Atari Asteroids

netropolis

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I need to fix this!

Here is what I know... I bought this Asteroids in MINT condition 3 or 4 years ago. It has worked flawlessly since I got it until about a year ago.

This scribbled issue would creep up at boot but it would correct itself after a minute. Now... This is what I get.

After the initial garbage at the top goes away the lines do not go away if I play with the brightness or contrast on the monitor chassis. Which I believe is a G05...
Is this a voltage PS issue, is this a board issue, is this a monitor issue?
If anyone can narrow this down to one thing for me I will get crackin on ording a kit to fix it!

Any questions for me I will answer the best I can.
I am 5 years into this hobby but I have not spent much time under the hood if-you-will!
https://youtu.be/F0BNammtXxE
 
Could be multiple problems on top of each other.

The brightness issue is concerning, and suggests maybe a monitor issue, as even if the game board is outputting bad levels, the brightness and contrast controls should still do something.

You might also have issues with the analog section of the game board, and potentially also digital issues as well.

You can try putting the game board into test mode, and see if the test screen indicates any error codes. But you don't want to run your monitor with that max brightness for more than a few seconds, as you'll burn a hole in the center of the screen.

I'd say send your game and monitor boards to someone, especially if you have no troubleshooting experience. If they have never been overhauled, you likely have multiple issues anyway, and you can fix one thing, then have another thing blow, and chase your tail, and sometimes it's easiest to just go over everything.

If you want to try anything yourself, pull the monitor's deflection board, and reflow the solder on the pins of all of the connector headers, adding some fresh solder to them. Those are almost always cracked, if they haven't been reflowed, and that alone can cause a lot of issues. This should be done regardless, so you have nothing to lose.

Also, let us know if it's a G05-801 or G05-802.
 
Andrewb, what a great reply!
Yea, a vector monitor is way out of my comfort zone! It is a G05-802 monitor by the way.

I think you're right - I should pack up the board, monitor chassis and PS and have someone overhaul it!
I would be surprized if that pcb has been out of the machine since it rolled off the line in 1980!

I need some kind of step-down discharge tool before I start playing around with the monitor am I right? I don't want to ruin my monitor.

Does anyone do this sort of one-stop-shop Asteroids overhaul?
 
Andrewb, what a great reply!
Yea, a vector monitor is way out of my comfort zone! It is a G05-802 monitor by the way.

I think you're right - I should pack up the board, monitor chassis and PS and have someone overhaul it!
I would be surprized if that pcb has been out of the machine since it rolled off the line in 1980!

I need some kind of step-down discharge tool before I start playing around with the monitor am I right? I don't want to ruin my monitor.

Does anyone do this sort of one-stop-shop Asteroids overhaul?


I do full repairs. See my sig, and PM me for details.

You can discharge the monitor with a simple screwdriver and wire. Google 'crt discharge tool' for instructions. Counter to what you may read, you don't need an HV probe or fancier resistor-based discharge tool to discharge a vector monitor.
 
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