Engineering:Remington Rand 409
| Manufacturer | Remington Rand |
|---|---|
| Successor | UNIVAC 120 |
 UNIVAC 120 | |
| Manufacturer | Remington Rand |
|---|---|
| Mass | 3,230 lb |
| Predecessor | UNIVAC 60 |
| Successor | UNIVAC 1004 |
 Commissioning of the Remington Rand UNIVAC 40 at the Groningen Low Voltage Network Construction and Operations Company, with Dr. Max Euwe, a scientific advisor of Remington Rand, giving an explanation. | |
| Manufacturer | Remington Rand |
|---|---|
| Introductory price | $240,000[1] |
| Related articles | UNIVAC 60 and UNIVAC 120 |
The Remington Rand 409, is a series of punched card calculators that were programmed with a plugboard. The prototype model was designed in 1949 and finished completion in 1951.[2]
The commercial version was sold in three models:
- the UNIVAC 60, which released in December of 1951 (delivered in early 1952), originally under the name Remington RAND 409-2.[3] Before rebranding as the UNIVAC 60, the machine underwent revisions 409-2R, 409-2A, and finally 409-2B. In particular, the jump from 409-2R to 409-A replaced relays with cold cathodes that resulted in faster response times.[4]
- the UNIVAC 40, which released in 1955.[5]
The model number referred to the number of decimal digits the device could read from each punched card.[6][7]
The machine was designed in "The Barn", at 33 Highland Ave. in Rowayton, Connecticut, a building that currently houses the Rowayton Public Library and Community Center.
These machines were discontinued when the UNIVAC 1004 was introduced in 1962. A total of 1080 units of the series had been produced by the end of 1961.[8].
Architecture
Numbers were fixed-point and of variable length (one to ten digits). Arithmetic was done in floating point, but all results were converted to fixed point when stored in memory.
Digits are represented in bi-quinary coded decimal. Each digit of memory storage contained five tubes. Four of these represented the digits 1, 3, 5, and 7, while the fifth tube represented 9 if activated alone but added 1 to the value if activated together with another tube.
| Digit | 1 | 3 | 5 | 7 | 9 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 0 | |||||
| 1 | * | ||||
| 2 | * | * | |||
| 3 | * | ||||
| 4 | * | * | |||
| 5 | * | ||||
| 6 | * | * | |||
| 7 | * | ||||
| 8 | * | * | |||
| 9 | * |
Hardware
| RR 409 | model 60 | model 120[9] |
|---|---|---|
| Number of tubes | ? | 800 |
| Decimal digits of storage |
? | 438 |
| Weight | ? | 3,230 lb |
See also
Notes
- ↑ Pereira, Lucas (Jul–Dec 2014). "Os primórdios da informatização no Brasil: o "período paulista" visto pela ótica da imprensa" (in Portuguese). História (São Paulo) (Universidade Estadual Paulista Julio de Mesquita Filho) 33 (2): 408–422. doi:10.1590/1980-436920140002000019. https://www.scielo.br/j/his/a/R5jGnGzS35qWzL6xPKsW5fL/?lang=pt. Retrieved October 16, 2025.
- ↑ "Remington Rand Corp.". Connecticut Trust for Historic Preservation. https://connecticutmills.org/find/details/remington-rand-corp.
- ↑ Blachman, Nelson M. (1953) (in en). A Survey of Automatic Digital Computers. Washington, D.C.: Office of Naval Research, Department of the Navy. pp. 83.
- ↑ 山下, 英男, ed (1960). 電子計算機 : ハンドブック. コロナ社. pp. 572-579.
- ↑ Dawson, Sam (1954-11-30). "Electronics Causing Revolution". Dixon Evening Telegraph. https://archive.org/details/dixon-evening-telegraph-1954-11-30/mode/2up?q=%22UNIVAC+120%22.
- ↑ According to Electronic Brains: Stories from the dawn of the computer age, by Mike Hally, 2005, ISBN 978-0-309-09630-0, p. 69, the Univac 60 could use 60 columns of data from a punched card, whereas the Univac 120 could use 120 columns.
- ↑ (in de) Neuzeitliche Bürotechnik: Ein Nachschlagewerk über sämtliche Büromaschinen des Marktes. Baden-Baden: R. Göller Verlag. 1957. p. 301. https://archive.org/details/neuzeitliche-burotechnik-ein-nachschlagewerk-uber-samtliche-buromaschinen-des-marktes/page/300/mode/2up. Retrieved 2026-04-27.
- ↑ Computer Census. Berkeley Enterprises, Inc.. 1962. p. 16B. https://archive.org/details/bitsavers_computersArCensus196274_16451676/mode/2up. Retrieved 2026-04-27.
- ↑ model 120 - see plaque in image
Further reading
- Electronic Brains: Stories from the dawn of the computer age, chapter 3 (pp. 53–73), Mike Hally, 2005, ISBN 978-0-309-09630-0.
External links
- Rowayton, Connecticut: Birthplace of the World's First Business Computer
- Rowayton Public Library Website
- Universal Automatic Computer Model 60 A Third Survey of Domestic Electronic Digital Computing Systems Report No. 1115, March 1961 by Martin H. Weik
- Universal Autometic Computer Model 120 A Third Survey of Domestic Electronic Digital Computing Systems Report No. 1115, March 1961 by Martin H. Weik
- Service and Programming documentation at bitsavers.org
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