Re: Star Wars - Wobble Vision

Here's an old post of mine, I successfully did this to WG and Amplifone
Star Wars monitors, and it removed the remaining screen wobble,
hope it does something for you...

Below that is an old post about modding the Asteroids AR board,
which can be cross referenced to the AR/II board in Star Wars also,
though the part/pin numbers may be different?

Cheers,
Marc

----- Original Message -----
From: "Marc Alexander" <marcwolf123@yahoo.com>
To: <vectorlist@synthcom.com>
Sent: Sunday, April 07, 2002 10:20 PM
Subject: VECTOR: Star Wars Death Star explosion - Ground and 5V jumper cables

>
> My Star Wars with the 25" Amplifone in it always had the screen
> size increase briefly on the Death Star explosion scene, like I've
> seen mentioned here quite a few times!
> I had assumed it was probably the HV regulation but not thought much about it.
>
> I was giving my machine a general going-over and thought I'd better
> do what John Robertson (thanks John!) often mentioned, which was to
> run 5V and GND cables directly between the ARII and the game boards,
> and also run a ground cable between the game board and monitor
> (or similar, and also to help WG monitors or any game really, esp. Atari)
>
> I made the following modifications, and the picture is now rock steady
> and I've lost a bit of horizontal shake also that it occasionally had, it's great.
>
> 5V and GND cables between ARII and game boards (with 2pin connector inline).
> 5V and GND wires between main and avg boards (may as well), done on the heavy
> tracks right near the edge connectors.
> GND wire with inline connector between monitor GND and game boards GND.
> (done on X or Y GND wire into deflection board)
>
> Other mods:
> Jumper wired +Sense on ARII to 5V out of ARII )bypasses overvoltage
> Jumper wired -Sense on ARII to GND out of ARII )'frying' problem with age
> Placed 5V6 5W protection zener across 5V and GND out of ARII
> (after checking adjustment on bench below 5V)
> Adjusted ARII for 5.00V at game boards after reconnection
>
> I can't say for sure but I think a reasonable amount of audio hum is gone also.
>
>
> Cheers,
>
> Marc

----- Original Message -----
From: "Marc Alexander" <marcwolf123@yahoo.com>
To: <vectorlist@vectorlist.org>
Sent: Tuesday, July 01, 2003 11:00 PM
Subject: VECTOR: Asteroids repair log 2 - power supply

>
> Back again, I forgot to mention the mods to the Audio/Regulator
> board that will help against further board and power supply problems,
>
> As you probably already know, the Audio/Regulator board
> (and 'II' version on later games) uses seperate +SENSE (5V sense)
> and -SENSE (GND sense) lines that are expected to go to the
> game pcb, and feedback the voltage at the game PCB so the regulator
> can adjust the power supply up a bit to allow for the voltage drop
> of the connectors and cabling.
> Of course 20+ years and low quality connectors to start with meant the
> voltage drop gets higher quickly, and causes all kind of voltage
> regulator, burn out and voltage offset, video wobble and other weird problems.
> Also, failure of the Regulator circuitry or pass transistor has
> the ability to put over 10VDC at high current into the 5V rail
> of the game board, which can kill many parts!
>
> To fix this problem,
> (AUDIO/REGULATOR board, not AUDIO/REGULATOR II, fix is the same but pinouts
> and parts locations may be different?)
>
> 1) First check the board is adjusted to 5.00 VDC output
> while still in the machine.
> This is because a later step will fit a 5V6 zener to the output, and
> it should be below that before fitting it!
> If you find the R8 1K pot that adjusts this is a bit jumpy or touchy,
> replace it with a good quality cermet trimpot, it will save some
> power supply trouble later.
>
> 2) On the back side of J7, the 9 pin connector, you will see pins
> 1 and 4 are connected together.
> Short with a piece of wire soldered to the back, Pin 2 to Pins 1&4.
>
> 3) On the back side of J7, the 9 pin connector, you will see pins
> 5 and 6 are connected together.
> Short with a piece of wire soldered to the back, Pin 3 to Pins 5&6.
>
> Resolder all the connector pins on the PCB just for good measure, they
> can go dry or mechanically bad.
>
> 4) Remove CR1, the diode closest to J7, after first noting its orientation.
> (you could leave it in and put the zener over the top of it if preferred)
>
> 5) Solder a 5V6 5W (or higher wattage) Zener diode at CR1, with the
> stripe facing the same way as CR1.
> I use an 1N5339B 5V6 5W zener.
>
> 6) If you have a bench power supply, put 10-12VDC into the +10.3VDC UNREG
> input (with GND), current limited if available to 200mA, and check and
> adjust the 5V output to 5.00 VDC with the 1K pot.
> If you don't just plug it in to the machine with the game board
> unplugged, and adjust the output very carefully to 5.00VDC.
> NOTE! If you accidentally adjust over about 5.6VDC the zener will start
> clamping, get hot, and the fuse for that line may blow.
>
> Don't hesitate to replace the edge connector that goes to your game board
> if it's a bit loose, it can save a lot of drama.
> Mark the new connector so you know which way is the 'top/parts' side.
> 'Prime' with solder all the pins of the new connector, so they are ready
> to accept the new wire ends
> One at a time, cut the wires off the old connector, strip, prime with
> solder the stripped end, then hold the wire and the iron to the new
> connector pin, and it will attach easily.
>
>
> Best regards,
>
> Marc

----- Original Message -----
From: "Colin Davies" <colin.w.davies@btopenworld.com>
To: <vectorlist@vectorlist.org>
Sent: Tuesday, March 22, 2005 10:41 AM
Subject: VECTOR: Star Wars - Wobble Vision

> Hi Guys,
>
> While were discussing Starwars, I've just got my ESB machine up and running
> for the first time after finding quite a few faults on the Deflection board.
> (Negative low voltage power supply transistor + zenner , all 3 2n3792 fried
> , R612 open circuit, D602 shortcircuit) - I have had to use a 27V Zenner as
> I didnt have a 28V one ( will be fitting the psu upgrade board soon anyway )
>
> Now the game is playable, and I'm absolutely overjoyed - BUT the graphics
> have a bit of a wobble to them.. Doesn't look quite right... ??
>
> Its got the Wells Gardner monitor in it... Is this typical to expect from
> this monitor ( the board seemed ok on my Friends ampliphone setup) or do I
> need to start replacing some of the capacitors ?
>
> Thanks, Regards, Colin
>
> ---------------------------------------------------------------------------
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Received on Tue Mar 22 06:43:49 2005