Grandstand Model 4600
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| Grandstand 4600 Colour: score sliders at the top, the game slider and setting switches in the centre, a control pod either side | |
| Specifications | |
|---|---|
| Manufacturer | Grandstand (Adam Imports); made in Hong Kong[1] |
| Type | Dedicated home video game console (Pong-type TV game) |
| Released | Not established; dated 1977 by its owner's blog, but the photographed board has 1981 date codes (see History) |
| CPU | None; General Instrument AY-3-8500 single-chip game IC, with a TBA520 colour decoder IC[2] |
| Memory | None |
| Storage | None |
| Display | RF output on UHF channel 36, colour[1] |
| Sound | Built-in speaker[3] |
| Power | Six UM-2 (C) cells or a 9 V DC 100 mA adaptor[1] |
| OS / Firmware | None |
| Model no. | 4600 |
The Grandstand Model 4600 (Grandstand 4600 Colour) is a colour Pong-type TV game sold in the UK under the Grandstand name. It has six games selected with a slider, two rotary control pods that lift out of the case on their cables, a socket for a rifle, and an output on UHF channel 36.[4][5][1][6] The board in the photographed console is built around a General Instrument AY-3-8500 game chip and a TBA520 colour decoder IC.[2]
History
[edit | edit source]Wikipedia lists two names for the model, "Grandstand Model 4600 Video Sports Centre Endorsed By Kevin Keegan" and "Grandstand Model 4600 Deluxe Colour Video Sports Centre", both six-game colour consoles made in Hong Kong. It gives no release date.[7] The owner of the console in the Commons photographs reports that on the Deluxe version the reset button is on the controllers.[3] His console carries "GRANDSTAND" and "4600 COLOUR" on its panel, without the "Adman" name of the earlier models, and "Made in Hong Kong" on the base.[4][1]
The date is uncertain, and the sources conflict. The owner's blog gives 1977 and says Adam Imports distributed the 4600 in the UK that year.[3] But the game chip on his board is marked "8138 SFA" and the TBA520 "F8133", which in the usual year-and-week form are weeks 38 and 33 of 1981, so that console was built in late 1981 or later.[2] His console's serial number, inside the battery compartment, is 09-81-01, and a second 4600 carries a sticker reading "BATCH NO. 08-80-01".[3][6] The 3600 Mk II, on the same game chip, is dated 1977.[8] No catalogue, advertisement or dated leaflet for the 4600 has been found.
Hardware
[edit | edit source]| Part | Detail |
|---|---|
| Game chip | General Instrument AY-3-8500, marked "8138 SFA"[2] |
| Colour | TBA520, marked "F8133 INDONESIA", described by the photographer as a PAL TV chroma demodulator[2] |
| Other ICs | Two National Semiconductor CD4069CN / MM74C04N (CMOS hex inverters)[2] |
| RF modulator | Screened can at the top of the board; output on UHF channel 36[2][1] |
| Game select | Long multi-position slide switch across the middle of the board[2] |
| Settings | Six slide switches, SW1 to SW6, along the front edge of the board[2] |
| Board | REV.2 11-00161-00 on the solder side; held to the upper case by five screws[9][3] |
| Power | 9 V DC; socket labelled "DC 9V" at the rear of the case, centre positive according to the owner[1][10][3] |
The AY-3-8500 plays four bat-and-ball games and two target-shooting games, which matches the six positions of the 4600's game slider.[11][4] The photographer describes the second chip, a TBA520, as a "PAL TV chroma demodulator" that produces the colours with the AY-3-8500.[2] General Instrument's own colour encoder for the AY-3-8500, the AY-3-8515, is not fitted.[11][2] The 3600 Mk II uses the same game chip without a TBA520, so check the board in hand before following notes written for the other model.
