Star Tech Journal

Issue: 1990-January - Vol 11 Issue 11

Taito US Classic
Me1nory Loss
Sega Super Monaco
GP Extended Play
James Beck
Greater Southern Distributing Co.
Atlanta, Georgia
Dave Cantrell
Sega Enterprises
San Jose, California
SYMPTOM
Your US Classic keeps loosing its mind ( the high
Player can't continue onto 2nd Race (Wet Track)
PROBLEM
scores and other CMOS RAM held stuff).
SOLUTION
SOLUTION/REASON
Player must both qualify for and fmish the 1st
Remove RB from the board. It is located near the
CMOS RAM right on the edge of the board. While
you're at it you had better replace the battery
too. It seems the circuit, as it was designed, pulls
too much juice from the battery and will run
down in a matter of days if the machine is turned
race in the top three to be eligible to continue.
Also, in game option setting, it is recommended
that you set the "Award Super License" to "yes".
This will give you a special award ceremony if
you complete each lap in first place.
off.
The link system, which allows head to head
competition between as many as 8 players, does
not conform to the above rules. While linked the
players are allowed only a qualifying lap and a
single race. This allows all the players to main-
tain on the same level, even if one player is
superior to the others.
NOTE
Since it is a lithium battery no recharging sys-
tem is present.
Kona1ni 's TMNT
Stress Relief
Kevin T. Lee
B & S Music Company
Rome, Georgia
PROBLEM
On Konami's Teenage MutantNirya nutles there
are no stress relief for wires going to the four
joysticks.
SOLUTION
To keep from going crazy with service calls just
to put wires back on the joysticks, I suggest
tightening the terminals on each joystick switch
and adding stress relief to each set of wires to the
joystick. Using a staple gun and wire ties works
very well. Doing this before the game leaves your
shop the first time will save you many trips for
service.
Exclusive Micro-
Prose Preview
Coin Controls
Door Credits
Kona111i TMNT
Coin Sw Adjust
Chris Richards
Coin-Op, Inc.
Webb City, Missouri
Evan Wessel
Mercwy Amusement
Haverford, Pennsylvania
PROBLEM
If your having problems with Coin Controls
PROBLEM
over/under doors (Atari and other type games),
being tripped from outside (possibly with paper
clips, etc.), then here's a check you can do.
VERIFY
Check those coin doors and see if they have
those blue Busy-Bee coin switches. If they do,
you need to put a meter across the switches and
very slowly trip the switch. (And I mean slowly.)
SOLUTION
If you start getting a closed circuit before you
hear the switch make, You'd better replace that
sucker. What ls happening ls that the kids are
able to hit the coin door and shock the switch
enough to cause it to trip a credit.
You might also check and make sure that the
coin door ls properly grounded, as well as check-
ing the coin switch tamper guards. (Although
I've got a lot of games without the guards and I
don't have any problems with them.)
There ls talk of coining problems in Teenage
Mutant Ninja n.utles and adding capacitors and
the like. Well, I've had some success with a
simple adjustment of the coin switch wires.
SOLUTION
Just bend them up so the coin has a better
chance of hitting the .. make" threshold. Mine
were really on the low side which may have
caused all the intermittent coining on players 2,
3 and 4. It's been fine for several days now and
maybe that'll do it?
OBSERVATION
I wasn't crazy about the sloppy wiring going to
the control panel or the chintzy power supply,
but on the positive side, the bottom of the
cabinet ls plywood and Wlco control parts are
used. Oh, and the monitor shield ls tempered
glass!
Atari Cyberball 2072 Update Kit Tip
Dave Patterson
Sunbelt Amusement
Dallas, Texas
SITUATION
Long down time on Cyberball 2072 conversion.
Even though the hassle of removing the PCB
unit might seem time-consuming, it ls actually
faster (and safer) to do the chip change on the
bench.
HINT
Remove the board first! The truth of the matter
ls that it definitely takes longer to try and install
the new program with the PCB still mounted in
the cabinet. And, incredibly, this ls the first
approach of most techs!
We have found if you remove PC board from the
cabinet and lay it flat on the workbench you can
actually speed up the conversion. Once the PC
board ls on the workbench, you can use a rubber
mallet to install and seat EPROMS to speed you
up even more.

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