Star Tech Journal

Issue: 1983-January - Vol 4 Issue 11

4
STAR*TECH JOURNAL/JANUARY 1983
TECHNICIAN COMPONENTS GROUP
QUALITY REPLACEMENT
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• ATARI
• BALLY
• CINEMATRONICS
• EXIDY
• GOTTLIEB
• GREMLIN
• MIDWAY
• STERN
• WILLIAMS
AVAILABLE FROM YOUR LOCAL
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TITLE
ADDRESS
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STATE
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PACIFIC AMUSEMENT
OPERATORS SHOW
TO BE FILMED FOR NATIONAL TELEVISION
The Pacific Amusement Operators Show, being
held February 21-23, 1983 at the Fairmont
Hotel in San Francisco, promises to be one of
the most innovative amusement trade shows
ever.
Westco Amusement, managers of the show,
have announced that Dellinger Productions
will be making a feature film of the show to be
released for national television. The film,
tentatively named ARCADE '83, is designed
to give the public an idea of what an amusement
trade show is like, the people and the companies
behind the games, and of course, the new
games for 1983.
"One element that is missing from our indus-
tries' shows," states Terence Cunningham,
Director of the PAO Show, "is the player. We
can include the hundreds of manufacturers and
distributors and the thousands of operators, but
physically we can't accommodate the millions
of players. Although the players can't attend
the show, we can bring the show to the player
via television. For example, Turner Broadcasting
estimates that if aired in late February of 1983
on WTBS, the PAO Show will reach over 25
million homes. That's a lot of players.
The overall message we want to convey to the
public is that there are people behind our
amusement products. One of the problems the
industry has faced is that the public doesn't see
our industry in terms of people, but only in
terms of machines. This film should demonstrate
that people are the most important aspect of
our industry and the products that we make and
operate are just one way we express ourselves."
Another innovation of the PAO Show is the
use of closed circuit TV for seminars and other
show features. It seems that the Fairmont
Hotel has facilities for "broadcasting" to each
hotel room and meeting room either live or
taped programming. One program that is
planned is an" evening news" every night of the
exhibition which will summarize that day's
seminars and events, announce the next day's
seminars and events, and interview a leading
figure in the industry.
In addition to the coin amusement exhibitors,
the major cartridge game manufacturers are
also being .invited to exhibit. Again, Terence
Cunningham: "There is quite a cross-over
between the home games and the arcade games
and many of the largest operators and distri-
butors are some of the biggest retailers of
cartridge games. As arcade games are converted
to cartridges, and cartridge to arcade, we feel
that this rewarding exhibition combination will
heighten the excitement by revealing a glimpse
of the future of both avenues of entertainment.
For further information contact: Terence
Cunningham, Director; PACIFIC AMUSE-
MENT OPERATORS SHOW, Westco
Amusement, 2727 Midtown Court, Suite One,
Palo Alto, CA 94303.
Telephone (415) 325-6691 or Telex 348-399.
*****
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The Pace PEP-220 Gold Plating System is a
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The Pace Gold Plating System is completely
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for high quality plating: non-contaminating
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conductive and platers tape, power cord, case,
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The unit includes a PPS-76 Power Source
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solution used.
The complete Gold Plating System is avail-
able through Pace representatives worldwide.
For more information, contact: Marc Siegel,
Pace, Incorporated, 9893 Brewers Court,
Laurel, MD 20707. 301/490-9860.
5
STAR*TECH JOURNAL/JANUARY 1983
SEGA ELECTRONICS'
ROM LINE (PART 4)
1/0 Ports
So far in our discussion of a computer, we've
looked at circuits that cannot communicate
meaningfully with a human.
There must be additional circuits that allow
a computer operator to control the flow of
information to and from the computer. That is
exactly what the input and output ports do in
any computer. They are the direct means
through which an operator communicates with
the computer, or the computer with the operator.
Let us look at an input port first.
In a computer, the data bus is the bi-
directional path for the flow of computer infor-
mation. The data on the data bus is used by the
microprocessor to perform certain functions.
When the data is input by a human operator, it
must be placed on the data bus at the proper
time for use by the computer. So, an input port
is tied directly to the data bus and the informa-
tion available at the port is "read" by the
computer and acted on. (See Figure I.)
The input switches are operated by the
player ( in the case of video game computers),
then, at a predetermined time, the computer
enables the input port IC so that the switch
levels ( either high or low) can be placed on the
data bus. Now, the switch levels can be under-
stood by the computer and acted on accordingly.
Note that the input port is not enabled all the
time. Through the input port select IC, the
computer "looks at" this input port only and
takes in the data. The "AD" and "IN" signals
must both be active high for the "ENABLE"
signal to be active LO and select and input port
IC. Both" AD" and "IN" are signals generated
by the microprocessor under control of the
computer program. Remember, both signals
must be high to enable the port.
In the case of output ports, the exact
opposite procedure occurs. Data to be output
to the player (for example, a game sound), is
placed on the data bus. At the right moment,
again controlled by the program, the output
port is selected and the data is sent to the sound
board to trigger the appropriate sound board
circuit. Figure 2 shows a typical output port
configuration.
Again, the computer must be told by the
program when to select the output port. This is
done by the" AD" and "OUT" signals applied
to the output port select IC. Both signals must
go high to make "ENABLE" active low.
This is, of course, a general introduction to
the 1/0 ports, but it describes common designs
in 1/0 ports. More complex 1/0 designs are
often necessary because of the larger number of
1/0 ports available in a particular computer.
The important points to remember in any 1/0
circuit are that 1) the computer must select the
1/0 port under program control and 2) the
computer, in selecting a port, must then enable
that port. Keep these points in mind when
troubleshooting a game that, for example, does
not output data to a sound board, or does not
allow the player switches to activate the game.
In the next issue, we'll see the need for
power. Keep tech'ing!
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To !<.ownd BoHd
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Video Games Service Kit
A new, specially-designed attache' style
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The complement of tools was selected
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