Star Tech Journal
Issue: 1983-March - Vol 5 Issue 1 - Page 21
21
STAR*TECH JOURNAL/MARCH 1983
FIG. 1 ·A (+12v Pos Regulated Power Supply)
AC. Power
Switch
2
Bridge Rectifier. 4 Amp Full Wave Bridge
Transformer Primary 117 Volt/Secondary 18.2 Volt 2 or 3 Amp.
FIG. 1 ·B (+5v Pos Regulated Power Supply)
AC Power
Switch
7805
AC Plug
3
2
~
.1 uf
}+sv,110,i
::i)TI
Secondary
Primary
l
Bridge Rectifier. 4 Amp Full Wave Bridge
Transformer Primary 117 Volt/Secondary 12.6 Volt 2 or 3 Amp.
VDD
6
C1
7
4
NE555
=-
IN
,?I
.01u
5
2 3
R1.C1
= T
1 meg x 1 micro = 1 sec
1,000,000 X .000,001 = T
T=1sec.
Out
""1....r
~
The input trigger can be a negative pulse or a switch to ground ( if a switch is
used, install a .01 uf capacitor from input 2 to ground to eliminate noise or
voltage spikes that can re-actuate the circuit).
VDD
VR1 = 1 meg .n Variable
R2 = 1k
C1 = .01 uf
C1
.01uf
'---4.JUl.JlfL
Output
A pulse timer to clock your future digital projects can be built like this: Play
with this chip. Study it, and when you see it again, you will understand how it
works.
There is a very useful fun book put out by Radio Shack with these and
many, many other circuits written by Forrest M. Mims III, who also is a
contributing edictor to "Popular Electronics" magazine. The book is
yellow, with the heading "Engineer's Notebook II" on the cover. It costs
$2.50 and is worth much more. Also, if you are working with CMOS and
cannot find a 4000 series chip that crosses with a TIL chip number, get in
touch with your local distributor and ask for help ... more and more you will
find chips with a 7400 series prefix that are CMOS! Example: 7490
and 74LS90 BCD decade counter. National Semiconductor now produces
a 74C90 (this C means ... yes CMOS). So, when working on those
circuits .. . experiment
Well, I know that last month I promises some data on the new retro-fit
panels for Destron "Astro Graph" and "Biorhythm" units. Well, Destron is
doing such a booming business right now that they weren't able to get the
information to me by this issue's deadline. We will be looking forward to
distributing this info to you in the near future.
Now let's look at the "Driver II" manufactured by Kasco. If any of you
have a "Driver" game, you know that the game is very popular, makes lots of
money, but was built rather (should we say) flimsily? Well, you won't find
that in the "Driver II". The cabinet is constructed twice as solidly as the
original. The coin box door hinge is ten times better than the original. The
seat won't tear up without a large hammer, and the graphics are much nicer!
And that's just the cabinet! The game is much more sophisticated and has
more improvements on the inside than the outside. For instance, in the
"Driver'' the action stayed the same speed, no matter how hard you pressed
the pedal. The scoring would speed up but that was it Well, we now have
some wonderful options! As you press on the gas, not only does the score
speed up, but so does the action on the screen! The old mechanical
adjustment for the side crash limits have been replaced with an easy-to-
adjust PC board with "pots" for each side! All in all, the "Driver II" is a far
superior unit when put up against "The Driver''. The only thing that hasn't
been improved that really should be is the projector that is used for the
"attract mode". It's the same old slide projector system that the bulb always
seems to be going out on. When I had "The Driver'' at the electronic theatre
that I worked for in Abilene, Texas, I replaced this projector bulb and wired
in another style that laster longer and cost less. I went from an expected bulb
life of 50 hours to 500 hours!
And last but not least, I have heard from several Showbiz Pizza Place
district service managers who came up with a good solution for the Bob's
Space Racers' "Whac-A-Mole" and "Skeeball" ticket dispensing problem
that was discussed in my first article (S*TJ, Dec. '82). The solution that
they came up with was to add an air line that was hooked to the exhaust port
of one of the character air solenoids and run that air line to the optic switch,
so that when the character jumped up during a game, a burst of air was blown
across the photo-optic switch to remove the fibers that come from the tickets.
Sounds good to me. As I've said before, if you've got an idea on how to
improve a non-video arcade piece, get in touch! You'll receive credit!
714/661-6808.
