First Week in the Books

Update: Well, now I have to say something... In a bizarre case of technological convergent de-evolution, we have 3 challengers using a Z80 with the seminal MC6850 ACIA. Poor Zilog: "But we make excellent serial interfaces like the SCC and SIO!" shieladixon designing her ready-to-use MIDI interface, morecat_lab converting a general purpose serial board for MIDI, and CDP1802 trying to use his Sharp MZ-80K2 to make some hot butter-popcorn. Oh, I guess they are related after all!

We are one week in! I have been having fun keeping updated on everybody's projects. We have so many participants this year! Nearly all of you have your first post and at least a plan, while most of the you have some progress recorded. I really appreciate that some unusual platforms are getting some love here. There are some very technical projects and some simple ones focused on documenting things for those who come next. Great variety. Those of you doing endurance challenges, using your retro computers daily, I see and appreciate you! A few of the competitors are posting on gopher blogs (phlogs). Make sure to check them out using a native browser like Lagrange.

Quote of the week:

It has been a while since I entered Retro Challenge, but I think I remember what to do. It goes something along the lines of stating at the start of the month that you are going to design [something], and then at the end of the month report back in with minimal progress.
--semach.the.monkey

I know that feeling all too well! If you are feeling overwhelmed with your current project, just spend some time using an old computer and blog about it. Those are often some of the most entertaining, insightful, and rewarding projects. Or, check out the other participants and use the inpiration to do something related.

With all the competitors, I will be closing the entry form in a few days. If you don't have your entry in, do it now!

Day 1... for the Rest of the World

While half the world had an early jump on things, the rest of us are just dusting off our projects. Perfect time to give an update on the prizes:

The keychains and pins are looking great and are on their way to me! Every entry selected by the judges will receive one of each of these beauties.

RetroCheng kindly dontated two 6802 Nano SBC computers and some components. I am still gathering up the rest of the components to make complete kits. He also provided an RCA CDP1802D chip, a Nook e-Reader, just waiting to be hacked, and a TI LaunchPad dev board with his product the assembled protoboard. Lots of goodies to give away!

Oops, I almost forgot about one of the prizes. I bought a bunch of extra Motorola ICs for my 1-bit robot project. So, I will be putting the extras together into some MC14500B chip-set kits. I am not totally sure what exact components will be in there (I have to see what works well), but at the very least, there will be enough to make the Minimal lCU System:

• MC14500B Industrial Control Unit (ICU)
• MC14512B 8-Channel Data Selector
• MC14599B 8-Bit Addressable Latch
• Binary Counter, either MC14516B, or MC14040B
• Read Only Memory, either DM72LS471 PROM, or TMS2516 EPROM

And finally, the pièce de résistance, semach.the.monkey will be giving away a RC2014 Classic II kit with the final set of the original RC2014 PCBs to the lucky "winner" of the RC2014 category!

But, of course, the RetroChallenge is not about winning prizes... just ask semach "I completed RC2014 and all I got was a new career" themonkey. It is the journey that is important. The nostalgia and pride of getting something done on a computer that has been sitting on your shelf is its own reward.

Now get to that nostalgizing!

It's Time to Retro!

Tin your soldering pens, clean your cassette player heads, reform your power supply capacitors, and flex your typing fingers... It's October 1st somewhere... RetroChallenge 2024/10 is Goooooo!

We have a lot of great entries, including a very strong contingent of Z80 projects by way of the RC2014s, the Sharp MZ-80Ks, and even the PERQ 2T2's I/O subprocessor.

I also like the focus on Web 1.1 and pre-Web technologies. I did some work trimming the fat on this website and supporting non-Web project URLs (more updates to come), and I have even started a new gopher site for the RetroChallenge (Web-proxy link) to join this effort!

A few entrants started early, posting about their too-large-for-a-month projects. No problem! But, rest assured they will be only judged on their progress during October.

If you are still thinking about joining but you are not exactly sure what to do, join now and see where your retrocomputing leads you during the month. Just spend some quality time with your vintage computer!

Here is some emulated Tandy TRS-80 Model 200 BASIC fun to get you inspired:

It's on like Tele-Pong!

Two weeks 'till RetroChallenge!

We have 9 great entries so far and we are still hoping to hit 20 entries before the start. I know that a few of you have been talking about it... come get your entry in now!

20th Anniversary

I recently realized that not only is it the RC2014 kit computer's 10th anniversary, but according to legend, it is also the RetroChallenge's 20th anniversary! We are vintage! The RetroChallenge is retro! I am putting together a little history of the RetroChallenge that I hope to have finished by the end of the event, along with some recognition for the people who have kept this fun event running over the years.

Prizes

As much as I love our traditional mousepads, I am really excited about the custom RetroChallenge enamel pins and keychains that I just ordered:

The pins are perfect for your vintage computer festival lanyards and the keychain will keep your Macintosh Quadra 950, Centurion minicomputer, and IBM 5170 keys nicely organized. Maybe even your house and car keys too. Every entry selected by the judges will receive one of each of these beauties.

semachthemonkey is providing a "pretty special" RC2014 related prize for a winner of the RC2014 category. I can't wait to hear some more details from him.

