsterdam on Sundays when the place was deserted.
Oh, and just in case some pedantic HN reader notices that the manual you linked comes up for the 8566B, which did not hit the market until 1985, and that was less than 40 years ago, I had actually read the manual for the 8566A which was released in 1978. I think the HP event was in '83 at the Hyatt Regency Long Beach.
If you want to verify it for yourself the manual is here:
https://www.google.com/search?q=HP8566+spectrum+analyzer+ope...