6
STAR*TECH JOURNAL/DECEMBER 1983
NEWS BITS
NEW-TONE ELECTRONICS , INC.
QUALITY REPLACEMENT
SEMICONDUCTORS
AVAILABLE FOR THE
ELECTRONIC GAMES
INDUSTRY,
INCLUDING THE FOLLOWING
MANUFACTURERS:
• ATARI
• BALLY
• CINEMATR0NICS
• EXIDY
• GOTTLIEB
• SEGA/
GREMLIN
• MIDWAY
• STERN
• WILLIAMS
AVAILABLE FROM YOUR LOCAL
NTE DISTRIBUTOR
Rush me a FREE Electronic Games
cross reference Guide #CR10
COMPANY NAME
YOUR NAME
TITLE
ADDRESS
CITY
STATE
ZIP CODE
PHONE NO .
CLIP AND MAIL TODAY TO :
NEW-TONE ELECTRONICS, INC.
DEPT G1 / 44 FARRAND STREET
BLOOMFIELD , NEW JERSEY 07003
WE
REPAIR
EVERYTHING
FAST!
Board
Specialists
Video Games
Domestic & Foreign
Technicians
formerly with Bally
Send your
repair work to:
REPAIRS
UNLIMITED
3479 Parkway Center Court
Orlando, FL 32804
305/295-8827
NEW GAME CARTRIDGES ARE REPROGRAMMABLE
* * * SUPERLAmCES
BOOST SEMICONDUCTOR CAPABILITY
LIGHTWEIGHT PIEZO FILM CHALLENGES CERAMICS
NEW GAME CARTRIDGES ARE REPROGRAMMABLE
Video game cartridges that use electrically programmable read-only memory (EPROM)
can be reprogrammed for new games. In the past, cartridges have been distributed in fixed
read-only memory chips. Because most games are popular for only a few weeks,
manufacturers have faced major problems of inventory planning and control; they must
make enough cartridges if a game is hot, but must not overproduce flops. PC Telemart
(Fairfax, VA) will use EPROM; a $20 cartridge can be reprogrammed for a new game at
roughly a $10 charge. The programming service will be available only through dealers,
who will obtain the programs through a telephone link to the company's central database.
PC Telemart plans to sign up chain stores as dealers and will seek contracts for game
distribution with computer companies.
SUPERLATTICES BOOST SEMICONDUCTOR CAPABILITY
A new class of semiconductors, exhibiting better electrical and light-producing properties
than conventional materials, is under development at Sandia National Laboratory in
Albuquerque. The new devices are grown in many extremely thin alternating layers of
crystal to produce a "strained-layer superlattice" (SLS). Fine layering (less than 300
angstroms) allows close pairing of physically unmatched crystals, as the atoms of each
succeeding layer align by elastic strain with those of the layer below; having to match the
atomic spacing of paired materials currently limits the variety of semiconductors
produced. Thin layers also help cut losses that occur in bulk crystal devices. Because the
distances between layers are shorter than the electron mean free path, the electrons
generate photons without giving up energy to the crystal lattice as vibrations (phonons).
SLS semiconductors act as direct photon emitters, even though made of indirect
materials; they are brighter, more efficient light producers that hold promise of being
tailored to their intended use by varying layer material or size.
The Sandia team grows SLS crystals by using molecular beam epitaxy and metal
organic chemical vapor deposition, neither yet a mass production process. Commerical
devices are at least five years away, predicts Roger Chaffin, manager of Sandia's Device
Research Department However, simple diodes have been made, and efficient light
emission has been measured New devices are likely to evolve along lines not served by
conventional materials such as silicon. There will be more emphasis on optoelectronics,
where brighter light-emitting diodes in a variety of colors are hoped for. There is even talk
of a laser diode that would emit green light, a wavelength much shorter than is now
attainable.
LIGHTWEIGHT PIEZO FILM CHALLENGES CERAMICS
A flexible, lightweight piezoelectric polymer that converts mechanical force to electric
signals and vice versa is at the heart of several new devices in communications, sound
transmission, and health care. The polyvinylidene film ( called Kynar by producer
Pennwalt Corp., King of Prussia, PA) develops ten times more voltage output for a given
force than heavy, brittle piezo ceramics of the same thickness.
The Navy is studying the film for use in new hydrophones and as a passive sonar
system. AT&T has also tested the polymer for use in a new touchtone telephone
keyboard. Other promising applications under study include microphones, impact printer
monitors, tone generators, speakers, robotic tactile sensors, respiration monitors, and
"crib death" alarm systems.
The film is made in thicknesses of6-750 microns. For a single 9-micron sheet, a IO-
volt input produces a 0. 3 micron expansion or contraction per centimeter of film length.
Much larger deflections are obtained with two-layer (bi-morph) construction.
CINEMATRONICS'
DRAGON'S LAIR INTERMITTENT JOYSTICK
By Rod Towns, 7-Eleven Food Stores, Hendersonville, TN
SYMPTOMS: Players complain that they make the correct move but Dirk dies.
Most common complaint is that he would not move left.
THE TEST: Using an ohmmeter, place one lead on the grounding tab of the player
panel. With the other lead, probe the grounding wire starting at the player #1 or #2
switch and follow the wire around the panel to the left move switch, testing as you
go. A rising resistance indicates the cause of the problem. Note that the switch for a
left move is the last in the circuit and shows the most resistance to ground.
If the resistance does not rise, leave one lead on the grounding tab and place the
other on the left move switch. Jiggle the player panel and observe the meter for
intermittent continuity.
THE FIX: Trash the terminals and solder the ground wire directly to the tabs.