Omega Race Project Complete! / Blacklight Question

I have finally finished my Omega Race project. With the exception of one
missing piece of artwork (the very back), and a few minor final touches
(back door!), it's 100% complete and working. A few months ago, this machine
was a wet dog on a porch heading for the dump when I tripped across it. It
feels really good to rescue and restore a classic like this. And outside of
some tape, primer and paint (along with approx. 50 hrs labor)...free's a
great price for a game I loved during High School. Since my Star Trek died
(no flames, sorry), this is my only working vector game at present. At least
I'll have time for my ST and Asteroids Deluxe projects now that I'm finished
with this one.

I did take lots of digital pics of the restoration process. Thanks in part
to Vectorlist folks, I learned a thing or two about dealing with swelling
"cat fur" edges and Horizontal positioning of BW XY Monitors. I'll be
putting all of this up for viewing soon, for those who are interested.

Regarding my OR upper black light bulb...The (Sylvania) F15T8 bulb that was
in it was a white coated blacklight bulb. Wal-Mart only had the blue bulb
(GE F15T8 BLB), so I purchased it as a replacement (my old bulb was working,
but had a broken pin). When I tried the new BLB, I couldn't get it to light
up. I triple checked seating of the bulb, swapped FS-2s and verified power,
but nothing. When I put the white BL bulb back in, it immediately worked
with both starters. Do the blue bulbs work with different starters/ballasts?
Maybe I just got a bum tube from Wal-Mart. My Omega Race manual shows a blue
bulb, but the parts lists simply says 18" Black Light Lamp F15T8. Was the
original bulb blue? I am getting a bad reflection (of the black light) with
the white bulb regardless of playing height or room lighting. Was there a
reflector or something to prevent this?...or is this reflection not nearly
as prevalent when using a blue bulb?

Any comments or suggestions would be appreciated.

- Tom

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Received on Tue Sep 4 17:13:53 2001