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6,654 pages: 1,289 machines, 702 software, 460 companies, 64 history, 17 articles, 59 fun.
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---
title: OHIO Scientific CHALLENGER 4P
categories:
- Computers
types:
- Professional Computer
origins:
- U.S.A.
years:
- '1979'
cpus:
- '6502'
params:
name: CHALLENGER 4P
company: /companies/ohio-scientific
company_name: OHIO Scientific
specs:
- label: NAME
value: CHALLENGER 4P
- label: MANUFACTURER
value: OHIO Scientific
- label: TYPE
value: Professional Computer
- label: ORIGIN
value: U.S.A.
- label: YEAR
value: '1979'
- label: END OF PRODUCTION
value: '1981'
- label: BUILT IN LANGUAGE
value: Basic interpreter
- label: KEYBOARD
value: Full stroke keyboard - 53 keys
- label: CPU
value: 6502 or 6502C (GT option)
- label: SPEED
value: 2 Mhz.
- label: RAM
value: 8 KB expandable to 48 KB
- label: ROM
value: 8 KB (Basic interpreter)
- label: TEXT MODES
value: 32 lines x 64 char.
- label: GRAPHIC MODES
value: None
- label: COLORS
value: '16'
- label: SOUND
value: Tone generator and sound digital/analog converter
- label: SIZE / WEIGHT
value: Unknown
- label: I/O PORTS
value: Audio tape, modem, parallel printer, Bus
- label: OS
value: OSI-OS
- label: POWER SUPPLY
value: Internal Power supply
- label: PERIPHERALS
value: F.D. unit, joysticks
- label: PRICE
value: $698 (C4P), $1695 (C4P MF)
tabs:
- adverts
- links
- docs
adverts:
- title: U.S. ADVERT (1979)
subtitle: ''
text: |-
Advert said:
You know about computers. In fact, you probably own one now. One that you might be thinking of expanding. We have a better idea. Take a giant step into the personal computing future with an amazing, new C4P from Ohio Scientific...
...The C4P is an outstanding premium computer - years ahead of the market. We know because there's nothing quite like it for the price, anywhere. And probably won't be for a very long time.
About the DISPLAY paragraph:\
"256 x 512 effective graphic points"
**Kurt Vogel** rectifies:\
The C4P did NOT have a 256x512 graphics mode! If it had, that would have been amazing for the price way back then. Instead, it had a 32x64 character display and claimed that because each character was made up of a 8x8 grid that that was supposed to count as 256x512 graphics. Even given that they used an extended 8 bit character set that included special line and shape characters, you were NEVER able to address indivual pixels!
image: null
- title: 'U.S. ADVERT #2 (1979)'
subtitle: ''
text: |-
This is one of the first adverts showing a one computer dedicated software range. In 1979, the computer manufacturers understood that it was not enough any more to sell hardware and that the success of a computer depended now on the range and quality of the software that came with it.
Advert said:
The simple fact is nobody - nobody in the personal computer industry - offers more software than Ohio Scientific! Right now, as you read this, Ohio Scientific has just about 2 million bytes of software available for our C4P MF computer.
**Kurt Vogel** adds:\
I'd like to mention that Aardvark Software in Michigan was one of the better vendors of software for the C4P games.
image: null
- title: PICTURE FROM POPULAR SCIENCE (NOC.1980)
subtitle: ''
text: Not sure which model it is.... Looks like Challenger model, but with some difference...
image: null
links:
- title: Web Wiz CAPTCHA
url: http://www.webwizcaptcha.com
text: ''
docs:
- title: SUPERBOARD II / CHALLENGER 1P - USERS MANUAL
url: null
cover: null
text: |-
**SUPERBOARD II / CHALLENGER 1P - USERS MANUAL**\
written by Ohio Scientific
 compiled/archived by David Wilson\
 type of document : PDF\
 size : 2,7 MB\
 source : www.old-computers.com
- title: THE 8K BASIC-IN-ROM - REFERENCE MANUAL
url: null
cover: null
text: |-
**THE 8K BASIC-IN-ROM - REFERENCE MANUAL**\
written by Ohio Scientific
 compiled/archived by David Wilson\
 type of document : PDF\
 size : 576 KB\
 source : www.old-computers.com
- title: CHALLENGER 1P - TECHNICAL REPORT
url: null
cover: null
text: |-
**CHALLENGER 1P - TECHNICAL REPORT**\
written by Ohio Scientific
 compiled/archived by David Wilson\
 type of document : PDF\
 size : 1,4 MB\
 source : www.old-computers.com
- title: THE CHALLENGER CHARACTER GRAPHICS REFERENCE MANUAL
url: null
cover: null
text: |-
**THE CHALLENGER CHARACTER GRAPHICS REFERENCE MANUAL**\
written by Ohio Scientific
 compiled/archived by David Wilson\
 type of document : PDF\
 size : 1,3 MB\
 source : www.old-computers.com
comments:
- author: woody
date: Wednesday 20th March 2013
text: |-
The very first program I ever sold, was to a guy named Cam. He paid me 20.00 to write it while I was still in college. Written for the IIP I think. I still have a cassette of it. Sneaky Snake. The basic premise was a random number popped up on the screen in a random spot. you had to move your snake with the arrow keys to get to the number and eat it. Then the snake would grow by 1 segment. The snake always followed it''s track, so as you moved it I had to locate and erase the last segment of the snake. The goal was to get the snake as long as possible. I especially loved the tank characters. This machine had a set of characters in the character set that were a tank, oriented in 8 different directions. It made writing tank style games really nifty. I obtained one of these from a friend back in the late 80''s. It, along with some other ancient machines, is still sitting in a box in my storage trailer....\
One of these days I''m gonna dig it out and see if it still runs. Still one of my favorite old systems.
