After the release of the Telstar (the first "dedicated-chip" pong system) in 1976 which was a big success, Coleco conceived a whole range of pongs.
This pong have the same caracteristics as the Telstar Colormatic (4 games) but the case is different. It is quite small and the controllers (dials) are built-in the console. It also has a digital pushbutton game selector, color (thanks to the AY-3-8510 chipset), and a special piezzo electric beeper (which requires an additional battery).
There's a 3 positions switch that controls difficulty (beginner : slow ball, big paddles / advanced : fast ball, big paddles / expert : fast ball, small paddles). If this is common to the first Telstars, this is quite different from most of the other pong systems which offer individual settings.
Promotional text says: "Telestar Colortron, a sellout in '79 and still going strong! Telstar Colortron features four exciting sports games - Tennis, Hockey, Handball and Jai Alai - all in brillant color! On-screen digital display scoring, realistic electronic sound effects. Variable skill control for beginner, intermediate and pro players. The GX-10, a custom chip made for Coleco, makes it all possible at an incredibly low price! Operates on two 9 volt batteries (not included). Full color packaging.
- Four exciting sports: Tennis, Hockey, Handball, Jai alai
- Brilliant color (plays B&W on B&W TV sets)
- On-screen digital display scoring
- Electronic sound effects
- Variable skill control
- Requires two 9 volt batteries or Coleco battery eliminator / AC adapter
- FCC approved
- Full color packaging
- Ages 8 to adult"
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Buenas tardes. Quiero saber cómo puedo conectar el juego a una pantalla de televisión, por favor y gracias
Oh man. I couldn''t remember what my first Pong console was, but this was it. I got it at a thrift store for pennies, battery door missing, but it worked fine. I wonder what happened to it...
Thursday 7th December 2017
Nash (USA)
NAME
Telstar Colortron
MANUFACTURER
Coleco
ORIGIN
U.S.A.
YEAR
1978
BUILT IN SOFTWARE / GAMES
Tennis, Hockey, Handball, Jai Alai
CONTROLLERS
Two dials built-in the system
CPU
General Instruments AY-3-8510 Pong chip or Coleco GX10 chip ?
SPEED
Game selection button, Reset
CO-PROCESSOR
Difficulty Beginner/intermediate/Pro
RAM
On screen
COLORS
Green background. White for the field and ball. Red and black for paddles and scoring.
SOUND
Piezzo beeper
SIZE / WEIGHT
11 lb
I/O PORTS
RF TV video output
NUMBER OF GAMES
2 x 9v cells (one for the system, and one for the piezzo beeper)
