Full content from the completed page crawl (media download still running)

6,654 pages: 1,289 machines, 702 software, 460 companies, 64 history, 17 articles, 59 fun.
4,336 media files so far; references to files not downloaded yet are left out.

Co-Authored-By: Claude Opus 5.5 <noreply@anthropic.com>
Claude-Session: https://claude.ai/code/session_01YDRjtmAiNpo5mK5N3d7QwZ

content/museum/coleco-telstar-alpha-model-6030.md

@@ -0,0 +1,160 @@
+---
+title: 'Coleco Telstar Alpha - Model #6030'
+categories:
+- Pongs
+origins:
+- U.S.A.
+years:
+- '1977'
+cpus:
+- GI AY-3-8500
+params:
+  name: 'Telstar Alpha - Model #6030'
+  company: /companies/coleco
+  company_name: Coleco
+  specs:
+  - label: NAME
+    value: 'Telstar Alpha - Model #6030'
+  - label: MANUFACTURER
+    value: Coleco
+  - label: ORIGIN
+    value: U.S.A.
+  - label: YEAR
+    value: '1977'
+  - label: BUILT IN LANGUAGE
+    value: |-
+      1 - Tennis (2 players)\
+      2 - Hockey (2 players)\
+      3 - Handball (1 players)\
+      4 - Jai-Alai (2 player)
+  - label: KEYBOARD
+    value: 2 paddles built-in the console
+  - label: CPU
+    value: GI AY-3-8500
+  - label: SPEED
+    value: Reset
+  - label: CO-PROCESSOR
+    value: ON/OFF, Difficulty Beginner/Intermediate/Pro
+  - label: RAM
+    value: On screen
+  - label: COLORS
+    value: Black & white
+  - label: SOUND
+    value: Built-in beeper, 3 different sounds
+  - label: I/O PORTS
+    value: TV RF video output
+  - label: OS
+    value: '6'
+  - label: POWER SUPPLY
+    value: 9v DC
+  - label: PERIPHERALS
+    value: 'No'
+  tabs:
+  - photos
+  - emulators
+  - links
+  photos:
+  - title: COLECO TELSTAR ALPHA
+    subtitle: ''
+    text: ''
+    image: null
+  - title: REAR
+    subtitle: ''
+    text: ''
+    image: null
+  - title: UPSIDE DOWN
+    subtitle: ''
+    text: ''
+    image: null
+  - title: BOX
+    subtitle: ''
+    text: ''
+    image: null
+  - title: 'BOX #2'
+    subtitle: ''
+    text: ''
+    image: null
+  - title: BACK OF THE BOX
+    subtitle: ''
+    text: ''
+    image: null
+  emulators:
+  - title: www.pong-story.com
+    url: http://www.pong-story.com/pcpong.htm
+    platform: Multiplatform
+    text: Several pong emulators (simulators) presented here
+  links:
+  - title: Web Wiz CAPTCHA
+    url: http://www.webwizcaptcha.com
+    text: ''
+  comments:
+  - author: Edward Jackson (Missouri, USA)
+    date: Thursday 17th April 2014
+    text: Heh! I got one of these for a Christmas present. It worked fine, but got real boring, real quick.
+  - author: hiroshi (memphis, tn)
+    date: Friday 16th July 2004
+    text: |-
+      I think you are confused about the 3 difficulty switches... you stated "beginner : slow ball, big paddles / advanced : fast ball, big paddles / expert : fast ball, small paddles"
+
+      however it's really:\
+      (beginner : slow ball, big paddles / INTERMEDIATE : SLOW BALL, SMALL PADDLES / PRO : fast ball, BIG PADDLES)
+
+      this is what I get from my Telstar Alpha unit.
+
+      the unit I have I've hacked so that it's directly connected via RF (as opposed to using a metal sliding switch box). I soldered a slightly modified NES RF box. I recommend doing this on your unit, as it gets much better video results (crystal clear!).
+
+      I wonder if RCA jacks can be made from it.. it would be more convenient\
+      http://www.pong-story.com/pics/gi/ay38500.gif
+  related:
+  - /museum/a10-telespiel-9010
+  - /museum/alex-video-spiel-tg-621
+  - /museum/apf-match
+  - /museum/apf-tv-fun-model-401
+  - /museum/audiosonic-pp-800
+  - /museum/bentley-compu-vision
+  - /museum/blaupunkt-tv-action
+  - /museum/conic-tv-sports-tg-621
+  - /museum/conic-tvg-209
+  - /museum/dms-telesports-mini
+  - /museum/grandstand-t-v-game-model-3000
+  - /museum/hanimex-666
+  - /museum/hanimex-7771
+  - /museum/hanimex-t-338
+  - /museum/intel-germany-super-tele-sport-d-688-36
+  - /museum/interton-video-2400
+  - /museum/jostykit-multi-tv-game-hf-344
+  - /museum/magiclick-teleclick
+  - /museum/match-sd-01c
+  - /museum/mbo-tele-ball
+  - /museum/mbo-tele-ball-ii
+  - /museum/mbo-tele-ball-iii
+  - /museum/mentor-sport-tg-20
+  - /museum/novoton-tj-141
+  - /museum/novoton-video-sports
+  - /museum/playtech-telesport
+  - /museum/polistil-v-g-2
+  - /museum/r-f-t-bss-01-bildschirmspiel-01
+  - /museum/radofin-electronics-limited-tele-sports
+  - /museum/riva-t-800c
+  - /museum/roberts-paddle-iv
+  - /museum/roberts-rally-iv
+  - /museum/sands-3000
+  - /museum/societe-occitane-d-electronique-oc-4
+  - /museum/sonolor-telematch
+  - /museum/sportron-101u
+  - /museum/superlectron-tv-challenger-series-3000-tvc-3000
+  - /museum/tele-flip-paris-video-sport-fy-707
+  - /museum/thomson-jv1t
+  - /museum/ultrasound-tele-sports
+  - /museum/ultrasound-tv-9010
+  - /museum/universum-tv-multi-spiel-handheld
+  - /museum/universum-tv-spiel-1004
+  oc_id: 666
+  source:
+    url: https://web.archive.org/web/20230613001109/http://www.old-computers.com/museum/computer.asp?c=666
+    date: '2023-06-13'
+---
+
+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 for release at Christmas 1977. The Telstar Alpha is one of the simplest system of the range. It offers only four games and has built-in controllers. That's cool if you want to play 2 players games alone ! The only difference between the original Telstar and the alpha is that there is one more game on the Alpha (Jai-Alai).
+
+There's a 3 positions switch that controls difficulty (BEGINNER : slow ball, big paddles / INTERMEDIATE : slow ball, small paddles / PRO : fast ball, big paddles). If this is common to the first Telstars, this is quite different from most of the other pong systems which offer individual settings.