Coleco Telstar Arcade Documentation
Three documents for the Coleco Telstar Arcade are hosted here: Coleco's owner's guide for the console, Coleco's rules sheet for Cartridge No. 4, and MOS Technology's specification for the game chip family used in the cartridges.
Console guide 58024 C
[edit | edit source]The Telstar Arcade Installation Instructions and Game Rules is Coleco Industries' eight-page guide, Model No. 6175, Guide No. 58024 C, copyright 1977, printed on legal-size pages.[1]
| Page | Contents |
|---|---|
| 1 | Features (three games on Cartridge No. 1, colour, scoring, AC adapter included); FCC requirements; drawing of the console |
| 2 | Fitting the three suction cups, the steering wheel, the shift lever and the pistol holster; the AC adapter Model #6041-200MA |
| 3 | Switch box; fitting and removing the cartridge, with the cautions on switching off and on the contacts; TV adjustments and the channel selector under the console |
| 4 | Diagrams of the tennis, Road Race and Quick Draw panels naming every control |
| 5 | To play the game; black-and-white sets; Road Race and Tennis rules |
| 6 | Quick Draw rules and pistol adjustments; Cartridges No. 2 and No. 3 |
| 7 | Trouble-shooting guide; care of the cartridge (contact cleaning, latch) |
| 8 | Limited warranty and service policy; accessories order form (cartridge latch, adapter, switch kit, pistol, cartridges) |
Download: Coleco Telstar Arcade Installation Instructions (Guide 58024C).pdf
Cartridge No. 4 rules sheet
[edit | edit source]Coleco's two-page sheet Game Rules and Operation of Telstar Cartridge No. 4, Model No. 6114, Guide No. 76659 A, copyright 1978, gives the rules of Naval Battle, Speed Ball and Blast-Away, the caution to switch off before changing cartridges and to keep a cartridge in the console, pistol and television settings for Blast-Away, the warning that position 4 has no game, and the advice to unplug the adapter when the game is not in use.[2]
Download: Coleco Telstar Arcade Cartridge 4 Instructions (Guide 76659A).pdf
Cartridge No. 3 rules and order flyer
[edit | edit source]The first page of Coleco's Game Rules and Operation of Telstar Cartridge No. 3, Model No. 6113, Guide No. 76634, survives as a low-resolution photograph on Pong-Story. It lists the four pinball games and two target games, gives the controls (flippers on LEFT SLAM, the ball plunger on RIGHT SLAM, and the playfield adjusted with the two rotary controls and the steering wheel), the rules and scoring for one-player Bonus Pinball, and two labelled diagrams of the playfield. The later pages are not included. Coleco's 1977 order flyer for the cartridge, part no. 76627, shows the screens of all six games and the $25.00 mail-order price.[3] The Coleco Telstar Gemini plays the same six games.
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MOS Technology MPS 7600-001 specification
[edit | edit source]MOS Technology's Specification for Video Game Array MPS 7600-001, preliminary, revision 1 of June 1976, describes the chip in Cartridge No. 2; the other cartridges use the -002, -003 and -004 versions.[4][5] The scan holds the title page, the contents, sections 1 to 4 (product definition and features; the tennis, hockey, handball and target games and their controls; system description, covering the clock, power supply, player controls, sound, game selection, video and RF signals and the gun interface) and the system figures. Sections 5 and 6, listed in the contents as electrical and mechanical characteristics with the pin connections, are not in the scan.
Download: MOS Technology MPS 7600-001 Video Game Array Specification (1976).pdf
What these documents do not contain
[edit | edit source]No schematic or parts list for the console or any cartridge, no voltages measured on Coleco's boards, and no disassembly procedure. Coleco states that the console contains no serviceable parts and that opening it voids the warranty, while giving its own procedure for cleaning the cartridge contacts.[6] The guide for Cartridge No. 2 is not among the hosted documents, and only the first page of the Cartridge No. 3 rules is.
Pages that cite these documents
[edit | edit source]- Coleco Telstar Arcade: model number, panels, cartridges, power and warranty.
- Coleco Telstar Arcade General Maintenance: cartridge contacts and latch, adapter, controls, pistol and television set-up.
- Coleco Telstar Arcade Troubleshooting Guide: Coleco's chart and cartridge procedure; MPS 7600 reference values.
- Coleco Telstar Arcade Capacitor Replacement Guide: supply filtering requirements.
- Coleco Telstar Gemini: the MPS 7600 chip family; the Cartridge No. 3 rules and flyer for the same six games.
- Coleco Telstar Gemini General Maintenance, Coleco Telstar Gemini Troubleshooting Guide and Coleco Telstar Gemini Capacitor Replacement Guide: pistol and television advice, game behaviour, and the MPS 7600 supply and filtering requirements.
References
[edit | edit source]- ↑ Internet Archive, collection 1stGenPong, file Pong-Cartridge/Coleco_Telstar_Arcade.pdf (retrieved 2026-10-19); re-assembled here at 200 dpi.
- ↑ Internet Archive, collection 1stGenPong, file Pong-Cartridge/Coleco_Telstar_Arcade-Cartridge-4.pdf (retrieved 2026-10-19).
- ↑ David Winter, Pong-Story, "Coleco Telstar Arcade - Cartridge #3" (retrieved 2026-10-19).
- ↑ Internet Archive, item mos-7600-datasheet, scanned by commodore.international from a copy contributed by Barry Luokkala, Carnegie Mellon University (retrieved 2026-10-19).
- ↑ Centre for Computing History, "Coleco Telstar Arcade", reference CH66264 (retrieved 2026-10-19): chips MPS 7600-002 (Cartridge 1), -001 (Cartridge 2), -004 (Cartridge 3) and -003 (Cartridge 4).
- ↑ Coleco Industries, Guide No. 58024 C, 1977, p. 7.