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-^CrossBow^-

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  1. -^CrossBow^-
    Won't got into too many details on this other than to state up front, that I try to be as transparent as possible with the work and services I provide. As a consequence of this, mistakes can and will happen. It is just a matter of when. One such big mistake happen to me this week while installing a very expensive DCDigital setup into a clients Dreamcast. I actually had the main installation done and was ready to test. However, in order for a DC to boot up, it requires that the cooling fan and GDRom drive be installed etc. So you kinda have to put it all back together in order to test an install like this.
    Well I put in a few of the screws in various places to hold things down into place and then proceeded to fire up and test the DC. I got a power light and the controller and VMU beeped. But...nothing else. No drive spin up and nothing on the screen. No signal even being detected. And not just from the new HDMI output but nothing from the analog video side either! I quickly turned it off and tore the console back apart to see what was going on. I removed the DCDigtal setup and tested again. Same thing...nothing.
    It was when I started to do the sniff test to see if anything had burned out that I found it... and what I found horrified me! What did I find? Well...this...

    The picture above shows at least 5 and likely 6 traces between the SH4 CPU and the GPU that were now torn and broken. How? Well notice the pattern of the tears in the traces and how it cuts into the PCB a little?
    Yeap... that was done by a screw. It seems that even though I had carefully laid out the screws so that I knew what went to where, I mixed up the three longer screws used to hold the main board and shielding together along the back of the system, with the three shorter screws used to secure the GDRom in place. And because of that, the screw twisted down into the main board causing the damage you see above.
    The other spot to the left where you see exposed copper is where I was trying to solder small kynar wire to repair these broken traces. But... no luck as the traces are just too small for the wiring I have on hand. And the large ICs on the DC are BGA type meaning Ball Grid Array. They are essentially surface mounted ICs with all of the contact points existing under the chip package so you can't just solder to pins or something on the bottom.
    This required replacing out the main board in this particular case and provided a lesson I'm not likely to forget going forward to always be mindful and double or triple check your work and assembly process. 
    And with that, the owner of this DC will soon be able to play their games again in wonderful HDMI output directly from the dreamcast in the very near future. According to the picture below, the self test fully passed on the replacement main board. The red spots are in fact little hearts that appear when everything is good. You get an X when things fail in the self test.

    View the full article
  2. -^CrossBow^-
    This was my first review I did for a video game. It was done several years ago now and was and still is originally hosted at the now defunt musuem known as Jose Q's Emuviews. Grab something to drink and get comfortable. My reviews were and still are quite the read.
     
    Title = Starmaster
    Platform = Atari 2600
    Genre = Shooter (early Space/Sim)
    Released = 1982
    Players = 1
    ---------------------
    1982 was a good year to be the proud owner of an Atari 2600 VCS system. Atari made several releases that year made possible by such previous successes as Space Invaders, Defender and even the bane of all conversions…Pac man. However, Atari weren’t the only ones making games for the VCS at that time. Another company comprised of basically ticked off former Atari game programmers decided that they could do things better. Hence the company Activision was born. Activision made many great games of which some were fresh new innovative games…while some were simply remakes of previous Atari ideas and releases. The game Starmaster fits into this second category of game types. Which borrowed the ideas from an already existing Atari release called Star Raiders.
     
    Starmaster’s basic story is an old one that has been done time and time again. Basically you are the lone fighter piloting your starfighter against the enemy starfighters in order to protect starbases in your home galaxy. Again, nothing new as far as story is concerned but the action is what counts after all right? So how does Starmaster hold up? Well before I get to in-depth with this review please remember that you the reader must remember the age at which these games were released. With that said…let us take to the stars in finding out what Starmaster is about and how much interest it can really hold.
     
    Starmaster places you in the cockpit of your starfighter, therefore all the action takes place from a first person perspective. You warp from sector to sector blasting away the baddies at each sector. Deciding which sector to navigate to is accomplished with the aid of your Galactic Chart, which shows you all your starbases and enemy locations in the galaxy. You then warp to any sector shown to contain enemy ships to engage in battle. The neat thing about all this is that the game is semi strategic in where you decide to warp to as a number of factors come into play in your decisions. For one you have an energy reserve which ticks down anytime you warp, fire you laser cannon, get hit by enemy fire, and hitting meteors during the warp sequence. Also you have to watch the Galactic Chart to make sure none of your starbases become surrounded and overrun by enemy starfighters. If they do…Boom to you and yours on that starbase. The game ends when your energy runs out or you last starbase is destroyed. In addition to your energy reserves running down, you can also sustain hits to your ship damaging certain components like radar, laser cannon, warp engines, and shields. In order to repair these components you must warp to a neighboring starbase sector and dock with the starbase to return to battle once again. All of these elements combine to make for a really satisfying game.



    The graphics in Starmaster are typical of Activision during this time. Which means to say that for the most part the graphics are really decent on the VCS hardware. There are a few beefs that I have with graphics in this game which I feel could have been improved upon easily. For one all the enemy starfighters look alike. No variety in ship design or movement. Once you have a method for taking down one you have the knowledge to kill them all. Also our starfighter shoots laser beams whereas the enemy shoots fireballs. These fireballs look just like the meteors you have to dodge in the warp sequence. But there are a lot of other areas where the graphics are quite good. For one the warp effect is convincing and the stars move like a nice episode of classic Star Trek. The starbases also look good during the docking stage. The Galactic map isn’t much in graphics…but it is functional and it is easy to discern between enemy and starbase. Also the Galactic map will show you how many enemy fighters there are in the sectors, which makes the decision factor easier when deciding where the greatest threat lies. All in all the graphics kick the crap outta Atari’s Star Raiders.
     
    The sound is also good considering the VCS capabilities. Everything has a distinctive sound and seems to fit properly within the scope of the action. There are warning Klaxons alerting you to damage or when your reserves get low. When any of your starbases is destroyed you will know, as you will hear an explosion alerting you to the demise regardless of where you are in the galaxy. The play control is where this game really takes off past Atari’s Star Raiders. Raiders required a separate keypad controller. This controller usually came with the game, however it drove the price of the game up originally. Atari could have learned a lesson from watching how Activision dealt with the multiple screen views. In Starmaster you use the BW/Color switch on the VCS to select between the Galactic Chart and your ship view. This method of screen switching eliminates the need for an extra controller making Starmaster avail to everyone who had a joystick controller to be able to play this gem.
     
    Replay is hard to say on this one. Starmaster’s lower levels of difficulty are not that difficult at all. But attaining the rank of Supreme Starmaster requires some quick reflexes and even more efficient planning on your decisions of where to warp when. Plus the final score you achieve is based on how long you take, plus deductions for starbase dockings to repair. Also major deductions for losing starbases of course. All in all I find Starmaster to be extremely fun and very replayable but mileage will vary on this.



    Starmaster was created to directly compete against Atari’s flagship starfighter game Star Raiders. Does Starmaster pull this off? I would say it most definitely does! The decision of utilizing the BW/Color switch was a wise move on Activision’s part. Also unlike Star Raiders, I have always been impressed with the fact that I know exactly how many punks are waiting at the next sector for me instead of warping in and finding out I may be way in over my head. Starmaster’s ability to have your components get individually damaged rather than having a simple one hit and your dead attitude makes the gameplay far more interesting at times. The adrenaline pumps when your down to less than a thousand energy units…and your lasers, shield, and radar have been knocked out as you desperately hide from those meteors and slip past the enemy shots on your way to that last surrounded starbase. Doesn’t get much better than that people. If you ever happen to find this one at your local Thrift store or pawnshop or whatever, grab it and get the instructions on how to play from the web. You won’t be disappointed.
    ---------------------
    Graphics = 6 (Nice variety of screens, but enemies all look alike and few colors used)
    Sound = 8 (I still stand by this score on sound. Everything sounds like you would expect and the explosions are nice!)
    Controls = 8 (Controlling the ship is nice and tight, but using the console for switching screens might be considered tedious to some)
    Challenge = 9 (You really have to know how to navigate quickly and be a dead aim to score the maximum Starmaster level on this game)
    Replay = 7 (Nothing really changes much from game to game, but you always strive to do better and maximize that score)
     
    Overall -^CB^- grade = 7 (Worth buying but it won't be on everyone's favorite list)
  3. -^CrossBow^-

    Atari 7800 Powering On / Off issues...

    By -^CrossBow^-,


    Service Stories from the Ivory Tower
    As stated in another blog, I have a few 7800 sent to me for repairs and eventual upgrades. This 7800 had an interesting problem where as soon as you plugged in the DC power to the console, it would immediately power on and would NOT turn off. While there are a few components in the mix that can cause, this, I've found really only two components well technically 3 that should be looked into as possibilities:
     
    The first component and the one most people already know about, is the power switch itself. But in this particular case, it wasn't the switch as the console would still power on even with the switch removed.
     
    The next component is the 4013 IC flip-flop. This chip controls the actual on or off signals sent through the console when you press the power button. However this had already been replaced in the past as on this console it was mounted in a socket. Removing the 4013 did NOT change the condition on this console and it would still power on immediately. This pretty much only leaves one more component...
     
    There is a large transistor mounted in spot Q10 and labeled as MJE210. These were used on both the 7800 and the 5200 that I know of. This transistor receives a signal from the 4013 telling it to actually switch the unregulated power over to the 7805 voltage regulator. I quickly found out this was the issue when I removed the 210 and the issue went away. This was replaced out using another one from a donor 5200 parts board as the 5200 actually has a pair of these bad boys on them. Here is what the MJE210 looks like. In this picture, the failed one is the green one on the mat and replacement from a 5200 has been installed into place. These only work installed in one direction and that is usually with the MJE labeling facing towards the back of the 7800.

