Daves Old Computers - O.S.I.

Ohio Scientific Instruments was founded in 1976 by Mike and Charity Cheiky, in Hiram Ohio. Their first product, the Model-300 Trainer, also known as the SuperBoard was advertised in Feb 1976 Byte magazine at the unheard of low price of $99 - the results were spectacular, and OSI soon grew to become a major player in the microcomputer marketplace.

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The Model-600 SuperBoard-II is an amazing product for it's time (first released in 1978) - for only $200, you got a system with real keyboard and 24x16 video display, BASIC and a machine monitor in ROM, 4K RAM and a cassette tape interface.

The catch was that it didn't look exactly like this - you received only the circuit board. The user had to supply the enclosure, 5V power supply and a TV for display. These thing were however within the realm of what even a casual hobbiest could do on his own, making the SuperBoard-II the least expensive way to get a "real" computer. The machine was also available fully assembled as the Challenger-1P.

This SuperBoard has been built into an enclosure with integrated power supply and connectors on the back. Donated by Richard Parsons.