Re: Atari Power supplies

> I just dragged my Star Wars power supply out of the closet and attempted
> to hook it up to a Centipede. (Note: we're talking about the actual power
> supplies here, not the regulator board.)
>
> I quickly ran into a show-stopper in the largest connector in the upper
> left corner. While the connecter would appear to mate correctly, the
> gender of one of the pins inside is reversed, which prevents it from
> connecting. Looks to be quite intentional.

Yes, the color XY power supplies are unique (but interchangeable amoung
the other color XY's only) with the following pin pattern on the big 15
pin molex:

(f = female, m = male, e = empty (no pin))

e e m
e f f
f m f
f f f
f f f

The raster's are slightly different with respect to pin pattern, but I
haven't looked at one lately. I suspect they could be easily converted
with some replacement crimp on wire tips and a little "elbow grease"...
I assume "big blue" is still 27,000uf at 15 volts and the bridge
rectifier is a MDA3501 on the rasters but haven't looked. While we're
on the subject, does anyone know if a bridge rectifier with a higher PIV
can be used? I am having trouble locating MDA3501's (100 PIV), but
MDA3504's (400PIV) are easily accessible.

Also, I have put together an excel spreadsheet with all the parts from
the Audio Reg 2 revision used in Tempest (the one with everything
installed on the AR2). Basically, I transcribed the AR2 parts list from
a Tempest manual, then went through and found the NTE equivalent part,
where appropriate. The spreadsheet is still a little "raw", but if
anyone wants a copy, LMK. Looks like every electrical component on an
AR2 can be replaced for $25 or so, without even shopping very hard for
good deals!! :-) Everyone talks about cap kits for monitors, but Bob
Roberts has only just released cap kits for Audio Reg 2's (Does anyone
know what all is included in his kits?). I am wondering why. Has
anyone done a FAQ for AR2's?? Seems like a heck of a good topic to me.
Any volunteers?? I am tired of playing "Russian Roulette" with AR2's
until I find a good one... I've chewed up a few Tempest mathboxes that
way, even using Audio Reg's that appeared to be producing the right
voltages (but were not producing clean power). It seems to me that it is
good "preventive maintenance" to rebuild your AR2 completely and replace
"Big blue" and maybe the bridge rectifier on the main transformer of any
game you plan to keep. It could be done for a total of $35 to $40 or
so, tops! :-)

Noel Johnson
Received on Sat Dec 25 21:46:03 1999