     
    So yeah, if you have power on/off issues those are the three main components to check for first as the other components are mostly passives and not as likely to go bad.
    View the full article
  4. -^CrossBow^-
    Some of you might not have known this, but without a doubt, Wing Commander is one of if not my favorite PC game of all time. I guess the simple reason behind this is the fact that it was the first computer game I played that really put me in the shoes of the character completely. I felt like I was the one in that cockpit blowing away the bad guys to save mankind and restore peace. Cliched...yes. But the music, sounds, and graphics were so blended together perfectly that I've not felt the same with any other games since. Below is my complete review of this excellent space fighting sim from the masters of the once great Origin Systems and Chris Roberts. Enjoy...
     
    Title = Wing Commander
    Platform = Multiple (IBM PC version reviewed)
    Genre = Space Fighter Sim
    Released = 1990
    Players = 1
    ---------------------
     
    "Star-date 2654.122 - 15, April 2654:
    Only been about 3 months now that I have been stationed onboard the Tiger's Claw. Seems much longer than that. Yesterday was a good day for me. That is, I didn't bite it on the end of a Kitty dart. Man, the flight deck chief was sure pissed about those busted cannons on my Raptor. Perhaps he wouldn't have been nearly as upset if I hadn't managed to get both neutron guns destroyed. I guess those must cost the Terran Confederation a bundle a piece to produce. Well, after yesterdays nearly botched patrol run, I think the price of two neutron cannons makes up for the price of my life. After all, ships are replaceable, good pilots are not. Sometimes the upper echelon of ranks forgets that. Oh well, can't dwell on that now...I have to get my report from yesterdays patrol flight written up to justify my actions. Someday this whole war will be over and I can go home back to Proxima. Okay... so on my damage report I have one wasted acceleration absorber, one rather nicely well done electrical system. I can't forget those two lovely sparking metal hollow pylons that used to be my neutron cannons. And I think the left ion drive was leaking coolant. Oh! Can't forget the garbled flight recorder, which is the whole reason I am having to do this stupid report. And... Damn! The Klaxons are going off again. I better finish this up later and get to the briefing room. I hope Col. Halcyon has a milk run for me this time after the fireworks I went through yesterday..."
    - From the "Diary of 1st Lieutenant Todd Marshall "Maniac"
     
    The above excerpt was inspired and created from none other than one of the greatest all time games ever made for the PC system. That game is none other than Wing Commander. In Wing Commander you take on the role of Christopher Blair the new young rookie aboard the Tiger's Claw. In truth the first and second games let you choose your own last name and call sign. In the later games, only your call sign can be changed. Wing Commander is a space/combat/opera tour de force that at the time the game was made, took graphics and sound to a place they hadn't been before in the IBM world. Wing Commander is all about the war against the cat like alien race known as the Kilrathi. The Kilrathi are a warrior race and seek only complete and total control of the known explored universe. Earth which lies in the Sol system is of course a tasty target for these ill-tempered kitties. Wing Command specifically starts the game off at a time when the war isn't going so swell for the humans. And that is what we try to change as our character in the game. To save Earth from the impending invasion of the Kilrathi. The plot for Wing Commander certainly isn't a new one. But the game did take this plot and expand and add to it in a way that no other game had before its' time.
          Wing Commander plays primarily from a first person view from the cockpit of your fighter. However, the game includes other modes of camera views so that you can view the action and pilot from a third person behind the ship view. Also in the game the player has the ability to actually look left, right and behind from within the cockpit. This was really something, which added to the realism of the game. From the cockpit we play and fight and communicate to both our wingman and enemies. Yes, that is correct, Wing Commander marks as the first game I can think of to give the player the ability to taunt the enemy during combat and really ruffle the fur of a Kilrathi pilot during a dogfight. In Wing Commander we play out various missions, which are very linear in order. However, the success or failure of a mission determines the overall mission path the player takes and eventually leads to one of two possible endings. If we aren't fighting it out with fur balls in the cockpits, then we are chatting and getting more plot story progression or helpful advice from our wingmen and peers. At the beginning of the game and after each mission, you start off in the pilot lounge. Here you can get the latest gossip from the barkeep or swap stories and advice from other pilots on board the Tiger's Claw. Many times what the elder pilots have to say can mean the difference between life and sucking vacuum in the game. Once done with the chatter you progress to the briefing room to actually get your next mission briefing and start the mission.
     
    The graphics in Wing Commander may seem very simplistic and perhaps even ugly to the new player of today's 3D accelerated cards and fancy bump mapped textured polys. But rest assured that while Wing Commander may be seventeen years old, it still holds its own pretty well. For starters the game play in the cockpit is first person but flight and combat take place in a virtual 3D space environment. This means that enemies can be literally behind and slightly above you in the game...or that you can dive and come up and fire on the belly of the enemy ships. The amazing part of this is how well the 3D effect is actually accomplished! The geniuses behind Wing Commander, Origin, actually made small-scale models of all the ships in the game and then ray traced them graphically into the game. This means that the actual ships themselves are only 2D sprites on the screen, but the game will change their appearance during play to actually appear as if they are 3D. Which means you can see a ship from various angles simply by flying around it. This transition of graphics is super smooth and the images of the ships themselves will suddenly change from one view to another. But the effect still looks very convincing and the models themselves are still fairly highly detailed and realistic looking. Another excellent realistic point to the graphics in Wing Commander is that, throughout the game you fly in a variety of different ships.
          As you fly each ship the cockpit will take on a new and drastically different appearance than the other ships. This gives each ship their own weakness and strengths in an area I hadn't ever seen demonstrated before in a game. Specifically, since the cockpit of each ship looks different so too is the area of visibility from inside each ship. This lends an area of reality that I don't think I've seen replicated as well except on the sequals. So a ship that may not have much armor or shields tends to be the fastest, more manuevrable, and gives the best visibility. Whereas a larger ship with more armor, guns, and shields, will have less visibility, speed and manuerability due to the extra size of the ship, gun placements, and armor. Also the graphics for the left, right, and back views change as well to match. The only static graphic in the game is the pilot's seat. Truly, it was a step above and beyond in computer game graphics in the early 90s. The graphics inside the Claw between missions where you hang out with the crew and talk are a bit less impressive. For instance there is a very cartoon like look to the people aboard the Tiger's Claw. Even during the mission briefing screens, the graphics look very much like Saturday morning. However, there are a few places in the game where actual motion capturing was done and makes the animation of the people or cut scenes in the game look very impressive. Take the scramble scene after each briefing as a prime example. Also the animation of the pilot as he puts on his helmet and cockpit canopy comes down just before you launch was simply jaw dropping at the time. Even today as I go back and fire up my rusty Pentium 200 legacy gaming machine, I find a very pleasing look to the graphics of Wing Commander. Rest assured they are impressive for a game of the early 90s era and I still think hold up pretty well today.
     
    The difficulty in Wing Commander is pretty well balanced. The game starts off with fairly laid back standard patrol run missions with just a few light Kilrathi fighers to take out to help you get used to the controls. But as you progress in the game, the missions can become exceedingly difficult ,almost to the point of insanity! I can't tell you how many times I would blurt out a colorful 4 letter expletive when my Drayman 'sport would get iced. Or how much abuse my mouse would get with my repeating banging on the desk fits when flak burst from a nasty Ralari jumping in from nowhere suddenly takes me out. Yes, Wing Commander has its love and hate moments. But that is what I really love about the game and makes me keep playing. The missions themselves are nice in that there are several varieties of missions you may get. The most basic and common mission types are patrol runs. These have you fly out to several Nav points and clean up any bad kitties you find there. Or if you find something too large to handle, like a Cap ship... you afterburner your butt back to the Claw. Some of the most exciting missions are strike missions where you and your wingman join up with a destroyer or other wingmen to play seek and destroy with a Kilrathi cruiser. But then some of the most boring and difficult missions are escort missions. Most of these entail flying to a rendezvous Nav point and meeting some transport or helpless destroyer that is near death to escort them out system to another jump point or back to the Claw. There will always be Kilrathi ships waiting in ambush somewhere along the way to take out the ships. And this is where they become most difficult. As an already damaged destroyer or transport needs only a few missiles or well placed gunshots to take it down, and that would mean failure of the mission. Not to mention that just flying to the various Nav points during your missions can be a real exercise in flight skill as you may often fly through asteroid belts or even zones of space that are filled with Kilrathi mines. Still the missions are addicting and even the escort runs keep you coming back for more when you fail them the first time.
     
          The control in Wing Commander is very tight. The game makes use of several control schemes for playing the game. You will always need the keyboard to execute a few things such as your communications to your wingmen or for changing views & weapons in game. In addition actual control of your ship can be done with the keyboard, mouse, or a good analog joystick. I actually played the game my first time through using mouse and keyboard combo. And while difficult to fly with a mouse at first...it soon became second nature and quite intuitive. It may seem difficult to use both keyboard and joystick or mouse at once, but rest assured the keys make sense and aren't difficult to find during combat. For instance to change guns you press "G". To select the next Nav point you press "N". To talk to wingmen or harass the kitties in space you press "C". Also the controls are great in that ships respond instantly to commands and do not lag. Controlling with the keyboard is the least desirable method as the keyboard is a digital control device, which means little to no small adjustments while flying. Also each ship you fly in Wing Commander behaves differently depending on the main role of the ship your flying; Like the Hornet, which is a fast & agile close support recon fighter. Or the big and burley Raptor, which boasts some great firepower and armour but lacks speed and agility. All in all the controls for Wing Commander really fit well with a simple to remember keyboard scheme that isn't overly complicated and provides tight and responsive controls when flying your fighter in space.
     
