First vacuum tube based computers in Lithuania

First computers in Lithuania, as they were called "electronic computing machines", were produced at the Special Construction Bureau of the Factory of Computing Machines in Vilnius, in early sixties.

EV80-3M - the first computing machine assembled in Lithuania

EV80-3M was the first vacuum tube based electronic computing machine started to be assembled in Lithuania in 1960. The same year a new electronic manufactory was established at Vilnius Factory of Computing Machines. S. Aleskevicius was appointed as a chief of this unit. The whole team of specialists was transferred from another assembly unit to this unit, lead by chief constructor A. Gudziunas. This team started assembling EV80-3M.

EV80-3M was a copy of another electronic computing machine IBM 604, which was created in the USA in 1948.

EV80-3M contained 1620 vacuum tubes and could perform few arithmetic calculations: addition, subtraction, multiplication, division, and some logic operations - rounding, comparison, conditional transition. Machine had decimal number system and could perform around 2000 addition operations per second.

The construction of EV80-3M was rather strange and quite poor based on manufacturing specialists: the whole electronics were "hanging" on the doors of the main frame and there was a huge amount of wires coming from them. Each cell had a round shape, which contained resistors and other electronic components. Printed circuit boards were not used in the construction of the machine.

Over 5 years, the team of specialists at the Vilnius Factory of Computing Machines has assembled over 400 EV80-3M machines.

ESM Lt1 - the first computing machine designed in Lithuania

In 1959 the Special Construction Bureau (SCB) was established at the Factory of Computing Machines in Vilnius. The first specialist to join this bureau was Donaldas Zanevicius. At that time SCB had only 2 employees: director Antanas Nemeiksis and chief accountant.

D. Zanevicius was appointed as a chief of electronic computing machines department. However there was a need for specialists, who would know the principals of computing machines - how to design and construct them. At that time, there were few students at Kaunas University of Technology, who have attended the first lectures and have wrote a diploma theses about electronic computing machines. D. Zanevicius was the lecturer and diploma supervisor, and invited few of these students to join him at SCB.

Seeing the weaknesses of EV80-3M, the team of specialists started designing and constructing a new original vacuum tube based electronic computing machine ESM Lt1, which was completed and successfully launched in 1961.

This machine was designed keeping in mind available vacuum tubes, diodes, resistors and other components. A new case was designed and built, incl. the functional cells.

The following specialists were involved in the design and/or construction of ESM Lt1: D. Zanevicius, A. Gutauskas, J. Puodzius, V. Ramanauskas, L. Abraitis, also B. Bieliauskas, E. Paulauskas, A. Baskakovas, B. Sruogis, A. Stulgys, A. Petrauskas, K. Ramanauskas, G. Grigas, S. Girlevicius.

This was a principal exam for the team of constructors to show they fully understood, what the computer is and how it works. It was like defending a diploma thesis, proving that having boxes of various electronic components, logical schemes can be designed and built, which then can be successfully connected into the operational computing machine.

It was a great joy, when the newly built computing machine ESM Lt1 was turned on successfully and correctly calculated two plus two equals four.

Mass production of ESM Lt1 was never started, as at that time transistors have already been invented and part of the constructors team soon to begin development of this new technology in Lithuania.

EV80-3M - the first vacuum based electronic computing machine started to be assembled in Lithuania in 1960 at the Factory of Computing Machines in Vilnius.

Electronic computing machine IBM 604, built in the USA in 1948.

Donaldas Zanevicius at the first electronic computing machine ESM Lt1 designed in Lithuania. Special Construction Bureau (SCB) at the Factory of Computing Machines in Vilnius. April 28th, 1961.