Images(5)

Tube, Vacuum

Object number2016.96.12 a,b

Manufacturer Westinghouse Electric Corporation

MediumGlass; Metal; Plastic; Paper

Credit LineGift of James Sutherland

DescriptionWestinghouse vacuum tube with original box.DimensionsHeight x Diameter (a): 3.5 × 1.5 in. (8.9 × 3.8 cm)
Length x Width x Depth (b): 5 × 1.625 × 1.625 in. (12.7 × 4.1 × 4.1 cm)
Marks(a)
Glass has yellow printed text on one side "[Westinghouse logo] Westinghouse / 337 / ELECTRONIC TUBE" and gray inscription on other side "6AV5 / GA / U.S.A."

(b)
Two of the sides have, all in white, the Westinghouse logo in the top left corner, "Westinghouse" in the top right corner, and "COUNTRY OF ORIGIN AS MARKED ON TUBE".

Two of the sides have, all in white, "You can be sure if it's Westinghouse" in the top left corner and "Electronic / Tube" in the top right quadrant.

One end has the Westinghouse logo in blue; one of the interior flaps on this end has blue printed text "U. S. REISSUE / PATENT / No. 23,670".

One end has the Westinghouse logo in blue above blue text "6AV5GA"; the tab on this end has blue printed text "WESTINGHOUSE ELECTRIC CORP. / ELECTRONIC TUBE DIVISION / ELMIRA, NEW YORK"; one of the flaps on this end has "H" inside a dotted circle; one of the flaps on this end has blue printed text "80052106-03 / 12Z".

Interior has printed blue text "The sale of this article(s) does not convey any license, / expressly or impliedly, under any patent claims on / circuits or systems, or on any combinations of this / article(s) with other devices or elements."
Historical NotesWestinghouse electronic tube or vacuum tube. Part of a collection of materials that document the early development of computer technology at Westinghouse where donor James Sutherland was an engineer. Sutherland was a design engineer for computers at Westinghouse in the 1960s. He earned a degree in electrical engineering, served in the United States Air Force, and then began to work for Westinghouse in 1959. He worked in the logic group and designed the Control and Indexing Units for the Westinghouse PRODAC-IV (Programmed Digital Automatic Controller). The computer used NOR logic elements, developed by Westinghouse’s Buffalo plant, to run. With permission Jim took parts of these computers home and eventually built a home computer called ECHO IV (Electronic Home Computing Operator), it is now in The Computer Museum in Boston. ECHO IV was recognized as the first home computer by the Annals of Computing History and The Computer Museum in Boston.

Previous owner James F. Sutherland

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