Vacuum tube computer leads the 2026 Hackaday Retrocomputing Challenge winners

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Old computers are inspiring some amazing new projects. Hackaday has announced the winners of its 2026 Retrocomputing Challenge, with three top winners each receiving a 150 dollar DigiKey gift certificate

One winner is A Vacuum Tube Computer by a maker called Mike, an 8 bit machine built with 460 Russian 6N3P dual triode valves and 1,840 diodes. The judges said they wished they had the dedication to see a project like this through to the end

Another is The Microtronic Phoenix, an emulator of the Busch Microtronic learning computer, running on an Atmel microcontroller with the original firmware, which was extracted using a logic analyser. The third is A Tiny Sieve, which builds a Lehmer number sieve from 30 ATtiny412 chips controlled by an RP2040

Honourable mentions include Meatloaf, which adds ESP32 storage to the Commodore 64, a DOOM style game for the TRS-80 Color Computer, and a Transformer AI model trained in HyperCard. The range of ideas this year was remarkable

A computer made from hundreds of valves in 2026 is a magnificent piece of dedication. Rescuing original firmware with a logic analyser shows real detective work. Training a Transformer in HyperCard might be the most delightfully odd project of the year

Which of these projects impresses you most? And what old computer would you love to bring back to life?

Yesterday Has Never Looked This Good: Feast Your Eyes On The 2026 Retrocomputing Challenge Winners!hackaday.com