Star Tech Journal

Issue: 1985-December - Vol 7 Issue 7

STAR* TECH J ourna 1 ***** *** ************* ********** • ******************* *
If a bulb that is behind the hoppers
goes out, the entire changer is out of
order. In the II: aocle, the llilchine can
turn off the hopper instead of the
entire aachine.
The softNire-aechankal backup idea
can be applied to other uuseaent
devices. A priae exaaple of this is the
switches on a pinball llachine. One
exa■ple of this is at start up, to
disable any N/0 SNitch that is closed.
NINTENDO 6lN UPDATE
The gun cable has been a constant
source of ■a,Jor proble■s fOf' Nintendo
and the operator. Nintendo has
responded Mith a gun-rebuild progr• at
a reduced price that helPS■
As the gaaes are being used, I see
the cables cracking and breaking Mith
the Mires the■selves, in sea cases,
the only thing holding the gun to the
cabinet!
Having contacted Nintendo again, I
i nforaed that the proble■s Nl!l"t!
relayed to the parent co■PanY in Japan.
The i ■pression I received AS that
Japan has been very responsive to our
problems over here. To date, tio.ver,
no further i■proveaents have been
employed.
NiS
ENNIS
OJfJERSim. TIPS
By
Ennis
Ennis Video Impair
Salisbury, ND
Ji ■
Ji ■
Let• start by correcting a ■ istake
in last IIOl'lths issue. The Ttf( III kit
by Kitkorp also requires a -5vdc luPPlY
in addition to the +5vdc and +12vdc
listed. Without this negative SuPPlY
there Ni 11 be no ga■e sounds.
Since the trivia gaES have becca so
popular, lets discuss TRIVIA Ifill by
Merit Industries.
This kit requires a horizOfttal
■oni tor and the board pUts out separate
+H & +V sync signals. Potier supply
requirements are +5vdc and +12vdc.
This kit does differ fro■ ESt kits.
One difference being the board uses a
65 pin edge connector. The reason for
this is the board Nill i1Jug directly
into Merit's poker gaaes. Since the
poker gaae's legality is being
questioned in sea states, a lot of
these are being converted to TRIVIA
liliIZs, Nhich are doing Nell.
The categories can be changed by
replacing 2 R(MI, For instance, there
is a sex category available Nhich is
suitable for SOE bar locations.
***
Another difference is the square
buttons require a 1- hole instead of
1-118• hole for round type buttons and
s..itch brackets. There is a little ■ore
wiring involved because these are
lighted s..itches. The control panel
will have 5 buttons.
A couple good candidates for this
conversion MOUid be Atari's NISSLE
001N1ND or 6ottleib' s REACTOR, since
the power supplies are adequate and
they have horizontal ■onitors.
But to do the top aarquis on these
ga11eS, you ■ ight ..ant to order an extra
control panel overlay instead of using
the plexi. This particular type of top
header (like Atari's TEMPEST> uses an
overlay instead of plexi.
See you next ■onth.
December 1985 (2)
After all, if you make the ■illion
point shot on the 3rd ball, Nhere do
you go fro■ there?
aJ£T by Willius; one great machine!
Play on. ... Root
MURPHY
If the facts do not confcn to the
theory, they ■ust be disposed of.
BRENNAN
T' !HXITINB PCl.E POSIT Im. PCBs
By Dennis Brennan
Active A■use■ent Coapany
Philadelphia, PA
The follCMing is a list of the ■ost
and solutions found
with Atari Pole Position I and II board
sets.
eoa>n · sy1pto■s
ROOT
1l£ P'LAYER
By John •Root• Pilarchek
Pennsauken, NJ
aachines, currently out on play,
a players point of vie..).
fro■
CtJET by Williams
This llachine is a true player's drea■
if ever there Mis one. aJ£T has ■ore
shots for the player to go after than
I've seen in a llilchine in a long Nhile;
maybe the ■ost ever.
The playing field is si■ply
fantastic, Mith all the action one
could ask for. The ■achine is set up
Mith the standard tNO flippers; Nhich I
personally prefer. With these flippers
you can shoot for 2X, 3X or 5X point
values, free balls and specials. Hold
on though, because here ccas a
first! ...
On the third ball by shooting out the
1986 shots, located at the top of the
field, the player has a chance at the
1,808,808 point shot located on the top
right side. I have to admit, I love it!
