History
James Sutherland worked as an engineer for the American company Westinghouse Electric, designing fossil and nuclear power plant control systems. In 1959 the company built a computer called PRODAC IV (he was the designer of the arithmetic logic unit), using destructive-readout core memory and NOR logic. When PRODAC IV was replaced by aTechnical specifications
* Processor ** Transistorized (2N404), with RTL NOR logic elements ** 120 circuit modules ** 18 commands ** 4 registers * Add time: 216 μs * Frequency: 160 kHz * Main memory: ** 8,192 15-bit words, magnetic core * Input/Output: ** paper tape reader and punch ** keyboard made from parts of IBM Selectric typewriter ** Kleinschmidt teleprinter * Physical specifications: ** Four large wooden cabinets, each with approximate dimension of: *** Width: 4 feet *** Height: 6 feet *** Depth: 2 feet ** Weight: aboutUses
* Accounting * Household inventory * Calendar * Manage all digital clocks through the house * Real-time clock with delay of 1 second * Air conditioning management * TV and television antenna management; on school nights children were required to answer questions if they wanted to watch television * Meteorological program for reading and storing data from a meteorological station that was connected to ECHO IV and weather forecastReferences
Bibliography
* * *External links
*ECHO IV photos with description: * * *{{cite journal, title=Amateur Construction of Computers: Building your own computer - Part 2: Completed Computers, journal=Computers and Automation, date=Jan 1972, issue=1, pages=20–21, url=https://archive.org/details/bitsavers_computersA_7037108/page/n19 Home computers Pages with unreviewed translations Early microcomputers Computer-related introductions in 1966