I have some MC14500b 1-bit computer chipset kits that I put together from extras purchased for my RC2024 project.

Granz has kindly offered up some 6802 Nano computer PCBs for prize winners. We will gather up the components to make full kits out of them.

Finally, ACMS will be providing prizes to its members as one of its official activities.

But remember, the RetroChallenge is not about the winning! Anyone who completes the month will receive the judge's applause and the internet's respect, forever!

Projects

As the years have progressed the RetroChallenge projects have trended more and more technical, but I want to assure you all that you don't need to be an engineer to participate. Just use your retrocomputer for a month, whether it is for journaling, composing chiptunes, playing games, or using MacPaint to make some funny drawings. We are here for all of it!

RC2024/10 Registration is Open

We are happy to announce RetroChallenge for the month of October 2024! Brought to you once again by hosts urbancamo and ep00ch with support from semachthemonkey.

About RetroChallenge

In a nutshell, the RetroChallenge is a loosely disorganised gathering of RetroComputing enthusiasts who collectively do stuff with old computers for a month.

The point of this, if indeed there is one, is to challenge you to do something new with your retro-computer, to learn something new or just play for a month. It is sort of like a show-and-tell. Do something fun or interesting and let the world know. The event is very much open to interpretation… individuals set their own challenges, which can range from programming to multimedia work, hardware restoration to exploring legacy networking, or just plain fooling around. It really doesn’t matter what you do, just so long as you do it.

Take a look at the "rules" for the RetroChallenge for basic guidelines.

RetroChallenge 2024/10 Theme Categories

We have two theme categories for this event: RC2014 and Halloween Hacks. These categories will be judged and awarded separately from the standard entries. If your project qualifies, enter it into one of the theme categories! Otherwise, enter in the General category and just do your own retro thing. Check out last year's List of Entries for some examples.

RC2014

Spend some quality time with your RC2014 kit computer.

In collaboration with semachthemonkey, we are celebrating the 10th anniversary of the RC2014 kit computer (invented during RetroChallenge 2014) with a category just for RC2014 owners! Solder up the unassembled kit sitting on your shelf, write a fun Z80 program, or prototype some new hardware for it. If you don't have a kit yet, check out the selection on Tindie or Z80KITS and join the most active homebuilt 8-bit computer community!

Halloween Hacks

Get ready for Halloween with the help of your retro-computer!

With the RetroChallenge ending on Halloween most years, this is an obvious match. Write or port a horror-themed text adventure, modify some vintage e-waste with a halloween theme, or synchronize your haunted house animatronics with programmable logic controller from the 80's. If you don't mind your house getting egged, you could even write your own BASIC game and hand out printed copies of the type-in program to those rascally trick-or-treaters. Anything you want… with touch of the macabre.

Prizes

We will have some RC 2024/10 themed gear for the "winners" and we are working out details for some awesome RC2014 goodies too!

Hosting Options

Feel free to host your project anywhere that everyone can follow along. We are trying out a new reddit community where you can host your project updates. Blogger, your github project wiki, Hackaday.io, or the 68kMLA RetroChallenge forum (for Macs) are all great choices too. The Captain's Quarters II BBS is a perfect option for you low-bandwith luddites.

How to Enter

Fill out the Entry Form for Contestants and save the link at the end in case you want to update or change your information. Let us know in the comments if you have any issues signing up.

Sign Up Now!

RC 2023/10 Results!

The results are in and it's a tie! The three Grand Prize "winners" this year (one for each category) tied for first by popular vote! The other prize winners also received votes and were highly regarded by the judges. But as we all know, even finsihing the RetroChallenge is an impressive task (one that I have been unable to complete for years). Everyone who finished has earned the judge's respect and appreciation!

Stay tuned for details on RetroChallenge 2024/10!

Click below to see the results...

This Is the End!

Time's up, light pens down!

You did it... we are at the end of another great month of the RetroChallenge! Despite the limited number of entries, we had great participation this year, which is the way we really like it.

I will always remember this RetroChallenge as the one where I completely ignored my project and instead met up with urbancamo on his visit to Southern California. We did a version of "October Offline" as we checked out the USS Midway Museum, ate a bunch of Mexican food, and went to an (American) football game to see the Los Angeles Rams and Ice Cube. What a great time, and a great guy to co-host this event with!

As promised, if you participated in the challenge, you can vote for the winners. Take a look at the project links in the Entrants List and then cast your vote on the RC2023/10 ballot. Make sure to get your vote in on or before Tuesday, November 7 (conveniently Election Day here in the USA), and we will award prizes based on the vote and the organizer's favorites. urbancamo, ep00ch, and an ACMS board member will be spending next couple of weeks reviewing and writing up all of the projects. Stay tuned for results!

Radio Repair room on the USS Midway... at least somebody is getting their project done!