Meet the OSI Challenger

Before it was even the Challenger 1 is this advert for Ohio Scientific Instruments' Challenger. It was an S-100-based system which derived from the company's earlier "Superboard 400" micro boards, however it used its own proprietary version of the S-100 bus, based on four 12-pin molex plugs rather than the usual 50-pin edge connector.

It also ran MOS Technology's 6502 processor - with an option for the unusual 4MHz 6502C - but did also offer a Motorola 6800 board as an option. The bare-board card was available in kit form from as little as $29 - that's only [[20|1977]] in [[now]], whilst the fully-assembled Challenger started from $439 - about [[300|1977]] now.

The advert also shows that OSI was still at its original Hiram, Ohio, address. In January 1978, when the company expanded, it moved to a former drinks factory in Aurora.