Grandstand TV Game 3000 Troubleshooting Guide
Fault-finding for the Grandstand TV Game 3000, the colour model of Grandstand's Korean-made Pong consoles of 1977.[1][2] No repair report, manual or inside photograph of a 3000 has been found, so its game chip and colour circuit are not known and no chip-level measurements can be given. The checks here use what the 3000 should do according to its 1977 advertisement, the power figures on its base, and the parts it shares with the black-and-white Grandstand TV Game 2000 in the same case.[3][4] Opening the case and care are on Grandstand TV Game 3000 General Maintenance.
What should happen at power-on
[edit | edit source]With six C cells or a 9 V adaptor, POWER on and a 625-line television tuned to the console:[1]
- On a colour set: a green background, a white ball, blue and yellow bats and red score figures. On a black-and-white set everything shows white on black.
- The GAME SELECTOR lever chooses football (each side has a goalie and a striker), tennis, squash (players hit in turn) or practice (one player against the machine).
- With AUTO SERVE on, the ball serves itself; with it off, one player serves.
- The console sounds when the ball is hit or bounces, and the scores count up after each point. The first side to reach 15 wins, and a button returns the scores to zero.
Expected measurements
[edit | edit source]| Point | Expected | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Six fresh C cells in series | About 9 V | [3] |
| Supply current | About 40 mA (360 mW at 9 V on the base) | [3] |
| Game chip supply and clock | Not known: the chip has not been identified |
Power the console for the first time from a current-limited bench supply at 9 V with a limit near 100 mA. A current far above 40 mA points to a short.
Symptoms
[edit | edit source]| Symptom | Likely cause | Action | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| Dead on cells and adaptor | Flat or corroded cells; POWER switch; a failed part inside | Measure the cells in place and the supply after the POWER switch. Open the base and inspect the board for burst or leaking capacitors; the 2000 in the same case has had one burst. | [3][4] |
| Works on cells, not on the adaptor | Adaptor voltage or polarity; dirty socket | The 3000's polarity is not recorded. Measure the socket against the battery terminals and measure the adaptor before connecting it. | [3] |
| Works on the adaptor, not on cells | Corroded springs or leads; a switching contact in the socket | On the 2000, in the same case, the adaptor plug disconnects the cells, so the socket has a switching contact; check whether the 3000's does the same. | [4] |
| Snow, no change when switched on | Television not tuned or without an analogue tuner; RF lead | Tune slowly across the UHF band. Check the fixed RF lead where it leaves the case. | [3] |
| Game visible but no colour on a colour set | Television colour control or fine tuning; fault in the console's colour circuit | Fine-tune the set and check that it shows colour from another source. A black-and-white picture on a colour set, with the game otherwise working, points to the colour circuit, which has not been documented. Do not turn any adjustment without marking it first. | [1] |
| One bat jumps, jitters or is missing | Potentiometer in the control box; coiled lead | Open the control box by the four screws in its metal base plate and clean the potentiometer. Check the lead for broken conductors. | [3] |
| Wrong game, or a setting that does nothing | Dirty panel switch or game lever | Clean and work the switch. | [3] |
| Scores do not return to zero, or no serve | Button in the control box, or its lead | Open the control box and clean the button contacts. | [3][1] |
| No sound | Speaker or its leads | Check the speaker and its leads. On the 2000, in the same case, the speaker sits below the board under the grille between the control boxes. | [4] |
Known faults reported for this device
[edit | edit source]None. No repair thread, blog post or museum record describing a fault in a TV Game 3000 has been found. The museum records describe complete, boxed examples and record no fault.[5][6] The only fault on record for the case design is the burst electrolytic capacitor in the black-and-white TV Game 2000.[4]
Things that are not faults
[edit | edit source]- White on black on a black-and-white television is how the 3000 is meant to look there.[1]
- The game ends when one side reaches 15.[1]
- With AUTO SERVE off, the game waits for a serve after each point.[1]
- There is no light gun and there are no target games.[1]
- A television with only a digital tuner will not show the console at all.