    "Boom! Bizzt! Crackle! Pop!" No, these are not the sounds coming from my bowl of Rice Krispies. It is the sound coming from my cockpit since I have lost most of the instruments! For anybody with an old school original SoundBlaster, Adlib, or the ultimate, the MT-32/LAPC-1 audio cards, Origin did an absolutely fantastic job with the sound and music in Wing Commander. You know the first time you start this game it will be an experience to behold since the first thing on the screen is a picture of Earth with the silhouette of an orchestra in the foreground. A conductor stands proudly and taps on his stand. Then the Origin fanfare music bursts to life and the orchestra fades away to a flying Origin logo that ends with a display of fireworks! No I am not making this up, this is how the game actually begins. This intro for just the Origin logo alone tells you that you are about to witness something new and exciting. Then the sound of laser blaster fire can be heard along with the sound of metal being hit and then finally a "Boom!" A enemy Kilrathi Drathi (Pancake ship) is turned into a collection of debris on screen. Followed by the flying in of the Wing Commander logo and then the music. Ahh...the music! Yes Wing Commander still stands today as my favorite main title song of any game I have every played. The master himself known as George Sanger A.K.A. the Fatman composed the music. George is also responsible for the soundtrack of many other great games such as Loom, 7th Guest, Thin Ice etc. The music changes in the course of your mission as events unfold. The music can often tell you when you have lost a wingman or when the mission has just turned South for the worst. Or the brass fanfare as you take out the last enemy ship and bring a mission to a successful close. There is music in the bar as you talk with your ship mates and the scramble music still pumps me up and readies me for action! The music used in the final cinematic and awards ceremonies still sends chills down my spine! It is unlike the music of most games today. It simply has to be heard to be believed. The music is not the only wonderful sound to come from this game. The sound effects themselves are worthy of many awards and accolades. There is a different sound for each gun type. Explosions will sound bigger and bolder when capital ships are taken out. Even the sound of my armor being stripped away from enemy gunfire lets me know that my last moments won't be dull on my ears. The sound is so complete in this game in fact, that on the save game screen (An awesome touch if I say so myself) there is the sound of dripping water into a bucket from an overhead leaky cooling line. There isn't any speech in the game as that would come later in Wing Commander II. But the sounds that are present sound very realistic and well done. The only sound that is weak compared to the rest, is the sound of the missile launches themselves. It sounds as if someone just puckered their lips and blew air out from their mouths. But I quickly overlook this when that satisfying *Boom!* erupts the ship in front of me and turns it into kitty bits.
     
          Wing Commander... I really can't say enough about this game but I do have to draw this review to a close. This game has a huge replay factor. While the missions won't change unless you do fail or succeed, Origin added lots of other touches to keep you coming back. For starters there is the multiple mission path. Basically if you fail most of the missions in a given sector, then the game will progress towards the bad ending path of the game. However, you can amend this with doing well on most of the missions in the next sector which takes you back towards the path of the good ending. Figuring out which are the best paths to take for the most number of missions is a real challenge. It is possible to average about 20-24 missions for a complete game. The real aces can finish this game in a short 18 missions. Also the in game cut scenes every so often will change depending on your performance throughout the game. Perhaps the biggest replay factor for me in the game is the fact that while the missions are handed out in a very linear way, how you actually fly the missions is not. For instance, the game usually will put the easier foes to encounter towards the beginning of the mission and save the real fur flying fests for the later Nav points or while heading back to the Tiger's Claw. Knowing this, you can semi cheat by going to the last Nav points first and take out the bigger opposition waiting there while you still have most of your missiles and armor left. This is especially handy during escort missions. I've found that the ship your escorting will fly the Nav points in order regardless of whether you do or not. This is handy as it allows you to fly ahead to the later Nav points, taking out the enemy and ambushing the ambushers while the ship your escorting is safely traveling through non infested nav points. This is just one of many little tricks I have found while playing through this game and finding as many ways as possible to complete mission objectives. The game rewards you for good piloting through award ceremonies and the kill board. After each mission good or bad your commanding officer Col. Halcyon will debrief you the highlights or mistakes of your mission flown. On certain key critical missions, outstanding performance can lead to pretty nifty award ceremonies where the Colonel will personally pin a medal for your bravery and excellence. There is no two-player mode in Wing Commander but this isn't needed as Wing Commander is supposed to be more of a space opera than anything, and so it is a story told through your eyes and actions. So there we have it... Great graphics, great control options, great sound and a damn blast to play make Wing Commander one of my favorite games ever to grace the PC scene. Finding this game today will be quite tricky as Wing Commander has a fanbase all its own. You can probably pick the game up for a decent price on Ebay. But be advised that even if you do find a copy of the game, you need an older computer to play it that you can turn the speed down on. Wing Commander was designed during the height of the 286 and lower 386 era. That said, anything faster than a 486 SX33 is really too fast to make this game playable. There is software available to slow down the CPU processes for today's higher end PCs. But you might check the BIOS on your old PC and see if you can turn off the cache options. Especially the level 2 cache as turning if off will creep the math to a halt on the cpu and allow Wing Commander to be playable without the use of slow down programs. On my old P200, turning off the L2 cache takes it to a 286-30mhz speed demon. Also note that most copies of Wing Commander were sold in the 5 1/4 inch high-density disk format and the game needed a full 640k of memory and loves about 2 megs of expanded memory if you have it. Be careful to leave plenty of room on the hard drive as this beast of a game does way in at some 12 or so megabytes once installed. If you're lucky and should happen to find a copy of Wing Commander: The Kilrathi Saga, then you should immediately put it in the post and sent it to me! Sierously, Wing Commander is one heck of a game and if you haven't ever played the series, you should find a way to play the first one. Wing Commander is the one game that finally made my Amiga loving friends finally break down and admit that PC gaming was not only catching up to the Amiga but had finally surpassed it.
          ---------------------
    Graphics = 9 (The ships lack some detail and are pixellated up close, But otherwise the is a visual feast! )
    Sound = 10 (Music is excellent, Sound is excellent, just excellent!)
    Controls = 8 (Controls are tight and responsive, but keyboard combo with joystick or mouse might be combersome to some)
    Challenge = 9 (Starts of slow and laid back at first, but can be satisfyingly frstrating on the later levels)
    Replay = 9 (Varied missions offer a nice mix, and the ability to play them as you want is great!)
     
    Overall -^CB^- grade = 9 (One of the best PC games of the early 90s ever!)
     
  5. -^CrossBow^-

    5200 with very odd keypad / fire button issues

    By -^CrossBow^-,


    Service Stories from the Ivory Tower
    I've done a video on something similar to this but here is a rundown on what I was encountering:
    A 5200 sent in for services had a note stating that top fire button wouldn't work on the console. This is an issue I've run into before and in fact have created a video on it. It can be due to the controller having a broken trace of course on the flex circuit inside it. But... it can also very well be due to a faulty 4052 MUX chip inside the console located at U13 or A13 depending on the age of when your 5200 was made.
    Well, that was indeed the same issue with this 5200. But after replacing that and confirming the top fire button was now functional again, I then used my port loopback tester board with the diagnostics and was surprised when a slew of other errors came across indicating issues with the keypad. 
    I then used a different program for just testing the controllers and sure enough, whenever you put a controller into port 2 and pressed the pause button, it would call the entire aux buttons to register all at once on both controller 2 and port 1 even though a controller wasn't plugged into port 1?! So that meant Start, Pause, and Reset were all registering at the same time. I later found out that when pressing the 4,5, or 6 buttons that it would also register ever single keypad button in that same column to also register. Obviously that wasn't going to do!
    In testing the other ports, I found out that port 4 suffered similar issues but only the keypad section was messed up in that pressing 1,2, or 3 would cause all the keys on those columns to register at once. Very odd.
    Diagnostics told me it was a keypad issue so that was good. I then went to the service manual proceeded to follow the flowcharts for what might be the issue. My 'hunch' was that one more of the other 4052s was having issues. However, the flowchart kept pointing me to either a faulty GTIA (Which does handle some of the keypad controls), bad GTIA socket, or a bad 7400 chip near the RAM section. So I tried replacement GTIAs and 74ls00 chips with no change. The flowcharts have you using an O'scope to check for activity on the various triggers lines and such. Well, I was seeing activity or pulses indicating polling that the console is doing to check for buttons being pressed, but I was seeing something else odd as well. I was seeing what would appear to be ghost pulses between the normal square wave I should be seeing.
    I proceeded to then use my multi-meter and checked all of the connection points from the GTIA to the passive components to the MUX chips to the controller ports looking for any shorts or broken traces. Everything was checking out... After hours of checking everything the flowcharts and schematics were telling me and nothing else to go on, I decided to do something I should have done in the first place. Guess what that was?
    I removed each of the 4052 MUX chips (Kinda a PITA since these were all soldered to the board and not in sockets). And checked each one of them in my Bitback chip tester pro. Sure enough, I found another failed 4052 at position U12 about middle of the board just ahead of the controller ports. After installing all new sockets and putting in the original 4052s that passed and replacing U12. Finally the controllers were working properly again and the controller loop board was passing the diagnostics!
    The moral here is that people are SO quick to blame the controllers on the 5200 for their woes. The reality, is that the 4052 MUX chips are very prone to ESD failure and fail they do...often. Especially the RCA branded ones.
    Next time you have controller issues with your 5200, don't assume that controller is a POS and blanket blame it. Have the console checked out to be sure it isn't something internal causing an issue.
    The pic below shows the two 4052 MUX chips I had to replace to get this fully working again. They have little silver dots on them to indicate I replaced them and to mark where pin 1 is. Again, they are highly prone to failure so if you own a 5200, best to have a full set of these on hand just in case. They are cheap ICs so it is good insurance to have on hand. In this case I have small stash of OEM RCA ones that have tested good that I've pulled from other dead 5200s over the years. I suspect in the past that U10's 4052 was changed out in the past as it was already in a socket and had a different lot number on it from the others. 

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  6. -^CrossBow^-

    The 'Original'

    By -^CrossBow^-,

    While it might be called the 'Original' it certainly isn't an original 7800 by any means. It is just the name I've given to this one as it is my original childhood 7800 and is the only game console from my youth that I still own. It is largely still all stock but I did install Eckart's DevOS BIOS 1.0 back around 2004/2005 timeframe to help in providing new dumps of Activision and Absolute brand 7800 games that didn't have complete dumps previously. I believe those dumps are still here and are the ones currently available for download from the AtariAge database.
     
