If you are tired of trying to get your classic Atari vector going, here is short tutorial on how to make sure you have done everyting you need to to get it up and running. Some of this may seem pretty basic but I see so many questions about vector games that don't address the basics so I am highlighting them here.
1. Your game cabinet must have the correct voltages in order for the board set to work. If you don't know how to test them, do a little searching around. elektron forge has a great tutorial on testing voltages at the game board here:
http://www.elektronforge.com/AdjustAtariPS.htm
You need to have a good fuse holder on your power brick as well. If the spade connectors look dark or the wire is dark right at the spade connector end, that is a sure sign that you have troubles in the fuse block. Order one from Bob and replace the spade terminal on that wire. There is a lot of talk about the "Big Blue" being the cause of many problems with Atari games. I have only found a few bad "Big Blue" caps in all of my repairs that cause issues but it is always a good idea to replace the cap to be assured that it is not an issue. When you change it, put the date on the top for the next guy so that he knows how old it is. Bob has a tutorial on the cap here:
http://www.therealbobroberts.net/bigblue.html
Information on the power brick can be found here:
http://www.therealbobroberts.net/apsnotes.html
It really isn't as scary as you may think. Be sure you use a three prong cord on your cabinet. If the grounding plug has been cut off, spend $6 and get a new cord for it. If your AR board is not putting out the correct voltages, you should order a rebuild kit from Bob. A tutorial on the AR board is here:
http://www.therealbobroberts.net/aar2.html
There are several other tutorials that can be found and Dokert made a test aid for testing AR boards and Atari power bricks. Don't know if they are still available or not.
2. If your monitor is not working properly, this won't fix it unless the problem was in the game board to start with. There are several individuals who fix vector monitors and guarantee their work. They are here in the forums. I'm booked up right now so can't take any more vector monitor repairs for a while. There are numerous FAQs out there that address many of the issues with the monitors but many times you are dealing with other peoples mistakes in attempting to get them up and running. I suggest you peruse ionpool.net and search for the FAQs before attemtpijng monitor repair. The WG6100 has many "fixes to it to make it much more reliable and I highly recommend putting in the LV protection kits available from members.
3. Very important.....Your edge connectors on the wiring harness must be in good condition. They make look good, but if you look closely inside of them, you might see that the spring contacts have been "mashed" or collapsed so that they don't make good contact on the board anymore. You need to order a replacement connector kit from Bob Roberts or risk ruining the contacts on the game board, frying R29 or R30 on your AR board or both. This is especially important on the large connector towards the top end where the power enters the board. This area is for the power, sense circuitry and grounds. If you don't have a good connection....DON'T HOOK UP THE BOARD. DON'T PUT SOLDER ON THE CONTACTS ON THE EDGE OF THE GAME BOARD TO BUILD IT UP. NEVER!
If you don't have a good contact to the game board, the edge will look like the pac board in this tutorial:
http://www.therealbobroberts.net/pace.html
There is a tutorial on how to replace the edge connectors on Bob's site but for the life of me can't find it. He replaces the AMP connector with a new molex one. If anyone can find it, please post the link.
This should be a great start to getting your game running at least blindly. Put your board into self test and listen for the beeps and boops. The manual will tell you what is usually wrong with your board in a general sense. Sometimes it is as easy as replacing a ram chip or a socket or reseating chips but my experience has shown that many many times the board needs extensive repair. Talon2000 had a recent posting on another site where he highlighted the many repairs that an Asteroids board needed to get going again.
4. Finally, the most important advice. If you are new at soldering, DON'T attempt to fix your own board. Let somebody with a solder station or good soldering skills do the repair for you. Techs hate undoing other people's mistakes. Lifted traces and burned boards are no fun to fix.
If you don't feel you can fix your board, there is a recent post of people who do board repairs for a very reasonable price. I don't have a link to that thread but will update this post as soon as I find it. I also have board sets for many games for sale outright or with a trade in. There are others on the forums who do so as well. Please don't plug any board into your cabinet until you have verified all the above steps. You will save yourself a lot of money and time in the long run. Hope this helps.
