The Grandstand T.V. Game 3000 is a classic pong system sold in U.K. It can be also found under different other brands worldwide. It's in fact the same model as the T.V. Game Model 2000 but with a colour display (Model 3000 is in black & white).
The system itself seems to have been made in Korea. The electronic board is labeled "F'GAMATIC-7600". Indeed many Gamatic 7600 systems identical to this one can be found worldwide, the earliest one being a japanese Gamatic 7600 system released in 1976.
The case design is not particularly original: black rectangle with two detachable controllers and a wide control panel at the top. The controllers are also rectangular with a dial to move the bat on screen and a red button each, one to serve (left player) and the other to reset the game (right player).
As mostly all the systems powered by the TMS-1965 chipset from Texas Instruments, the T.V. Game Model 3000 offers 4 pong games : Football, Squash, Tennis and Practice delivered by this specialised chip (the TMS-1965 was pin-to-pin compatible with the more popular AY-3-8500 chip from General Instruments)
On the control panel can be found the usual setting switches: ball speed (slow/fast), automatic service (on/off), game selection, rebound angle (20°/40°), bat size (small/big) and power switch. The system can be powered by six CM2 battery cells or through an external power supply (9v DC, 360 mW).
Please consider donating your old computer / videogame system to Old-Computers.com or one of our partners from anywhere in the world (Europe, America, Asia, etc.).
Just taken one of these 3000 units apart and the board inside is labelled "7706" - no doubt a reference to the Gamatic 7706 system this is based on. The model I have is using the AY-3-8500 rather than the the TI chip the article talks about.
Monday 29th March 2021
Matthew Dolan (UK)
I came across a print ad for the Grandstand 3000 on ebay which quoted the price at £29.99. Taking into account inflation and in todays money (2021) its roughly equivalent to £170.
https://mattdolan.com/vintage/grandstand/grandstand-3000-print-ad.jpg
Thursday 18th March 2021
Matthew Dolan (UK)
Are the console worth anything I still have mine in the box
Saturday 12th July 2014
Helen Taylor (Wales)
NAME
T.V. Game Model 3000
MANUFACTURER
Grandstand
ORIGIN
United Kingdom
YEAR
? 1977
BUILT IN SOFTWARE / GAMES
Football, Squash, Tennis, Practice
CONTROLLERS
Two detachable controllers with one knob each
CPU
TMS-1965 from Texas Instruments
SPEED
Game Reset
CO-PROCESSOR
Game selection, Ball Angle (20°/40°), Ball Speed (fast/slow), Bar Size (small/large), Auto serve (on/off) & Power switch
