Teleng Colourstars

Whilst rummaging around a table-top sale recently, I found some old Pong machines. The seller didn't know whether they worked or not, but I still bought them, because retro gaming.

This is the first one




This one is a Teleng Colourstars, which I believe dates from the late seventies, and appears to show colour on the TV screen, from videos posted online, it's just a green background with some coloured lines making up the play field. This unit appears to be missing the controllers and games, which were supplied on cartridges, which actually had some circuitry inside, unlike some earlier machines which just had wire links to configure the consoles internal circuitry. So in it's present state, it's unusable.

There does seem to be some games for sale around the internet, and some controllers, so I may have to acquire some...

However, some sites claim it's a rare machine, I don't know how true that is, but this is the first one I've seen.

Like many other Pong machines of the era, this would run from batteries with a mains power adaptor an optional extra. But for most Pong clones, it was the same PSU as the Atari 2600. Which was a 9V 3.5mm plug with a positive tip

Plugging the console into a TV and powering it up will generate a video signal, but all it shows is a black screen, not surprising as there is little circuitry in the console. The cartridge itself contained most of the electronics, and would allow up to ten similar games to be selected by the dial on the main unit

For more retro hardware check out my online museum here