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Coleco Telstar Colormatic Troubleshooting Guide

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Telstar Colormatic (1977) (10)
The Colormatic's centre panel: game switch, RESET, ON/OFF and the difficulty switch.

Fault-finding for the Coleco Telstar Colormatic (model 6130), Coleco's 1977 colour Telstar built on General Instrument's AY-3-8500 with a Texas Instruments SN76499N for colour.[1][2] No owner's guide, schematic or repair report for the Colormatic has been found. Cleaning is on Coleco Telstar Colormatic General Maintenance.

What should happen at power-on

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  • With fresh cells or the No. 6041 adaptor, switching ON gives a game picture; RESET clears both scores and starts a new game.[3][4]
  • Each game appears on its own background colour.[2]
  • Each controller moves one paddle up and down.[5][4]
  • After 15 points no further hits or scores count until RESET.[4]

Expected measurements

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Telstar Colormatic reference values
Point Expected Source
No. 6041 adaptor 9 V DC, 200 mA [3][6]
AY-3-8500 pin 4 to pin 2 +6 to +7 V; 12 V absolute maximum [4]
AY-3-8500 supply current 40 mA typical, 60 mA maximum at +7 V [4]
AY-3-8500 pin 17 2.012160 MHz ±1% [4]
AY-3-8500 video outputs Separate: ball pin 6, right player pin 9, left player pin 10, score and field pin 24 [7]
Closed switch to ground 1 kΩ or less [4]

Symptoms

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Telstar Colormatic symptoms
Symptom Likely cause Action
Nothing at all Cells, contacts or adaptor Fit fresh cells, clean the contacts, and measure the supply before and after ON/OFF.
Picture in black and white, or wrong colours Television colour or tint controls; automatic colour control; the colour circuit Adjust colour and tint first, and turn off automatic colour control, as Coleco advises for its colour Telstars.[8] If the set is right, the fault is in the console's colour circuit, for which no data has been published.
One element (a paddle, the ball or the score) missing in colour but present in black and white One video output or its path to the colour circuit Check the matching AY-3-8500 output pin for activity and follow it to the colour chip.[7]
One paddle missing or jumpy Controller lead, plug or socket; dirty control Swap the two controllers between sockets. If the fault follows the controller, repair its lead or control; if it stays with the socket, clean or resolder the socket.[9]
Wrong game, or a football or hockey game with a third paddle on the right Game switch not making contact The AY-3-8500 plays its hidden game, Handicap, when no game input is grounded. Clean the switch.[10]
Steady screen, no game AY-3-8500 not running Measure pins 4 and 17.[4]
No sound Speaker or wiring The chip's sound is on pin 3.[4]

Things that are not faults

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  • The background colour changes from game to game.[2]
  • The paddles move only up and down.[4]
  • Play stops scoring at 15 points until RESET.[4]

What is realistically repairable

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Repairability of Telstar Colormatic parts
Part Repairable? Notes
Battery contacts, adaptor socket Yes Clean or replace.
Controller leads, plugs and controls Yes Ordinary parts; measure the old control before replacing it.
Slide switches and RESET Usually Clean first.
Electrolytic capacitors Yes See Coleco Telstar Colormatic Capacitor Replacement Guide.
AY-3-8500 Only by transplant Rule out supply, clock and switches first.
SN76499N Only from another Colormatic No data sheet has been found.
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References

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  1. ↑ David Winter, Pong-Story, "Coleco Telstar Colormatic" (retrieved 2026-10-18): model 6130, released in 1977; the same as the Telstar Alpha with two differences: separate controllers in place of fixed knobs, and a colour picture produced with Texas Instruments' SN76499N; woodgrain-style finish; photographs of the console, its two controllers and switch box, and a unit missing its battery cover.
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 Arcade-History, "Telstar Colormatic [Model 6130"] (retrieved 2026-10-19): model 6130, 1977; two detachable paddles with dials; General Instruments AY-3-8500 and Texas Instruments SN76499N; a different background colour for each game; on-board speaker with three sounds; game selection, difficulty and on/off switches and a reset button; "the first Coleco console with detached controllers and color graphics".
  3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 Photograph by Sintegrity, File:Telstar Colormatic (1977) (9).jpg (CC BY-SA 4.0, from Wikimedia Commons), read at full size: rear label "USE ONLY COLECO No. 6041 200 MA 9 VOLT AC ADAPTOR (IN YELLOW BOX)" beside the adapter socket.
  4. ↑ 4.00 4.01 4.02 4.03 4.04 4.05 4.06 4.07 4.08 4.09 4.10 General Instrument, GIMINI TV Game Circuits, January 1978, pp. 4-6, File:General Instrument GIMINI TV Game Circuits (January 1978).pdf: AY-3-8500 pin functions (VSS pin 2, sound pin 3, VCC pin 4, ball speed pin 7 open for low speed and grounded for high, bat size pin 13 open for large bats and grounded for small, sync pin 16, clock pin 17 at 2.012160 MHz ±1%, game inputs pins 18 to 23 grounded to select; reset input pin 25 momentarily grounded to reset the score counters and start a new game); standard conditions VCC +6 to +7 V, +12 V maximum; supply current 40 mA typical, 60 mA maximum at +7 V; control inputs need 1 kΩ or less to VSS; vertical bat movement; scores 0 to 15.
  5. ↑ Photograph by Sintegrity, File:Telstar Colormatic (1977) (6).jpg (CC BY-SA 4.0, from Wikimedia Commons): a paddle controller with a woodgrain top and a knob on a lead.
  6. ↑ Photograph by Evan-Amos, File:Coleco-Telstar-AC-Adaptor.jpg (public domain, from Wikimedia Commons): label "TELSTAR AC ADAPTOR MODEL 6041 ... INPUT: 117V 60Hz 5W OUTPUT: 9 V DC 200mA".
  7. ↑ 7.0 7.1 General Instrument, GIMINI TV Game Circuits, January 1978, pp. 4, 5 and 25, File:General Instrument GIMINI TV Game Circuits (January 1978).pdf: the AY-3-8500 outputs the right player, left player, ball and score-and-field video on separate pins (9, 10, 6 and 24); System Diagram 2 and the AY-3-8515 data sheet show GI's own colour converter turning these outputs into one colour composite signal.
  8. ↑ Coleco Industries, Telstar Colortron Installation Instructions and Game Rules, Model No. 6135, Guide No. 76652, 1978, p. 3, File:Coleco Telstar Colortron Installation Instructions (Guide 76652).pdf: adjust the colour controls of the TV for normal viewing; on some sets it may be necessary to adjust "hue" or "tint" to obtain the game colours, and on a TV with automatic colour control that control should be turned off.
  9. ↑ Photograph by Sintegrity, File:Telstar Colormatic (1977) (8).jpg (CC BY-SA 4.0, from Wikimedia Commons): centre panel with HOCKEY/TENNIS/HANDBALL/JAI ALAI game switch, RESET, ON/OFF and BEGINNER/INTERMEDIATE/PRO; each paddle controller's lead plugged into a socket in a woodgrain side panel.
  10. ↑ David Winter, Pong-Story, "PONG in a Chip" (retrieved 2026-10-18): on consoles built with GI chips, game selection used a switch "(rotary or linear) which could fail after many game selections"; the AY-3-8500's undocumented seventh game, Handicap, a football/hockey variant in which the right-hand player has a third paddle, is played when none of the six games is selected.


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