Grandstand Model 6000
.jpg) | |
| The Grandstand 4600, shown for comparison: no freely licensed photograph of a 6000 has been found. The 6000 has a case of the same style, with joysticks in place of the rotary knobs | |
| Specifications | |
|---|---|
| Manufacturer | Grandstand (Adam Imports); made in Hong Kong[1][2] |
| Type | Dedicated home video game console (Pong-type TV game) |
| Released | 1978 (Centre for Computing History)[1] |
| CPU | Not confirmed; its games and controls match General Instrument's AY-3-8610 (see Hardware) |
| Memory | None |
| Storage | None |
| Display | RF output on UHF channel 36, PAL, colour[2] |
| Sound | — |
| Input | Two X-Y joystick pods with SERVE/FIRE buttons[1][2] |
| Power | Six UM-2 (C) cells or a 9 V DC 100 mA adaptor[2] |
| OS / Firmware | None |
| Model no. | 6000 |
The Grandstand Model 6000 (Grandstand 6000 Colour) is a ten-game colour Pong-type TV game sold in the UK under the Grandstand name. Its bats are moved with X-Y joysticks, so they can move across the screen as well as up and down.[1][2] The Centre for Computing History dates it to 1978.[1]
History
[edit | edit source]The Centre for Computing History holds a "Grandstand 6000 Colour", dated 1978, and describes it as a "Colour Video Sports Centre with 10 exciting fun games", "one of the early colour TV games but still the same set of PONG like variants".[1] Wikipedia lists an "Adman Grandstand Model 6000" and a "Grandstand Model 6000 Deluxe", both ten-game colour consoles made in Hong Kong.[3] Binary Dinosaurs, a private museum, has an unboxed 6000; its photograph shows a cream and dark grey case in the same style as the 4600 and 5000, with a joystick in each control pod.[4] The Centre for Computing History's example is grey.[1]
A boxed example photographed by Ian Hill came with an instruction booklet titled "Adman Grandstand T.V. Game Model 6000" and a box reading "Grandstand 6000 De-Luxe Colour Video Sports Centre", which promises "Multi-movement X-Y Joystick Hand Controllers with target shoot". Its base label gives the batch number 15-19-09 and "Made in Hong Kong".[2]
Hardware
[edit | edit source]No internal photograph, teardown or service information for the 6000 has been found, so its game chip has not been confirmed.
General Instrument's 1978 catalogue describes the AY-3-8610 "Superstar", whose ten games are the 6000's ten: tennis, hockey, soccer, squash, practice, gridball, basketball, basketball practice, and one- and two-player target. It moves the players in two axes, has a bat-size input for each player and a ball-speed inhibit input, and plays its target games with an on-screen cursor and the serve button.[5] Those match the 6000's X-Y joysticks, its TEAM L. and TEAM R. switches, its SPEED switch and its SERVE/FIRE buttons.[2] Pong-Story describes the related AY-3-8600 as having eight ball-and-paddle games and two shooting games, and says the differences between it and the AY-3-8610 are unknown.[6] No photograph has confirmed the chip in a 6000.
Games
[edit | edit source]| Centre for Computing History | Wikipedia |
|---|---|
| Basketball Practice | Basketball Practice |
| Practice | Practice |
| Tennis | Tennis |
| Basketball | Basketball |
| Squash | Squash |
| Hockey | Hockey |
| Football | Soccer |
| Gridball | Gridball |
| Rifle No. 1 | Target Twin |
| Rifle No. 2 | Target Practice |
The two sources agree on eight of the names and differ only in what they call the football game and the two rifle games.
