Star Tech Journal

Issue: 1996-August - Vol 18 Issue 6

STAR*TECH
Journal
Enzo
August 1996
CD
1
s
Tech
Tips
"Hey Enzo, I can't find the self-test button on this Captain Fantastic!,,
Douglas 'Enzo' Mccallum • Shiawassee Technical Services • Lansing, Ml
BOWLING FOR DOLLARS!
Got some extra room on the bench and some free time? Check the local bowling alleys.
IDENTIFICATION
See if any of them are still using
the older Brunswick video scor-
ing system. This is the system that
displays the scores on large
monochrome (that's black and
white) monitors over each lane
and the scorers table has a pair
of little 12" monochrome moni-
tors.
LOOK FAMILIAR?
The overhead monitors are
Motorola M7000 types. This
monitor uses the exact same
chassis our video games used
before color took over.
Atari, Midway, and many others
used these monitors. These sys-
tems are fifteen years old anyway
and the monitors often need ser-
vice. This is easy money, boys.
The bowling center has to send
them back to Brunswick, and
generally they send the whole
monitor. This is expensive just to
ship. Brunswick charges an arm
and a leg, with a heavy additional
charge for advance replacement.
They aren't even especially inter-
ested in fixing them, they would
rather you updated to newer
equipment. And just between
"This is easy
money, boys. The
bowling center
has to send them
back to Brunswick,
and generally they
send the whole
monitor. This is ex-
pensive just to ship.
Brunswick charges
an arm and a
I eg ... ,,
you and me, they don't always
fix them so well, and the turn
around time isn't the best.
YOUR CHANCE
Now you come along. You are
local, you can offer prompt turn
around, you can make reason-
able charges (actually you can
charge a fair amount and still be
cheaper than Brunswick), you
can save them shipping. You
prob'ly do better work. The
Bowling center may already be
one of your locations. If not, who
do you think they will call when
they need an operator to come
in? Yep, it's you, the guy they
know who provides good and
timely service.
Service to these units is reason-
ably straightforward, you replace
a lot of caps. Sound familiar?
Some of the parts can be difficult
to find or can be expensive. Last
continued on next page ...
August1996
STAR*TEcH Journal
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CD
... continued from previous page.
time I called Motorola they had
a few things left, but they were
pricey. I've learned to fix broken
width coils rather than replace
them. Rejuvenating the CRT
does wonders. Spend a couple
hours at their location with a re-
juvenator and they will think they
got all new monitors.
On the bench you need 120VAC,
doesn't even have to be isolated
since the monitors have power
transformers. You also need com-
posite video to feed the input. A
pattern generator is best, but the
output of a VCR will also work.
problem I find is that they fouled
up the current foldback adjust-
ment. In any case they are easy
to fix.
I am not familiar with the newer
color systems, nor am I aware of
the level of service required
there, but the old Motorolas pro-
vide me a steady extra income.
Check it out.
WANT MoRE?
If you are interested in more de-
tailed information about this sub-
ject please let us know. I will pro-
duce a tutorial if response is suf-
ficient.
"The Bowling center may already be one
of your locations. If not, who do you think
they will call when they need an opera-
tor to come in? Yep, it's you, the guy
they know who provides good and
timely service."
Monitor
Proble1111s?
Order This Tech Pub
J\-1c,N/TORS:
SYMPTOMS/SOLUTIONS
Includes all S* TJ monitor
articles from 1990, 1991,
1992, 1993, 1994, 1995
& 1996
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Name: - - - - - - - - - -
I
The little Zenith 12" guys are very
simple, and mostly they suffer
from broken connections from
people pounding the table.
Simple solder work. Put extra
pins in the edge connector and it
wont fail as often.
There are two power supplies in
each table, they are open frame,
linear types. One puts out + and
- 12 volts, the other is a SV at 6A
supply. I usually only see the SV
units. Half the time, the only
Company _ _ _ _ _ _ _ ~
OLDER REPAIRS?
I also wonder if any of you have
an interest in the older jukeboxes
with vacuum tube circuitry.
Home juke repair and rebuilding
can be lucrative, are you avoid-
ing this work because you "can't
work on tubes?" Let us know if
you are interested in this area.
Fax your comments to 609/654-
1441, or write: Editor, Star Tech
Journal, POB 35, Medford, NJ
08055. Email comments to
Molnfo@StarTechJournal.com
I
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Address - - - - - - - - - t i
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City _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ l
State/Zip
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Order o Prepaid or o COD I
(Please add $3 s/h. Thank you!) I
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