2024 Bronze Age Repair Club

I don't know when the hell people started thinking Popeye in a Venture cabinet and Star Wars cockpits belonged in the Bronze Age section. That shit's gotta move somewhere else.

Back on topic, I began working on Secret Base this weekend.
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I converted the game from 220v to 120v, and began working on the PCB.


So far I found a bad 74LS04 on the clock circuit, and now I'm getting this. Thing is I've got no schematics for this (They don't exist) and this board is the size of a semi-truck.
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I have an adventure ahead of me don't I.
 
So far I found a bad 74LS04 on the clock circuit, and now I'm getting this. Thing is I've got no schematics for this (They don't exist) and this board is the size of a semi-truck.

I'm glad the last board I had to reverse engineer back to schematics was much simpler (~75 chips)
Post some pics of the board.

On the bright side tracing back the sync from the video output to the counters should be relatively easy to start with.
 
Signs of life are beautiful. Once I can achieve the rug pattern on a Williams game, I consider it working. :D
 
Canyon Bomber is winding down, the cab is finished and I'll be futzing with the audio circuits for a bit. Moving into new projects.

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Look at the screen. Do you see? You are privy to a great becoming and you recognize nothing. Do you feel privileged?

EDIT: This is not my stuff, this was someone else's barn clean out. Dont DM me asking for parts, thanks.
 
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Ugh. That hurts my eyes and makes me jealous at the same time.

When are you doing Drag Race?
 
Anyone have a spare Night Driver PCB? Working on reviving one of these machine. Interested in a spare PCB.
 
Anyone have a spare Night Driver PCB? Working on reviving one of these machine. Interested in a spare PCB.

I have a back up board, but I wouldn't call it "spare"....

Are you just looking for parts? Or are you missing the entire PCB?
Or do you just need a working reference PCB to fix a broken one?
 
I have a back up board, but I wouldn't call it "spare"....

Are you just looking for parts? Or are you missing the entire PCB?
Or do you just need a working reference PCB to fix a broken one?

My game is almost complete and has the mainboard. Have it partially working connected to an LCD TV via composite. Will eventually switch back to the original monitor. That has neck glow but it isn't working. It is a 23" TEC monitor and a chassis I've never worked on before. I've been able to fix other similar BW monitor and hope the tube is ok and I can fix this one too. Was going to try and get the monitor running first then focus on the game board.

In regards to the game board it powers up and I can see the track. Unfortunately it has issues since instead of text on the upper part of the screen all I get is a series of numbers. I've read that some of the 82Sxx series RAM chips go bad so maybe it is one of those. Also read about broken connections. Really haven't had a chance to look at the board closely other than it looks like it was never messed with.

So if someone had an extra/extra board I would buy one. But probably don't need it if I get this going. But if I get stuck then knowing there are some working ones around for reference can help.
 
A few weeks ago, we picked up this nice Bombs Away (Meadows Games) survivor. It needed some work and the seller was looking to find it a new home in order to free up some garage space.

Overall, the cabinet is in good shape (would give it a 6.5 out of 10). Best of all, the machine was complete (PCB, Monitor, overlay, coin bucket, etc.).

It is equipped with a Motorola XM501-10A monitor - which received a cap kit courtesy of APAR.

The seller provided a manual he purchased from eBay, and we were fortunate enough to locate schematics at: https://www.oneswitch.org.uk/art.php?id=309

Luckily, it took only a handful of components to get it going (several 7474 ICs and one LS32).

The sounds are a bit muffled and don't seem to have the proper duration - so that will require a bit more troubleshooting.

Inside was a small piece of paneling with a 1982 Illinois Tax Stamp attached. If only this machine could talk!

All in all, it looks and plays pretty darn well for having been released in 1976.

Short Video Here:
 

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Another machine we picked up about a month ago - Ace by Allied Leisure (released in 1976). Cabinet Serial Number is 97.

Cabinet condition is quite good - would give it an 8 out of 10. Gel / bezel is in excellent shape. Control panel is in excellent condition - required only cleaning of fire button leaf switch contacts and lubrication of joystick pivots.

Coin door has gotten the worst end of the deal - coin mechs are missing and it looks like it has been pried on and mangled a bit. Still presentable - but a little rough. Had to replace both coin switches.

The internals are almost pristine: main PCB is in excellent shape, as are the power supply PCB, sound board and monitor chassis. The monitor is a Motorola XM701-10B - treated to a Cap Kit purchased from APAR.

One of the neatest aspects is the piece of masking tape on the main PCB - a hand-written QC inspection note from 7/26/77 with the inspector's stamp included.

Found a complete document package on eBay - with all schematics, warranty card and a neat letter from Allied Leisure with information targeted at distributors / operators.

Chased this around a bit as I did not realize that the Player 1 plane is black on a grey background, and the Player 2 plane is white on a grey background. Once I realized that MAME graphical representations were inaccurate, I was able to dial in the monitor to provide the correct appearance.

The sounds are surprisingly realistic (especially the airplane engine sounds during ascent, diving and crashing) - and there is a lot of adjustability on the sound board.

This game is actually a lot of fun!

Pics below - and here is a short gameplay video clip.
 

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Another machine we picked up about a month ago - Ace by Allied Leisure (released in 1976). Cabinet Serial Number is 97.

Cabinet condition is quite good - would give it an 8 out of 10. Gel / bezel is in excellent shape. Control panel is in excellent condition - required only cleaning of fire button leaf switch contacts and lubrication of joystick pivots.

Coin door has gotten the worst end of the deal - coin mechs are missing and it looks like it has been pried on and mangled a bit. Still presentable - but a little rough. Had to replace both coin switches.

The internals are almost pristine: main PCB is in excellent shape, as are the power supply PCB, sound board and monitor chassis. The monitor is a Motorola XM701-10B - treated to a Cap Kit purchased from APAR.

One of the neatest aspects is the piece of masking tape on the main PCB - a hand-written QC inspection note from 7/26/77 with the inspector's stamp included.

Found a complete document package on eBay - with all schematics, warranty card and a neat letter from Allied Leisure with information targeted at distributors / operators.

Chased this around a bit as I did not realize that the Player 1 plane is black on a grey background, and the Player 2 plane is white on a grey background. Once I realized that MAME graphical representations were inaccurate, I was able to dial in the monitor to provide the correct appearance.

The sounds are surprisingly realistic (especially the airplane engine sounds during ascent, diving and crashing) - and there is a lot of adjustability on the sound board.

This game is actually a lot of fun!

Pics below - and here is a short gameplay video clip.
Wow, that is incredible! What a beautiful time capsule! I absolutely love the 100% custom power supply. The ingenuity in early video coin-op games and making do with whatever you could get your hands on is amazing to me. I wouldn't change a thing other than replacing any capacitors that have exceeded their lifespan with high ESR or visible bulging.
 
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