Star Tech Journal

SIAR1t IECHJOURNAI..
THE TECHNICAL MONTt:tLY FOR THE AMUSEMENTS INDUSTRY
P.O. BOX 1065, MERCHANTVILLE, NEW JERSEY 08109.
DEtCEMBER
MERIT
11111111111111111
Salle:
TRIVIA lltIZ
fffllllllllllllll
Problea: Sea TRIVIA lltlZ gaes
~ycle to ONt of several starting
pqints every ti• powr is tllffll!d off
arid then on.
!Cause: Weak or expired battery on the
CRT280 logic boardl hollever, randoa
question selection is not affected.
Corrective Action: Dleck battery for
3 volts DC ■ini■wa, and replace if
necessary.
tllTE: Further safeguards are dnigned
into softNare ■ods on later progr-■
ATARI
IUIIIIUHIII
Salle: IRIITlET
HHIIIIIIIIII
SubJect: Technical updatn.
PAT 9088 PRD&RAN PLlE9
Progra■ plugs for the Atari PAT 9118
are available for testing the IRIITlET
■ain PCB. Atari part IAM3376-t1
********************************
Fla.D IIIDS/PCB
Sy ■pto■: 6arbled speech - Rev. A ■ain
boards
Solution: Connect a 221 pf capacitor
(Atari part 1128112-221) fro■ pin 11 of
14P (74LS139) to ground.
********************************
Sy ■pto■: Fuse F2 or F3 (2a■p/251Y) on
12VAC opened. No ;audio or picture.
Solution: Check 01 Audio PCB. Nost likely it is shorted.
Replace Qt. Atari part 1137311-911.
Prevention: Cover the leads to R6,
C19, R4 & C17 with tape or R.T.V. to
prevent static discharge Nhen using the
self-test switch or volu■e control. Do
not cover the lead of Ci as this is a
ground connection.
********************************
STARITEDt JtlJIIR., Dece11bar 1985,
VOLUME
1985
Volae 7, Nu■bar- 7. Copyrill'lt (c) 1985
by Star Tech Joumal, In:. All rights
reserved. Address inquires tos Pm
7,
Sy■pto■: Loss of 12VAC Hi Voltage for
audio and coin return la■ps.
Solution: Check connector J15 pin 9
on audio PCB for broken connection.
Ju■per wire ■ay be run fro■ J15 pin 9
to the anode side of CR1.
Prevention: Make sure washer doN not
sit under pin 9 of J15.
ERICKSON
SERVICE TRAIL ...
By Todd Erickson
ON TI£
Su■■ it A■use■ent
St. Paul,
111N
AMOA '85
This wu one of the finnt shows I
have attended in this decade. The
showing of product was, by far, the
finest ever. Three reuonsl Quality,
Price and the Attitude of the
■anufacturers to work with the operator
on his proble■s.
Dedicated ga■es were excellent.
Atari's IRIITlET sets a ""' pattern fOf'
video ga■es. The 4 players with buy-in
is a first. Taito's 9IISTS n GOil.INS
looked real good. Segas ... - ■otOf'Cycle
ga■e, I-Re ON, is excelllftt.
Kits were al ■ost too llood to believe!
One year ago ■any of the ga■n would
have been good dedicated ga■n.
Kona■ i's RUSH n ATTID<, llanron's
MATMANIA, and Ro■star's 1942 are pri•
exa■ples.
The ■ost interesting part of the show
to ■e was the retro-fit ga■e syst-■
Nintendo has been vry aggressive with
their ~I kit for their old ga■-s.
Sente has now released a kit for PAC
ga■es. Their library of n111
ga■es has beco■e excellent. NINI 6(Lf
is ■Y favorite. Sente is now in a
position to ■ake a big pgsh.
MAN type
Atari has been slo. to davelOP ga■es
for their SYSTEN I. INDIN .nJES looks
good and PAPERBOY is doing fine now for
SYSTEM II.
NUMBER
In the end, the botto■ line is that
the operator ■ust learn to balance
kits, syst!IIS and dedicated ga■es for
■axi■u■ profit.
All of thea have their good points.
ATARI IRM'LET
This ga■e is, without a doubt, the
■ost powrful !la■I! produced since
Atari's INDY 8. The 4 player OPtion
with buy-in is excellent!
The Joystick is an Atari 8--, that
is basically unproven. It has the best
player feel of any 8-,,ay ■ade to date,
ho.ever. The contact sets are not
interchangeable with any unit ■ade. The
■ounting 5Cr'llf is at a 91 degree angle
to any existing units.
With the aweso■e aaount of ■ol'leY
these things earn, I recc•1m:d stocking
the following parts or t. co■plete
• Joystick:
941588-91 switch
83n17-t3 plate
839714-81 actuatOf'
941287-91 lo.er baa
148932-91 upper housing
Ny ear y productiOft unit had bad
slip-on connectors on the control
panel. All units should be checked
before installing on location. The
screws that held the contacts to the
lower base are also too short on Nrly
■odels. These can be replaced through
your distributor or local hardware
store.
IUE BC-35
This changer has proven itself as
being ultra dependable. As with any
product, though, a f• illPl'i>\ieaot. can
be made. Dwning ■any of thne units has
yet to give • any PCB failUl"ft. All
failures have been ■echanical.
In a few cases, these faillll"fl can be
corrected in software. A pri• ex•l•
of this is the coin return button. If
the button is stuck in, the changer
beco■es inoperable. This situation can
be corrected in software. If the button
is in ■ore than 3 ■ inutes, the aitch
reading can be nullified. This would
■ake the changer operable ;again.
******
Cine■atronics baseball ga■e, WRLD
SERIES, for its Cineaat Systea looks
good.
1865, Nerchantvi Ile, NJ 18119.
Subscription rates1 USA t56, Canada
Other countries t98 (SUS).
STAR•TECH JOORNll. $63 ($US),
7
published ■onthly on the first of the
via 1st Class Nail in North
Alllerica, via Air Nail elsellhere.
Ja■es Calore: Publisher/Editor.
■onth