Coleco Telstar Deluxe Troubleshooting Guide
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Fault-finding for the Coleco Telstar Deluxe (Telstar Video World of Sports), the Canadian version of the first Telstar.[1] No guide, schematic or repair report for the Deluxe itself has been found. Pong-Story describes its electronics as those of the Coleco Telstar, built on General Instrument's AY-3-8500, so the checks below are the Telstar's and GI's, stated as such.[1][2]
What should happen at power-on
[edit | edit source]- ON and RESET bring up a playfield with the scores; RESET clears the scores and starts a game.[3]
- The game switch selects tennis, hockey or handball.[4]
- Each paddle knob moves its paddle up and down; play stops scoring at 15 points until RESET.[3]
Expected measurements
[edit | edit source]| Point | Expected | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Supply on the Telstar | 9 V from six C cells or a 9 V DC adapter; not documented for the Deluxe | [5] |
| AY-3-8500 pin 4 to pin 2 | +6 to +7 V | [3] |
| AY-3-8500 pin 17 | 2.012160 MHz ±1% | [3] |
| Closed switch to ground | 1 kΩ or less | [3] |
Symptoms
[edit | edit source]| Symptom | Likely cause | Action |
|---|---|---|
| Dead | Power source; contacts; switch | Identify how your Deluxe is powered, then measure the supply before and after the ON switch. |
| No picture | Television channel; cable; switch box | The Telstar works on VHF channel 3; use an analogue tuner and check the cable and switch box.[5] |
| Game or difficulty switch stuck or not working | Dirty slide switch | A 6040 Telstar had a stuck game switch and a difficulty switch that no longer shrank the paddles; clean and test as on Coleco Telstar Troubleshooting Guide.[5] |
| Wrong game or a third paddle on the right | Game switch between positions | With no game selected the AY-3-8500 plays its hidden game, Handicap.[6] |
| No game on a steady blank screen | AY-3-8500 not running | Measure pins 4 and 17.[3] |
Coleco's own trouble-shooting chart for the wooden-cased Telstar of the same period is on Coleco Telstar Classic Troubleshooting Guide.
Related pages
[edit | edit source]- Coleco Telstar Deluxe
- Coleco Telstar Deluxe General Maintenance
- Coleco Telstar Deluxe Capacitor Replacement Guide
- Coleco Telstar Troubleshooting Guide
References
[edit | edit source]- ↑ 1.0 1.1 David Winter, Pong-Story, "Coleco Telstar Deluxe" (retrieved 2026-10-18): the Telstar sold in Canada as the Telstar Deluxe "Video World Of Sports"; basically a Telstar unit in brown with a pedestal; because the Canadian government required French text as well as English, the box carried both languages on each side; also sold in the USA under the Montgomery Ward label as Coleco Telstar Video World Of Sports; unlike the Telstar and Telstar Ranger it has a pedestal.
- ↑ David Winter, Pong-Story, "Coleco Telstar systems" (retrieved 2026-10-18): Telstar, released in 1976, played three games with three difficulty levels and was the first system to use GI's AY-3-8500; over a million units sold; variants sold as the Telstar Deluxe in Canada and by Montgomery Ward as "Telstar Video World of Sports"; Coleco's systems were sold partially assembled, with the knobs and decorative stickers fitted by the user.
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 3.3 3.4 3.5 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.
- ↑ Arcade-History, "Telstar Video World of Sports" (retrieved 2026-10-19): © 1977 Montgomery Ward; three Pong games (tennis, hockey, handball); the same as the Telstar model 6040 in a slightly different case, released only on the Canadian market; also known as the Telstar Deluxe.
- ↑ 5.0 5.1 5.2 Lon.TV, "This Was the Best Selling Game Console of 1976", blog post, 4 February 2026 (retrieved 2026-10-19): a Telstar model 6040 bought for a historical-society display; launched at $50; AY-3-8500 with the game logic in the chip; sound from a built-in speaker; RF output for VHF channel 3 through a switch box; designed to run on six C cells, with a power connector for an optional supply; on his unit the game selector switch was stuck and the difficulty slider did not resize the paddles at the "pro" setting.
- ↑ David Winter, Pong-Story, "PONG in a Chip" (retrieved 2026-10-18): two versions of the AY-3-8500 exist, the early one with a dashed central line about twice as large and solid horizontal boundaries; the undocumented seventh game, Handicap, is played when none of the six games is selected; game selection switches "(rotary or linear) which could fail after many game selections".