Grandstand Model 5000
 | |
| Grandstand 5000 Colour with its two control pods, a light gun and the white throttle controller for the cycle games | |
| Specifications | |
|---|---|
| Manufacturer | Adman Grandstand (Adam Imports); made in Hong Kong according to Wikipedia[1][2] |
| Type | Dedicated home video game console (Pong-type and motorcycle TV game with light guns) |
| Released | 1977 (Centre for Computing History)[1] |
| CPU | Not confirmed; its games match General Instrument's AY-3-8500 and AY-3-8760 (see Hardware) |
| Memory | None |
| Storage | None |
| Display | RF output to a television, colour[1][3] |
| Sound | — |
| Input | Two rotary control pods; throttle controller; light guns[3][1][4] |
| OS / Firmware | None |
| Model no. | 5000 |
The Grandstand Model 5000 (Adman Grandstand TV Game Model 5000, panel name Grandstand 5000 Colour) is a colour TV game with ten games: four motorcycle games, four bat-and-ball games and two target games for a light gun. Its box calls it a "Colour video sports centre with remote control handsets".[1][3] The Centre for Computing History dates it to 1977.[1]
History
[edit | edit source]The Centre for Computing History holds a boxed "Adman Grandstand TV Game Model 5000", dated 1977, which came with two light guns "with detachable stocks and rifle barrels". It quotes the box: "Colour video sports centre with remote control handsets - 10 exciting fun games with electronic console control".[1] Wikipedia lists an "Adman Grandstand Model 5000" and a "Grandstand Model 5000 Deluxe", both ten-game colour consoles made in Hong Kong.[2] Binary Dinosaurs, a private museum, also has a boxed 5000; its photograph shows a cream and dark grey console with a booklet titled "Grandstand T.V. Game Model 5000".[5] A collector who bought one in 2001 found it complete apart from the gun.[4]
The 5000 in the Commons photograph has "GRANDSTAND" and "5000 COLOUR" on its panel and the same layout as the Grandstand Model 4600: score sliders at the top, a game slider in the centre, a row of setting switches, and a control pod in a recess either side.[3][6]
Hardware
[edit | edit source]No internal photograph, teardown or service information for the 5000 has been found, so its chips have not been confirmed.
The panel's GAME switch selects between "PADDLE RIFLE" and "CYCLE" games.[3] The four motorcycle games have the same names as the four games of the Atari Stunt Cycle, which uses General Instrument's AY-3-8760 motorcycle game chip; GI also made a PAL version, the AY-3-8765.[7] The six bat-and-ball and target games match those of GI's AY-3-8500, the chip in the 4600, which has the same six positions on its game slider.[7][6] GI's 1978 data sheet gives the AY-3-8760 an easy and a hard mode, which matches the 5000's SPEED/CYCLE switch marked EASY and HARD, and a throttle input for the rider's speed.[8][3] Wikidata lists both chips for the 5000, without a reference.[9] Neither chip has been confirmed in a 5000 by a photograph.
Games
[edit | edit source]| Motorcycle | Bat and ball | Light gun |
|---|---|---|
| MOTOR CROSS, ENDURO, DRAG RACE, STUNT CYCLE | PRACTICE, SQUASH, SOCCER, TENNIS | S.L. TARGET, MOVING TARGET |
The Centre for Computing History lists the same ten games, naming the last two "Rifle no 1" and "Rifle no 2"; Wikipedia calls them "Target" and "Moving Target".[1][2]
The setting switches are SERVE (MANU, AUTO), BAT SIZE, ANGLE, SPEED/CYCLE (marked AMATEUR or EASY at one end and PROFESSIONAL or HARD at the other), GAME (PADDLE RIFLE, CYCLE) and POWER (OFF, ON). Two sliders above the game slider are marked 0 to 10 under LEFT, SCORE, RIGHT.[3]
Controls and light gun
[edit | edit source]Each control pod has a rotary knob and an orange button: SERVE on one, GAME RESET on the other. The pods sit in recesses in the case on their cables.[3] The museum's example came with two light guns with detachable stocks and rifle barrels.[1] The Commons photograph shows one black pistol-style gun and a white cylindrical controller with a knob at one end, both on leads ending in mono mini-jack plugs.[3] A collector who owned a 5000 describes "a separate rotary controler for the Stunt Cycle game": the throttle for the four motorcycle games.[4]
Power
[edit | edit source]No source found gives the 5000's power requirements. The 4600, in the same style of case, runs on six UM-2 (C) cells or a 9 V DC 100 mA adaptor.[10] Read the label on the base of your own console before connecting anything, and measure the adaptor's voltage and polarity. 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 5000 has been found. Care and fault-finding, including GI's data for the two chips its games match, are on the 5000's own pages:
There is no capacitor guide, because no photograph of a 5000 board has been published.