1. Your game cabinet must have the correct voltages in order for the board set to work. If you don't know how to test them, do a little searching around. elektron forge has a great tutorial on testing voltages at the game board here:
http://www.elektronforge.com/AdjustAtariPS.htm
You need to have a good fuse holder on your power brick as well. If the spade connectors look dark or the wire is dark right at the spade connector end, that is a sure sign that you have troubles in the fuse block. Order one from Bob and replace the spade terminal on that wire. There is a lot of talk about the "Big Blue" being the cause of many problems with Atari games. I have only found a few bad "Big Blue" caps in all of my repairs that cause issues but it is always a good idea to replace the cap to be assured that it is not an issue. When you change it, put the date on the top for the next guy so that he knows how old it is. Bob has a tutorial on the cap here:
http://www.therealbobroberts.net/bigblue.html
Information on the power brick can be found here:
http://www.therealbobroberts.net/apsnotes.html
It really isn't as scary as you may think. Be sure you use a three prong cord on your cabinet. If the grounding plug has been cut off, spend $6 and get a new cord for it. If your AR board is not putting out the correct voltages, you should order a rebuild kit from Bob. A tutorial on the AR board is here:
http://www.therealbobroberts.net/aar2.html
There are several other tutorials that can be found and Dokert made a test aid for testing AR boards and Atari power bricks. Don't know if they are still available or not.
2. If your monitor is not working properly, this won't fix it unless the problem was in the game board to start with. There are several individuals who fix vector monitors and guarantee their work. They are here in the forums. I'm booked up right now so can't take any more vector monitor repairs for a while. There are numerous FAQs out there that address many of the issues with the monitors but many times you are dealing with other peoples mistakes in attempting to get them up and running. I suggest you peruse ionpool.net and search for the FAQs before attemtpijng monitor repair. The WG6100 has many "fixes to it to make it much more reliable and I highly recommend putting in the LV protection kits available from members.
3. Very important.....Your edge connectors on the wiring harness must be in good condition. They make look good, but if you look closely inside of them, you might see that the spring contacts have been "mashed" or collapsed so that they don't make good contact on the board anymore. You need to order a replacement connector kit from Bob Roberts or risk ruining the contacts on the game board, frying R29 or R30 on your AR board or both. This is especially important on the large connector towards the top end where the power enters the board. This area is for the power, sense circuitry and grounds. If you don't have a good connection....DON'T HOOK UP THE BOARD. DON'T PUT SOLDER ON THE CONTACTS ON THE EDGE OF THE GAME BOARD TO BUILD IT UP. NEVER!
If you don't have a good contact to the game board, the edge will look like the pac board in this tutorial:
http://www.therealbobroberts.net/pace.html
There is a tutorial on how to replace the edge connectors on Bob's site but for the life of me can't find it. He replaces the AMP connector with a new molex one. If anyone can find it, please post the link.
This should be a great start to getting your game running at least blindly. Put your board into self test and listen for the beeps and boops. The manual will tell you what is usually wrong with your board in a general sense. Sometimes it is as easy as replacing a ram chip or a socket or reseating chips but my experience has shown that many many times the board needs extensive repair. Talon2000 had a recent posting on another site where he highlighted the many repairs that an Asteroids board needed to get going again.
4. Finally, the most important advice. If you are new at soldering, DON'T attempt to fix your own board. Let somebody with a solder station or good soldering skills do the repair for you. Techs hate undoing other people's mistakes. Lifted traces and burned boards are no fun to fix.
If you don't feel you can fix your board, there is a recent post of people who do board repairs for a very reasonable price. I don't have a link to that thread but will update this post as soon as I find it. I also have board sets for many games for sale outright or with a trade in. There are others on the forums who do so as well. Please don't plug any board into your cabinet until you have verified all the above steps. You will save yourself a lot of money and time in the long run. Hope this helps.