Here is a aachine Nhere I feel it is
a ■ust to maintain its flippers in
tip-top NOrking conditions, Mith plenty
of PQNer --enabling the player to go for
the big shots.
My only co■ plaint Mith regard to this
machine, hONever, is once again, as I
have previously co■plained about in
other machines, is the score setting of
1,200,808 points for the one and only
gaae. I realize this is a factory
setting, h0111ever, smeone should put
the NOrd out to add tNO ■ore !iC01"e
settings in order to ■ake this a top
players gaae!
***
Sy1pt01: Driver's car flashes on and
off Nhen in lotion, starting gate
graphics bad or ■issing, Pole Position
logo at the beginning of attract aocle
broken up.
Solution: Replace Pro■ 136814-146
(Pole Position I) or 136814-192 (Pole
Position m, at location 12H on the
Video PCB.
********************************
Sy1pt01: Horizontal lines through all
road..ay and background video (cars,
signs, alpha nu■erics and high score
table look ok).
Solution: Replace 2148 Ra■s at
locations 9F and llf on the Video PCB.
********************************
Sy1pt01: Cars and signs have double
images.
Solution: Change Epro■ 136814-231 at
location 11N on Video PCB.
********************************
Sy1pt01: Horizontal lines through
cars and signs.
Solution: Check horizontal address
counters at locations 9H, 9J, 11H, 11J,
lit<, and !tll on Video PCB.
********************************
Sy ■pto■: 6a■e Non't retain high score
■e■ory after PQNer has been turned off.
Solution: Battery voltage on
Pin 24 of 6116 Caos Rall <7E> should be
between 3.5vdc and 4.lvdc with flQllel"
off. If voltage is lCM, change battet'Y,
Make sure Juaper next to battery is in
W1 position.
***
December 1 '385
< 3) •••••••••••••••••••••••••• ................. •••••• .. ••••••• ***** STAR*TECH Journal
Sy■pt011: Intl!l"llittent Ru and R011
errors during pc)Ml!l"-Up.
Solution: Check +5vdc outpUts fro■
both audio regulater Pcb's. (R8 is the
+5VDC adJust ■ent pot).
••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••
Sy ■pt011:
the screen.
Blue screen or garbage on
Solution: Check 18.3vdc outpUt fro■
transfor■er asSl!llbly.
a) Check for blOlffl F3 fuse Ollll.25).
b) Check the MllA 3511 bridge and
27,000 uf capacitor !Cl).
c) Check for burnt Mires and burnt
fuse holders llhen changing the bridge
rectifier or the fuse holder, cut off
the slip-on connectors and solder the
Mires directly to the legs.
Sy■pt011:
Cpu and Video Rilll errors.
Solution: In ■ost cases, the problea
is not Mith the coaponent indicated,
but Mith its associated circuitry.
BATISTIC
Tl£RM.. PROBLEMS
By John Batistic
Univid Test Systl!IIS
Cleveland, Cit
Holt ■any ti■es have you seen a ga■e
that Nill operate fine until it gets
hot or has been on for a length of
ti ■e? This problea tends to occur quite
a bit. The problea is usually caused by
a faulty coaponent on the logic boards.
Locating the bad coaponent ■aY be
acco■ plished rather si■ply if the
correct proceedure is fol lONed.
The first step is to isolate the
problea to the correct ■odule. The
potter supply is al..ays a suspect in a
ga■e Mith thl!l"llal probll!IIS. To isolate
the potter supply fro■ the logic set,
take the logic set out of the ga■e and
potter it up on your bench using your
test fixture. Let it heat up for allhile
or heat it up Mith a heat gun. If you
do not have a heat gun, you can use a
hair dryer as a substitute. The problea
should appear if the board is bad.
Once the problea shoNs itself, slONly
start freezing sections of the board
using a can of •freeze spray•. When you
are in the general area, the problea
should suddenly clear up. When you see
this happen, heat the area again until
the problea is back. Carefully freeze
one coaponent at a ti ■e until it clears
up again. Continue this process until
you becOlle al ■ost certain llhere the
proble11 1 ies.
The problea Nill usually be an I.C.
chip that has internal daaage. It shONS
this da■age under te11perature changes
because it Nill expand and contract.