- author: Ron
date: Wednesday 24th November 2010
text: Bought a C24P in 78...was a far superior unit to the Apple but they didn''t help out with program development and that was their downfall..along with not supplying them to colleges and universities like apple did...brilliant marketing move on their part... 19 years later walked into the control room for a nuclear fuel processing site and about fell over when I saw about 20 of these units humming along with the monitors displaying every move they made... turns out they had been controlling the operation for 10 years with no shutdowns of the plant...they were controlling every piece of the operation... temps, valves, switches, etc.... according to them the machines were bullet proof with extremely high reliability, etc.. a shame the company went belly up... I would have loved to see what they could have developed...
- author: daniel (fr)
date: Monday 18th October 2004
text: exacte e-mail
- author: daniel (fr)
date: Monday 18th October 2004
text: |-
i start update my c4p >> c4pmf and i\
searche the us65u or us65d\
for 505b board
- author: Steven R. Staton (McKinney, TX)
date: Tuesday 15th April 2003
text: I had a C2-4P unit in 1980. I recall it had 24K of RAM, and the floppy drive unit (that was a box which sat on top of the Challenger case). My unit was sold by a Washington, D.C. dealer and procured by a relative who was a major investor in the dealership ... so the unit I got was damaged. My father, an EE, was able to discover that the motherboard had a UART already installed and ready to go with the snipping of a few jumpers. I wonder how many owners found this out? It was an abysimal system ... the floppy drive was so difficult to use that I essentially didn't touch it. I was able to learn rudimentary 6502 machine code on the computer, so it was of some value to me -- but I really wanted an Apple \]\[!
- author: Thomas Hillebrandt (Denmark)
date: Tuesday 1st October 2002
text: Certain things indicate that the C4P is basically an OSI model 600 with a case. Can anyone verify this?
related:
- /museum/ohio-scientific-challenger-1p
- /museum/ohio-scientific-challenger-ii
- /museum/ohio-scientific-challenger-iii
- /museum/ohio-scientific-superboard-ii
oc_id: 572
source:
url: https://web.archive.org/web/20230322031136/http://www.old-computers.com/museum/computer.asp?c=572
date: '2023-03-22'
---
When the C4P was launched, Ohio Scientific said that it was a giant step in the world of the home computers. It was twice as fast as an Apple ll or Commodore Pet and more than three times as fast as a Tandy TRS 80.\
However, despite its technological lead, the C4P and other Ohio Scientific computers always suffered of a lack in efficient software and attractive handbooks. For this reason, very few third companies built cards and peripherals for the Challenger series. So, the C4P didn't withstand to the competition of the Apple II and II+ version which appeared 4 months later.\
However, Ohio Scientific sold it until 1981 as a business oriented system.
In March 1981, OSI was sold to 'M/A-Com' company, but the name did continue until at least 1985. Some OSI based systems were also sold under the name OSITRON.
In 1979, two versions were sold:\
The **C4P** basic version ($698) with:\
\- 8KB Basic ROM\
\- 8KB of static RAM expandable to 32KB\
\- Audio tape interface.\
The **C4P MF** ($1695) with all the features of the C4P plus:\
\- 24KB RAM expandable to 48KB\
\- 5" floppy-disc drive unit\
\- Real time clock\
\- Interfaces for Home Security System, parallel printer, modem\
\- Bus connector.
**Brett Molotsky** reports:\
The Challenger 4P was also sold for a VERY brief time by JCPenney stores in a consumer-friendly version. It had an all-plastic case that was a bit more sleek and that looked much like an Apple II case. That's where we bought ours, along with a black and white TV and a cassette tape player.
**David Pelleg** recalls:\
The C4P was my first computer. It was great except it had ONE MAJOR DESIGN FLAW which anyone who ever used it would know quite well. That was the placement of the reset key directly adjacent to the (very small) enter key. One little touch of reset and EVERYTHING you had been working on was wiped out instantly. That is why I'm so paranoid about constantly saving files even today (where it takes ctrl-alt-delete plus "Are you sure you would like to restart?").