Grandstand TV Game 3600 Mk III
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| The control panel of the earlier TVG-3600 Mk II, shown for comparison: no freely licensed photograph of the 3600 Mk III has been found | |
| Specifications | |
|---|---|
| Manufacturer | Adman Grandstand (Adam Imports); made in Hong Kong[1][2] |
| Type | Dedicated home video game console (Pong-type TV game) |
| Released | 1977[1] |
| CPU | Not confirmed; probably a General Instrument AY-3-8500 (see Hardware) |
| Memory | None |
| Storage | None |
| Display | RF output to a television, colour[2] |
| Sound | Speaker in the base[2] |
| Power | Six UM-2 (C) cells or a 9 V 100 mA adaptor[2] |
| OS / Firmware | None |
| Model no. | 3600 Mk III |
The Grandstand TV Game 3600 Mk III (Adman Grandstand Colour TV Game 3600 Mk III) is a six-game colour Pong-type TV game with a light gun, sold in the UK under the Adman Grandstand name.[1][2] It uses the case of the Grandstand TV Game 3600 Mk II with a redesigned control panel. It is known from a museum record and photograph, a collector's photographs of a complete boxed example, and a row in Wikipedia's list of Grandstand consoles; no leaflet, schematic or photograph of its board has been found.
History
[edit | edit source]The Centre for Computing History holds an "Adman Grandstand 3600 Mk III TV Game", which it describes as "a six-game Pong console from Adman Grandstand" and dates to 1977.[1] Wikipedia lists the "Adman Grandstand Colour T.V. Game 3600 Mk. III" as a colour console made in Hong Kong between 1977 and 1979.[3] A Spanish collector who owns a 3600 Mk II gives the 3600 series as three models: the TVG 3600, the Mk II and the Mk III.[4]
The box of the example photographed by Ian Hill calls it the "Grandstand 3600 mk III Video Sports Centre", with "6 exciting fun games with electronic console control". Its base carries the same label as the Mk II's, giving British patents 1268821 and 1328223, the power supply and "Made in Hong Kong".[2] No source names the Hong Kong factory. One writer states that VTech made it, from a picture on VTech's own history page that he says contains verifiable inaccuracies;[5] that has not been confirmed.
Hardware
[edit | edit source]No photograph of the Mk III's board has been published, so its chip is not confirmed. Its six games are, by name, the six games of General Instrument's AY-3-8500, the chip in the 3600 Mk II, and one writer states that the Mk III "used a regular AY-3-8500".[6][2][5]
Compared with the Mk II, the Mk III replaces the two GAME SELECT switches with a single six-position slider, and moves the gun sockets from the side of the case to the panel. The battery compartment takes six C cells in two rows of three, and the speaker sounds through a star of holes in the base.[2]
Games
[edit | edit source]| Console panel | Wikipedia |
|---|---|
| TENNIS | Tennis |
| SOCCER | Football/Hockey |
| SQUASH | Squash |
| PRACTICE | Practice |
| TARGET-1 | Skeet |
| TARGET-2 | Target |
The panel's other controls are POWER (ON/OFF), SERVE (MANUAL/AUTO), and SPEED, ANGLE and BAT SIZE, each set to AMATEUR or PROFESSIONAL, with orange RESET and SERVE buttons.[2] The console shows its scores on screen, in colour on a green field.[2]
Controls and light gun
[edit | edit source]The two hand controllers are dark brown cylinders with a cream knob at one end. Each holds a variable resistor, has no serve button, and plugs into the LEFT PLAYER or RIGHT PLAYER socket on the panel with a mono jack plug.[2]
The photographed Mk III came with a black pistol marked THUNDERCOLT Super Marksman 304, whose barrel extension comes off so that it fits in the box. Its twin plug goes into the pair of sockets marked GUN at the right of the panel.[2][1] Light guns of this kind need a cathode-ray tube television; the owner of the photographed example notes that he needs a CRT set to test it.[2]
Power
[edit | edit source]The base label reads "BATTERY: UM-2 x 6 OR AC ADAPTOR (9V / 100 MA)", and the adaptor socket is in the side of the case. The label gives no polarity.[2] The photographed example works from an Ingersoll 9 V 250 mA adaptor.[2] Measure the socket against the battery terminals, and measure any adaptor, before connecting it. Remove the cells for storage; see Battery Explosion, Capacitor or Corrosion Damage if they have leaked.