Controls and light gun
[edit | edit source]The Centre for Computing History notes that the 6000 has joysticks in place of rotary paddles, so the bats can move in two dimensions.[1] Each joystick pod has a red SERVE/FIRE button, and the pods lift out of their bays but stay wired to the console.[2]
No light gun is known for the 6000. The socket where other Grandstand models of this style take a rifle is blanked off, and on the AY-3-8610 the target games are played by moving a cursor with the joystick and pressing the serve button.[2][5]
Power
[edit | edit source]The base label reads "UHF CHANNEL-36 / PAL. SYSTEM / POWER SOURCE: Use 6 x UM-2 Batteries, or by AC Adaptor 9V DC 100mA", the same supply as the 4600. The DC 9V socket and the RF lead are at the rear.[2][7] A Grandstand A.C. adaptor, 9 V 150 mA, made by Adman Electronics of Harrogate, has been photographed with a 6000.[2] No source gives the plug polarity; measure the socket against the battery terminals and measure the 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 6000 has been found. Care and fault-finding, including GI's data for the AY-3-8610, are on the 6000's own pages:
One 6000 has been reported giving only a blank screen, with something loose rattling inside.[2] There is no capacitor guide, because no photograph of a 6000 board has been published.
Documentation
[edit | edit source]No scan of the instruction booklet or any service information for the 6000 has been found online. The booklet exists: Ian Hill photographed its cover.[2]
Related pages
[edit | edit source]- Grandstand Model 5000, the ten-game model with motorcycle games and rotary controls
- Grandstand Model 4600, the six-game model in the same style of case
- 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, "Grandstand 6000 Colour", CH31304 (retrieved 2026-10-18): "Colour Video Sports Centre with 10 exciting fun games" and the game list; "This console used joysticks rather than the rotary paddles which meant the bats could move in two dimensions"; manufacturer Grandstand; dated 1978.
- ↑ 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 Ian Hill, "Grandstand 6000", Ian's Retro Museum (collector's site; photographs not freely licensed, read and described here) (retrieved 2026-10-18): two Grandstand 6000s. Box "GRANDSTAND 6000 DE-LUXE COLOUR VIDEO SPORTS CENTRE, 10 exciting fun games with electronic console control, Multi-movement X-Y Joystick Hand Controllers with target shoot"; booklet "Adman GRANDSTAND T.V. GAME MODEL 6000, COLOUR VIDEO T.V. GAME"; panel with GAME RESET, TEAM L., TEAM R., SPEED and SERVE switches and joystick pods with SERVE/FIRE buttons, "removable, but not detachable"; base label "UHF CHANNEL-36 / PAL. SYSTEM / POWER SOURCE: Use 6 x UM-2 Batteries, or by AC Adaptor 9V DC 100mA", "Made in Hong Kong", "BATCH NO. 15-19-09"; "a blanked off socket, probably for the rifle controller on other models"; "The rear of the unit with RF lead and power socket"; a Grandstand A.C. adaptor, 240 V in, 9 V 150 mA out, made by Adman Electronics, Harrogate; the first unit "just gives a blank screen ... there is something rattling around in the case".
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 Wikipedia, "Grandstand (game manufacturer)", table of integrated Pong consoles (retrieved 2026-10-18): "Adman Grandstand Model 6000" and "Grandstand Model 6000 Deluxe", colour, ten games (Basketball Practice, Practice, Tennis, Basketball, Squash, Hockey, Soccer, Gridball, Target Twin, Target Practice), made in Hong Kong; no date.
- ↑ Adrian Graham, Binary Dinosaurs, "Pong" collection page (retrieved 2026-10-18): "Grandstand 6000 on its own", with a photograph of the console. The photograph is not freely licensed.
- ↑ 5.0 5.1 General Instrument Corporation, GIMINI TV Game Circuits, January 1978, pp. 26-36, PDF hosted by Pong-Story (retrieved 2026-10-18): AY-3-8610 "Superstar", ten games ("tennis, hockey, soccer, squash, practice, gridball, basketball, basketball practice, one and two player target"), two-axis player motion, independent bat size for each player, fast ball speed inhibit, separate left and right serve inputs; in the target games the player moves a cursor over a moving target and presses the serve button to shoot.
- ↑ David Winter, Pong-Story, "PONG in a Chip" (retrieved 2026-10-18): GI's AY-3-8600 and AY-3-8610 of 1977, with eight ball-and-paddle variants including basketball and gridball, two shooting games, and horizontal player motion; "The AY-3-8610 was same, the differences between the two chips remain unknown."
- ↑ 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".