You should change the suspect I.C. and
repeat the testing process of heating
the area. So■eti ■es you ■aY have to
take a fett shots in an area before you
nail dOlffl the problea I.C. but after
you get used to the routine you Nill
bec:OMe ■ore expert and able to find the
bad coaponent Mith less trial and
error.
Every nON and then you Ni 11 see a
ga■e board that has llhat I call a
reverse heat proble11. This ti ■e the
board Nill ttork fine once it has been
on for allhile but llhen it is pottered-gp
cold it doesn't ttork right. The ttaY to
find the bad coaponent involves
reversing our troubleshooting
proceedure. Heat the board to get it
ttorking, then freeze it until it shONS
the proble11. Using the sue ■ethods of
isolation, you Nill be able to figure
out llhich coaponent is causing the
proble11.
The next ti■e you encounter a theraal
proble11 you should try the
troubleshooting routine outlined here.
It is an effective NaY to successfully
and quickly locate coaponents that are
breaking dONn under theraal COl'lditions.
The equip■ent required is ■ ini ■al llhen
you look at the results.
111111111111111111111111
EN6LISH MARK DARTS
proble■s
Cause: If a ga■e at a particular
location has been bothered by
electrical noise caused by RFI (Radio
frequency Interference) fro■
fluorescent lights and/or static
discharge fro■ people ttalking on
carpeting in front of the ga■e, the
following ■odification should help.
(WARNING -disconnect electrical potter
before atte11pting service.>
Solution:
1. RE!llove black Mire on ■ain harness
bettteen pin 6 of coin harness plug and
pin 2 of J5 at CPU board. This is the
ground Mire fro■ the CPU board to the
coin door.
2. RE!llove black Mire
inner harness.
fro■
6. If proble■s believed to be caused
by electrical noise still persist,
install tNO .91/681V capacitors, one
fro■ each side of the AC line cord to
green (ground) Mire in the potter cord . .
This can be done on the ter■ inal strip
under the potter supply chassis.
fllTE: On so■e ga■es, pin 2 of J5 on
CPU board (see step 1) is not connected
to the ground bus. If this is the case,
add a short Ju■per to ground pin 2. If
this is not done, you Nill have no
sound.
RUNYON
6AIE DOCllENTATII».
By Fritz Runyon
Willius Electronics
Chicago, IL
ship■ent.
111111111111111111111111
Problea: Electrical noise
Mith 511111 Series 6a■es
5. RE!llove the black Mire fro■ J5 (pin
8) to P2 (pin 8). This Mire is not
needed and could cause ground loops.
Each Willius Electronics 6a■es
product has an instruction ■anual and a
ga■e registration card packed in it for
ARACHNID
Sa■e:
coin door inner harness to the potter
supply chassis. Attach to the aetal
chassis on one of the screNS holding
the transfor■er by using another nut on
tap. This coapletes the change of
routing ground direct to the potter
supply chassis instead of to ground on
the CPU board. It has helped in several
cases involving electrical noise.
coin door
3. On the coin door, re110ve the black
ground Mire going to the 6 prong plug.
~. Make a,_ Mire (18 gauge green
stranded - 4&•) Mith 18 sere.. eyelets
on each end. Attach one end to the coin
door at the Point llhere the black Mire
NaS rE!IIOVed. Snake the Mire beside the
Whenever the ■anual or the card is
please contact your
distributor for replaceaents.
■ issing,
Please coaplete the ga■e registration
card and return it to Willian. The
infor11ation you supply enables us to
evaluate such factors as iunufacturing
quality, transportation daa;age, initial
ga■e operation, ga■e play adJust■ents,
etc.
PROPER ADJUS11£NTS
Setup and Sa■e adJust■ents are
key eleaents in achieving satisfactory
(even superior) earnings Mith your
Willius pinball ga■e. Playfield pitch
angle adJust ■ent (NOT glass angle or
cabinet angle, but PLAVFIELD angle) and
ga■e electronics adJustments can
contribute greatly to your continued
success in ga■e operation. Another item
for adJustaent is the arrangement of
playfield posts; h0111ever 1 Williams
generally recoa■ends that this
adJust ■ent be ■ade foll0111ing a period
of evaluation concerning the previously
aentioned playfield pitch angle and
6a■e
ga■e adJust ■ents.
Use your bookkeeping functions (refer
to the instruction manual) to help you
evaluate llhether changes to the factory

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