Arc-aid: part 2!
- Thread starter Nes4life
- Start date
david_orton_2000
Green Mario
I could take my monitor out of my Asteroids and bring it up.
-It was working, so I will try and re-test so maybe then only the pcb challenge, which Martin is a Ninja at fixing...let's just hope it is not the State machine or something nasty...we'll see! ;-)
SI - can I have some pics of the boardset please?
Are the Roms the old 2708's, or 2716s, or something else - have they all been checked, etc.?
-Is the PSU the standard one, with the regulator board, or has it had a switcher put in?
Cheers,
David.
-It was working, so I will try and re-test so maybe then only the pcb challenge, which Martin is a Ninja at fixing...let's just hope it is not the State machine or something nasty...we'll see! ;-)
SI - can I have some pics of the boardset please?
Are the Roms the old 2708's, or 2716s, or something else - have they all been checked, etc.?
-Is the PSU the standard one, with the regulator board, or has it had a switcher put in?
Cheers,
David.
I don't have the boards to hand at the mo. unfortunately, i think it had 9316s on it though.
The PSU is the standard one, i've not checked it over (was running the board on a switcher test rig out of the cab). Worth pointing out that it's 110v too, actually most of these cabs are 110v, only the asteroids cocktail and neo-geo are 240v.
The PSU is the standard one, i've not checked it over (was running the board on a switcher test rig out of the cab). Worth pointing out that it's 110v too, actually most of these cabs are 110v, only the asteroids cocktail and neo-geo are 240v.
OK, unless something unavoidable crops up between now and then, I'm in.
Also the team are working out what we (as in UKVAC) can bring to the table and I'm personally considering a couple of talks, or sessions if you will IF the interest is there.
More detail once I've spoke to a couple more people (but don't get too excited just yet!)
On a personal level, my primary goal will be to have a blast of a weekend away, meet up with friends old and new and no doubt consume plenty of beer. I prefer to do as little driving as possible at these things given the 460 mile round trip that it will already be for me (assuming no detours).
I will be happy to look at the Asteroids PCB(s) - and did someone mention Tempest? Tempest is a good one actually as it can be used to demonstrate signature analysis.
Where I personally will want some help is with kit and spare parts. I've done this before and ended up more or less taking my entire workshop and filling up my entire car because it's difficult not to. So if we can work that out so I'm not doing that then I'll be happier especially as I will likely spend several days working on-site before or after to ease the journey a bit.
Also the team are working out what we (as in UKVAC) can bring to the table and I'm personally considering a couple of talks, or sessions if you will IF the interest is there.
More detail once I've spoke to a couple more people (but don't get too excited just yet!)
On a personal level, my primary goal will be to have a blast of a weekend away, meet up with friends old and new and no doubt consume plenty of beer. I prefer to do as little driving as possible at these things given the 460 mile round trip that it will already be for me (assuming no detours).
I will be happy to look at the Asteroids PCB(s) - and did someone mention Tempest? Tempest is a good one actually as it can be used to demonstrate signature analysis.
Where I personally will want some help is with kit and spare parts. I've done this before and ended up more or less taking my entire workshop and filling up my entire car because it's difficult not to. So if we can work that out so I'm not doing that then I'll be happier especially as I will likely spend several days working on-site before or after to ease the journey a bit.
This is going to be great
Looking forward to the meet at yours Stev also
Looking forward to the meet at yours Stev also
guddler said:
Obviously it would be fantastic to see some admins from 'Vac at the event, although there weren't a large number of people attending last time the atmosphere was really good. The more the merrier. Promoting 'Vac there is a great idea!
We had a few talks last time, and barring the super heat of the summer through the windows they went down well. I think talks focussed on something specific (how to diagnose horizontal collapse for instance) rather than a "general" talk would go down even better.
Jason the owner is as much up for a bit of fun as everyone else, there's certainly no pressure to get things done although once we got into it we really wanted to try and get a couple of these machines working so we could play them! He'll be over Steve's later although needs to be back at the museum on Sunday morning so don't think he's staying over.
I think it's important that no-one feels pressured and if they just want to come and chat, play or anything else that should be fine. Expect some questions though no doubt...
Yep, Tempest is there.
A couple of us are trying to source some bits & pieces that are known to be needed in advance, obviously not everything will get covered, but Maplins is nearby for more common stuff if needed.
I expect I'll drive over to Steve's and back later so perhaps not many beers for me, but whatever happens I am sure we'll club together to make sure everyone gets a lift or other arrangements made.
Again, it's no problem for me to pop along to the museum & get names or numbers of boards, components or whatever - post away with your requests.