    This 7800 as I would learn in much later years, appears to be somewhat of an Enigma. My parents gifted it to me for my birthday back in 1988. They bought it on (clearance sale?) for what looks to be only $59.99 at the time given the price tag on the box. Even though it was purchased in late '88 timeframe it actually contains one of the first revision mainboards and chips inside it that have '84 year date codes on them. It also has the expansion port as was common on the AT84 made units. It shows signs of factory hand soldering and other rework so I suspect this was a refurbished unit that was sold out as new or possibly one that was found laying around from old stock that initially didn't work and was repaired and then sold as new. Strange 7800 but I wouldn't want it any other way.
     
    I also still have the original box for it although it has duct tape on it that I likely applied well over 20 years ago to keep the box held together. For over a decade the console was stored in a detached garage after I stopped playing it in 1990 sometime when we got our first 286 computer and my parents stored it away. The box is in good shape overall but is dented overall on the top causing it to not sit completely square and lift up as it were. 
     
     
  7. -^CrossBow^-
    A 7800 I worked on over a week ago was sent to me for a 'No Power On' condition. There are many reasons for this and I have found over the years two main issues. First is simply a faulty power supply adapter. Given these things are nearly 40 years old it isn't unreasonable to think that the PSUs are nearing their end of life. In fact I've had another client send back their 7800 when it started to develop power on/off issues and found nothing wrong when they were sent back. Sure enough, it was due to a fault power supply. So when speaking to this new client about their 7800, I suggested making sure the PSU was good and if they wanted to try something quick for not too much money, to get a replacement from Best Electronics. So they did...
    However, it didn't resolve the issue ? . At that point it was decided to send the 7800 to me so that I could look into the issue in more detail. I honestly figured at that point it was either a faulty power switch (Because those original OEM switches are kinda crappy and get corroded internally). Or perhaps a bad 4013 flip flop IC that controls the logic for power on/off status to the system. It is basically the same circuit the 5200 uses with a few less passive components in the mix.
    So the 7800 arrived and I first tested it with my PSUs. Sure enough... no power and no amount of massaging the power button would change it either. Took the cover apart and started to look at stuff. First thing I do is short the power switch to absolutely rule it out of the mix. No dice... hmmm. I then started to check for different things off the 4013 IC. Most things checked out, but the return signal from the system back to the 4013 to indicate power status didn't seem to have any activity. According to the 7800 troubleshooting flowchart, it states to replace the 4013 IC at that point. So I removed the original 4013, installed a socket and plugged a new 4013 into place. 
    No dice... still no power. I then started to check further along and found that no input voltage was getting sent to the 7805 voltage regulator. The input voltage switching is controlled by both the 4013 and another power transistor (MJE201). The 201 stands proudly on the edge of the mainboard between the heatsink of the voltage regulator and the power input port. Sure enough when checking the readings from it, I found it wasn't switching on to send the input voltage to the original VR.
    To test this I then hooked up my bench power supply, set it to 10v and connected it directly to the input pin of the VR and to ground on the main board. Turned on my bench supply and the 7800 came to life. So I knew I had the right component.
    So... what was the point of all of this text?! Simple... to document the basic troubleshooting process I went through to identify the problem component. Now, the 201s aren't exactly made anymore but there are equivalents. However, I don't have any of these modern replacements on hand (Because this is only the 2nd time I've had a 201 go bad ever). So I took the 201 off a donor parts 7800 board and installed that. The clients 7800 lived again. 
    I also ended up replacing the original VR with a newer 2A output rated one and installed new capacitors and new front panel switches for good measure. Client figured I was already inside the system and for about $10 in parts...why not?
    Mainboard picture. New capacitors, new front panel switches, new voltage regulator and replacement MJE201 just to the right of the heatsink near the power plug.

     
    Donkey Kong PK is a good game to use for burn-in testing as it has a demo mode and uses the pokey chip for new enhanced audio. So it is a good test for everything. And... tons of fun to play too!

     
    This 7800 was cleaned up and is already back in the hands of its owner and ready to be enjoyed and played for many more years to come!


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  8. -^CrossBow^-
    In this 3 video series, I go over the basics and understanding of the Roland MT-200 sound module. It is an excellent multifunction sound module that can act as both a sequencer and sound module. This means that in addition to being a very nice general MIDI and Sound Canvas sound module, it also has the ability to record MIDI songs from the MIDI in port and save them to diskette to be played back in a standalone fashion later, making it a MIDI Jukebox as well!

    The first video goes over the basic overview of the module itself in what it is, what it can do, how to access the hidden diagnostic functions, and their uses.







    In the second video I go over the advanced diagnostic functions in how to set the internal date and time along with how to use the diskette drive functions.





    In the third and final video in this series, I go over the basic hardware needed to connect the MT-200 for use on a modern day computer. I also cover how to get the software drivers along with how to configure ScummVM and DosBOX for using an external MIDI device. Finally I demo how I have my MT-200 connected to my modern day Windows 10 PC along with my Roland MT-32 connected through MIDI Pass-thru. I then demo how I use the two modules in DosBOX on the game Space Quest 1 (VGA Remake). The audio is heavily compressed on this part as Geforce Experience software compresses the audio to mad levels for streaming. But you get the idea on how it works all the same.




    Thank you for viewing these as it has been a lot of fun learning about this wonderful sound module and understanding its uses and secrets! Enjoy!
  9. -^CrossBow^-
    So over the past few months, I've been trying to find ways of making the RCA jacks that I install into consoles more secure so they don't free spin over time. What I've been doing in the past that actually works 90% of the time far as I know...is that instead of using the small lock ring washer that typically comes with RCA jacks, I use inner star washers of the right diameter to do the same thing, but with more points of contact to lock into the plastic. It also has the advantage of holding the securing nut in place tighter as well since the inner teeth of the washers are present on both sides of the washer. From there, I've used light amounts of epoxy to help hold the securing nuts fast in place as well. 
    This has worked well for years but recently I did have some consoles start to come back where one or more of the RCAs had still somehow managed to work loose over time. So this got me to wondering if there were other methods I could employ. 
    Enter the idea to use Loctite or something similar... Hang tight...there is some history I have to talk about first and a lot of details to follow. Grab a snack and drink and settle in...
    Now there are two types of loctite that you can get for threading applications. One is the red colored stuff and is essentially permanent in that it is very very difficult to remove nuts off their threads if that stuff is used. The other is the blue kind that still allows the parts to be separated (Although not nearly as easily as without...). So I decided to try the blue stuff.
    Now I will say that sure enough the blue loctite holds really well. It basically is a liquid that once exposed to air begins to congeal and turn into a rubber like substance. As a result, it acts as filler between the threads of the nut and the jacks you are securing together. It does still come undone but requires a lot more force to do so and actually squeaks while you remove the parts after it has cured. So it does its job... but... there is also a warning on the package that I did read but didn't think would be an issue in this case.
    The warning says not to use with plastic threaded parts. So I assume this meant not to use it with plastic bolt/nuts sets commonly made of Teflon and the like. Well... I'm here to tell you that isn't the only issue.
    Over a month ago, I installed a UAV into an 800xl. The owner requested I install a separate standard 4pin s-video jack in the opening that the RF modulator used to occupy as the opening is nearly the exact size needed for one style of s-video jacks I have on hand. But they also wanted a pair of RCAs for audio to be installed. They didn't want to purchase an Atari monitor cable specific for this hence the request for separate jacks. So I drilled in the needed holes and got the jacks line up great! To install them, I used a bit of the loctite on the threads of the RCA jacks and proceeded to tighten everything up as normal. I then set the case shell down for about an hour while I recapped the main board and did other things. When I picked up the bottom shell housing I was horrified to see that a long crack had formed between the two RCAs that ran beyond top to bottom of the shell?! I removed the RCAs and discovered that around the holes where the jacks had been installed, there were small spider cracks around the openings and the plastic appeared to be much more brittle than I remembered? So I cleaned everything up and applied some epoxy across the cracks on the inside of the case shell to restrengthen the area and prevent any further cracks from occuring. I let it cure for about 2 days before reinstalling the RCA jacks. This time as they already had the loctite on them, I didn't apply anymore and just had to crank down a bit more to tighten them back up. This time I left them a little more loose than normal and then applied more expoxy over everything to make sure it all held tight. And this worked fine as expected.
    My thinking at that time was that I had simply tightened the nuts on the RCA jacks too much and it caused stress fracturing in the plastic that spread out. Didn't think much of it beyond that.
    Last night while working on a 5200 (A console I've done this work on a LOT of times), I drilled in the holes on the expansion plate as normal using a template I've had for years now. Installed the RCAs and again used some loctite on the threads to secure them nicely in place and then set it aside for about 30min while doing other things. I picked it back up to solder the wiring to it and again was horrified to see a crack had formed vertically between two of the RCA jacks?! I was like, what the heck?! I've done a lot of these 5200s and the expansion plate has never done this before? When I started to remove the RCAs to inspect, the entire thing just started to crumble in my hands like dirt. Sure enough the entire plate had become super brittle and was falling apart in my hands?! At this point I was pretty sure I knew what was happening and decided to test on another piece of similar plastic. Scratched it to expose the inner plastic and applied a little loctite. Yeap... that little piece of plastic became a brittle mess within about 15min of application.
    So.. the lesson here is that Loctite chemically reacts with ABS plastics and causes the ABS to breakdown at a molecular level in a very similar fashion to that of gallium when put in contact with scratched aluminum. Going forward, I'm just going to have to stick with my star lock washers and epoxy it seems...
     
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  10. -^CrossBow^-

    Get those Game Gears Recapped!!!