Repair
[edit | edit source]No service manual, schematic or capacitor data for the 3600 Mk III has been found. Care, opening the case and fault-finding are covered on the Mk III's own pages:
- Grandstand TV Game 3600 Mk III General Maintenance
- Grandstand TV Game 3600 Mk III Troubleshooting Guide
- Grandstand TV Game 3600 Mk III Capacitor Replacement Guide
No photograph of the Mk III's board, and so no capacitor value, has been published. The capacitor guide gives the readings from the 3600 Mk II's board in the same case, labelled as the Mk II's, with the Mk III's own supply details and how to open, record and recap a Mk III.
Documentation
[edit | edit source]No instruction leaflet or service information for the 3600 Mk III has been found online.
Related pages
[edit | edit source]- Grandstand TV Game 3600 Mk II, the same case with the earlier panel
- Grandstand TV Game 3600 Mk III Capacitor Replacement Guide
- Grandstand TV Game 2600 Mk II
- Grandstand Model 4600, another six-game colour Grandstand TV game on the AY-3-8500
- Atari Super Pong, a four-game colour Pong console of 1976, for comparison
- Category:Grandstand
References
[edit | edit source]- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 Centre for Computing History, "Adman Grandstand 3600 Mk III TV Game", CH50705 (retrieved 2026-10-18): "A six-game Pong console from Adman Grandstand."; manufacturer Adman; dated 1977. The record's photograph (not freely licensed) shows the front label "ADMAN GRANDSTAND COLOUR TV GAME 3600 MK III", the six-position game slider and the GUN sockets on the panel.
- ↑ 2.00 2.01 2.02 2.03 2.04 2.05 2.06 2.07 2.08 2.09 2.10 2.11 2.12 2.13 2.14 2.15 Ian Hill, "Grandstand Colour TV Game 3600 MKIII", Ian's Retro Museum (collector's site; photographs not freely licensed, read and described here) (retrieved 2026-10-18): same form factor and name as the Mk II with a restyled panel and a single slide switch to choose the game; battery compartment and speaker in the base; external power connector in one side; light gun that disassembles to fit the box; controllers that are a variable resistor in a cylinder with no serve button; Ingersoll adaptor, 9 V 250 mA; shown working. Photographs examined at full size: the front label and panel; base label "COLOR TV GAME / PATENTS BRITISH NO. 1268821 AND 1328223 AND IN OTHER 18 COUNTRIES / BATTERY: UM-2 x 6 OR AC ADAPTOR (9V / 100 MA) / SERIAL NO. 005416 / MADE IN HONG KONG"; battery compartment for two rows of three UM-2 cells; star of speaker holes; THUNDERCOLT Super Marksman 304 pistol with twin plug; two dark brown cylindrical controllers with cream knobs; box "GRANDSTAND 3600 mk III VIDEO SPORTS CENTRE", "6 exciting fun games with electronic console control", "Colour"; a soccer game on a green field with coloured scores.
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 Wikipedia, "Grandstand (game manufacturer)", table of integrated Pong consoles (retrieved 2026-10-18): "Adman Grandstand Colour T.V. Game 3600 Mk. III", colour, six games (Tennis, Football/Hockey, Squash, Practice, Skeet and Target), made in Hong Kong, 1977 to 1979. The row cites only the Centre for Computing History record.
- ↑ José Antonio Ortigueira Amor, "Adman Grandstand TV Game 3600 MK II Colour", Retro Ordenadores Orty (collector's blog, in Spanish), 23 November 2023 (retrieved 2026-10-18): "La serie 3600 (6 juegos en color) llegó a tener tres modelos: Grandstand TVG 3600, Grandstand TVG 3600 MK II y Grandstand TVG 3600 MK III."
- ↑ 5.0 5.1 Cameron Kaiser, "A Dick Smith VZ200 without the Dick Smith (but with a serial port)", Old Vintage Computing Research (blog), September 2026 (retrieved 2026-10-18): "If the picture on VTech's history page is to be believed, and I point out there are some verifiable inaccuracies on that page, VTech continued to produce other consoles for Grandstand/Adam like the ... Grandstand Adman Colour TV Game 3600 Mk III, which used a regular AY-3-8500 and was produced until 1979." The VTech page refuses automated access and could not be checked.
- ↑ General Instrument Corporation, GIMINI TV Game Circuits, January 1978, p. 4, PDF hosted by Pong-Story (retrieved 2026-10-18): the AY-3-8500 has six selectable games, "Tennis, soccer, squash, practice and two rifle shooting games".