The museum is a great cause so worthwhile investing a bit of time & energy imo, plus the side benefit of having cool games to play there.
The number 1 most important thing though is to have a good get together and hopefully learn something along the way.
Ok... so I guess very soon we'll be able to update the list of who's coming and what they're doing / bringing. If you're not listed on the first post on this thread (and you want to tell everyone what you're doing) then please tell us and i'll update it. Cheers!
Smithy13_2008
Newbie
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- 8CR
Hi all
I'm going to be making the journey up with my van from South Wales so if there's anyone on the way up and wants to bring their cabs etc then I can help out.
Jay
I'm going to be making the journey up with my van from South Wales so if there's anyone on the way up and wants to bring their cabs etc then I can help out.
Jay
Right - I don't think this has been mentioned yet but I'm going to ask again even if it has...
What does the museum have in the way of spare parts?
There's a clear desire here to get some PCBs fixed. And yet to stand a chance of fixing PCBs you potentially need access to dozens and dozens of different chips. RAM, logic, ROM to name just a few (analog support chips for Vector games) and not to mention capacitors etc.
I've seen it mentioned that there is a Maplin nearby but frankly, unless you want to go and buy a graphics card, or a mobile disco, that's not going to be much use and TBH, 99% of the stuff you need for PCB work isn't going to be available over the counter anywhere in the UK.
So I'm rather hoping that being a computer museum that must have literally hundreds if not thousands of computers all potentially breaking down that there is a good and varied spare parts department? Or, given that I recall there wasn't any repair kit before the last of these events, am I dreaming?
Whats the score?
What does the museum have in the way of spare parts?
There's a clear desire here to get some PCBs fixed. And yet to stand a chance of fixing PCBs you potentially need access to dozens and dozens of different chips. RAM, logic, ROM to name just a few (analog support chips for Vector games) and not to mention capacitors etc.
I've seen it mentioned that there is a Maplin nearby but frankly, unless you want to go and buy a graphics card, or a mobile disco, that's not going to be much use and TBH, 99% of the stuff you need for PCB work isn't going to be available over the counter anywhere in the UK.
So I'm rather hoping that being a computer museum that must have literally hundreds if not thousands of computers all potentially breaking down that there is a good and varied spare parts department? Or, given that I recall there wasn't any repair kit before the last of these events, am I dreaming?
Whats the score?
david_orton_2000
Green Mario
...I could bring a selection I suppose...I probably have most values for Caps + resistors and some support ICs probably.
-As Martin says, we need to know what is there, as so far looks like workbenches and that's it.
Cheers,
DaveO.
-As Martin says, we need to know what is there, as so far looks like workbenches and that's it.
Cheers,
DaveO.
I'm not sure exactly what the spares situation is.
Yes there are tons of old computers etc. upstairs, one of us will ask Jason today if there are parts available, or old machines / boards that can act as donors if applicable.
Obviously when I mentioned maplins that was only for the common stuff not specialist chips or anything. Its still handy to have nearby.
I have a few boards (bootleg Xevious, bootleg Konami boards: Circus Charlie and Hyper Olympic) that can be pilfered for parts if any of them are useful. I'll take some photos of them to show what kind of components they have in them. They were sold to me as faulty but might be of use.
I don't believe there is an eeprom burner or eraser available at the moment but I'll find out if Jason has one.
I'm still trying to source an AR2 for the Centipede (been trying forcefulfil but not getting a response atm). If a millipede board will work in that cab I can bring along my one to try out although I gather it has some graphical issues.
Yes there are tons of old computers etc. upstairs, one of us will ask Jason today if there are parts available, or old machines / boards that can act as donors if applicable.
Obviously when I mentioned maplins that was only for the common stuff not specialist chips or anything. Its still handy to have nearby.
I have a few boards (bootleg Xevious, bootleg Konami boards: Circus Charlie and Hyper Olympic) that can be pilfered for parts if any of them are useful. I'll take some photos of them to show what kind of components they have in them. They were sold to me as faulty but might be of use.
I don't believe there is an eeprom burner or eraser available at the moment but I'll find out if Jason has one.
I'm still trying to source an AR2 for the Centipede (been trying forcefulfil but not getting a response atm). If a millipede board will work in that cab I can bring along my one to try out although I gather it has some graphical issues.
As most of the museums displays are home computers, consoles, etc. rather than arcade stuff I get the impression that if something breaks they've got 10 more upstairs so will swap it out rather than repair it, so they don't have much but basic repair equipment and spares. So unless you can scavenge what you want out of a beeb or a speccy then you'll probably be out of luck.
To be honest, from what I'm reading, on-site board repairs are not likely to be viable.