    By -^CrossBow^-,


    Service Stories from the Ivory Tower
    I know...I know... you hear it everywhere that everything in excess of so many years needs new capacitors and that will fix everything. Well, that isn't always the case as there are many electronics that date from much longer than 40 years ago whose caps while not perhaps quite within their original spec, are still working and doing their job. However, in the 90s there was an issue where most capacitor manufactures essentially had to start over with the formulas they had been using and as a result of this, many of the capacitors of that era have NOT held up well over time. One of the best examples of this, is in fact the Sega Game Gear. For those that don't know the GG actually uses standard radial through hole style capacitors just like most things. But, in an effort to keep costs low and have capacitors of that size fit in the small space of the GG. Sega used some very low quality capacitors that were then housed into a squared plastic housing. The leads of these caps were then folded under and trimmed so they could be installed onto SMD surface mount pads vs through hole. They did this so that the caps could fit flush against the PCB and be held into place with lite epoxy during assembly.
     
    Well again, over the past 20-30 years, those capacitors are not just dead, but decaying and leaking out over the PCBs. This causes not only the connections at the capacitor leads to no longer register contact, but can leech through the rest of the trace work and start to cause issues eating away at other places in the system. If you want to see exactly what I mean...here you go.

    If you look closely at the base of the capacitors where they are attached, you can see how the shiny silver of the solder is actually brown and almost dirt like in appearance. This is the tell tale sign of electrolyte leakage and corrosion having already begun. Also turn your attention to the green looking spots on the copper disc near the bottom of that picture? That is electrolyte that has leaked out over the board and started to interact with the copper of those discs turning green. It is like a syrup substance that has to be cleaned off.
     
    Want to see something really nasty but also quite typical of the GG capacitors? Well here is C1 and it is the main bypass capacitor for the power in the GG. This is what 30 years of crap quality looks like and what it does...

    That brown crud is the old electrolyte having eaten at and corroded most of the solder joints. That black color section to the right of it, is the epoxy they used to hold down the caps during the assembly process and is NOT an issue. In fact, it is best to just leave that be as trying to scrape it off the board can result in breaking traces in the process that are under the epoxy. So yeah...it all needs cleaned up and neutralized so no further damage continues.
     
    Here is the same C1 section and pads after I removed that cap and cleaned up the mess getting it ready for a new capacitor to be installed.

     
    This game gear is fully back to stock working condition now and will be set aside while waiting for the new LCD screen to come in as the owner of this GG has requested.

     
    So yeah... get those Game Gears recapped stat!
  11. -^CrossBow^-
    So as the title states, I'm temporarily suspending my console services for repairs, refurbs, and upgrades until about the fall timeframe. This is to ensure I have plenty of time to work on a large project that has a strict timeline. Anyone that has already sent their systems to me will still receive their service requests and will take priority to get them done quickly. But for others, I'd rather hold off and have them wait because I'm not comfortable with my client's systems sitting at the ITC for what could be a few months.
    I do apologize for those that might have been holding off and wanting services done, but rest assured I will be able to provide services again in a few months to the general public. Thank you for your understanding and if you have any questions, do feel free to contact me.
    -J. Hardesty
    Ivory Tower Collections

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  12. -^CrossBow^-
    I bought this kit a few months back as a pre-order and had to wait since I wanted a different colored shell. But the kit allows you to use a donor GBA mainboard from a standard GBA and essentially turn it into a small console to play your games on a modern big screen display using an SNES controller. Here are thoughts on this:
    The small ribbon cable that has to be soldered to the GBA CPU is tricky and requires a lot of patience to get soldered into place. The pitch of the soldering is quite fine and I had to use my 10x loupe to verify the connections and check for and remove any bridges I found (There were quite a few). The ribbon cable is designed and marked to help you line everything up. It has a nice center GND you solder down at the corner of the CPU to help anchor the ribbon in place. There are also markings showing where pin 1 and pin 127 should be lined up. However, the first time I tried this, I actually had the left hand side of the ribbon where pin 127 is one pin off. Due to the way this ribbon is designed it is possible to have one side perfectly lined up but the other side be too high or too low allowing for a 1 pin offset as I had initially. No damage done as it just meant my controls weren't working initially. But it did require me to carefully undo and remove the ribbon completely so I could clean up everything, re-align it and do it again. This picture below is of the final and successful placement of the ribbon on the CPU.

     
    The kit comes with a 3d printed case shell. You can choose from the colors they already have on hand and available if you are in a hurry or you can specify the color you want. I do have to complain about this part because they don't list all the colors in their order page and only stated that with a custom color, you specify. However, there isn't a comment section or anything in which to specify this?! What I did and apparently this worked, was when I made my payment via PayPal for the kit, I specified that I waned a purple case shell if possible otherwise red would be good. But again, they didn't have a list of the colors they can do anywhere so I was guessing they could accommodate my choice. They did as do have a purple case shell for my kit. The fitment of the case was great as it initially arrives already pieced together without the screws in its own bag. However, once everything was assembled I found quite a few issues. For one, the GBA mainboard doesn't line up flush with the edges of the case shell so everything is recessed inward about a 1mm or so. This isn't a huge problem, but it doesn't look as finished as it could. The holes on the inside for screwing everything down into place doesn't allow for any adjustment so it is what it is. I also found that the openings for the ports on the back are a tad on the too small side of things. But since it doesn't sit flush anyway, this doesn't matter that much. It did come with two power buttons I can choose from. A grey solid printed button, or a white semi translucent one. I chose the white hoping it would allow the LED on the GBHD board to shine through. Spoiler...it doesn't.
     
    However, the main GBHD FPGA board does seem to sit more flush with the front side of the case so there is that.

     
    The sticker comes in the kit and is an optional thing you can apply. I sprayed off the top of the case with some 99% IPA to make sure it was a clean surface before applying the sticker on mine. I think I got it lined up pretty well for eyeballing it.
    So...what about the output and overall thoughts?
    To sum up...it is outstanding! The way the kit works is that the GBA main board is only used to provide the logic for reading the game and handling the controls. The LCD driver on the GBA main board is what is providing the video output to the GBHD FPGA board that provides the final output. As a result, you remove the battery terminals and the speaker off the GBA main board as they are NOT needed and take up additional space. In fact, on some of the other GBA console kits, you have to make sure to put the GBA power switch in the on position, but because of the way this kit work, it is providing voltage directly to the CPU when you power it on. As such, the power switch and volume wheel have no use or function anymore since all of that is bypassed. In fact, the audio comes straight off the CPU pins and is handled by the GBHD board itself. In a nutshell the GBHD FPGA board is really doing the heavy lifting for the video/audio output and as the interface for the controller input on the front. Audio is an issue for some as I've been told it isn't compatible with all setups. This is because the audio appears to be handled as PCM analog through the HDMI and I guess newer TVs and AV receivers don't support that? My AV receiver in the game room is 10 years old and not only does it support PCM audio, but supports up to 96khz PCM so I had NO issues with this on my AV setup.
    Once installed, the kit allows you to pull up a simple to use OSD for changing a few things on the video display. It defaults to output at 720p and this is really the most compatible and best looking option as it provides about a 4x scaling from the GBAs original resolution. It has different modes to control the aspect of the image from proper integer scaling (Default) to stretching to fit your widescreen or a setting of in between with a little stretching and some minor borders around the edge. It has an option to compensate for overscan and this was needed on my TV in the lab area but not required on my main TV in the game room. You can also choose what color you want the border to be if you so desire. There are options for LCD grid like effects and scanlines. These look okay but I'm not a fan of either when playing on my big screens. There is also some filters but I honestly think they made the output look worse on my modern TVs. My guess is they are there to help provide a better look if you use this with other equipment to play on a CRT but that is just a guess. My kit came with Firmware v4 pre-loaded and apparently was assembled back in June of this 2022. I do see via where something like a jtag header could be soldered in but do NOT see or know of a way to update the firmware in the future. It might be possible this is something that could be implemented in the future using flash carts? But that is only speculation.
    How does it look? Well here is a quick 1min video of it in action with the game Iridion II since I had that handy for testing. I used my phone to get this so it isn't direct capture but you get the idea.
     
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  13. -^CrossBow^-
    So as the title states, I'm temporarily suspending my console services for repairs, refurbs, and upgrades until about the fall timeframe. This is to ensure I have plenty of time to work on a large project that has a strict timeline. Anyone that has already sent their systems to me will still receive their service requests and will take priority to get them done quickly. But for others, I'd rather hold off and have them wait because I'm not comfortable with my client's systems sitting at the ITC for what could be a few months.
    I do apologize for those that might have been holding off and wanting services done, but rest assured I will be able to provide services again in a few months to the general public. Thank you for your understanding and if you have any questions, do feel free to contact me.
    -J. Hardesty
    Ivory Tower Collections
    View the full article
  14. -^CrossBow^-
    PCBs are designed, created, and already shipped headed my way as are a few components for me to populate the boards. I will go into more details once I have my PCBs and have been able to test and check out if my idea works the way I've planned or not. In the meantime, here is a pic of the PCB. If you are familiar with the UAV layout and install process needed for the 7800, then this should be obvious on what it is.

    While what you see here is rather large, in reality it is only about the size of the UAV board so roughly 24mm tall and about 33mm wide. Pretty small.
     
