Hello at last..

[Morty]

Hi everyone,

Just tried to send a PM back to someone and found i cannot due to the fact that i never post.. come on I've only been watching the forum for 6 years!

I've met a few of you over the years and have been lucky enough to collect about 25 cabs, quite a few not working, something which i hope to make a real effort with this year

My fave cabs have to be Atari as i loved games like Asteroids, Missile Command back in the early 1980's but I also love early games before the advanced features like colour came along!

I'm a software developer so can understand the basics like digital logic but show me an analog circuit and i'm lost, so I hope to really get an understanding of the workings of some of the game pcb's, i've studied things like the Pong PCB and it looks pretty simple, then you see something like Tank (with interlaced video) and my head hurts

I'm in the process of building a test bench, so hopefully i'll be posting some pics of working cabs soon!

cheers

Kevin

 

[strykr]

Hi Morty,

25 cabs!! sounds epic, time to get some pics up I think

Welcome to UKVAC

 

[cliff_poole]

It is amazing how analog, digital circuits can be sometimes, if you know what I mean

. TTL chips can do some peculiar things when they go wrong.

You are probably coming at it from the best angle though, there isn't an awful lot you can "see" with most test gear. It is much better to understand what is going on from a program point of view.

I'm more comfortable with the analog side of it which probably explains why it takes me so long to fix things.

 

[Morty]

Yeah, I can imagine some repairs are very simple, an IC with dead output simple to spot, but I've read some killer repair logs with multiple component fails, caps etc causing other components to do very odd thing, dry joints, broken tracks hidden under components etc etc, I look forward to these..

 

[cliff_poole]

Oh yeah, multiple component failures !. This seems to be the case more often than not and I have never quite understood why. Maybe bad power supplies ?, maybe ops left them running with graphics faults until they completely died ?, dunno.

 

[Morty]

Or maybe you take a pcb with an expected 18 month life, wait until it goes wrong, hack it a bit, steal some components off it, throw it in a box full of other broken pcb's, leave for 25+ years in a damp storage unit, then wait until some crazy child of the 80's tries to make it work again

 

[tb lilley]

Hi Kev. No doubt you'll remember selling me my grail cab a few years ago. Which I doubt I'll ever part with. Might even get buried in it ..... !

 

[cliff_poole]

Maybe thats it, I'm just expecting too much from 30 year old electronics.

Why do 2114s always fail in pairs ?.

 

[Guests]

Hey morty, sounds like a pretty big collection you have there!

 

[Morty]

Hopefully i'll fix a few and get some pics up soon

I'm going to focus on a block of Atari games 1st, Asteroids, Centipede, Missile Command, Battlezone and Tempest

I got the Battlezone working the other night, just needed a pokey swap to get the controls working, Centipede is next

James - yes i remember how steep your drive was, glad you are enjoying missile command, hope to get mine up and running soon, just need an opto pcb for the trackball and the metalwork that holds the marquee in

kev

 

[Adrian Purser]

I just noticed you're in Cheltenham as well. I would never have imagined that there was someone with a stash of 25 cabs on my doorstep.

 

[Morty]

Hi Ade

Compared to you 25 is just a small start to a collection if memory serves we well

How's your collection going, are you still at the units at the stables? And can you get in the door of your unit yet?!

 

[guddler]

Why do 2114s always fail in pairs ?

Don't know - though they are usually used in pairs in the circuit, so I guess that's got something to do with it. I was more wondering why so many 2114's seem to be failing lately (read over the last 18 months). I'm beginning to think they may just be starting to get past their usable lifetime?

 

[tb lilley]

Ha! Yes, that drive way of mine strikes terror into all and anyone that's collecting or delivering a cab to mine ....

Missile Command trak ball optos have recently been repro'd:

http://forums.arcade-museum.com/showthread.php?t=214403

Cheers, James

Hopefully i'll fix a few and get some pics up soon

I'm going to focus on a block of Atari games 1st, Asteroids, Centipede, Missile Command, Battlezone and Tempest

I got the Battlezone working the other night, just needed a pokey swap to get the controls working, Centipede is next

James - yes i remember how steep your drive was, glad you are enjoying missile command, hope to get mine up and running soon, just need an opto pcb for the trackball and the metalwork that holds the marquee in

kev

Edit: made clicky link.

Connors2012-02-18 17:27:15

 

[smidsy]

Hi, and welcome.

Craig

 

[Adrian Purser]

Hi Ade

Compared to you 25 is just a small start to a collection if memory serves we well

How's your collection going, are you still at the units at the stables? And can you get in the door of your unit yet?!

Hi,

Yes, I'm still at the stables. I can get through the doors now but I have some cabs stored at work which need to come back at the end of the month so ask me again then

. I've spent most of this year putting mezzanines up and building an office so it's all changed around since the last time you were there. Last weekend I built a new work bench and this weekend I'm trying to get it all setup.

Feel free to pop over any time, just give me a shout.

 

[Guests]

Hi Ade

And can you get in the door of your unit yet?!

haha