Files
website/content/museum/coleco-telstar-ranger.md
T

87 lines
2.8 KiB
Markdown

---
title: Coleco Telstar Ranger
categories:
- Pongs
origins:
- U.S.A.
years:
- '1977'
cpus:
- AY-3-8500-1 from General Instrument
params:
name: Telstar Ranger
image: /media/museum/photos/coleco_telstar-ranger.jpg
company: /companies/coleco
company_name: Coleco
specs:
- label: NAME
value: Telstar Ranger
- label: MANUFACTURER
value: Coleco
- label: ORIGIN
value: U.S.A.
- label: YEAR
value: '1977'
- label: BUILT IN LANGUAGE
value: Jai-Alai, Hockey, Handball, Tennis, Skeet, Target
- label: KEYBOARD
value: Two detachable paddles with knob and a gun
- label: CPU
value: AY-3-8500-1 from General Instrument
- label: SPEED
value: Reset
- label: CO-PROCESSOR
value: Skill level Beginner/Intermediate/Pro, Power on/off
- label: RAM
value: On screen
- label: COLORS
value: Black & white
- label: SOUND
value: Built-in speaker
- label: I/O PORTS
value: RF TV video output, Gun connector, Paddle connectors
- label: OS
value: 6 x 1.5v C size batteries
- label: POWER SUPPLY
value: 9v DC
- label: PERIPHERALS
value: 'Yes'
- label: PRICE
value: Unknown
tabs:
- photos
- links
photos:
- title: WITH GUN
subtitle: ''
text: ''
image: /media/museum/photos/coleco_telstar-ranger_with_gun.jpg
- title: INSIDE
subtitle: ''
text: ''
image: /media/museum/photos/coleco_telstar-ranger_inside.jpg
- title: BOX
subtitle: ''
text: ''
image: /media/museum/photos/coleco_telstar-ranger_box.jpg
links:
- title: The story of the Telstar systems
url: http://www.pong-story.com/coleco.htm
text: PONG STORY.COM has nice pages dedicated to the Telstar systems
related:
- /museum/coleco-telstar
- /museum/coleco-telstar-classic-model-6045
- /museum/coleco-telstar-colormatic-model-6130
- /museum/coleco-telstar-colortron
oc_id: 673
source:
url: https://web.archive.org/web/20230613001205/http://www.old-computers.com/museum/computer.asp?c=673
date: '2023-06-13'
---
After the release of the first [Telstar](/museum/coleco-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.
This is the first Telstar featuring the two shooting games of the GI AY-3-8500, hence its name "Telstar Ranger". It thus offers a total of 6 games which can be selected through a special knob. Despite the pictures beside, the two small controllers are not built-in the console and can be detached.
There's a 3 positions switch that controls difficulty (beginner : slow ball, big paddles / advanced : fast ball, big paddles / expert : fast ball, small paddles). If this is common to the first Telstars, this is quite different from most of the other pong systems which offer individual settings.