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  15. -^CrossBow^-
    A 7800 I worked on over a week ago was sent to me for a 'No Power On' condition. There are many reasons for this and I have found over the years two main issues. First is simply a faulty power supply adapter. Given these things are nearly 40 years old it isn't unreasonable to think that the PSUs are nearing their end of life. In fact I've had another client send back their 7800 when it started to develop power on/off issues and found nothing wrong when they were sent back. Sure enough, it was due to a fault power supply. So when speaking to this new client about their 7800, I suggested making sure the PSU was good and if they wanted to try something quick for not too much money, to get a replacement from Best Electronics. So they did...
    However, it didn't resolve the issue 😞 . At that point it was decided to send the 7800 to me so that I could look into the issue in more detail. I honestly figured at that point it was either a faulty power switch (Because those original OEM switches are kinda crappy and get corroded internally). Or perhaps a bad 4013 flip flop IC that controls the logic for power on/off status to the system. It is basically the same circuit the 5200 uses with a few less passive components in the mix.
    So the 7800 arrived and I first tested it with my PSUs. Sure enough... no power and no amount of massaging the power button would change it either. Took the cover apart and started to look at stuff. First thing I do is short the power switch to absolutely rule it out of the mix. No dice... hmmm. I then started to check for different things off the 4013 IC. Most things checked out, but the return signal from the system back to the 4013 to indicate power status didn't seem to have any activity. According to the 7800 troubleshooting flowchart, it states to replace the 4013 IC at that point. So I removed the original 4013, installed a socket and plugged a new 4013 into place. 
    No dice... still no power. I then started to check further along and found that no input voltage was getting sent to the 7805 voltage regulator. The input voltage switching is controlled by both the 4013 and another power transistor (MJE201). The 201 stands proudly on the edge of the mainboard between the heatsink of the voltage regulator and the power input port. Sure enough when checking the readings from it, I found it wasn't switching on to send the input voltage to the original VR.
    To test this I then hooked up my bench power supply, set it to 10v and connected it directly to the input pin of the VR and to ground on the main board. Turned on my bench supply and the 7800 came to life. So I knew I had the right component.
    So... what was the point of all of this text?! Simple... to document the basic troubleshooting process I went through to identify the problem component. Now, the 201s aren't exactly made anymore but there are equivalents. However, I don't have any of these modern replacements on hand (Because this is only the 2nd time I've had a 201 go bad ever). So I took the 201 off a donor parts 7800 board and installed that. The clients 7800 lived again. 
    I also ended up replacing the original VR with a newer 2A output rated one and installed new capacitors and new front panel switches for good measure. Client figured I was already inside the system and for about $10 in parts...why not?
    Mainboard picture. New capacitors, new front panel switches, new voltage regulator and replacement MJE201 just to the right of the heatsink near the power plug.

     
    Donkey Kong PK is a good game to use for burn-in testing as it has a demo mode and uses the pokey chip for new enhanced audio. So it is a good test for everything. And... tons of fun to play too!

     
    This 7800 was cleaned up and is already back in the hands of its owner and ready to be enjoyed and played for many more years to come!

    View the full article
  16. -^CrossBow^-
    Here is an issue that I've seen before in one form or another and I thought I would talk about it here while working on a earlier era 2600 heavy sixer last night. The system was sent in for refurbishment. In this case that is all the original electrolytic capacitors being replaced out, new DC power jack, new voltage regulator etc. But a problem was reported and confirmed during testing of the console.
    What was the issue? In this case it was an issue with the player 2 controls. Specifically, player 2's fire button was always registering as being pressed. Easiest game to demonstrate this was Air-Sea Battle as when you reset the game to start, player 2 is constantly shooting the entire time even without a controller plugged in. Part of the refurbishment process is changing some components near the joystick port per an Atari service bulletin from back in the day for ESD protection.
    It is the last part in regards to the ESD protection that needs focus, because it was found that static electricity from players hands when inserting and unplugging the joysticks, would cause static discharge to the joystick pins. Luckily for most this is pretty harmless but one component in particular on the heavy sixers is very sensitive to this and prompted Atari to create the service bulletin to address it.
    The specific component to be checked is labeled as A203 on the main board. While the original IC chip has an Atari PN labeled on it, the chip is a bog standard 4050 IC that was common on the 8-bit line, 5200, some 2600s and lots of other devices. So common in fact, that the 4050s are still made today. However, on the heavy sixers, the trigger lines (Fire button) goes through the 4050 chip and in turn relayed back to the TIA. The most basic way it works is that +5v is always present on pin 6 of the joystick port which is the trigger line for each controller. When you press the fire button, you ground this connection causing the +5 to drop to near 0. This is what is referred to as going from Hi to Lo and is how the system knows when controller inputs are being used. In the case of this 2600, pin 6 from joystick port 2 was not showing any voltage from it and as a result, this was being interpreted by the logic in the system as if the fire button was already being pressed down. The basic troubleshoot process here is to verify the traces from pin 6 back to pin 7 on the 4050 IC chip and ensure there are no broken traces. If that checks out, then the culprit is down to two component at that point being The 4050 IC or the TIA itself. 
    Anyway, per the service manual flow charts and because I found no issues with the traces on the board, I removed the original 4050 IC chip, installed a socket and new 4050. Let it burn in test for several hours last night and verified that player 2 is now behaving properly and not so short tempered.
    So in this case it was an easy fix but also a warning on why ESD was and still is an issue to this day. In this case, an errant spark from someones hand in the past damaged something internally in the 4050 IC causing it to no longer function properly in regards to the player 2 fire button.
    Replacement 4050 IC installed in new socket however, I did eventually replace this 4050 out also with a new Ti branded one as this on would cause graphic visual issues after a while.
     

     
    Just a pic showing the soldering work after installing the new socket and 4050 IC chip.
     

     
    Here is one of the new cap+diode component fixes applied to port 2 at location C237 as stated in the Atari service bulletins. There is another component set like this on the player 1 port C236 location as well.

     
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  17. -^CrossBow^-
    This story starts a few years ago when I powered on my model 1 Sega Saturn and played a game for a bit and then powered the console off and back on to switch to a different game. But to my horror I discovered some strange horizontal white lines scrolling upwards on the screen? I powered the console off/on again and the lines were still there only now there were a lot more of them and they were scrolling much faster. Additional power off/on cycles would only cause the lines to change thickness and motion and scrolling rate. I don't have a picture of my actual console doing this, but here is one on youtube that demonstrates the issue very well. It is best to see it in motion anyway to get an idea of how annoying it really is..
     
    Reading up on the issue you find a few different fixes for the issue or no fixes at all. The most common fix thought to correct it, is to replace the caps in the PSU board. Saturn consoles have their PSUs internal inside them. Luckily they are all throug hole caps to not that big a deal to replace. But you have to make sure when ordering a cap kit, that you order the right one for your Saturn as it seems there over a half dozen different PSUs used on the various Saturn models and they all have different component layouts, different amount of caps needed, and of course different values of caps used. So that was the first thing I did was to recap my PSU. And at first I thought things were good... but nope. The issue would happen after about 10min of playing a game and when powering cycling the console again to change games, the white lines would be back?! Keep in mind the actual console continues to play normally but visually it is less than ideal.
    The next common fix for this issue that has worked for a few people, is to replace the main PWM switcher that is on the PSU boards. There were two main types used in the Saturns depending on the country it was being used in. For instance in Japan and NA. The PWM could handle between 100 - 120v. In Europe it was for their 220-240v ranges. The exact PWMs used are difficult to find but I did some sleuthing on this over a year ago and found a modern drop in replacement that can be used in all regions as it can handle between 100 - 240v by itself. These can be purchased from console5 if needed here:
    https://console5.com/store/top224yn-saturn-power-supply-pwm-75w-voltage-regulator-replacement-for-top102yai.html
    But sadly once again in my case, it was not to be the fix for mine. So I've just kinda lived with the issue now. Until last night when I remembered something and then tested it a bit.
    Remember when I said that powering off/on would cause the lines to be different each time on my console? Well, I also discovered that if I could quickly turn the console off/on enough to cause the screen to dim for a sec but not enough to cause the saturn or the game to actually shut off, that sometimes those lines would go away?! That got me to thinking... which, in all honesty can be a bad idea for me sometimes.
    The power switch changes the conditions depending on how quickly I'm actuating it. Or maybe the force used to power it on and off? So...
    I decided to take the switch apart. This was NOT an easy task. The switches used on these earlier model 1 units I believe are different than later made models. It has an additional power protection component soldered onto the AC input wires on the side of the switch. Wrapped with a bit of yellow electrical tape, and then a blue/green translucent colored rubber cap that was draped over it to protect everything. Once you carefully remove all of this (As you will want to reuse at least the rubber cap). Then you have to pry apart the steel housing that covers the top portion of the switch. Once you have done this, you have to be careful of 2 things. Both of which are springs that will do what springs do best. They will likely shoot out somewhere and you won't find them again if you aren't careful. My wife may or may not have a non functioning ball point pin in her pen holder as I type this...
    Once I got this figured out and was able to study the switch. I then found old yellowed colored grease inside the switch along with a bit of black carbon residue mixed into the grease. Similar to what we see on colecovision and atari toggle switches. I cleaned all of this gunk out and put it back together with some new dielectric grease. Once I got that switch back together. I crossed my fingers and turned on the Saturn. No white lines! But I couldn't get excited about it just yet because what I didn't mention is that most of the time on the first power on, the Saturn doesn't have those lines. It is only after it has been on for a bit and then I power cycle it that the lines would appear. So I played some Bulk Slash and got through a few missions and powered the console off to switch games. Turned it back on... and still no white lines?! This is a good sign. I continued to play several different games for at least another hour and half power cycling the console well over a dozen times in the process and those pesky white lines have not come back.
    So it would seem that power switches are another potential source for the white lines issue on Saturn consoles. I'm not sure why the first power on would always be good and it was only successive power on attempts after that would cause this, but for now it seems those issues might finally be corrected. I will have to play a bit more Saturn games to find out. What a chore... 😉 hehe.
    Here are some pics of the insides of my Saturn for those that might be curious. I recapped the entire thing several years ago and at the time only radial caps were in the kits so I had to install them in a similar manner to how it is done on Gamegears when replacing surface mount like caps with through hole radial type. And, it has a Hi-Saturn region free BIOS installed as well. Even with the Rhea configured to report every game as being NA/US, the Japanese games still wouldn't load right and would require me to use my Acton Replay cart to bypass. But as that cart becomes more and more finicky to use, I opted to just install the region free since in this model Saturn, it is literally a drop in replacement chip.

