HEC4 Electronic Computer

While again searching for radio stuff :), I ran across this website in Australia with an interesting article written in 1954 about the Morgan Crucible Co. Ltd, and how they justified their purchase of the HEC4 Electronic Computer. From the first few paragraphs: "The computer selected was the HEC4 Electronic Computer designed by the British Tabulating Machine Co (later becoming ICT and then ICL - who re-named it the ICT 1201), which was used with modified Hollerith punched card equipment for I/O peripherals. Systems were designed to use conventional 80 column punched card equipment for much processing (sorters, collators, tabulators and reproducers). Details of this machine are described in a second article below. Both articles were published in the "Electronic Engineers Reference Book" for 1958. The cost of the machine was about ?30,000." Also included are the specifications of this machine: Specifications of ICT HEC4 HEC4 Brief Specifications P.R.F. 38.4 kc/s Number base Binary Mode Serial Word Time 1.25 milliseconds Word length 39 and sign Instruction type 1 operand; 1 next instruction Magnetic Drum 3,000 rpm; 64 tracks; 1024 words; track switching 5 milliseconds; 18.75 milliseconds max. access Quick Access stores 2 words Add or Subtract 2.5 milliseconds Multiply 800 milliseconds max.; 240 milliseconds ave (slow) 50 milliseconds max.; 22.5 milliseconds ave (fast) Divide 48.75 milliseconds Punched cards 100 cards per minute (in); 100 cards per minute (out) Printer 100 lines per minute; 100 characters per line Price ?30,000 http://www.vk2bv.org/sb/hec4.htm