Over the next few days I'll take a picture of my workbench area and you'll get an idea of the scale of parts that need to be on hand when working on PCBs. It's possible to narrow it down a bit, but it's not easy.
Over the next few days I'll take a picture of my workbench area and you'll get an idea of the scale of parts that need to be on hand when working on PCBs. It's possible to narrow it down a bit, but it's not easy.
Thanks guddler. Yeah, there's not a large variety of spare parts at the event so we'd need to bring what we think will help. I know it's not ideal, and i definitely don't expect you to bring your workshop down! DaveO's offer to bring a monitor, some resistors, ICs and caps would be well received and Ianski's offer to bring faulty boards for spare parts is top drawer
I salute you sir. If you don't think we'll have the right gear / parts to fix all of these cabs then don't worry too much; if we just fix one or two, have a good round of talks, get to know everyone, have a right laugh playing old games and then exchange knowledge then i'd say it's mission complete. Every extra fix after that would be a welcome bonus. Even diagnosing the issues further and then listing what needs to be done next time would be a great help... Jason is a patient man and I'm sure he'd have us back again if we continue to make some progress
I'd love to see one of the vector games up and running but would totally settle for Alien Syndrome being playable again.
I'll talk with Jason about what he's got it terms of spare parts and equipment today.
Oh, and thanks to Smithy13_2008 (Jay) for coming all the way from south Wales with a van to bring some more cabs! Who's going to liaise with him to bring a cab or two more?!
PS Sorry about my tardiness to these questions; I'm on holiday this week
I'll talk with Jason about what he's got it terms of spare parts and equipment today.
Oh, and thanks to Smithy13_2008 (Jay) for coming all the way from south Wales with a van to bring some more cabs! Who's going to liaise with him to bring a cab or two more?!
PS Sorry about my tardiness to these questions; I'm on holiday this week
Oh yeah, forgot to say: As a forum we've now purchased a replacement CPO for Alien Syndrome and it's on it's way to the museum. The fun thing about Alien Syndrome is that part of the metal sheet of the control panel is cut out as a rectangle and replaced with perspex so it is lit from the rear (allowing the CPO to glow in that area). The perspex is missing from the museum's Alien Syndrome so:
- has anyone got a small piece of perspex (about the size of a keyboard) and the tools to cut it to size?
- got an idea of how to mount the perspex from the inside of the control panel? There's no screws involved.
Maybe ianski or t-m wouldn't mind going down and taking photo's of the panel and the inside so we can discuss a good solution.
Any volunteers to fit it on day?
- has anyone got a small piece of perspex (about the size of a keyboard) and the tools to cut it to size?
- got an idea of how to mount the perspex from the inside of the control panel? There's no screws involved.
Maybe ianski or t-m wouldn't mind going down and taking photo's of the panel and the inside so we can discuss a good solution.
Any volunteers to fit it on day?
Perspex can be cut with a fine toothed saw like one used for wooden laminate.
I have a hot melt glue gun that could possibly glue it from the inside.
Is it clear Perspex? I might have some but it's thin as it was used in my childrens playhouse windows.
It is also available from homebase which is just over the road in small quantities.
Maybe a small raffle from the museum for an item to keep could raise cash for any parts they need or just kind donations even better.
Let us know how big the Perspex is then we can go from there.
Steve
I have a hot melt glue gun that could possibly glue it from the inside.
Is it clear Perspex? I might have some but it's thin as it was used in my childrens playhouse windows.
It is also available from homebase which is just over the road in small quantities.
Maybe a small raffle from the museum for an item to keep could raise cash for any parts they need or just kind donations even better.
Let us know how big the Perspex is then we can go from there.
Steve
Good call Steve.
At the moment the instructions panel hole has a bolted-on bit of metal behind it, the plexi may have a lip around it so it sits in the hole without falling through, I think the Sega logo at the front is similar.
I'll pop along at the weekend and try and get some more detailed shots of the control panel area.
At the moment the instructions panel hole has a bolted-on bit of metal behind it, the plexi may have a lip around it so it sits in the hole without falling through, I think the Sega logo at the front is similar.
I'll pop along at the weekend and try and get some more detailed shots of the control panel area.
If you need plastic sheet cut to size, then this place:
http://www.edplastics.co.uk/
will do it, not far from the museum, and they're open on Saturday mornings too. I've no connection with them other than as a satisfied customer, off and on for the last 25 years!
Chris
http://www.edplastics.co.uk/
will do it, not far from the museum, and they're open on Saturday mornings too. I've no connection with them other than as a satisfied customer, off and on for the last 25 years!
Chris
