Star Tech Journal

STAR*TEcH
Journal
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. .
December 1995
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REVITALIZE YOUR VIDEOI
With STAR*TECH Journal's
Increase your profits by increasing the
brillance of your video monitor!
Game play will be enhanced and the
colors will once again be vibrant.
Reclaim those old and faded
video monitors by installing a
S*TJ VIDEO BRIGHTENER!
SAFE
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DOMESTIC
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WILLIAMS REPONSE:
WHY THE DIODES WERE REMOVED
"Originally, the lamps in the Twilight Zone clock
were controlled lamps, not General Illumination.
You will note that there are four power leads com-
ing out of the clock for lamp voltages. Two are all
that are necessary for a GI circuit, but the four
leads allows the lamps to be controlled as a 2x2
matrix.
Clear Precise Directions For:
• Wells Gardner
• Masushita
• Nanao
• Disco
•
•
•
•
Electrohome
Hantarex
San yo
Eygo
Directions Also Included For:
Sony, Hitachi, GE & Toshiba
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Star Tech Journal, POB 35, Medford, NJ 08055.
Ph: 609/654-5544. Fx: 609/654-1441.
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There are three reduction gears and two synched
gears in the clock. The synched gears have special
short teeth and marking to permit proper align-
ment and vertical hands at midnight. Apparently
Williams didn't do this step properly the first time
because the hour hand always looked a few min-
utes shy of midnight.
The results were fantastic. My 1Z has been hap-
pily telling time for over a year now. Noise seems
to be reduced by over 50%. Of course the lamps
are dimmer, but I'll accept that for reliability. Why
Williams eliminated the diodes is explained be-
low. The board component marking shows the di-
ode cathode and the manual shows the diodes.
EASY INSTALLATION
FOREIGN
WMs TZ CtocK Moo (coN'T)
... co ntinued from page 17
VIDEO BRIGHTENER
Firs ALL 11" ro 36"
. ... ... ..... ......... . . .... .
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As usually happens in the course of game design,
the Twilight Zone team ran out of controlled lamps.
The lamps in the clock were switched to GI as a
consequence. The diodes, which are necessary
when the lamps are part of the controlled lamp
matrix, were replaced with zero-ohm jumpers sim-
ply to make the clock as bright as possible. Since
the information in the manual was produced early,
and since it did not make sense to spend the money
changing the silk screen on the lamp circuit board,
that information is out-of-date with the clock lamps
as produced.
The problem with heat buildup within the clock
was not noticed (and not anticipated) during the
development and prototype stages of Twilight Zone."