Re: Star Trek G-08 Tips

> I am getting a working Star Trek Cockpit tomorrow, anyone have any tips on
> how to attempt, if possible, to prolong the life of the monitor?

Duncan Brown once told me that an operator he knew liked to mount the
heatsink/transistor/fan unit on the outside of the game to improve airflow.
I'm not sure I'd go this far, but I do like to remove the back panel from my
Sega vector cabinets for the same reason.

> Some mod that could "bulletproof" this sucker, or some alternate monitor
> suggestions, would be seriously cool.

One thing you should do immediately whenever you get a G-08 is resolder the
header pins on the monitor boards. For some reason, the solder joints on this
unit are very prone to cracking and creating open or intermittent connections.
Also, make sure that the metal thingies inside the connector housings aren't
bent all the way back--they need some "spring" in them to make good contact
with the pins, so bend 'em back into shape if you have to.

> I presume a fan added to blow over the monitor boards would be a good
> thing????

It couldn't hurt, but I don't think it's necessary. The only section that
really needs to be kept cool is the deflection transistor/heatsink unit, and as
long as you leave the back door off the cabinet, the built-in fan should work
fine.

> What about power supply? (I presume it's linear...)

The original G-80 power supply sucks. Cut the +5, -5, +12, and -12 leads and
splice them into a proper switching power supply. I prefer the $8.95 Compaq PC
power supplies available from B.G. Micro; they're small and cheap and they work
great. You'll still want to keep the original power supply in the game for the
audio amplification and some other miscellaneous voltages.

While you're at it, you might like to buy a toggle switch to handle turning the
game on and off. I like the kind that mounts in the same size and shape hole
as those annoying interlock switches use--on Sega cabinets, I replace the
interlock switch behind the front door with a big toggle. Click!

> Anything neat I can do like run TAC-SCAN easily on this???

Not real easily, since Star Trek, if I remember right, uses a substantially
different pinout from Tac/Scan. What I did for my Tac/Scan is put together a
separate wiring harness for the Tac/Scan boardset, and I swap back and forth
with the harness I use for Space Fury and Eliminator.

--
David S. Shuman
University of Virginia School of Law '98