     

     

    View the full article
  18. -^CrossBow^-
    The process to install the UAV into a heavy or light sixer is pretty well known and documented. In summary you basically set the jumpers on the UAV for the 2600 setup and then solder a socket ontop of the 4050 IC chip and header pins into the UAV and plug it into the socket. Job done... 
    However, there is a caveat to this method that doesn't become apparently until you find yourself moving consoles around a lot. And when I mean moving the consoles, I mean as in them being packed up, stacked up, put away into storage, shipped about...etc. Or let us say...for convention use. What happens is that all the jostling and movement of the console overtime will cause the UAV to walk about of the socket and come loose. Once this happens, the socket is essentially worn out and it will have more often. The solution is to direct wire solder in the UAV to alternate points and then affix the UAV in a way that isn't as likely to come loose over time.
    The solution I came up with recently, was to use the empty space on the PCB where originally Atari had planned to install a built in game on the console. There is space and markings where a 4k ROM would have been installed on the sixer PCBs for this purpose that was never used. So that provides a nice flat area to attach the UAV with double adhesive tape or what I use which, is 3M Dual Lock fasteners. Basically plastic industrial grade velcro like reels that can hold up to 10LBs of weights supposedly before coming separated. More then enough for a little ole UAV. The adhesive that is used on the Dual Lock stuff is also crazy strong if you clean the surface well before hand. To attach to the UAV is trickier because the UAV doesn't have a smooth surface on it that is really large enough. This is due to the UAV having components installed on both sides of the PCB, plus the wiring etc that is also needed. To help get around this, I've been buying 3/4" shrink tubing that I can get very cheaply locally and sliding it over the UAV after my initial wiring to it is done to provide me with a much smoother and consistent surface area for the other dual lock velcro to attach to. This install required the use of the basic version of the UAV that doesn't require jumpers to be set as it is all direct wire.
    The wiring on the sixer might not be consistent across the heavy and light as I only had this heavy on hand currently. But it turns out that 4 of the 5 connections needed for the UAV can actually be wired and soldered to empty unused vias on the main board. Even better, is that these alternate vias (I think they were test points), are very close to where the UAV sits and provides some pretty direct runs keeping everything nice and tidy. The pic below shows three unused vias right in a line above the disc capacitor marked as C210 on the board. From left to right these vias connect to TIA pins 2,7, and 8. If you look at C210, you will see an unused solder pad directly right of it. It is between the markings for C210 and R208. That is where you can tap audio from as it is directly connected to pins 12 & 13 off the TIA. You will see another unused via just off to the side of R214 below. That connects directly to TIA pin 5. Finally, you need a connection for the TIA color signal. That can be had easily from soldering a wire to the right leg of R212 as oriented in this picture below.

    Now, something to keep in mind is that on these older 2600s and on later 4 switchers, (possibly the jrs?). Atari would add in an 800ish  Ω resistor to help with color saturation. However, this resistor will cause the colors to look way off in most cases through the UAV and has to be removed from the circuit. It is located essentially between the pin 6 and 9 positions below the TIA chip on the main board at location R213. What I usually do is to just de-solder and lift the right leg of this resistor as that is also tied directly to pin 9 of the TIA. So you could use this solder pad for the color signal as well but it would require a longer wire to route down there.

    Power and ground can be had from several places. I ended up using one of the unused vias for the non-existent 4k ROM for ground. Power was possible from here also, but would have been in the way of my UAV board installing nice so I took the +5v off the bottom leg of R207 just left of where I placed the UAV. Again these points were chosen to keep all wiring to short runs. Shorter wires help with minimizing signal loss and keeping the UAV board in place over time.
    And that is pretty much it. I should also mention that if wire length isn't a concern, then with the exception of audio and the power and ground connections, all of the other points mentioned can also be tapped from the resistor legs mounted below the TIA. I don't recall which is which right now, but I know that all of the TIA connections can be had from them also. Just requires longer wires to route around the TIA to those resistors. It is also possible to mount the UAV on the bottom of the pcb using strong double adhesive tape and then just solder the wires directly to the legs of the TIA. But you would have to make sure you are using the basic version of the UAVs for such an install and it would require likely drilling a hole on the side of the RF housing box for your output wires to come through. You will see in the overview pic below of the UAV installed, that my output wires go under the cartridge slot and out the back. That is because the housing has some thin slot openings on the top and bottom allowing wiring to come through. It might require having to file the metal down a bit to opening the gap but might not require it depending on how the housing for the 2600 was done.

     
    I might create an install video that essentially tries to cover UAV installs in the sixers and 4 switch units in the future as a single all in one video. While solder points are varied across the different revisions of the console, there is enough similarity that I think a single install video with pauses and different sections for the different revisions is possible. Have to think about that...
     
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  19. -^CrossBow^-
    Just wanted to give those that might be curious, an idea on part of what my project has been lately that has taken up much of my time as of late. These photos show 13 different 2600s that I recently serviced and installed UAVs into along with all the needed AV jacks installed as required by the client.

    An no...these do NOT have two sets of audio outputs. The red/white on the left rear next to the 4-pin s-video mini din, is actually separate chroma/luma connections. This is handy for connecting to older monitors that only had RCA jacks for s-video connections. The yellow & white/red on the right rear are the composite and dual mono audio outputs. I figured the easiest way to keep it separated given the RCA colors I can get, would have been to keep the s-video all one side and the rest to the other.

    Most of these consoles are revision 13 with a few 12s, 14, and even one revision 16 in there. UAVs install pretty much in the same manner regardless of revision with the only difference being a few changes on where some of the video signals are tapped from due to changes in the PCB trace designs. 
    Last is a pic of 1 of a few 7800s that are also part of this project. The first 7800 is essentially done minus the av jacks and wiring for it. But this is essentially what a 'works' upgraded 7800 from the ITC looks like these days. It has new front panel switches, new capacitors, a new dc-dc switching regulator in place of the linear voltage regulator, a Kiloparsec BIOS upgrade, and a UAV installed on top of one of my mount boards I designed a few months back. 



    View the full article
  20. -^CrossBow^-
    This story starts a few years ago when I powered on my model 1 Sega Saturn and played a game for a bit and then powered the console off and back on to switch to a different game. But to my horror I discovered some strange horizontal white lines scrolling upwards on the screen? I powered the console off/on again and the lines were still there only now there were a lot more of them and they were scrolling much faster. Additional power off/on cycles would only cause the lines to change thickness and motion and scrolling rate. I don't have a picture of my actual console doing this, but here is one on youtube that demonstrates the issue very well. It is best to see it in motion anyway to get an idea of how annoying it really is..
     
    Reading up on the issue you find a few different fixes for the issue or no fixes at all. The most common fix thought to correct it, is to replace the caps in the PSU board. Saturn consoles have their PSUs internal inside them. Luckily they are all through hole caps and not that big a deal to replace. But you have to make sure when ordering a cap kit, that you order the right one for your Saturn as it seems there about a dozen different PSUs used on the various Saturn models and they all have different component layouts, different amount of caps needed, and of course different values of caps used. So that was the first thing I did was to recap my PSU. And at first I thought things were good... but nope. The issue would happen after about 10min of playing a game and when powering cycling the console again to change games, the white lines would be back?! Keep in mind the actual console continues to play normally but visually it is less than ideal.
    The next common fix for this issue that has worked for a few people, is to replace the main PWM switcher that is on the PSU boards. There were two main types used in the Saturn depending on the country it was being used in. For instance in Japan and NA. The PWM could handle between 100 - 120v. In Europe it was for their 220-240v ranges. The exact PWMs used are difficult to find but I did some sleuthing on this over a year ago and found a modern drop in replacement that can be used in all regions as it can handle between 100 - 240v by itself. These can be purchased from console5 if needed here:
    https://console5.com/store/top224yn-saturn-power-supply-pwm-75w-voltage-regulator-replacement-for-top102yai.html
    But sadly once again in my case, it was not to be the fix for mine. So I've just kinda lived with the issue for a while now. Until last night when I remembered something and then tested it a bit.
    Remember when I said that powering off/on would cause the lines to be different each time on my console? Well, I also discovered that if I could quickly turn the console off/on enough to cause the screen to dim for a sec but not enough to cause the saturn or the game to actually shut off, that sometimes those lines would go away?! That got me to thinking... which, in all honesty can be a bad idea for me sometimes.
    The power switch changes the conditions depending on how quickly I'm actuating it. Or maybe the force used to power it on and off? So...
    I decided to take the switch apart. This was NOT an easy task. The switches used on these earlier model 1 units I believe are different than later made models. It has an additional power protection component soldered onto the AC input wires on the side of the switch. Wrapped with a bit of yellow electrical tape, and then a blue/green translucent colored rubber cap that was draped over it to protect everything. Once you carefully remove all of this (As you will want to reuse at least the rubber cap). Then you have to pry apart the steel housing that covers the top portion of the switch. Once you have done this, you have to be careful of 2 things. Both of which are springs that will do what springs do best. They will likely shoot out somewhere and you won't find them again if you aren't careful. My wife may or may not have a non functioning ball point pin in her pen holder as I type this...
    Once I got this figured out and was able to study the switch. I then found old yellowed colored grease inside the switch along with a bit of black carbon residue mixed into the grease. Similar to what we see on Colecovision and Atari toggle switches. I cleaned all of this gunk out and put it back together with some new dielectric grease. Once I got that switch back together. I crossed my fingers and turned on the Saturn. No white lines! But I couldn't get excited about it just yet because what I didn't mention is that most of the time on the first power on, the Saturn doesn't have those lines. It is only after it has been on for a bit and then I power cycle it that the lines would appear. So I played some Bulk Slash and got through a few missions and powered the console off to switch games. Turned it back on... and still no white lines?! This is a good sign. I continued to play several different games for at least another hour and half power cycling the console well over a dozen times in the process and those pesky white lines have not come back.
    So it would seem that power switches are another potential source for the white lines issue on Saturn consoles. I'm not sure why the first power on would always be good and it was only successive power on attempts after that would cause this, but for now it seems those issues might finally be corrected. I will have to play a bit more Saturn games to find out. What a chore... ? hehe.
    Here are some pics of the insides of my Saturn for those that might be curious. I recapped the entire thing several years ago and at the time only radial caps were in the kits so I had to install them in a similar manner to how it is done on Gamegears when replacing surface mount like caps with through hole radial type. And, it has a Hi-Saturn region free BIOS installed as well. Even with the Rhea configured to report every game as being NA/US, the Japanese games still wouldn't load right and would require me to use my Acton Replay cart to bypass. But as that cart becomes more and more finicky to use, I opted to just install the region free since in this model Saturn, it is literally a drop in replacement chip.

