RGP Ghetto SWCP
- Thread starter Equites
- Start date
I'm just waiting on contact from Nad at some point that's convenient to him to get the stuff brought back over, as most people know, I can't drive (blind git itis) so hopefully if he has a bit of time it might get back here at the weekend, if not, soon after.
The man's busy performing miracles
The man's busy performing miracles
I found some pics whilst I was doing some filestore spring cleaning, I forgot I had these. These are pics of RGP's SWCP when I went onsite to have a look at it (we had no idea if it was a proper Atari SWCP).
I hope he does not mind me posting these.
This really was an absolute chance find, and only 5 miles from the RGP Lair. It just goes to show that there are still gems out there waiting to be found.
It belonged to an old guy who used to run Youth Centres. He had no interest in the cab and it had sat in his garage in the same place for 15 years.
RGP sent me there as he knew I was familiar with these, and to negotiate price for it. These are the pics I sent RGP from onsite when I saw it for the first time, confirming it was what we hoped it was;
The cab had suffered some bad corrosion, the damp in the garage had done it's damage.
The WG6100 Monitor suffered a large part of the corrosion, and many components simply fell off. Much work here, HV Cage, Deflection Board and Neck Board all needed work and much cleaning up;
Here she is now all cleaned up, and repaired working 100% (with LV6100 LV Section);
I hope he does not mind me posting these.
This really was an absolute chance find, and only 5 miles from the RGP Lair. It just goes to show that there are still gems out there waiting to be found.
It belonged to an old guy who used to run Youth Centres. He had no interest in the cab and it had sat in his garage in the same place for 15 years.
RGP sent me there as he knew I was familiar with these, and to negotiate price for it. These are the pics I sent RGP from onsite when I saw it for the first time, confirming it was what we hoped it was;
The cab had suffered some bad corrosion, the damp in the garage had done it's damage.
The WG6100 Monitor suffered a large part of the corrosion, and many components simply fell off. Much work here, HV Cage, Deflection Board and Neck Board all needed work and much cleaning up;
Here she is now all cleaned up, and repaired working 100% (with LV6100 LV Section);
So, while I'm testing the SW PCB set, it develops some scaling issues on some of the vectors. Running the Self Test reveals no Divider Errors but a few Matrix Errors.
While I'm probing the Main PCB with a logic probe, it stops running the game and just dies suddenly. Having the logic probe handy, I check the RESET status of the CPU and quickly learn that the Watchdog is barking.
I check the usual first, the Clock, the Sockets, but after much head scratching and probing, I am not any wiser to where the problem is.
Having thought about it though, I concluded that is must be a failed IC somewhere, as I had not moved the PCB at all when it died, all I was doing was light probing.
It was after a while that I did what I usually do when doing repairs, remembered that I have a Fluke 9010a Troubleshooter.
So out it comes, and the first thing I did was to run the BUS test, since if that fails, none of the other Tests would work either or be relevant.
It fails with ADDR BITS 0 AND 1 TIED;
This meant effectively that both bits A0 and A1 that run from the CPU (Pins 8 & 9) are somehow shorting against each other;
I confirm with a DMM that the two address lines are tied;
I'm still thinking this is a failed IC, which is now shorting the two address lines together. So, I consult the schemes and can see quite easily that the CPU addressing bits A0 and A1 go to an octal buffer (LS244 - pins 6 & 17) at location 1C;
So, I remove the LS244 and recheck the two addressing lines to see if they are still tied;
Sheesh, they were still tied, so much for my fantastic theory. The only other place it could be is the CPU socket, so off it came.
I rechecked the two address lines and they were no longer tied! I did not see what was causing the short, I suspect it was a fragment of metal or solder trapped under the socket;
I soldered in some new fresh sockets. I took the liberty of using some quality turned pin items, as a PCB like this warrants it;
I replace the CPU into the new socket, reinsert the LS244 at 1C and fire up the PCB. It is now no longer Watchdogging and appears to be running, but the output looks bad on the AVG Board;
Double sheesh, the AVG board was working just fine before the Main board failed. I check the output section, but it all looks just fine. Then, my attention turns to the AVG IC;
The easiest way to check an AVG IC is to simply eliminate it with a known worker. These ICs are very expensive and no longer available. Luckily, reproduction clones are available, very expensive but essential;
Another AVG IC that has bitten the dust;
So, I am back to looking for those Matrix Errors, anyone got any tips?
Equites2013-06-12 01:58:12
While I'm probing the Main PCB with a logic probe, it stops running the game and just dies suddenly. Having the logic probe handy, I check the RESET status of the CPU and quickly learn that the Watchdog is barking.
I check the usual first, the Clock, the Sockets, but after much head scratching and probing, I am not any wiser to where the problem is.
Having thought about it though, I concluded that is must be a failed IC somewhere, as I had not moved the PCB at all when it died, all I was doing was light probing.
It was after a while that I did what I usually do when doing repairs, remembered that I have a Fluke 9010a Troubleshooter.
So out it comes, and the first thing I did was to run the BUS test, since if that fails, none of the other Tests would work either or be relevant.
It fails with ADDR BITS 0 AND 1 TIED;
This meant effectively that both bits A0 and A1 that run from the CPU (Pins 8 & 9) are somehow shorting against each other;
I confirm with a DMM that the two address lines are tied;
I'm still thinking this is a failed IC, which is now shorting the two address lines together. So, I consult the schemes and can see quite easily that the CPU addressing bits A0 and A1 go to an octal buffer (LS244 - pins 6 & 17) at location 1C;
So, I remove the LS244 and recheck the two addressing lines to see if they are still tied;
Sheesh, they were still tied, so much for my fantastic theory. The only other place it could be is the CPU socket, so off it came.
I rechecked the two address lines and they were no longer tied! I did not see what was causing the short, I suspect it was a fragment of metal or solder trapped under the socket;
I soldered in some new fresh sockets. I took the liberty of using some quality turned pin items, as a PCB like this warrants it;
I replace the CPU into the new socket, reinsert the LS244 at 1C and fire up the PCB. It is now no longer Watchdogging and appears to be running, but the output looks bad on the AVG Board;
Double sheesh, the AVG board was working just fine before the Main board failed. I check the output section, but it all looks just fine. Then, my attention turns to the AVG IC;
The easiest way to check an AVG IC is to simply eliminate it with a known worker. These ICs are very expensive and no longer available. Luckily, reproduction clones are available, very expensive but essential;
Another AVG IC that has bitten the dust;
So, I am back to looking for those Matrix Errors, anyone got any tips?
Equites2013-06-12 01:58:12