Re: Dead Asteroids

On Tue, 11 Dec 2001, Phil Morris wrote:

> I've just obtained an Asteroids that I knew was dead before I bought
> it. I thought at the time that it was just the main board, but now I'm
> not so sure ..........
>
> Before I go on, I'll say that I'm a complete newbie at this. I've also
> done some research and can't find anything directly related to this
> particular fault.
>
> Also, this is no 'ordinary' Asteroids, it was originally a Lunar Lander
> and the main PCB has been heavily modified to run Asteroids, said mod
> also includes a daughterboard.
>
> When powering on the machine the monitor emits a fairly high pitched
> squeal, there is no display, also the player one button stays lit. If I
> disconnect the monitor then the player one button stays lit and pressing
> it doesn't achieve anything.
>
> Could a dodgy main PCB cause the monitor to squeal in such a manner, or
> is this indicative of an additional fault in the monitor?
>
> Should I wait and try a known working Asteroids board that I have on
> order, or look into seeing if there is a fault in the monitor circuitry?

First of all, since this is a hacked Lunar Lander board, you have no idea
what the current wiring of the cabinet is; Lunar Lander and Asteroids have
some pinout difference. Check the pinouts on www.spies.com/arcade and
double check your wiring to see if it matches that of Asteroids. Only
after verifying this would I plug in a stock Asteroids board.

Second, the monitor could be having problems of it's own. Do standard
maintenance on the monitor, which includes ordering and installing a cap
kit, replacing the deflection transistors, and resoldering the connector
pins. Do this before further testing the monitor.

Third, you didn't mention anything about the power supply; verify that all
the voltages on the AR II board (or whatever power supply the game is
fitted with now) is outputing the correct voltages.

Once you have done these things, plug in the new Asteroids board and give
it another try. The chances of your game working now will go up by a
factor of 10. Most likely the LL hack board is too far gone, and
probably far less documented for repair at this point, so I'd sell/ebay it
to recover some of your costs.

-- 
Mark Jenison
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