ECHO IV

ECHO IV, or ECHO 4 (Electronic Computing Home Operator, or Electronic Computer for Home Operation) is a prototype of a home computer developed by Westinghouse Electric engineer James (Jim) Sutherland in the mid-1960s (1965-1966).[1][2][3]

## Contents

* 1 History
* 2 Technical specifications
* 3 Uses
* 4 References
* 5 Bibliography
* 6 External links

## 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 a UNIVAC design, some of the Westinghouse controller hardware was declared surplus in 1965.[3][2] Sutherland took up surplus boards and memory to build a home computer, ECHO IV (the "IV" in ECHO IV came from the PRODAC IV). It was made public for the first time in 1966.[4][2]

The computer was working in the Sutherland's house until 1976, and was donated to the Computer Museum in Boston in 1984.[2][5][6]

## Technical specifications

* Processor
* Transistorized[7] (2N404), with RTL NOR logic elements[8][9]
* 120 circuit modules[5][10]
* 18 commands
* 4 registers
* Add time: 216 μs
* Frequency: 160 kHz[11][5][10]
* Main memory:
* 8,192 15-bit words,[12][7][10] magnetic core[5]
* Input/Output:
* paper tape reader and punch
* keyboard made from parts of IBM Selectric typewriter
* Kleinschmidt teleprinter
* Physical specifications:
* Four large wooden cabinets,[13] each with approximate dimension of:
* Width: 4 feet
* Height: 6 feet
* Depth: 2 feet[3]
* Weight: about 800 pounds (360 kg)[13]

## Uses

* 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 forecast[14]

## References

1. ↑ (in en) For the Future, a Household Computer. 130. Condé Nast Publications. Jul 1966. pp. 30. https://books.google.com/books?id=Z20aAQAAMAAJ&q=echo-4.
* "Basement computer" (in en). Electronic Industries 26 (1): 36. 1967. https://books.google.com/books?id=774nAQAAMAAJ&q="Electronic+Engineer"+"echo"+computer+1967.
* ACS Newsletter
* The Computer Museum Report 1985
2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 Tomayko 1994.
3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 Cortesi 2015, p. 2.
4. ↑ "The Family of The Future with their Computer". https://cortesi.smugmug.com/Other/ECHO-IV-article/i-zmmbwZJ.
5. ↑ 5.0 5.1 5.2 5.3 The ECHO IV Home Computer: 50 Years Later.
6. ↑ "The End Bit: ECHO IV". The Computer Museum Report 14 (Fall/Winter): last page. 1985. https://archive.org/details/computermuseufal1985comp/page/n19.
7. ↑ 7.0 7.1 Cortesi 2015, p. 3.
8. ↑ "ECHO 14 Plug-in Module". pp. 5–6. https://cortesi.smugmug.com/Other/ECHO-IV-article/i-dm9r8KR.
9. ↑ Living with ECHO-IV, 21:46.
10. ↑ 10.0 10.1 10.2 "ECHO-4". Amateur Computer Society Newsletter (8): 4 (49). Jan 1968. 102654910. http://www.computerhistory.org/collections/catalog/102654910.
11. ↑ Libes, Sol (July 1978). "Background: The First Ten Years of Amateur Computing". Byte Magazine 3 (7): 64. https://archive.org/stream/byte-magazine-1978-07/1978_07_BYTE_03-07_How_To_Get_Your_Tarbell_Going#page/n65/mode/1up/search/echo.
12. ↑ Tomayko 1994, p. 61.
13. ↑ 13.0 13.1 Tomayko 1994, p. 60.
14. ↑ Infield 1968, p. 79, 209.

## Bibliography

* Cortesi, Dave (Sep 2015). "The First Home Computer". Volunteer Information Exchange 5 (8): 2–3. https://s3.amazonaws.com/s3data.computerhistory.org/chmedu/VIE_05_008.pdf.
* Infield, Glenn (April 1968). "Science and inventions: A Computer in the Basement?" (in en). Popular Mechanics 129 (4): 77–79, 209, 229. https://books.google.com/books?id=AtQDAAAAMBAJ&q=ECHO+IV+sutherland&pg=PA77.
* Tomayko, James E., ed (1994). "Anecdotes: Electronic Computer for Home Operation (ECHO): The First Home Computer". IEEE Annals of the History of Computing 16 (3): 59–61. doi:10.1109/mahc.1994.10011. ISSN 1058-6180. https://www.computer.org/csdl/magazine/an/1994/03/man1994030059/13rRUxBa5h3.

## External links

* ECHO IV photos with description: "ECHO IV article - David & Marian Cortesi". https://cortesi.smugmug.com/Other/ECHO-IV-article/.
* Spicer, Dag (31 May 2016). "The ECHO IV Home Computer: 50 Years Later | @CHM Blog | Computer History Museum". https://www.computerhistory.org/atchm/the-echo-iv-home-computer-50-years-later/.
* Computer History Museum (January 13, 2015), Living with ECHO-IV (published 21 Feb 2018), Timecodes: 0:00 - What was "Advanced Technology" in 1965?, 13:55 - Was ECHO IV a Real Computer?, 23:46 - What Tasks did ECHO IV Perform?, 47:23 - Magazine and Newspaper Articles, 48:27 - Where is ECHO IV Now?, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uF1YzWtGRjM, retrieved 2019-02-09
* "Amateur Construction of Computers: Building your own computer - Part 2: Completed Computers". Computers and Automation (1): 20–21. Jan 1972. https://archive.org/details/bitsavers_computersA_7037108/page/n19.

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