What is realistically repairable
[edit | edit source]| Part | Repairable? | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Control boxes, potentiometers, buttons, coiled leads | Yes | Each box opens by four screws in its base plate.[3] |
| Panel switches, game lever, adaptor socket | Yes | Clean first. |
| Passive parts and capacitors | Yes, with care | No values have been published. Read each value from the part before replacing it, and record what you find; see Grandstand TV Game 3000 Capacitor Replacement Guide. |
| Game chip and colour circuit | Unknown | Neither has been identified. Photograph the board and note the markings before deciding anything. |
Related pages
[edit | edit source]- Grandstand TV Game 3000
- Grandstand TV Game 3000 General Maintenance
- Grandstand TV Game 3000 Capacitor Replacement Guide
- Grandstand TV Game 2000 Troubleshooting Guide, the black-and-white model in the same case
- Capacitor Failure Symptoms
References
[edit | edit source]- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 1.5 1.6 1.7 Scotcade Ltd, Bridgnorth, mail-order advertisement "The Grandstand full colour home TV video game only £29.95 (+p&p)", magazine page 27, scan at fulltable.com with a handwritten "AUG 77" (retrieved 2026-10-18), read in full: football, tennis, squash and practice; fast or slow ball, big or small bats, 20° or 40° angle, auto-serve or serve by one player, "amateur" and "professional" settings; on a colour set a white ball, a green background, blue and yellow bats and red scores, and on a black-and-white set everything white on black; works on any 625-line set; sound effects when the ball is hit or bounces; the first to score 15 wins, and a button returns the score to zero; six HP11 batteries, or a mains adaptor at £2.95; detachable bat controls on "telephone cord" extensions; guaranteed by the maker for one year. The model number is not legible in the scan.
- ↑ José Antonio Ortigueira Amor, "Adman Grandstand TV Game 2000 (WK-I HB) (1977)", Retro Ordenadores Orty (collector's blog, in Spanish), 7 November 2023 (retrieved 2026-10-18): Adam Import's first consoles, models 1000, 2000 and 3000 of 1977, were made in Korea; on the owner's TV Game 2000 four screws hold the lower case and the rear socket takes 9 V DC with the centre negative.
- ↑ 3.00 3.01 3.02 3.03 3.04 3.05 3.06 3.07 3.08 3.09 Photographs on the Museum of Design in Plastics record for AIBDC 0_2556 (non-commercial educational use only; examined at the largest size offered, retrieved 2026-10-18). They show the panel (POWER ON/OFF, SPEED FAST/SLOW, AUTO SERVE ON/OFF, a GAME SELECTOR lever for FOOTBALL, TENNIS, SQUASH and PRACTICE, ANGLE 20°/40°, BAT SIZE LARGE/SMALL, and a red, green and blue block beside "GRANDSTAND ADMAN TV GAME 3000"); one control box turned over, its underside a galvanised metal plate held by a screw at each corner; a "Q.A. PASS" sticker in the right-hand recess; coiled leads to both control boxes; the base, with a battery cover held by two tabs marked OPEN, the label "ADMAN GRANDSTAND / TV GAME 3000 / POWER SUPPLY: 9V-DC (6xUM-2 BATTERY) OR AC ADAPTER 9V / MADE IN KOREA", the moulding "POWER CONSUMPTION 360mWATT, 9V DC", a rubber foot at each corner with a screw recessed in it and a small screw beside one corner; along the rear edge, a plug in the adaptor socket, a small hole in the middle and the fixed RF lead in a grommet; and the plug-in mains adaptor.
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 4.3 4.4 The black-and-white Grandstand TV Game 2000 in the same case: photographs File:Grandstand Adman TV Game 2000 (1).jpg, File:Grandstand Adman TV Game 2000 (5).jpg and File:Grandstand Adman TV Game 2000 (8).jpg (José Antonio Ortigueira Amor, CC BY 4.0, from Wikimedia Commons) show the same base, feet, battery cover and rear layout (RF lead, HORI-HOLD hole, AC 9V ADAPTOR socket), and inside a board screwed to the upper case at its corners with a separate KDC modulator; see Grandstand TV Game 2000 General Maintenance.
- ↑ Museum of Design in Plastics, Arts University Bournemouth, "Grandstand TV Game 3000 console", AIBDC 0_2556 (retrieved 2026-10-18): a Grandstand TV Game "with two handsets in its original illustrated box. Complete with its power supply adaptor"; inscription "Adman Grandstand TV Game 3000. Made in Korea. Power supply 9V - DC Ax Adamptor 9v"; made in Korea; dated about 1977 to 1979.
- ↑ Photograph by Edelseider at the Pixel Museum, File:Grandstand Admam 3000.jpg (CC BY-SA 4.0, from Wikimedia Commons): the console in front of its box ("Adman MODEL 3000 GRANDSTAND T.V. GAME", "COLOUR VIDEO T.V. GAME") with both control boxes out of their recesses and a small round sticker in the right-hand recess.
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