You may have read about it in the May 2016 issue of Nuts & Volts. Several years ago, I restored Heathkit’s smaller analog computer, the EC-1. The 60 year old computer took eight months of part-time effort to restore. In this article, I would like to share a few of the trials and tribulations I went through to resurrect this beast.įIGURE 2. It took me eight months of part-time work to restore all 168 pounds. Today, I finally have one in my shop on my bench completely restored! Figure 2 is the proof. Equivalent to $8,175 in 2019 dollars.įast forward six decades. It looked so cool ( Figure 1)! And it was only $945.
When they came out with the ES-400 Electronic Analog Computer with its 45 vacuum tubes across the top, I wanted one in the worst way. When I first got into electronics in the mid-1950s, I would pour over the Heathkit catalogs and dream about owning a 5” scope.
