Coleco Telstar Combat!

[simbalion]

I picked up a Coleco Telstar Combat! today at CCAG and I have managed to get the controllers working decently now, but I can't get the left speaker to utter a peep. The right one is working fine, so I can hear the fired shots and explosions. (It was actually the one with the wire pinched in the case and still works!) I opened up the unit and checked all the speaker connections and even tested the voice coil on the silent speaker with my meter and it's not open. Any ideas as to why it's not producing any sound? I assume this is the one that makes the tank motor sounds when you move.

[simbalion]

I finally figured it out, a bad solder joint on one of the speaker wire connections to the board. The speakers on this thing work strange to me. For one thing, I don't see any traces going to where the speakers connect. It seems that one wire must connect to a solder pad, but then the other doesn't and is simply shorted to another connection with a glob of solder. The white wires that run the right speaker (shot and explosion sounds) are linked together this way. The left speaker links to a different connection to make the engine sounds. I had to use a jumper connected to the loose wire to figure out which of the three nearby connections it was supposed to link to. Finally hit one and heard the 'engine' sound. After confirming it I simply made a solder glob similar to the one I had taken off the wire until it linked. So, I now have a fully working Telstar Combat! Even the controls are getting better. Next up: Get myself a proper soldering pencil or station.

[RamrodHare]

I had one of those when I was a kid. It had belonged to my Uncle. By the time I got it, he had done some "repairs" on one of the controls using a slot car throttle. It worked, but it wasn't perfect. I was too young at the time to know anything about it, so I just played it until it quit working and then packed it away in the closet. I didn't really think much about it for years. My house burnt down in 2000 and I lost everything. I know enough about electronics now that I could easily have repaired it. I've looked for one on eBay a few times, but when they did turn up, they were out of my price range.