The photographed board has brown deposits and corrosion around several of the slide switches and nearby parts. The photographer does not say what caused it, and the console works.[2][3] Only two capacitor markings can be read in the photograph (C38, 10 µF; C37, 16 V), so there is no capacitor list for the 4600.[2] Wikidata gives the 4600's chip as an AY-3-8600; the board shows an AY-3-8500.[12][2]
Games
[edit | edit source]The game slider has six numbered positions:[4]
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| PRACTICE | SQUASH | SOCCER | TENNIS | S.L. TARGET | M. TARGET |
Wikipedia gives the last two as "Target" and "Moving Target".[7] The setting switches are SERVE (MANU, AUTO), BAT SIZE, ANGLE and SPEED, the last three grouped under AMATEUR and PROFESSIONAL, with GAME RESET and POWER (OFF, ON) beside them and a SERVE button on the game plate.[4] The photograph of the screen shows two-digit scores at the top and a dotted centre line.[13]
Above the game plate are two sliders marked 0 to 10 under the heading LEFT, SCORE, RIGHT. A collector describes them as manual score counters; the console also shows the score on screen.[6][13]
Controls and rifle
[edit | edit source]Each player has a grey control pod with a rotary knob, labelled LEFT PLAYER and RIGHT PLAYER. Each is a potentiometer in a plastic box. The pods sit in recesses either side of the panel and lift out on their cables, which stay wired into the console.[4][5][6]
A second collector's 4600 came with a "rifle": a black pistol on a grey lead that plugs into the side of the case with a DIN plug. His was missing some parts.[6] It is used for the two target games,[11] and like other light guns of the period it needs a cathode-ray tube television.
Power
[edit | edit source]The base label reads "POWER SOURCE: Use 6 x UM-2 Batteries or by AC Adaptor 9V DC 100mA", and the socket at the rear of the case is labelled "DC 9V".[1][10] Neither gives the plug polarity; the owner of the photographed console describes the socket as taking 9 V DC with the centre pin positive, and ran it successfully from such a supply.[3] Measure any adaptor before connecting it. Grandstand also sold a switchable Grandstand Universal Mains Adaptor (6-9 V DC, with a polarity switch) for its handheld and tabletop games; no source found says it was meant for the TV games.[14]
Open a console that has been in storage and check for leaked cells and corrosion before powering it; see Battery Explosion, Capacitor or Corrosion Damage.
Repair
[edit | edit source]No service manual or schematic for the 4600 has been found. Care, opening the case and fault-finding are covered on the 4600's own pages:
There is no capacitor guide: only two capacitor markings are legible in the one published board photograph, and they are recorded in the maintenance guide. General Instrument's 1978 catalogue of TV game circuits, which covers the AY-3-8500, is available from Pong-Story.[15]
Documentation
[edit | edit source]No instruction leaflet or service information for the 4600 has been found online.
Gallery
[edit | edit source]-
Both control pods lifted out of their recesses -
A game on a colour television -
Base: UHF channel 36, six UM-2 cells or a 9 V DC 100 mA adaptor, made in Hong Kong -
The rear: the DC 9V socket and the RF lead -
Inside, with the board solder side up
Related pages
[edit | edit source]- Grandstand Model 5000 and Grandstand Model 6000, ten-game Grandstand TV games in the same style of case
- Grandstand TV Game 3600 Mk II, an earlier 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 1.5 1.6 1.7 Photograph by José Antonio Ortigueira Amor, File:Grandstand 4600 colour - Back.jpg (CC BY 4.0, from Wikimedia Commons): base label "UHF CHANNEL 36 / POWER SOURCE: Use 6 x UM-2 Batteries or by AC Adaptor 9V DC 100mA" and "Made in Hong Kong".
- ↑ 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 Photograph by José Antonio Ortigueira Amor, File:Grandstand 4600 colour - PCB.jpg (CC BY 4.0, from Wikimedia Commons), with the photographer's description "CPU: AY-3-8500 plus the Fairchild TBA520 (PAL TV CHROMA DEMULATOR) that produce images with colors": markings "AY-3-8500 GI 8138 SFA", "TBA520 F8133 INDONESIA", two "CD4069CN MM74C04N" with the National logo, the RF can, the game-select switch, SW1 to SW6, the deposits on the board, and electrolytic capacitors of which only C38 (10 µF) and C37 (16 V) can be read. Read from the full-size image.