Documentation
[edit | edit source]No instruction leaflet or service information for the 5000 has been found online. A booklet titled "Grandstand T.V. Game Model 5000" exists: one is shown with the Binary Dinosaurs example.[5]
Gallery
[edit | edit source]-
The console with both pods lifted out: SERVE on the left pod, GAME RESET on the right -
The pistol and the white throttle controller, both with mono mini-jack plugs
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Related pages
[edit | edit source]- Grandstand Model 4600, the six-game model in the same style of case
- Grandstand Model 6000, the ten-game model with joysticks
- Atari Stunt Cycle, whose four motorcycle games carry the same names
- 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 1.8 Centre for Computing History, "Adman Grandstand TV Game Model 5000", CH32311 (retrieved 2026-10-18): the box text; "A standard pong-style games console"; boxed with "two lightgun accessories with detachable stocks and rifle barrels"; the ten games (Motor Cross, Enduro, Drag Race, Stunt Cycle, Practice, Squash, Soccer, Tennis, Rifle no 1, Rifle no 2); manufacturer Adman Grandstand; dated 1977.
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 Wikipedia, "Grandstand (game manufacturer)", table of integrated Pong consoles (retrieved 2026-10-18): "Adman Grandstand Model 5000" and "Grandstand Model 5000 Deluxe", colour, ten games, made in Hong Kong; no date.
- ↑ 3.00 3.01 3.02 3.03 3.04 3.05 3.06 3.07 3.08 3.09 Photograph by Miguel Durán Uña, File:GrandStand 5000 Colour 20170413 124245.jpg (CC BY-SA 4.0, from Wikimedia Commons), described by the photographer as "VideoConsola GrandStand Sports Centre 5000 Colour tipo Pong": panel legends, the ten-position game slider, the setting switches, the score sliders, the control pods with their SERVE and GAME RESET buttons, a light gun and a white hand controller. Read from the full-size image.
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 Atari-UK collector's page, "Grandstand TV Game 3000, Video Sports Centre, 3600 Mk. III & Match of the Day 2000 Pong Machines" (OoCities mirror of a GeoCities page, 2001; retrieved 2026-10-18): "5000 Colour ... one of the first I've picked up in 2001. Has the 2 built-in controllers that detatch plus a separate rotary controler for the Stunt Cycle game! There are 10 games ... The machine didn't come with the rifle/gun."
- ↑ 5.0 5.1 Adrian Graham, Binary Dinosaurs, "Pong" collection page (retrieved 2026-10-18): "Grandstand 5000 boxed. Tatty, but ask me if I care". The linked photograph (not freely licensed) shows a cream and dark grey 5000 with its box and a booklet titled "GRANDSTAND T.V. GAME MODEL 5000".
- ↑ 6.0 6.1 Photograph by José Antonio Ortigueira Amor, File:Grandstand 4600 colour (above).jpg (CC BY 4.0, from Wikimedia Commons): the Grandstand 4600 from above.
- ↑ 7.0 7.1 David Winter, Pong-Story, "PONG in a Chip" (retrieved 2026-10-18): the AY-3-8760 "Cycle" chip with four motorcycle game variants, used by Atari and Sears in the Stunt Cycle and Motocross; the AY-3-8765 PAL version; the AY-3-8500's four ball-and-paddle and two target-shooting games.
- ↑ General Instrument Corporation, GIMINI TV Game Circuits, January 1978, pp. 42-47, PDF hosted by Pong-Story (retrieved 2026-10-18): AY-3-8760 "Cycle", with Motocross, Enduro, Drag Race and Stunt Cycle; a PRO/AM option input selecting the hard or easy mode; a throttle input taking an oscillator signal that sets the speed of the bike and rider.
- ↑ Wikidata, "Sports Centre 5000 Colour" (Q65955765) (retrieved 2026-10-18): CPU property (P880) lists AY-3-8500 and AY-3-8760, with no references.
- ↑ Photograph by José Antonio Ortigueira Amor, File:Grandstand 4600 colour - Back.jpg (CC BY 4.0, from Wikimedia Commons): the 4600's base label, "Use 6 x UM-2 Batteries or by AC Adaptor 9V DC 100mA".
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