·~
Until=•_,., "Bom'N
STAR*TECH JOURNAL/MARCH 1983
FIG. 1 ·A (+12v Pos Regulated Power Supply)
AC. Power
Switch
2
Bridge Rectifier. 4 Amp Full Wave Bridge
Transformer Primary 117 Volt/Secondary 18.2 Volt 2 or 3 Amp.
FIG. 1 ·B (+5v Pos Regulated Power Supply)
AC Power
Switch
7805
AC Plug
3
2
~
.1 uf
}+sv,110,i
::i)TI
Secondary
Primary
l
Bridge Rectifier. 4 Amp Full Wave Bridge
Transformer Primary 117 Volt/Secondary 12.6 Volt 2 or 3 Amp.
VDD
6
C1
7
4
NE555
=-
IN
,?I
.01u
5
2 3
R1.C1
= T
1 meg x 1 micro = 1 sec
1,000,000 X .000,001 = T
T=1sec.
Out
""1....r
~
The input trigger can be a negative pulse or a switch to ground ( if a switch is
used, install a .01 uf capacitor from input 2 to ground to eliminate noise or
voltage spikes that can re-actuate the circuit).
VDD
VR1 = 1 meg .n Variable
R2 = 1k
C1 = .01 uf
C1
.01uf
'---4.JUl.JlfL
Output
A pulse timer to clock your future digital projects can be built like this: Play
with this chip. Study it, and when you see it again, you will understand how it
works.
There is a very useful fun book put out by Radio Shack with these and
many, many other circuits written by Forrest M. Mims III, who also is a
contributing edictor to "Popular Electronics" magazine. The book is
yellow, with the heading "Engineer's Notebook II" on the cover. It costs
$2.50 and is worth much more. Also, if you are working with CMOS and
cannot find a 4000 series chip that crosses with a TIL chip number, get in
touch with your local distributor and ask for help ... more and more you will
find chips with a 7400 series prefix that are CMOS! Example: 7490
and 74LS90 BCD decade counter. National Semiconductor now produces
a 74C90 (this C means ... yes CMOS). So, when working on those
circuits .. . experiment
Well, I know that last month I promises some data on the new retro-fit
panels for Destron "Astro Graph" and "Biorhythm" units. Well, Destron is
doing such a booming business right now that they weren't able to get the
information to me by this issue's deadline. We will be looking forward to
distributing this info to you in the near future.
Now let's look at the "Driver II" manufactured by Kasco. If any of you
have a "Driver" game, you know that the game is very popular, makes lots of
money, but was built rather (should we say) flimsily? Well, you won't find
that in the "Driver II". The cabinet is constructed twice as solidly as the
original. The coin box door hinge is ten times better than the original. The
seat won't tear up without a large hammer, and the graphics are much nicer!
And that's just the cabinet! The game is much more sophisticated and has
more improvements on the inside than the outside. For instance, in the
"Driver'' the action stayed the same speed, no matter how hard you pressed
the pedal. The scoring would speed up but that was it Well, we now have
some wonderful options! As you press on the gas, not only does the score
speed up, but so does the action on the screen! The old mechanical
adjustment for the side crash limits have been replaced with an easy-to-
adjust PC board with "pots" for each side! All in all, the "Driver II" is a far
superior unit when put up against "The Driver''. The only thing that hasn't
been improved that really should be is the projector that is used for the
"attract mode". It's the same old slide projector system that the bulb always
seems to be going out on. When I had "The Driver'' at the electronic theatre
that I worked for in Abilene, Texas, I replaced this projector bulb and wired
in another style that laster longer and cost less. I went from an expected bulb
life of 50 hours to 500 hours!
And last but not least, I have heard from several Showbiz Pizza Place
district service managers who came up with a good solution for the Bob's
Space Racers' "Whac-A-Mole" and "Skeeball" ticket dispensing problem
that was discussed in my first article (S*TJ, Dec. '82). The solution that
they came up with was to add an air line that was hooked to the exhaust port
of one of the character air solenoids and run that air line to the optic switch,
so that when the character jumped up during a game, a burst of air was blown
across the photo-optic switch to remove the fibers that come from the tickets.
Sounds good to me. As I've said before, if you've got an idea on how to
improve a non-video arcade piece, get in touch! You'll receive credit!
714/661-6808.
·~
Until=•_,., "Bom'N
Future scanning projects are planned by the International Arcade Museum Library (IAML).