happyfunball

I picked this up a while back as part of a bulk buy. I don't really need it or want it, and we are moving soon, so now is the time to get rid of it. no unreasonable offer unconsidered.

well, I've messed around with this and I don't think there is anything more I can do to this. is it cheaper to have some one repair it or should I just go get another one that works?

I can try reseating them harder, that seems like a quick thing to check. I thought I was inserting pretty firmly but who knows. I looked at the cartridge connector with a strong light and a jewelers loupe and it looked pretty uniform so I don't think the slot itself is the issue.

welp, I went in with a headlight and a loupe, and all the pins look pretty good to me, none look twisted or bent. so, is there a next thing to try?

just scrubbed everything down with alcohol, including all the contacts on the carts. and at this point I've inserted carts into it at least a dozen times. also tried the reset button as well. I ordered some deoxit online, should be here in a couple days. I guess I need to get in there with some light and see if a pin is borked.

I don't have high hopes for radio shack these days. microcenter is an hour's drive. Fry's is a LOOOONNGG way from here. sounds like alcohol it is. hopefully it does the trick

I tried 5 different carts so I'm going to assume the contacts are corroded or dirty then. I'll try cleaning all the contacts first. thanks for the quick replies. where is the best place to get deoxit or electronics grade rubbing alcohol? can it be had easily at some local shop or is it better to just order online?

due to an offhand comment, I had a friend send me his old colecovision for basically the cost of shipping. I got it all hooked up and all I get is the screen telling me to turn off the machine before inserting a cartridge or expansion module. if I have one inserted or not, this is the only screen I get. I tried turning it off and on a number of times, resetting it, and he shipped it with to cables and power bricks and I tried both. I searched on this forum a bit to see if there was a simple solution but didn't see anything that addressed this issue specifically. do I have a junk system or is it something that can be fixed? I'm not afraid of a little soldering if it comes to that.

I'm getting a 404 error on this.

once again I will be the proud owner of a hopefully functioning atari 2600 after a short 27 year gap. However, i just realized that they had those RF connectors and of course modern tv's have no such thing. so how do I get this thing connected? I don't recall if they had a cable hookup as well off the side. I did a search of the forum to see if this was already answered and didn't see anything that specifically addressed it, but I'm at work and couldn't dig more than 5 minutes or so.

Hmm.. that reminds me.. Where did you first see SPIDERS (Sigma, 1981)? My first and only experience coming across it was at "Progress Pizza", in the suburb of Progress at the Tigard/Beaverton border in Oregon, back in 1982 or so. Our school basketball team had a party there. We played Spiders, Pleiades, and Pirahna and probably some other games I don't recall. Not the greatest pizza but terrific potato wedges. That place has been gone for probably 20+ years. this one doesn't ring a bell at all. I just threw it up in mame and even then it triggers nothing. Was that pizza place in progress plaza?

yep, I've been to ground kontrol several times. I didn't realize the tigard cinemas was an old drive in, or I forgot. and I don't mind the cedar hills crossing now, it was getting a little dumpy before they started the radical remodel. I miss the old mall for nostalgic reasons, having worked there, and my mom worked in the mall until The Emporium closed. she started in the mall in 1978. I spent a lot of time in there. I remember when there was a head shop near the entrance to the emporium. I'll be in town in january or february. I'm avoiding the crazy season a bit.. less expensive, less crazy.

I wish I had more pictures. I went and saw quite a few movies at the Canyon Drive-In, don't recall which one the family drive-in was. back then that stretch of canyon was pretty empty. I remember when washington square was brand new, but barely. The name of that arcade really bugs me though. considering the amount of time I spent in there you'd think I'd remember. Maybe I need to search on the ground when I'm there this winter

whoops! yea, as I was typing that I was thinking "better not get them mixed up" and of course I did. doh! yea, I was back in town last february and checked it out. I used to work in the mall too back in 87-88 at Tower Video. that of course is long gone and most of the mall unrecognizable. I don't recall an arcade in Valley Plaza but if it was small I probably only went there once. I swung through there too when i was in town as well. I wanted to see if the Valley Theater was still running, and suprise! It was, as a 2nd run brew pub. i didn't have time to see a movie there but I plan to next time I'm in town. its the only theater left that hasn't been torn down from when I was a kid. I remember vaguely there was an arcade sort of out in Aloha or Hillsboro that someone had made in an old converted house but it was at last partially run by this quite attractive woman. This must have been around 1980 because I recall she was keeping my dad entertained while we played the games and I was jokingly suggesting her marry her so we can score the arcade. He got remarried in 81. He took me to Chuck E Cheese before telling me, too, haha.

there is a golfland in south San Jose that still has a pretty decent arcade of titles from the 80s and 90s. the Electric Castle's Wunderland nickel arcades are still around in Portland but I haven't been inside one since about 1994. I'd be suprised if they looked like they did back when I used to frequent them all the time.