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 3.3 3.4 3.5 3.6 3.7 José Antonio Ortigueira Amor, "Consola Grandstand 4600 Colour Video Sports Centre (1977)", Retro Ordenadores Orty (collector's blog, in Spanish), December 2021 (retrieved 2026-10-18). Owner's description of his console: distributed in the UK in 1977 by Adam Imports; AY-3-8500 and TBA520; internal sound; on the Deluxe version the reset button is on the controllers; the rear jack is for a 9 V DC supply with the centre pin positive ("9V DC centro positivo"); six 1.5 V LR14 cells; serial number 09-81-01 inside the battery compartment; four screws hold the lower case and five hold the board to the upper case; tested on a 9 V DC centre-positive supply and working correctly.
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 4.3 4.4 4.5 Photograph by José Antonio Ortigueira Amor, File:Grandstand 4600 colour (above).jpg (CC BY 4.0, from Wikimedia Commons): the panel legends, the six-position game slider, the LEFT and RIGHT SCORE sliders, "GRANDSTAND" and "4600 COLOUR", and the two control pods. Read from the full-size image.
- ↑ 5.0 5.1 Photograph by José Antonio Ortigueira Amor, File:Grandstand 4600 colour - With detached controllers.jpg (CC BY 4.0, from Wikimedia Commons): both control pods out of their recesses on their cables.
- ↑ 6.0 6.1 6.2 6.3 6.4 Ian Hill, "Grandstand 4600", Ian's Retro Museum (collector's site; photographs not freely licensed) (retrieved 2026-10-18): a second 4600 with its box; controllers "nothing more than a potentiometer in a plastic box", permanently attached and stored in the unit; a "rifle" attachment that "plugs into the side via a DIN plug" and was missing some parts; "manual score counters at the top of the unit"; works on a suitable PSU. Photographs: the same base label, a "BATCH NO. 08-80-01" sticker, and the pistol on a grey lead.
- ↑ 7.0 7.1 Wikipedia, "Grandstand (game manufacturer)", table of integrated Pong consoles (retrieved 2026-10-18): "Grandstand Model 4600 Video Sports Centre Endorsed By Kevin Keegan" and "Grandstand Model 4600 Deluxe Colour Video Sports Centre", colour, six games (Practice, Squash, Soccer, Tennis, Target and Moving Target), made in Hong Kong; no date and no citation.
- ↑ Centre for Computing History, "Adman Grandstand 3600 Mk II TV Game", CH39823 (retrieved 2026-10-18): the 3600 Mk II dated 1977.
- ↑ Photograph by José Antonio Ortigueira Amor, File:Grandstand 4600 colour - Internals.jpg (CC BY 4.0, from Wikimedia Commons): the board solder side up in the upper case, with "REV.2 11-00161-00" printed on it.
- ↑ 10.0 10.1 Photograph by José Antonio Ortigueira Amor, File:Grandstand 4600 colour - Connectors.jpg (CC BY 4.0, from Wikimedia Commons): the rear of the console, with the socket labelled "DC 9V" at one end and the RF lead at the other.
- ↑ 11.0 11.1 11.2 David Winter, Pong-Story, "PONG in a Chip" (retrieved 2026-10-18): the AY-3-8500 plays four ball-and-paddle games and two target-shooting games; GI's AY-3-8515 colour encoder for the AY-3-8500.
- ↑ Wikidata, "Colour Video Sports Centre 4600" (Q71129085) (retrieved 2026-10-18): CPU property (P880) given as AY-3-8600 (Q65953663), referenced to the owner's blog, which itself names the AY-3-8500.
- ↑ 13.0 13.1 Photograph by José Antonio Ortigueira Amor, File:Grandstand 4600 colour - Screen.jpg (CC BY 4.0, from Wikimedia Commons): the picture on a colour television, with on-screen scores.
- ↑ Handheld Museum, "Grandstand Universal Mains Adapter", model UGT (retrieved 2026-10-18): sold by Grandstand in the UK for its handheld and tabletop games; 240 V input; switch for polarity and off; 6-9 V DC output. Collector's description.
- ↑ General Instrument, GIMINI TV game circuits catalogue, January 1978, PDF at pong-story.com (retrieved 2026-10-18): data sheets and application notes for the AY-3-8500 and its colour encoder.