Star Tech Journal

STAR*TECH Journal
March 1986 (3)
GET'fiR;
By
IR mNE
John Batistic
Univid Test Systems
Cleveland, OH
The year of 1986 has shown us that the
video game industry is not on it's way
back to a market predominated by
"dedicated" games. We see games that were
originally marketed as "dedicated"
transforming into hot new kits. Kits are
really what is happening and it looks like
they may be around for quite a while.
Actually, kits make service a bit easier.
When you think about the service end you
start to realize that we no longer have to
worry so much about things like power
supplies. We had more different power
supplies in the past than we knew what to
do with and often we wondered why?
Today, we are in the age of the switching
regulator power supply. switching
regulator power supplies make life much
sinpler for people involved with service.
It is not uncormon for a serviceman to
carry a spare as part of his regular parts _
inventory. If a power supply goes down in
the field, it can be replaced on the spot.
This is a situation we have all longed to
see.
There is a serious service problem that we
all must still face. They have not
invented a generic video game logic board
that we can all carry around. (What is
wrong with these people?) Every single
game has a conpletely different logic
board. Not only that, but they even wire
the darn things differently and use all
kinds of different connectors to make them
operate. How do they expect service people
to be able to check, verify or worse,
repair all these boards?
The truth is, that this is your problem
and if you aren't doing something to solve
this problem, you are not even close to
being in tune with the real world. You
have to be capable of testing and
repairing logic boards. You have to do
your own testing and repair if you want to
realize the maximum profits from all your
new hot kits. You cannot afford to
continue spending your profits on board
repairs.
How many of you can honestly say that you
are in tune with our industry when it
comes to service? I know many of you are
very much in tune but I also know that
many rrore of you are so far out of key
that the tune has lost itself in a myriad
of poor excuses.
Do yourself a favor by thinking this whole
situation over. It is never too late to
start over and catch up with those who
have really gone out of their way to stay
up to date. I am certain that you will
agree that one must keep up to date if
they are intent on staying in this
business. It all makes sense so let's all
Gm' IN TUNE!
Atari G\URl'IBl Program Qiange/IC Fix
By
Dennis Brennan, Video Tech
Active Amusements
Philadelphia, PA
Program Change:
SYMPIOM: Game plays fine until level
number nine is reached, then the game will
reset to the attract mode.
SOLUI'ION: Replace custom IC at location
lOC, Atari part nurrber 137412-104. This
custom IC can be obtained from your Atari
Distributor, with credit issued upon the
return of the bad chip.
IC Fix:
No coin and no sound. When in
test, "Processor Not Responding" error is
given.
SYMPIOM:
Solution: Change the 74LS244 at location
12P.
lllrply's Law 1801
Tearrwork is essential. It allows you to
blame someone else.