     

     

     
    View the full article
     
  21. -^CrossBow^-

    The Ivory Tower 5200 got some TLC

    By -^CrossBow^-,


    Service Stories from the Ivory Tower
    I originally did most of the work on this 5200 about 8 years ago. It was also one of the first projects I did and to be honest, the wiring work inside wasn't that great. For some time I had wanted to redo it all similar to how I redid my 7800 about a year ago but just never got around to it. Well, now that I have a new BackBit Pro flash cartridge and it was designed to allow resets back to the game menu, I felt it was time to perform a small modification to allow this function of my BackBit Pro to work and also decided it was time to redo the wiring work and give my 5200 a much needed bath.
    So first I will share some old pics of when I first AV upgraded the console. The wiring wasn't that bad I guess but it was before I was using better quality wire and wasn't using connectors so it was all tethered down. Also, not long after this was first done, the s-video jack kept coming loose on me so I had to hot glue it into place. No pics of that hot snot but suffice to say it was pretty ugly. 

     
    Here is another shot showing how all the wiring was done originally in this setup. 

     
    All of the wiring was completely redone with better quality wire and using install methods that I've been using on client consoles for the past 5 years. 

    Some of the wiring was to redo the power and ground wiring as I now have it attached to the main power and ground rails that run along the middle of the board. As a result they are much shorter than they were previously. All the of the video output wiring was redone with a connector added in the middle to allow for easier removal of the main board in the future for servicing if needed. A connector was also added to the power modification wiring on the bottom side as well. 

     
    A new s-video jack was installed as the original was in pretty bad shape from coming loose over the years and the hot glue just had to go. I used my dremel to rough up the area around the s-video jack and shave off a little bit of shell material so that I could install a new s-video jack and have the back nut actually secure it into place properly. Last to ensure it stays put, some epoxy was added around the s-video jack and securing nut. Audio wiring was redone as well and cleaned up.
    Finally a small bit of wire was added on the bottom side of the PCB that attaches the reset line for the system to an unused pin on the cartridge port. The BackBit Pro flash cart is designed to take advantage of this and with this wire in place, I can now use the reset button on the cartridge to take me back to the game selection menu. This is a feature that is sorely missing on the AtariMax carts as they require hard powering the 5200 console to get back to your game menu selection. 

     
    At the end, I finally gave the case shells a much needed bath as it had been at least a decade since this 5200 had been cleaned. It was getting pretty dusty in those vent slots and just looking a bit dull. Now this 5200 is working better than before and ready to provide some more 5200 gaming for many more years!

    View the full article
  22. -^CrossBow^-
    So as the title states, I'm temporarily suspending my console services for repairs, refurbs, and upgrades until about the fall timeframe. This is to ensure I have plenty of time to work on a large project that has a strict timeline. Anyone that has already sent their systems to me will still receive their service requests and will take priority to get them done quickly. But for others, I'd rather hold off and have them wait because I'm not comfortable with my client's systems sitting at the ITC for what could be a few months.
     
    I do apologize for those that might have been holding off and wanting services done, but rest assured I will be able to provide services again in a few months to the general public. Thank you for your understanding and if you have any questions, do feel free to contact me.
     
    -J. Hardesty
    Ivory Tower Collections
  23. -^CrossBow^-
    So these arrived in the mail yesterday and so I was super stoked to build one up and try installing it onto my test bed stock 7800 I use in the lab. If you saw my earlier blog post, you might have already figured it out, but yes... I designed some mount PCBs for slight ease on installing UAVs into 7800s. These mount boards have the chroma fix already on them in addition to the extra resistors and cap for audio mixing to external RCA jacks etc. However, this is a dual mono audio solution and not stereo... just something to keep in mind.
     
    Not sure I will make these available to the public yet as the time to hand assemble and test them isn't something I can do large scale. But for my client installs going forward, this is likely how my UAV installs will pretty much look like.
     
    This first board I put together is using single pin sockets so I could easily pop the UAV on/off the board as needed for testing etc. Actual installs will have the UAV soldered permanently onto the mount board and as a result the UAV will sit lower onto the mount board than you see here. 
     
    The mount board is designed with board headers so that you solder it down near the resistor legs that the video signals are tapped from. 

     
    I also have vias for power and ground that line up with the GND and +5 from the RF modulator pins. In this example install, I use a 90 right angle pin header that solders to the top of the pin headers from the RF modulator board and then can be soldered through the vias. But this isn't required as you could just solder wires to these vias instead if you wanted. Additionally, once the UAV is attached, you could also just run +5 and GND to the UAV pads and it would feed everything as well.

     
    I also have included 2 more board headers that allow me to solder to the R5 and R6 resistors to get the audio signals we need for the POKEY and TIA. These are then mixed on the mount board and an audio out pad provided to simplify the audio portion of installs.

     
    Here is the example setup I did last night. Again I used single pin sockets on this so I could remove the UAV easily but actual installs would have the UAV soldered onto header pins directly. As a result, the actual combo won't sit this tall on actual installs as the UAV will only at half the height you see here.

     
    Here are two more boards I soldered up ready to go.

     
    These are using the through hole pin headers. To align these, I actually set them into place and then set a UAV on top. So actual assembly is basically to solder on the SMD components first, then set the header pins for the UAV into place, place the UAV onto the pins to align everything up, flip the board over and solder the header pins for the UAV on the bottom of the PCB. Then I solder in the larger and thicker header pins for the mount boards resistor leg mounting. I then line it up and solder the mount board into place. I'm then able to do some initial testing without the UAV by power on the console to make sure I have power and ground connections where needed. I can also verify that some of the video signals (Especially chroma) are coming through using my o'scope. Everything else just needs continuity tested to be sure I have connections. I can then place the UAV onto the pins and power on again without soldering it to initially test that the UAV is working. Granted it is just sitting on the header pins at this point, but they make a good enough connection for these initial tests. Once confirmed everything is a go, I can then solder the UAV permanently into place and run my output wires where needed. Because of the orientation of the UAV (It was really the only way to keep it all self contained in this one spot), it does require running your AV out wires ahead of time or header pins etc.. as you won't be able to solder it into place very easily once the UAV is in place given how close the video outputs will be to the RF modulator's interconnect board.
     
     

  24. -^CrossBow^-
    PCBs are designed, created, and already shipped headed my way as are a few components for me to populate the boards. I will go into more details once I have my PCBs and have been able to test and check out if my idea works the way I've planned or not. In the meantime, here is a pic of the PCB. If you are familiar with the UAV layout and install process needed for the 7800, then this should be obvious on what it is.

    While what you see here is rather large, in reality it is only about the size of the UAV board so roughly 24mm tall and about 33mm wide. Pretty small.
     

    View the full article
  25. -^CrossBow^-
    Here is an issue that I've seen before in one form or another and I thought I would talk about it here while working on a earlier era 2600 heavy sixer last night. The system was sent in for refurbishment. In this case that is all the original electrolytic capacitors being replaced out, new DC power jack, new voltage regulator etc. But a problem was reported and confirmed during testing of the console.
    What was the issue? In this case it was an issue with the player 2 controls. Specifically, player 2's fire button was always registering as being pressed. Easiest game to demonstrate this was Air-Sea Battle as when you reset the game to start, player 2 is constantly shooting the entire time even without a controller plugged in. Part of the refurbishment process is changing some components near the joystick port per an Atari service bulletin from back in the day for ESD protection.
    It is the last part in regards to the ESD protection that needs focus, because it was found that static electricity from players hands when inserting and unplugging the joysticks, would cause static discharge to the joystick pins. Luckily for most this is pretty harmless but one component in particular on the heavy sixers is very sensitive to this and prompted Atari to create the service bulletin to address it.
    The specific component to be checked is labeled as A203 on the main board. While the original IC chip has an Atari PN labeled on it, the chip is a bog standard 4050 IC that was common on the 8-bit line, 5200, some 2600s and lots of other devices. So common in fact, that the 4050s are still made today. However, on the heavy sixers, the trigger lines (Fire button) goes through the 4050 chip and in turn relayed back to the TIA. The most basic way it works is that +5v is always present on pin 6 of the joystick port which is the trigger line for each controller. When you press the fire button, you ground this connection causing the +5 to drop to near 0. This is what is referred to as going from Hi to Lo and is how the system knows when controller inputs are being used. In the case of this 2600, pin 6 from joystick port 2 was not showing any voltage from it and as a result, this was being interpreted by the logic in the system as if the fire button was already being pressed down. The basic troubleshoot process here is to verify the traces from pin 6 back to pin 7 on the 4050 IC chip and ensure there are no broken traces. If that checks out, then the culprit is down to two component at that point being The 4050 IC or the TIA itself. 
    Anyway, per the service manual flow charts and because I found no issues with the traces on the board, I removed the original 4050 IC chip, installed a socket and new 4050. Let it burn in test for several hours last night and verified that player 2 is now behaving properly and not so short tempered.
    So in this case it was an easy fix but also a warning on why ESD was and still is an issue to this day. In this case, an errant spark from someones hand in the past damaged something internally in the 4050 IC causing it to no longer function properly in regards to the player 2 fire button.
     
    Here is the replaced 4050 and socket. Although this 4050 in the pic did have to swapped out with a new Ti branded one as this one would cause graphical issues once the system was warmed up.

     
    Here is the soldering on the bottom where the socket was installed.

     
    Finally here is one of the capacitor/diode combos that the service bulletin has you install to help with ESD from the controller ports. This is the one installed at C237 for port 2. There is another combo like this installed at C236 for port 1 on the opposite side of the board.

     
     
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